Culture at GCE

For my Systems and Models course, we were assigned to perform an SWOT analysis on an aspect of our high school. We were instructed to apply the framework, concepts, and breakthroughs that we have learned in unit 1 through unit 3. These are some of the concepts and breakthroughs we have learned in Systems and Models: IO psychology, Maslow's Hierarchy of needs, the commons, the tragedy of the commons, SWOT, and systems and analysis thinking. Applying these concept for the SWOT analysis served as evidence for the explanations that we offered to support our suggestions. The purpose of this action project was to put ourselves into and analytical framework and to perform an SWOT.

Below is my SWOT analysis:

A SWOT stands for Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats and is a analytical planning framework. It involves identifying the internal and external factors that are advantageous and disadvantageous in achieving an objective.
S.
- Small school
- Individualize attention
- Get to know your community members more closely

W.
- Cliquish
- Force relationships


O.
- Visitors

T.
- Competition with other school
- Sports/clubs


Maslow's Hierarchy of needs is a theory in psychology, it's a five stage model divided into different human motivation. Maslow's ideas surrounding the Hierarchy of Needs concerning the responsibility of not just employers but school officials as well to provide an environment that enables students to fulfill self-actualization are relevant as evidence to support my analysis. We are all motivated by our needs, with the most obvious need being the need for survival itself. Only when is our lower need of emotional and physical need are satisfied that we concern ourselves with the higher needs. Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a paradigm for motivating learning.

Our most basic need is for physiological survival meaning shelter warmth/cool, food, water, and so on. The GCE community meets these need because we have a heated and cooled building. Students have access to water and food.

Once these physiological needs are met, we are then able to address the need for security and safety, which includes the absence of threats and freedom from danger. No one at GCE feels unsafe, if anything they probably feel too safe.

Once security needs has been assured, individuals then are able to concern themselves with Belonging and Love. These needs are usually found within families, associations, friendships, and memberships. "GCE is like a family and is very close knit," said a senior at GCE. GCE is an extremely cliquish community. Many fall on the notion that cliques are bad and they certainly can be because that create boundaries to friendships and can encourage misbehaviors. Cliques are common in schools and are not all bad. It's a way for kids with similar interest to find each other, which helps fulfill our need of belonging. "There is also a sense of forced relationships. It seems that sometimes teachers and administrators force kids to be friends," states a senior at GCE. This is strange because this isn't Hogwarts.

The need for esteem is met through achievement and mastery and through gaining recognition and respect from others. GGE has a culture of appreciation. Final presentation and examples of excellence are things put forth allowing students to showcase their work to each other and friends/family members.

Once the need for self esteem has been met, we then develop an uneasiness to chase our talents, which Maslow refers to as self-actualization. "GCE's structure allows for innovation and control over your own destiny, " said a GCE staff.

Psychology is the study of behavior which dates back to the Ancient Greeks. Psychology was a branch of philosophy until the 1870s. In 1879, psychology began in as a self-conscious field of experimental study when Wilhelm Wundt founded the first laboratory dedicated to psychological research in Leipzig, Germany. In 1892, the American Psychological Association aka APA formed to advance psychology as a real science.

The commons is a source people have free access too. In our community this source is counseling. Everyone has access to the counselor, individuals could set up weekly meet if need be.
The tragedy of the commons is a concept in economics which states, when individuals acting independently and rationally will deplete a shared resource, even when doing so is not in their interest. One resource that we as a community abuse is our ability to take "bathroom" breaks. GCE has a very trusting culture and often times this trust is missed used.

The Six Sigma is a business model which eliminates defects in any process from manufacturing to trans-actional and from product to service. By seeking feedback from students, GCE's culture/community has benefit and thus employed this method. Total quality management is a description of of the attitude and culture of a company which strives to provide customers with service that satisfy their needs. The culture and attitude at GCE does satisfy students' needs as evident by Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

Systems thinking is a management discipline that concerns an understanding of a system by examining the linkages and interactions between the components that comprise the entirety of that defined system. "The number one reason people become friends with each other is because of proximity," said a GCE staff. If we want to eliminate the cliquish atmosphere in our community, we should require students to share their lunchtime with different people every Thursday. Another idea is having a gym club which would engage and encourage conversation between students.

Works Cited:

• Teachout, M. S., & Vequist, D. G. IV. (2008). Trends in business consulting. In J. W. Hedge, & W. C. Borman (Eds.), The I/O consultant: Advice and insights for building a successful career (pp. 335–343). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
• Laura L. Koppes. "What Is I-O?" A Brief History of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Inc.-. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2016. <https://www.siop.org/History/historynew.aspx>.