#organizational studies

[beltway-insider-komeradlurkr]

Lessons for Nationalization:

Mergers

A thing I've learned reading about the railroads is there's a good and bad way to go about merging a company. The good way is planned, gradual, and thought out to the circumstances of the companies. The foremost example would be the "affiliation" and merger of the B&O and C&O RRs into the Chessie System over 10 years from 1963-73. Another good example is the slow merger of Chessie and the Seaboard System into CSX that took place from 1980 to 1987.

Conversely what not to do is illustrated by the Infamous merger of the Penn Central. Before merging the Pennsylvania and New York Central Railroads were well established but struggling. However after the companies joined together there would be an exodus of former NYC managers and personnel, with PRR employees clamoring to fill the empty positions. The new management that was unacquainted with the operations and circumstances of the NYC subdivisions would be one of the factors that set PC down the path of financial ruin. The decay of Penn Central would require the creation of Conrail in 1976 to prevent the destruction of rail completely in the Northeast.

What the Sucess of Chessie/CSX and the abject failure of PC can tell us is merging railroads is not something to be done without careful planning and knowledge of the complex functions and dynamics of both organizations. Nationalization of the class I Companies would require the input of Railworkers, Shippers, and Insiders with intimate knowledge of company affairs to keep a continuity of service and ensure a smooth, well organized transition from private to public ownership. Only with such knowhow, forethought, and measured action would a national carrier be able to avoid the mistakes that destroyed Penn Central and preserve the networks of the pre merger companies.

[otomes-and-tears]

thoughts on shiloh and jb,,,, theyre so fun to think abt as a dynamic no matter how u choose to slice it

THANK YOU FOR GIVING ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO TALK ABOUT THIS, ANON!! I want to smooch your forehead. I'm so happy rn.

Okay so-- I like to think that Shiloh initially only agreed to date JB out of self-interest, but eventually developed genuine feelings for her that he's in denial about.

We all know that he chooses to closely associate with people who will offer him something in return, and being with JB is DEFINITELY beneficial for him in the beginning:

First, by going out with her he's setting himself apart from the other jerks. He already acts differently from them, being nice, cheerful and helpful, and dating someone who others would consider desirable would do good for his social standing (and we know that shiloh has a bit of a reputation for being a manwhore, so actually settling down with someone for once would make him appear better) and it would solidify the idea that he's in the jerksquad by mistake and that he's "totally normal you guys" for people who still didn't catch on to him being a snake.

We also know that part of the reason is literally just that JB is the one thing that all the jerks have in common. They're all attracted to her in some capacity, and Shiloh can rub it in their faces in his own way that he "won" by being with her.

I think that JB being physically attractive and fitting his type are just minor points for him. If it was down to just physical attraction he wouldn't have bothered with a romantic relationship. He did, canonically, have a bunch of flings, so we know that for him accept a serious, exclusive relationship meant that there was a lot of incentive for him to do so.

So by all accounts, this is literally the perfect scenario for him: He's with someone attractive and fun, he pisses Pran off, people will see him in a better light and, the best part of all, JB is aware that he has ulterior motives and doesn't care about what they are, just as long he's praising her and being amusing.

There doesn't need to be any actual feelings involved. It's a mutually beneficial relationship that hinges on both parts fulfilling their pre-assigned roles. It's straightforward and uncomplicated, even if their dynamic is kind of fucked up if you think too hard about it.

But... And maybe this is just the hopeless romantic in me, but I do think that Shiloh eventually starts developing actual feelings for JB, and it would be fucking terrible for him.

There's this one post where GB lady talks about Shiloh's loneliness, and I think about it way too much. Even if you choose to see him as someone who just discards and replaces people in his life as soon as they're not of use anymore, he still feels isolated and lonely, because of course he does! Shiloh spent his entire life not letting people in and just following whoever established themselves as a leader, he even admits to it himself in Our life.

Shiloh doesn't have any actual, meaningful relationships because he can't have them and still maintain that same pattern of behaviour that he's used to, and letting go of these old habits would be incredibly difficult for someone whose entire childhood socialization was built onto this foundation.

Like-- I know that is a clichê for people to trace back everything to someone's childhood, but I cannot stress enough how CRUCIAL childhood socialization is for human development. Of course, people can grow and change even if they had difficult childhoods, but you need a good foundation in order to build healthy habits, and while Shiloh did have loving parents who wanted to do good by him, the behaviours and thought patterns he picked up during his childhood are still things we can see he struggles with throughout his life.

Building long-lasting connections with people means that he needs to allow himself to be vulnerable and genuine, It means that Shiloh needs to let go of the safety of the "boss and sidekick" dynamic that he's used to, and that especially, he would need to let go of his habit of entering relationships with the expectation of leaving them eventually.

I don't think these are things he's incapable of doing, if you choose to believe that he was being genuine with Liz during their conversation in OLBA, but these are things that he has resistance to trying because they have outcomes that are difficult to predict, and Shiloh is as his most comfortable when he's able to read someone and be what they need him to be or manipulate them into giving to him what he wants. He thrives on predictability and control.

I believe that actually falling in love with JB would be something he'd be in denial about for a long time. I think it would be hard for him to rationalise having actual, genuine feelings for someone after he spent an entire life avoiding them, and it would be even harder for him to deal with the very real possibility of this relationship having an expiration date, or, even worse, him wanting to be with her past her usefulness.

And it's not like he has anyone to talk to about these things, or that JB would even believe him if he admitted to actually liking her. I do think that Shiloh is the kind of person who would try to bury these feelings inside as much as possible to try and regain some sense of normalcy and you'd never be able to tell, bc he's just acting like normal.

By the prom scene, I think he actually likes her. I think he purposefully takes advantage of the fact that she doesn't take anything he says seriously to say things he actually means. I think him opening up about his manipulation tactics goes beyond him just wanting to manipulate her further (though I do think that keeping her interested enough she doesn't want to break up is a good motivator for him to keep on manipulating her too) and is also Shiloh's way of testing her boundaries and just how much she's willing to put up with if he starts being honest with her.

I don't think he knows whether or not to break up with her by graduation. She's asking him, but he doesn't know what to answer. Being with her beyond high school and putting effort into staying with JB long-distance doesn't really benefit Shiloh like it did when they were both in high school, and staying with JB long-term would mean that at some point he'd have to look deep inside and ask himself if he's willing to change.

And yeah, he's lonely, and he loves JB, but is that worth giving up everything you know?

Buuut if you want my honest opinion, which I'm guessing you do because you read through this mountain of text, I like to think that him allowing Liz back into his life is a good sign. It, at the very least, means that he is willing to maintain one relationship and that he's willing to be at least somewhat honest with someone. That's already miles better from where he was when Xoxo Droplets started.

By the way-- if you agree or disagree with anything I said here I'd LOVE to hear people's takes on this topic! I love talking about them!

[purecommemasolitude]

actually if i fail this exam in two days it will be an epic and subtle sodapop curtis reference and not an academic failure at all. the [redacted] markers simply do not understand my outsiders swag

[good-beans]

(Milgram self-insert oc masterpost hehe)

Name: For the sake of posting online I’ll call her Rose!

Color: #E7355B [the pink in the art]

Age: I guess she’d be 20 given when Milgram started huh.

Status: Milgram Staff, Machine Technician

Symbols/imagery: ballet/musical theater, science experiments

Song genre: very similar to Mahiru's, something upbeat and extra pop-y

Tentatively she's number 011? She's not really prisoner but she's also not free to come and go, so I'm not actually sure if she'd get a number (Edit: I've decided she'll actually be 012. Staff is given the 01X range, and even though Es doesn't actively have a number they'd be staff member 011, making her 012.)

Story: Since the project is supposed to be realistic/present day, the mv machine would be brand new and unpredictable tech, so they’d want someone keeping up on maintenance and making sure the brain-invasive process won’t cause any harm to the prisoners. Rose was studying abroad in Japan working on some cool neuroscience tech (irl I know nothing about technology or brains but shh) and she stumbled upon some secret tech/plans from Milgram. Long story short, she was dragged into the experiment to make sure things ran smoothly.

Writer's Reasoning: She’s really fun for me to play around with, as she allows me to work with a character who has a tiny bit of pull over Es’ mindset in conversation but not the final decision (aka mirroring the voting system), and someone who is simultaneously trapped in the prison but has a reason to see all the canon content.* I really enjoy the character interactions and dynamics Milgram has set up so far, so it’s been super fun seeing how things change for better and worse when someone not quite aligned with either Milgram/the prisoners is thrown into the mix!

*As much as I love dramatic irony in fiction, it would drive me crazy if I knew every detail of of the vds/mvs but Rose didn't – and every single Milgram character is The Worst Communicator Ever so I couldn’t justify that she’d hear it secondhand from them...

Story roles:

She’s a bit conflicted -- she’s officially Milgram staff and knows she should remain neutral on the prisoners, since she won’t be allowed to interfere with the process/executions. At the same time, her job description is literally “make sure the machine doesn't hurt them and everyone's safe :)” and she's way too emotional to avoid getting hopelessly attached to everyone 😅

I really enjoy the theory that the machine extracts videos based off of priming, so one of Rose’s duties involves listening in on the interrogation and making sure there’s been enough material discussed/not too much time has passed overall (hence the ringing of the bell happening at different lengths for each vd -- That's her ringing it :3). She then watches the mvs along with Es to make sure there are no machine glitches, and know how to calibrate it better for next time.

(IEdit: I've since decided to add in official trial mvs, but before when I wasn't ready to tackle that:) She has to run some tests on the machine to make sure things are calibrated correctly, so she'd extract little things here and there. It gives me the opportunity to think up lyric snippets and recurring symbols for her without worrying about full encompassing music videos.

I'm not afraid to admit she can fall into Mary Sue territory every so often by being everyone's friend, because it's less about "aw everyone likes her" and more about "canon is too painful rn and I need a fix-it tool to take care of these guys and give them hugs and tell them someone forgives them and cares about them and unfortunately these characters wouldn't let anyone less than a friend do that." Rest assured she's definitely not perfect and will fuck everything up on occasion :3

Miscellaneous: Whenever I play around with normal au ideas she's still working on the machine (but in a public, more ethical setting), and she's Mahiru's roommate :) Her character isn't super focused on love, but if I had to pick a cover song it'd be Stickybug II. It's very much my vibe, the lyrics fit well enough (better than most songs, at least lol) and it's one of my favorites out of my limited knowledge of unchosen Deco songs! (Edit, I've actually given her non-deco cover songs hehe)

So yeah, I hope she's not too boring without a cool crime to decipher, but I wanted to share since I was really proud of her! It took a bit of tinkering to find a way to fit her into a perfect secret-third-thing role that runs very smoothly with all of canon, so I was very excited!

[icewindandboringhorror]

It's always interesting to hear about people's weird/unexpected "alternate life paths". Like, something that you could have done with your life, a job you almost took, a school you almost went to, etc - that was still actually realistic enough that it could have happened, but NOW it seems to not suit your current personality.

Like for example, I currently hate advertising (how manipulative it is, brands trying to be 'relatable', social media amplifying it to an obnoxious extreme, etc.) so much that even seeing a little ad before a youtube video is grating to even witness, but there was a point in time where I was genuinely seriously considering going into marketing/making commercials as a career lol. Or like, I have a relative who was very inclined to be a pastor when they were younger, even though today they're a super strong atheist, etc. etc.

[anaalnathrakhs]

hmm dead afraid for the future, what could fix this besides eating five hours of my life away and neglecting any kind of preparation that could make the future a little less unstable and painful?

[httpsstudy]

my college notebook: a big book with everything in it. 

in my final year of undergraduate, I really settled into my ideal organization and notetaking schemes. Here is a page of notes from my permaculture class on stormwater management tools, alongside my work scheduler (on a slow week. :P) I like this layout for  keeping my courses organized; course numbers run along the top edge, days of the week on the vertical. Because it’s just a grid, you don’t have to start on any particular day or keep the order of a calendar. Shaded boxes mark the days that I have that class, and I write tasks in based on when I need to work on them or when they are due. Underneath the chart is just a list of all the work that was due during the given time for each course. 

The notebook is the magnificent Leuchtturm1917 A4+ grid book, which has extra thick 100gsm paper. I took all of my notes and planned many projects in these books, using 1 per semester for all of my work. they are expensive, but the pages are huge, and it feels really good to write in them. Aside from class notes, I’d recommend these books for sketchbooks or for design project planning. 

I’ll be posting some more of my college notes soon, and I have a new account that I will share soon. 

[shadowtriovibes]

Hello! Your writing is AMAZING and I would like to request Sebastian and MC wanting to have their first time and Seb being the bookworm he is doing some ~research in the restricted section on how to make MC feel good and when she discovers it finds it super sweet ❤

i have been wanting to write this for a while 🤤 because there are absolutely smut books and sex guides in the restricted section let’s be for real… and sebastian is nothing if not well-read

[fight-for-it-now]

Hello everyone,

please, if you have some time, you can help me with my dissertation research about work behavior and its impact on the well-being in the flexible workplace.

Here is the link for the questionnaire:

https://forms.gle/WD7GGHBUzKvxmdCj7

Thank you so much for your time!

[princemick]

me: 'yeah my mom taught me that'

a new friend: '.......your parents are like that, that explains everything'

[insertsickusername13]

something something in the endless battle between pressure and gravity, gravity always wins something something Jake Dillinger is breaking and Jake Dillinger can't stop himself from plummeting something something so it turns out even Jake Dillinger can't win every war

[murasaki-sama]

Looking for communication (studies) nerds

Hello! I have a BS in Communication (Intercultural) and I am looking for a few fellow nerds in the field. Do you like to talk about proxemics, group think, muted group theory, culture shock, high and low context cultures and how they differ, when public communication becomes mass communication, organizational culture and more related theories and topics and concepts?  Are you fascinated by real world examples for these theories and concepts? what about fictional world/story examples? Do you just like to bullshit and rant about the concepts for fun?

I am creating a discord group for like minding fellow nerds, and one of the biggest groups I would like to have join is communication (studies) nerds! Also people who are queer, neurodivergent, have chronic physical and/or mental health issues, and like stories (reading them and/or writing their own!).

For now, though, I would really love to connect with some communication people! Send me an ask or a private message if you are one and would like to connect! I’ll reply with a link to the discord (its still a WIP).

Please reblog this so it breaks containment! Thanks.

[arisingonmorningsinnocent]

--Brenda J. Allen, Difference Matters

[sociallyawkwardseal]

Prompt: Fictober Day 8: "Are we happy?"

Fandom: School Bus Graveyard

Summary: The SBG kids talk about just what to do with their Savannah report.

Content Warnings: None that I can think of!

Words: 709

Note: I know I'm really late on Fictober, but Life got in the way. I'm trying to catch up, whoops.

“Are we gonna keep going over our homework, or?”

Taylor groaned at the question, sinking further into the beanbag that she had rolled into as soon as her brother abandoned it to go downstairs for another water.

“We at least need to finish the outline today.” Ashlyn muttered, her eyes flickering down to the clipboard that sat in front of her on the floor. It was a small collection of papers—the class’s syllabus, the assignment’s rubric, and scrap sheets that had various ideas that each of them had thrown out.

Aiden chuckled, low and quiet, from where he laid on the edge of the bed. “Pretty hard to figure out what we wanna write about after the whole trip got kinda like. Messed up by the whole phantom situation.”

You’re telling me… Ashlyn didn’t look up, her foot tapping silently against her crossed legs on the floor. How can I think of anything else we saw on the trip after that?

How could any of us?

“Oh, hey,” Aiden sat upright, now folding his legs underneath him as he resettled. “Logan got a lot of pictures of like. The gravestones in that one cemetery, right?”

“Yeah, I did. I think Ben took a few, too—on his phone… He said he wanted to use them for references.”

“Sooo. We could just research some of those people, and then call it a day?” Aiden waved his hand in a circular motion as he spoke, trying to spool his ideas out of his head and into the air. “Researching the people who lived and died in Savannah. There’s probably something there, even if we can’t tie it back to the Sorrel-Weed House, since we did tell Mr. Thomas we toured it. Honestly? I kinda don’t want to tie it back around, anyway.”

Taylor raised her head from the beanbag, barely, just enough to catch Aiden and the others in her line of sight. “I really don’t, either. But. Yeah, that works for me?”

Ben nodded in agreement, his palm lingering over his phone as he listened to Aiden.

“So. Are we happy just researching the names on the graves we got? And the cemetery itself? And not the Sorrel-Weed house or anything else in town?”

Logan nodded, pulling his bag up from the floor and into his lap. “That works for me, I’ll go ahead and get the pictures I took out?”

“Alright. Thanks.”

“I dunno, are we happy?” Tyler scoffed pushing the cracked door open just enough to slip in. He closed it back, not fully, and sat next to the occupied beanbag chair. “I wasn’t even here to help make the plans.”

“If it were a majority vote, you would have lost, anyway.”

“… Yeah, fair.” He shrugged, reaching over to poke at Taylor’s arm. She nudged him, shooting back with a quiet ‘My spot now’, as he continued talking. “I don’t actually have a problem with researching the tombstones, it’s probably the easiest thing we’ve got to work with. Did anyone actually get the cemetery’s name, though?”

He has a point.

The room fell silent, not even the shuffling of Logan digging through his bag filled the space between them anymore. Everyone sat still, just trying to recall whatever they could. Any signage. Any detail about the street it was on. Even other places near it. Anything.

Was there a bistro across the street? It was somewhere we passed on the carriage ride, too. But. What did they call it? Ashlyn’s foot hit against her leg a bit heavier, her knuckles digging into her cheek harder as she tried to recall anything. One of us has to remember something.

“We can probably just look up some of the names and see if there’s a registry for where they’re buried? Or see if their obituaries are online, and if they say where they’re going to be buried?” Logan said, now holding a few stacked photographs in one hand, his other still digging through his bag.

“Hey, yeah, that works?” Aiden beamed, patting Logan’s back with a heavy-hand—making him lurch forward and catch himself before he fell off of the edge of the bed. “Op. Sorry.”

“You’re fine. I’ll look them up later, unless someone else wants to.”

[mehmetyildizmelbourne-blog]

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[cyber-soul-smartz]

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