Bagged Milk aha (revised)

So after our discussion on bagged milk, i found this website completely dedicated to these awesome creations. Which by the way has links to other awesome sites on the subject also.

http://home.cogeco.ca/~husky66/Milk/

This man (or woman's) sense of humour is amazing. It plays on the fact that other cultures (specifically Americans) are completely in awe that we have created such things. The creator of the site has become so frustrated with the ignorance towards milk bags that they felt it was necessary to make the information available. The site provides animated "milk bag operation" showing how to cut the corner off in order to be able to pour, but also as if that was not enough, detailed instructions with photographs to guide you through the entire process from package to pitcher. There are links leadingto discussions boards "the Brunching Shuttlecocks" being one of them. It is unfortunately almost all Americans bashing our amazing bagged milk, questioning it's practicality, and even safety towards children and the potential of cockraoches ntering the small hole!

The milk is typically sold in 1 or the more popular 1.33 litre bags in packages of 3 bags (4 litres). You will need to buy a pitcher to put the bags into to pour and cut off the corner of the bag. It was a great idea as it saves waste compared to the large jugs and containers that milk is sold in elsewhere. Also, the bags can be re-used for sandwiches for example. Us Canadians are good at reducing, reusing and recycling! I wasn't aware previous to our discussion in class at the significance of the bagged milk. It is ranked up in importance for Canadian trademarks with tuques and maple syrup!

Bagged milk is however available in Angentina, Hungary, Israel, India, Montenegro, Poland, South Africa and Uruguay. In Canada they are mostly available in Ontario, Maritimes and Quebec.

The problem is that people are not always open to change and believe that the way things are done in their area and their lives is the right way. it is important that we live our lives open to ideas others may have and give them a chance as they may possibly be more effective as the way things were being done before. In this case, bagged milk may seem odd and different, but in fact it reduces waste and the bags may be reused.

Long story short, bagged milk is awesome :)

Social Scientist Reflection - Max Weber

Ashneet and I did our presentation on Max Weber. He was a German sociologist born in 1864 and died in 1920. He taught before and during the first world war at the universities of Freiburg, Munich and Heidelberg. He was most famous for his theories on management and the bureaucratisation of society. In his lifetime he was mainly known for his political ideas and would probably be shocked that his theorie would have such an impact on the corporate world. His theory states that in order to function well, there should be many stages in management. Weber said that there were 3 types of leadership; charasmatic, hereditary and the beaurocratic. He believed that each type was capable of gaining obeidiency, but are suitable in different stages of the development of organizations. The charasmatic leader is best suited for the early stages as it relies on a single person's views to guide it towards it's goal. The hereditary leader is put in place by birth, replacing a family member usually, and is capable of continuing established practices. The beaurocratic is next, Weber's famous theory. There were several stages envolved and ideas passed through each stage. It was run in a very machine-like manner. Weber realised that the practices could become dehumanising and said that the only way to reverse this is to bring in a charasmatic leader to reform. The idea was that there is a hiearchy of career positions with possiblities of promotion, selected on terms of knowledge and qualifications, office space, pensions, however subject to control and discipline from the superiors.

This idea caught on as Weber was a major influence on major corporate leaders around that time, the inter-war period. Today mostly every company follows this structure. It maintains order, however must be controlled to a certain degree. Weber was right that it can become very dehumanising as major companies' salaries can go from millions to the CEO, to minimum wage to other workers who have no influence at all. It is vital to have employees of all fields in order to keep companies functioning, however it is unfortunate that the lesser known employees are practically forgotten about. For smaller businesses it is very good as everyone still knows oneanother and can communicate ideas successfully, yet still maintain the owner/boss, possibly supervisors to keep order and take care of major works. All in all this system is effective.