Education System Despair

[Loki]

I am in my senior year of college and for one of my classes, I was placed into a group to write and present a paper on a case study on mergers and acquisitions. We have had the assignment nearly two months now and the due date is in a couple of weeks. We've been coordinating notes, plans, structural ideas, etc., for a couple of weeks now and I've been wanting to begin to put it into a single document so that we can do the general polishing of the paper.

I had assumed that since my partner was also in his senior year that he had the capability to write a paper...but alas, I got his 'final' draft to me earlier tonight and I am cringing with despair that I was unlucky enough to be partnered with him.

Under the spoiler tags, you'll find an unedited copy of what he sent me. As you read this, please keep in mind that he is set to graduate in the next year or two with a four year degree from a large university.

I need a beer.

In what ways were the cultures of Bank of America and MBNA incompatible?

Cultural incompatibility is the single largest cause of a decrease in performance, departure of key executives and time consuming conflicts in the business world. Not to mention the failure of most mergers and acquisitions (HHCL, 2006). Culture is a liability when the shared values are not in agreement with those that will further the organization’s effectiveness.

As important as culture is within an organization, these two organizations were as oil and water. MBNA culture is characterized by an entrepreneurial spirit with employees accustomed to the high life. Employees throughout the company enjoyed high salaries and generous perks, which included a private golf course and a fleet of corporate jets and private yachts (Dash, 2007).

Bank of America, the total opposite. It was a low-cost, no-nonsense operation. For them, size and smarts were more important than speed. Another cultural difference was their dress code. MBNA’s dress code was much more formal than Bank of America’s (Dash, 2007).

Why do you think their cultures appeared to mesh rather than clash?

When these two organizations merged, everyone thought they would not succeed. With the different cultures they had, it would have been easier to fail than to succeed.

First at all, the above-the-chart wages to MBNA’s employees were cut against all odds. A hybrid dress code was adapted and executives of both companies began by comparing thousands of practices covering everything from hiring to call-center operations. (Dash, 2007). It is clear that both organizations wanted this merge to work. By adopting some of each others’ policies and cultural practices, they managed to create a successful merger.

One factor it could be that top executives worked their way down in order to make it work. Division managers, supervisors, regulars, they all had to be in the same channel in order to achieve their goal.

Another factor it could have been time. Working ahead the acquisition can help create the right state of mind throughout the organization. By creating the right state of mind, employees throughout the organization know what to expect and can work towards the changes that will take place.

One important aspect of their success could have basically been the need to make it work. Given the fact that most of the mergers fail – management sure knew about it – the entire organization felt the need to adapt and change in order to make it work.

Do you think culture is important to the success of a merger/acquisition? Why or why not

Culture is a boundary-defining role; it creates distinctions between one organization and others. Also, it conveys a sense of identity for organization members.
Culture is probably the most important aspect to consider when looking to merge/acquire an entire different organization. Culture has different functions within an organization (Robbins & Judge, 2007):

1. It has a boundary-defining role. That is, it creates distinctions between one organization and others.
2. It conveys a sense of identity for organization members.
3. Culture facilitates the generation of commitment to something larger than one’s individual self-interest.
4. It enhances the stability of the social system. Culture is the social glue that helps hold the organization together by providing appropriate standards for what employees should say and do.
5. Culture serves as a sense-making and control mechanism that guides and shapes the attitudes and behavior of employees.

Basically, culture works in every level of an organization and sets the guidelines for the work environment and the employees attitudes throughout the organization itself. Without the success of each and every one of those aspects, an organization won’t go anywhere. That is why culture is so important to the success of a merger/acquisition.

[Karmakin]

I hate to say it, but that sounds pretty par for the course for that field.

[Savok]

And this is why I always make a beeline to the oldest person in the room anywhere I go. They may have left school at 14 to work but at least they have an education.

I hate to say it, but that sounds pretty par for the course for that field.

That's a fair point.

[Superman's Dead]

A girl in my government and economics class once said "Freed slaves traveled west to California to form a communist state". She just didn't understand the notes we gave her, and mangled them all. But she said that out loud and no one questioned her, or laughed, or said she was wrong. I guarantee she passed that class.

My expectations for college as a whole are way low. But man, when you find a good professor, it's great to learn.

[diablopath]

A girl in my government and economics class once said "Freed slaves traveled west to California to form a communist state". She just didn't understand the notes we gave her, and mangled them all. But she said that out loud and no one questioned her, or laughed, or said she was wrong. I guarantee she passed that class.

My expectations for college as a whole are way low. But man, when you find a good professor, it's great to learn.

This.
So far, they're rare. I imagine they don't put the best professors on for general education classes, though.

[Savok]

At least she could read, doing better then uni students here.

[Loki]

I've had a lot of good luck with professors at my school. This semester, there are two amazing teachers who are competent and know how to teach. My other two teachers, however, are very knowledgeable about the subject but have issues communicating and teaching well. I think I have had a more than 50% batting average with good teachers and the others, well, they need to go back to the private sector.

[Loki]

At least she could read, doing better then uni students here.

You're Australians. I thought the only metrics that were measured for degrees were on how awesome your accent is, how long it takes you to wrestle a crocodile, and how much beer you can drink in a sitting (< 10 F, <15 C, <30 B, >50 A).

Bonus points are allotted for how big your machete is compared to your phallic appendage. Bigger is better.

[Savok]

These days it's just how vocally you support socialism, not like the old days (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_f_p0CgPeyA).

[Wasson_]

lol...Bruce...

[Crowe]

Ahhh shit isn't too bad here Savok. I move to Melbourne next year though and might be going back to Uni, ask me then.

[Thanasimos]

The level of writing here is pretty crap too, but at least these people are training to be engineers and know they suck at English...

[Chris_D]

I would say it needs some spit and polish yeah..

[roboninja]

I am of the opinion that the reason writing has gone downhill is the fact many people just do not read anymore. They read what they have to, but only skimming, trying to extract the information they need. Truly sitting down and reading for entertainment seems to be going out of fashion. I am not immune; I read much less now than I used to. 500 channels, multitudes of great video games, and broadband putting entertainment of all forms at your fingertips....books simply look less enticing than they once did.

Exposure to writing is the only way to master it. I have made a conscious effort to read more this past year. The level of success has been variable, but I am trying. Of course, I just got Uncharted 2 yesterday, so....

[Bingley Joe]

I need a beer.



Yeah, and lots of it :)

Also, not only is his writing bad, but the voice is all over the place. Back when I was teaching, if a student handed me a paper like that (and I got MUCH worse all the time, although it was 'only' university-prep level high school that I taught.. but still), I'd head straight for Google and find the sources they mangled up without citing. Rarely took more than a few minutes, sadly. Then I'd fail the paper and enter into the inevitable shitstorm of 'discussions' with their parents about it. Ugh.. the fucking parents..

Anyway, not saying this guy is a plagiarist, but I'd be careful to double-check if there's a chance in hell any of that is actually going to get handed in..

I did get a good laugh out of his explanation of how culture functions within an organization though. The summary in points 1 - 5 is practically comedy gold.

[Lint of Death]

Hey, that paper's pretty good! I do not understand your perspective at all.[/engineering student]

[LongStepMantis]

I feel ya. I was part of a four-person group that was assigned to teach the class about Shakespeare's King Lear. I busted my ass doing background research, influences and folklore used by Shakespeare to compose the play, historical trends and social influences, etc. Two people in my group didn't even show up on our teaching day. It was a fucking disaster. I did my part to the best of my ability; I talked completely by myself for almost 45 minutes. But we were graded as a group, not individually. This was about two weeks ago by the way. The class after that, none of my group members even showed up. So I had to listen to the instructor tear down our grade, which he was kind enough to do openly, during class, just so everyone could know how badly we did. I was the only one who did the work, and the only one who was berated.


Now I get to write a 10-page paper over the weekend, and bring 15 copies of it to class to hand out. I've only got about 50 pages of paper left, and my ink cartridge is running low. The school won't make copies for us, unless you use the printing center at $.25 a page. So now it's deciding whether I'd rather pay $37.50 just for copies, or probably $50 for my own supplies...so I can hand out papers that no one besides the teacher and I will even bother to read.

I fucking hate school. Bureaucratic horseshit.

[Savok]

I feel ya. I was part of a four-person group that was assigned to teach the class about Shakespeare's King Lear. I busted my ass doing background research, influences and folklore used by Shakespeare to compose the play, historical trends and social influences, etc. Two people in my group didn't even show up on our teaching day. It was a fucking disaster. I did my part to the best of my ability; I talked completely by myself for almost 45 minutes. But we were graded as a group, not individually. This was about two weeks ago by the way. The class after that, none of my group members even showed up. So I had to listen to the instructor tear down our grade, which he was kind enough to do openly, during class, just so everyone could know how badly we did. I was the only one who did the work, and the only one who was berated.
A problem with the education system that was there before the modern bullshit gutted it, teachers who need to feel powerful. I had one teacher in high school who would actually lie to me about what was needed so she could yell at me later.

You call the teacher on their bullshit? Probably a bad idea, but I can only imagine how good it'd feel.

[Loki]

So, I finally finished it. It isn't perfect but at this point, I don't really care. He hasn't provided much input in neither the paper nor the powerpoint. This should get me at least a B. Hoorah.

Let me know if there is any quick fixes that you folks would recommend that I change.

Paper (https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0BxdPMcQwLqX_MzE4YThkMzItMmY5MC00NTRmL TgxZTEtOGQ2MzhjNWI5N2M3&hl=en)

[OldeWolf]

I remember having a teacher fail me in Honor English class because I challenged her about one of the novel book she required us to read, "The Motorcycle Diary" in where I told her that the main character was Gay and explained why.

Semester just started and I was automatically failed 2 weeks later. Found out it was because she was a feminist and hated men. How I found out? All the females in the class got an A while the rest of the guys got C's and D's.

She later became the chair person of the English department the following year.

[Savok]

Feminists are at the heart of the downfall of the western education system, so that's not surprising.

[Inspector Fowler]

Semester just started and I was automatically failed 2 weeks later. Found out it was because she was a feminist and hated men. How I found out? All the females in the class got an A while the rest of the guys got C's and D's.

She later became the chair person of the English department the following year.

This is totally unsurprising. I had a college professor for "Hispanic Cultures in the US". The first day of class, he took a list of who was "Hispanic" and who wasn't, and he got to decide. The rest of the semester, he called on those people first every time. Because heaven knows a little white boy can't have an open discussion about race, right?

This guy was practically worshiped by UNC, and had more influence in the community than was healthy (especially given that he was a racist).

Bullies like this get tenure and then everybody is afraid to speak against them for fear of appearing sexist or racist. That's why I was so surprised by the Ward Churchill flap - I thought, "Really? You guys didn't know that there are people like this at every college? Huh."

[Loki]

This is totally unsurprising. I had a college professor for "Hispanic Cultures in the US". The first day of class, he took a list of who was "Hispanic" and who wasn't, and he got to decide. The rest of the semester, he called on those people first every time. Because heaven knows a little white boy can't have an open discussion about race, right?

This guy was practically worshiped by UNC, and had more influence in the community than was healthy (especially given that he was a racist).

Bullies like this get tenure and then everybody is afraid to speak against them for fear of appearing sexist or racist. That's why I was so surprised by the Ward Churchill flap - I thought, "Really? You guys didn't know that there are people like this at every college? Huh."

Part of the reason why I record every class I have.

[nnanji]

So, I finally finished it. It isn't perfect but at this point, I don't really care. He hasn't provided much input in neither the paper nor the powerpoint. This should get me at least a B. Hoorah.

Let me know if there is any quick fixes that you folks would recommend that I change.

Paper (https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0BxdPMcQwLqX_MzE4YThkMzItMmY5MC00NTRmL TgxZTEtOGQ2MzhjNWI5N2M3&hl=en)


Just reading it quickly, here is what popped out at me.

I don't know if there is a quick fix, but this passage in the executive summary makes no sense to me.

How often do mergers and acquisitions fail and what are the attributed reasons?
The failure rate, as defined as an inability to create additional value for the companies, of
mergers and acquisitions being as high as 83% and is the primary cause for most mergers
and acquisitions to fail (Palmer).


It seems as though yo are saying that the failure rate is itself the cause of failure for most mergers and acquisitions. This is circular. You should list an actual reason, presumably related to culture or other soft problems, that the rate is so high.

Paragraph 3 of the intro reads:

However, despite the speculation that the merger would fail due to culture, it has been
judged that the merger has successfully integrated both cultures into a seamless entity
with little disruption caused by cultural differences.


In the first sentence, should it read, "despite the speculation that the merger would fail due to differences in culture" ? Changes in bold.

The first sentence under Discussion of Findings: the word under should be understand? Are you quoting the source (in which case a sic might be in order) or paraphrasing?

The first sentence in the section Differences in Culture should be two sentences.

The first sentence in the section Reasons for merger and acquisition failure
I would change the word 'can' to the word 'to'. This is probably purely a personal choice, but I think it makes the sentence more clear.

The entire section Reasons for success is the most clear and well-written I think. It seems to clearly be your words and thoughts and not just something you read.


Hope any of this helps.

[OUX]

Oh man, takes me back to some of the creative writing workshops I had in college. They were just awful. Every story was either about molestation, or some chick getting pregnant.

[Lekon]

A girl in my government and economics class once said "Freed slaves traveled west to California to form a communist state". She just didn't understand the notes we gave her, and mangled them all. But she said that out loud and no one questioned her, or laughed, or said she was wrong. I guarantee she passed that class.

My expectations for college as a whole are way low. But man, when you find a good professor, it's great to learn.

<--- Supposedly a good instructor. At least, students have said so!

It is neat seeing these comments/stories, as well, I'm on the other side of the podium from you guys at the moment. (Teaching public speaking at a university). I get to hear lots of horror stories from people transferred from other colleges (And sadly, some horror stories of my own uni) of teachers pulling this.

I love the recording idea. Seriously, that's awesome to do just incase it comes up later. And hell, it might. I know several of my students have recorded my class and others this semester, but well half of them have Iphones, so they can do that easily enough. If it is any consolation, not all of us instructors are assholes, or powermad, or desperate for tenure. The best advice I can give though is this:

Don't stay in the class. At my uni, the first week is freely add/drop, so you can chance classes as long as they aren't full. If your college has anything like that, use it. If you don't like that prof on the first day... leave. Get another class. Its not worth 15 weeks of hell from an asshole or racist.

Gah, I'm rambling. I agree though. There are far too many professors who don't know how to teach, who are just there for research or whatnot (Which is fine, but damn, don't make them teach). Its a bit easier in my department since we make our folk take classes on how to teach, but still, every now and then I hear a student say. "I need more profs like you. This one I have... she couldn't show emotion if I kicked her in the taco." (Actual quote).

Maybe we should start a professor taco kicking campaign? What would the slogan be?

[Scaryfaced]

No Taco Left Unkicked

[LongStepMantis]

One of my previous professors used our class as a way to farm ideas for research projects.

Our final assignment was to present a professional quality research proposal. We had to explain the reasoning behind our choices, give a 5-page summary of the research we had done and the conclusions we had come to, and present it to him on the last day. A few semesters later, a girl from that class told me that the professor had published an article in a quarterly research journal about the same ideas, with the same research and conclusions as she had done in her project. It makes sense, given how hard he pushed us to find as many different sources as possible. It's hard to be mad though, because the guy was a new hire and actually both very cool and well-versed in his field. I just look at it as us helping him out, involuntarily. ;)

[ShivaX]

No Taco Left Unkicked

Dammit where was this idea when Bush was still in office? Obama is never going to go for it.

[Loki]

Our group should be called PETA for Punting Emotionless Tacos Association

[Smoof]

I'm a feminist. I do not hate men.

In fact, I find those that purport that x person hated them because they were men are generally completely full of shit.

[Stmfuller]

I guess for me isn't the writing that's bad, it's the fact that your partner is very adept at using the copy/paste button on his/her computer as well as probably doesn't understand the material that worries me. My guess is a wikipedia copy/paste job.


as for group projects, if you do the work and none of the other members of your group do so tell the prof and ask to be graded separately for your part of the material. If they refuse, go to the department head.
Growing a pair should be a required class in college.

[Loki]

I guess for me isn't the writing that's bad, it's the fact that your partner is very adept at using the copy/paste button on his/her computer as well as probably doesn't understand the material that worries me. My guess is a wikipedia copy/paste job.


as for group projects, if you do the work and none of the other members of your group do so tell the prof and ask to be graded separately for your part of the material. If they refuse, go to the department head.
Growing a pair should be a required class in college.

actually, most of the copying and pasting came from the textbook. Some of it was ridiculously verbatim. I think he also copied a typo that was in the textbook too.

In regards to talking to the teacher, it is too late for me to talk to the instructor about it. Even then, this kis has the same degree as me and I don't really want to ostracize him in any way that will harm me in the future. If I get partnered with him again, I'll just ask to switch partners.

[Food Nipple]

In one of my classes, everybody is required to visit the campus "Communication Center" to have somebody review their term paper before they submit it. I guess the professors got tired of dealing with bad grammar.

The guy who reviewed my paper sat at a table with me, and had me read my paper aloud while he read over my shoulder. It's amazing how helpful it was, I immediately caught a bunch of mistakes I had overlooked when I was proofreading it.

I'm assuming if you had gotten your partner to read his paper aloud, he'd be smart enough to catch the big mistakes.

[MagGnome]

I know this isn't the topic of this thread, but I noticed that the paper you are working on is about the acquisition of MBNA by Bank of America?

I rue the day that acquisition took place. I had an MBNA credit card, and ever since Bank of America took over I've been looking forward to the day when I can get rid of it.

[MagGnome]

More on topic, I will agree that our education system is a mess.

I'll never forget the horror of having to sit through a class where the teacher had various students read aloud. I'd put my head down on the desk and pray for a tornado to hit the building.

I had some great teachers over the years, especially in high school and college, but overall the majority of my teachers were mediocre, if not downright horrible. In fairness though, a lot of blame rests on the students as well. I had fantastic classes that were nearly dragged down by asshole students who just did not want to put forth any effort whatsoever.

[Generation ABXY]

In one of my classes, everybody is required to visit the campus "Communication Center" to have somebody review their term paper before they submit it. I guess the professors got tired of dealing with bad grammar.

The guy who reviewed my paper sat at a table with me, and had me read my paper aloud while he read over my shoulder. It's amazing how helpful it was, I immediately caught a bunch of mistakes I had overlooked when I was proofreading it.

I'm assuming if you had gotten your partner to read his paper aloud, he'd be smart enough to catch the big mistakes.

Communication Centers? I've never heard of such a thing before...of course, I'd also assume that it would be solely the responsibility of the student.

[Food Nipple]

Communication Centers? I've never heard of such a thing before...of course, I'd also assume that it would be solely the responsibility of the student.

I'm in my senior year, and I had never heard of it. I guess it's actually called the Center for Communication Practices, a lot of schools call them writing centers, but they're more common than you might think.

[Stmfuller]

actually, most of the copying and pasting came from the textbook. Some of it was ridiculously verbatim. I think he also copied a typo that was in the textbook too.Now that's hilarious...It sounded too much like a copy/paste hackjob to be someone's original work. In regards to talking to the teacher, it is too late for me to talk to the instructor about it. Even then, this kis has the same degree as me and I don't really want to ostracize him in any way that will harm me in the future. If I get partnered with him again, I'll just ask to switch partners.It's up to you if you want to do that, but if they cause your grade to go down the only person you'll be able to blame at this point is yourself.

[Hellbug]

I'm in my senior year, and I had never heard of it. I guess it's actually called the Center for Communication Practices, a lot of schools call them writing centers, but they're more common than you might think.

Writing labs, writing centers. They are the bane of a decent writer's existence. I took a paper in once (the first paper of the semester), because like your class, my prof requires it to be reviewed before handing it in.

The person in the writing lab essentially told me that I would have to rewrite large portions of the essay if I were expecting to get a passing grade. I was told to remove different quotations that were essential to the essay (it was a personal narrative).

I handed in the same essay to the prof and she gave it a near perfect grade. Three papers later and I haven't visited the lab again.


Still, I appreciate that the writing lab is there, for the sake of everyone else's grade. I've read some of those papers, and wow.

[Doogie2K]

I'm a feminist. I do not hate men.

In fact, I find those that purport that x person hated them because they were men are generally completely full of shit.

Just because you're reasonable doesn't mean others aren't. You'd be surprised what's said in a Women's Studies class (my cousin took one last year).

In regards to talking to the teacher, it is too late for me to talk to the instructor about it. Even then, this kis has the same degree as me and I don't really want to ostracize him in any way that will harm me in the future. If I get partnered with him again, I'll just ask to switch partners.

Nonsense. Cheating is cheating. If he fails the course, it serves him right. Next time he'll fucking learn.

Also, it's never too late to talk to a prof. I've talked to a prof the day before a presentation/hand-in and said, "look, this guy has done no work at all, except copy from the textbook, can you please not consider him part of the group?" She was fine with that: I got an A and he got an F.

[Loki]

Nonsense. Cheating is cheating. If he fails the course, it serves him right. Next time he'll fucking learn.

Also, it's never too late to talk to a prof. I've talked to a prof the day before a presentation/hand-in and said, "look, this guy has done no work at all, except copy from the textbook, can you please not consider him part of the group?" She was fine with that: I got an A and he got an F.

This isn't a case of 'cheating'. Just poor writing and expectations.

[Food Nipple]

Writing labs, writing centers. They are the bane of a decent writer's existence. I took a paper in once (the first paper of the semester), because like your class, my prof requires it to be reviewed before handing it in.

The person in the writing lab essentially told me that I would have to rewrite large portions of the essay if I were expecting to get a passing grade. I was told to remove different quotations that were essential to the essay (it was a personal narrative).

I handed in the same essay to the prof and she gave it a near perfect grade. Three papers later and I haven't visited the lab again.


Still, I appreciate that the writing lab is there, for the sake of everyone else's grade. I've read some of those papers, and wow.

The kind of feedback you get probably varies pretty widely depending on the writing center. I don't think writing centers should be trying to give you subjective advice about the content of your paper.

Most of the feedback I got was things like "You shouldn't have a comma in this complex predicate" or "This sentence is in present tense but the rest of the paragraph is in past tense." That kind of stuff isn't subjective, it's either right or it's wrong.

That level of feedback might not be enough to turn Loki's partner into a poet laueate, but it would at least elevate the guy's writing to a level where I'm not distracted by his terrible grammar. That's the kind of feedback writing centers should be giving.