Are you a good colleague? Check it here ;)

There is at least one of them in every workplace, disrupting harmony and belittling colleagues.

They send insulting e-mails to rivals while simultaneously buttering up those in positions of power.

Whether an old-fashioned bully or a 'white- collar psychopath', they take all the fun out of an office.

There are countless uncomplimentary names for them, but with typical American forthrightness, Bob Sutton calls them a**holes.

And he has come up with a 24-point test to see if you are an office a**hole yourself.

Sutton, professor of management science at Stanford Engineering School, California, said: "We all have the potential to act like a**holes in the wrong conditions - when we are placed under pressure or, especially, when our workplace encourages everyone, especially the most power people, to act that way."

He believes that telling whether someone else is an office a**hole boils down to two simple questions.

"After talking to the alleged a**hole, does the 'target' feel oppressed, humiliated, de-energised or belittled by the person?

"In particular, does the 'target' feel worse about him or herself?

"Does the alleged a**hole aim his or her venom at people who are less powerful rather than at those people who are more powerful?"

But there is hope for the targets of bullying. Professor Sutton said they should become 'emotionally detached' and not struggle against 'larger forces'.

Instead, they should pick battles they can win and take small steps to undermine their tormentor.

'Employees who face and witness constant bullying leave their jobs at higher rates than in civilised places,' he writes in his book The No A**hole Rule.

'But most of the afflicted hunker down and take it. They have no escape route to another job, or at least to one that pays as well.'

Bullying can cause other staff to resign, call in sick, and be less productive. They can even lead to other workers becoming office a**holes themselves.

Perhaps the best-known example of the phenomenon is David Brent, Ricky Gervais's character in TV's The Office.

Consultant clinical psychologist Dr Mike Drayton, from Opus Psychology Practice, says many office a**holes fall into two groups.

'Some people bully to pass on the stress of their job to someone else. They will pick the most psychologically and emotionally vulnerable person in the organisation.

'Another character is the white-collar psychopath who takes great pleasure in affecting great psychological pain on others. Often they are charming and do terribly well because their anti-social behaviour is encouraged. They flatter their managers while making the lives of their team hell.'

Dr Drayton says this breeds an atmosphere of fear where people keep their heads down.

For those who feel powerless against the actions of office a**holes, some even steal to even the score.

Researchers at Ohio State University looked at three similar factories. Two introduced a ten-week 15 per cent pay cut after the firm temporarily lost a major contract.

In the first, factory employees were given a detailed and compassionate explanation, along with sincere apologies. In the second, the manager announced the cuts in a curt and impersonal manner.

In the factory where there was no pay cut theft rates held at around 4 per cent of product.

At the factory where pay cuts were sympathetically explained the rate of thefts went up to 6 per cent, while in the place where they were announced in a curt manner thefts went up to nearly 10 per cent.

Are you an a***hole? Now take this quiz to find out - indicate whether each statement is a true (T) or false (F) description of your interaction with colleagues

What are your gut reactions to people?

1. You feel surrounded by incompetent idiots - and you can't help letting them know the truth every now and then.

2. You were a nice person until you started working with the current bunch of creeps.

3. You don't trust the people around you, and they don't trust you.

4. You see your co-workers as competitors.

5. You believe that one of the best ways to climb the ladder is to push other people down or out of the way.

6. You secretly enjoy watching other people suffer and squirm.

7. You are often jealous of your colleagues and find it difficult to be genuinely pleased for them when they do well.

8. You have a small list of close friends and a long list of enemies, and you are equally proud of both lists.

How do you treat other people?

9. You sometimes just can not contain your contempt towards the losers and jerks at your workplace.

10. You find it useful to glare at, insult and even occasionally shout at some of the idiots at your workplace - otherwise they never seem to shape up.

11. You take credit for the accomplishments of your team - why not? They would be nowhere without you.

12. You enjoy lobbing "innocent" comments into meetings that serve no purpose other than to humiliate or cause discomfort to the person on the receiving end.

13. You are quick to point out others' mistakes.

14. You don't make mistakes. When something goes wrong, you always find some idiot to blame.

15. You constantly interrupt people because, after all, what you have to say is more important.

16. You are constantly buttering up your boss and other powerful people, and you expect the same treatment from your underlings.

17. Your jokes and teasing can get a bit nasty at times, but you have to admit that they are pretty funny.

18. You love your immediate team and they love you, but you are all continually at war with the rest of the organisation. You treat everyone else like rubbish because, after all, if you're not on my team you either don't matter or you're the enemy.

How do people react to you?

19. You notice that people seem to avoid eye contact when they talk to you - and they often become very nervous.

20. You have the feeling that people are always very careful about what they say around you.

21. People keep responding to your emails with hostile reactions.

22. People seem hesitant about divulging personal information to you.

23. People seem to stop having fun when you arrive.

24. People always seem to react to your arrival by announcing that they have to leave.

Scoring the test: add up the number of statements that you marked as true.

0-5: You aren't a certified a***hole

5-15: A borderline certified a***hole, perhaps the time has come to start changing your behaviour before it gets worse

15 or more: Full-blown certified a***hole, get help immediately

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-448973/Are-good-colleague-just-pain-office.html

Amazing song!

 It is just a meaningful story about friendship I wanna share ;)

A Friendship Story in Vietnamese Culture

This story also have another name, which is "Selling Hair to Serve Friends."

Why the Vietnamese story always begin people being poor?...

Back in the old days there were three boys, Tung, Truc, and Mai. Each of the boys was from a different region in Viet Nam and by chance they were brought together to study under the same teacher. The only thing the young men had in common was how poor each of them was.
Their families were dirt poor but the parents were determined for the son to have an education. For that very reason, all of them buried themselves in their books so their family's effort would not go to waste and somehow became friends.
When they became friends, the boys sworn together that later on in life if one of the three becomes successful, he would not forget the others and their time in poverty. He would also promise to aid the other friends out of the lower class.
After awhile, due to family's circumstances all three boys had to quit school and went their separate ways. Tung was the first fortunate one to have his luck turn around. With a bright mind and perseverance, Tung was very determined to pursue his study.
Tung became a servant for an elderly named Nghe in order to continue his study. The old man recognized Tung potential and determination and supported him like a son. For the next few years, Tung studied and he was finally able to obtain Tien Si (a person who passed all three examinations held by the government). With the Tien Si, Tung became an officer in the capital city.
From that point, Tung's life picked up its pace, its speed turned into a whirlwind no one could catch up. Even though he now lived in luxury, Tung still remembered his book friends from before. One day, Tung decided to find his friends so he took a leave of absences.
On Tung's journey to find his friends, he dressed as commoner in order to avoid disturbance and the hassle of guard soldiers around him. It did not take him a long time to find Truc's house, one of his two best friends back in the old days.

The first visit...

Let's back track a bit to Truc's story after he left his friends. The day after Truc quitted school he inherited a big amount of land from his grandparents on his mother's side. Through hard work and knowing how to turn the land around, Truc was able to make the land rich in ten years and became well off.
Even though he was rich, he does not want to lose a dollar, a quarter, or even a penny to anyone. Because of this, Truc has forgotten the words of promise between the three friends in the past."AW Heck! Why waste your time searching? The other people did not bother to find you or I."
With that thought, Truc felt very secure with all his actions and words. When Tung first saw how rich his friend was, he wanted to test how true the feelings were so he does not say anything about his current life. The only thing that Tung told Truc was that he missed his friend so he wanted to find and visit him.
Judging from Tung's appearance, Truc guessed he only have enough to eat and only come to rekindle the friendship to ask for money. The thought floated with Truc as he pretended his life was still in difficulty and went on to tell Tung.
"To tell you the truth, if it were not because of the past recent business trips than I would not be losing to anyone. Earlier I was considering finding you in the North but after so many bad droughts continuously and then there was a famine, I had to mortgage some of my acres and it was not until recent I finished paying it off."
Truc went on and on about his so-called hardships in order to zip Tung's mouth if he had any thoughts about asking money. To continue on with his charade of his life in poverty, Truc gave his friend a small, simple dinner. The next morning before everyone woke up, Truc went to the cook and asked him to make a fish net and worms for his next plan.
While Truc showed Tung around the property, they came upon the cook. Truc yelled at the cook, "Hey! 'Dan bat kha ha tri' (at 3 do not let the net down). Don't you remember the old saying?! Why do you want to fish at this hour? Do you want me to go bankrupt?"
The servant caught the owner's meaning and quietly left the scene. That afternoon when the chickens returned to its coop, Truc's wife told the house servant to pick the plumpest chicken to kill. Before the chicken could be kill, Truc ran into the kitchen screaming,
"Ey! At 4 you should not kill birds! Even if your friend should visit, you should still not kill. It is highly forbid."
Tung was done witnessing how Truc's life was and continued onto Mai's house, the second friend who lived through hardships with Tung during his school years. Still in his commoner's clothes, Tung arrived at Mai's house and just as before at Truc's, he did not mentioned anything about his life.

No money, no worry...

 

Ever since Mai quitted school and returned home, he saw his family's situation worsen. He worked hard to try to make it on the top but it seemed like it was not his time. All his business trips ended in failure and losses and when he switched to teaching, he suddenly became sick. Mai had to sell off parts of his land to pay off the medicine bills.
In the end both husband and wife had to rent some land to farm and have to work on others' to be able to live by. Even though the couple had nothing and finding a meal was hard, they not once complain. Mai greeted Tung warmly into his house when he came to visit.
He introduced his friend to his wife, "This is closest friend when I went to school in the city. If you count the days since then, it must have been least fifteen years. Go and find food to serve to our guest." Tung saw his friend's wife listened to her husband, took the basket and left for the market.
Around noon, he saw the woman carried back a basket full of food but this time around her head was black scarf even though it was not the wind season. He did not think of much at first but not soon after when he was roaming the house he saw Mai and his wife by the restroom whispering.
He immediately hid himself on the side so they would not see him. Like something just kicked him in the face, he was shocked walking into the scene. A moment ago, Mai's wife had just taken off her scarf; however, her fine black hair on her head was no longer there.
Tung instantly questioned what had happened to her hair when Mai and his wife walked away from the restroom. Mai's wife knew that they could not keep the secret hidden any longer, she said,
"This morning there was no money when I left the house. I thought I could go and borrow some money from the neighbors but they also didn't have any. However, there was a wig factory in need of long hair, since I have it I sold it. It is only once in a lifetime a friend like you came to visit. Do you expect us only to look at each other the whole time? Please do not feel bad. Once hair has been cut it will grow again. Why worry?"
Tung felt really touched by Mai's wife words and actions. Not a moment sooner, he confessed to his friend of his life since the day they went their separate ways including the visit to Truc and how he was treated. After Tung was done talking, he took out a box of jewelry and gave to Mai's wife and said,
"The hair's root is the basic of a person. I truly regret not knowing beforehand of the situation so that you would have not sold your precious hair. Nonetheless, with that action I discovered what kind of person you are and I want to give you this as a gift. Go ahead and sell this. Spend it however you like while you wait for your hair to grow back and could find work again."
Not long after Tung returned home, he sent money to Mai and dispatched him to Nam Dinh to learn the art of dyeing clothes. When Mai finished learning the skill, Tung helped him open up a dyeing factory in the village. Their business began to grow bigger by each day and not long it became successful.
Mai took what he know and teach it to the people in the village. The dyeing skill became the most successful business that anyone ever known. And what did happen to Truc? It was not until later on he heard Tung has become an officer in the capital city that he started to regret it.
Next, he found out with Tung's helps, Mai's business was as successful as it was. "If I had known then, I would not have treated my friend poorly rather than harboring the thought he would run away with my money," he said this regretfully.
One day, Truc packed up his luggage and went to search for his two friends. When he arrived to each house, Truc received the same hospitality he had treated them. He had no choice but dragged himself home.
So, what do you think? I thought every now and then we should be remind of all the people making a different in our lives. I hope that you always surround with friend, who you can depend on. If you have any question, do contact me. From where I am and wherever you are, have a good night.

Source: http://www.culture-4-travel.com/friendship-story.html

Holiday Ornament Contest!

Hey, congrats on our prize of Big Red's Favorite today. Thank you all for coming and supporting us. I really enjoyed this day and it will be one of the most beautiful memories being a MBA student in WKU :)

Sand Animation!

It is really amazing and so touching. Watch this sand animation to know how talented she is. I love this video so badly. Enjoy your weekend! :)

How to improve your CV

Finding a good job is not always easy. Before to get a "ticket" to the interview, candidates need to impress the recruiters how excelled they are, at first by their Curriculum vitae (CV). Here are some tips to improve your CV to get your job hunting probably easier.
 
How to improve your CV
The CV can be written in a professional and neat manner that making it easy for the recruiter to scan and read it, yet most job hunters make the same mistakes in the compilation of their CVs. A few vital improvements to your CV can make the difference between you and the job hunter next to you. Check your CV for these common mistakes and use the guidelines to improve your CV.
Use bullets rather than paragraphs
Another way to improve your CV is to get rid of paragraphs. Paragraphs are great in your profile section, but should not be used throughout your CV. Use bullets to create a more readable CV. Always keep in mind that a recruiter normally scans through hundreds of CVs and should be able to identify the main points within 30 seconds.
List information based on relevancy to the employer
Your CV is not aimed at you and what may seem important to you is not necessarily relevant to the employer. Improve your CV by focusing on the most relevant information.
Your job title is the most important in your work history, so list it first, followed by the employer, city, and dates for starting and ending of employment. When you list your qualifications you should follow the same procedure. The name of the qualification (don't use abbreviations), the institute, city, completion date and the majors. Your work history and qualifications are listed in reverse chronological order.
Don't assume the employer understands the acronyms you used
As a general guide, always spell out the acronym if you think that the employer may not be familiar with the term. Avoid using jargon and academic terms to describe qualifications and experience. They may look impressive, but the reader may not be familiar with the terms.
Get rid of unnecessary words and formatting in your CV
Only list dates that are relevant. You don't need to state the dates for short courses, club membership or hobbies. Instead of parenthesis, make use of commas, as it improves readability. If space is limited, you can leave out the comment about references being available. Steer away from 'I' and 'me'. Instead of using 'I', you could simply state the sentence. It is perfectly acceptable to use fragments in a CV.
Emphasize the abilities that you want to use at your next employer.
Don't write essays on mundane tasks and skills. If you, for example, did routine filing as part of your job, but had more important accomplishments you should list those instead.
Keep verbs and noun fragments separate, for example:
Full budget control (noun).
Expanding existing markets (verb).
Can be replaced by:
Full budget control
Expansion supervision of existing markets
Avoid words such as 'worked in'-everybody worked somewhere. You should instead specify the job. Use words such as collaborated, campaigned, marketed, controlled, managed, supervised, initiated, sold etc., instead of 'worked'.
Published material
It is of no use to list published books or articles without dates and publishers. If you are the author of a book, include the ISBN number.
CV length
Even though the shorter CV is preferred, you shouldn't cram the information to fit on one or two pages. You need a lot of white space and if your experience and qualifications necessitate more space then use an extra page. Many job hunters have CVs far too long because they repeat tasks and accomplishments for every job. You can shorten your CV by eliminating duplicate entries. Avoid having a full page, followed by a quarter page of information. In this case, you should try to condense the content to fit on one page. You can do this by setting the margins and by using a smaller font, but not smaller than 11. If you are using headings on the left side with the information on right side, you can switch to headings on top with the information below. This way you use one column instead of two.
Include a profile or objectives section at the start of your CV
It makes it easier for the recruiter to scan your CV if you include a summary of your goals, skills, qualifications and experience at the start of your document. This should be focused on the job that you are targeting.
Only list the past 10 years experience
Avoid age discrimination by only listing relevant experience for the past ten years. You can list up to 15 years if you are applying for a senior level position.
Vocabulary should be achievement driven
Avoid the use of words such as 'duties' or 'tasks'. Don't list your work responsibilities; rather list your achievements in the specific position. You are supposed to be able to do all of the tasks, but why are you better than Ms. X as a secretary? Show how you have done more than what is expected and have performed better than your colleagues. Your contributions to the company and team should stand out.
Use the tips in this article to improve your CV. Never use a CV three to six months old. Always update your CV for every job application.
Source: http://www.cvtips.com/resumes-and-cvs/how-to-improve-your-cv.html

MBA Skills

MBA Skills Information provided by Kaplan Test Prep What Do You Need to Succeed? What skills does an MBA student need? While students entering business school have tremendously different sets of skills, all students need at least a minimal amount of proficiency in certain areas. Without these abilities, you'll have a hard time adjusting to the b-school world. So what are they? Quantitative Skills It has been said that mathematics is "the language of business." But many MBA programs are moving away from the heavily analytical approaches that predominated several years ago and are giving increased emphasis to the "soft" areas of communication and interpersonal skills. That said, the quantitative elements of business studies have not gone away. The actual level of mathematical knowledge that you'll need varies widely from program to program. Some schools expect you to have studied statistics before entering the program. Some will expect you to use calculus on a regular basis. Generally speaking, you should certainly feel comfortable with college algebra and brush up your quantitative skills if they're rusty. It's a tech world out there In an ongoing effort to adapt to technological change, almost all business schools have integrated personal computers into their programs. Many schools will require you to have your own laptop. The extent to which you'll be expected to use a computer will vary from program to program, but you should make an effort to have at least a minimum comfort level with word processing, spreadsheets, and databases before starting school. You may want to check with the schools you're interested in to find out the hardware and software specifications. Are you a team player? One of the ways schools are mimicking the business environment in their academic programs is in the use of student teams. As corporations have increasingly turned to teams to work on projects and to solve problems, MBA programs have converted an increased share of course work from individual work to team work. Many programs now incorporate training in teambuilding somewhere in the program — either as part of new student orientation, in team building workshops, or as a topic in organizational behavior courses. Teams may be formed for the purpose of one project in one course or they may remain together for months, working on multiple courses. In the often competitive environment of MBA programs, the cooperation required of teams doesn't always come naturally. Since team work is almost always time consuming, students in schools that use teams may find that activities and even policies on work during the academic year reflect the heavy time commitment of working with others. MBA Basics The fundamentals of business are taught in every MBA program. Accounting, economics, finance, organizational behavior, marketing, statistics, and operations form the primary business disciplines and skills and are in the expected repertoire for any MBA. How and when students cover the basic skills varies, however. In most programs these subjects will be taught in a group of core courses required of every student. These core courses consume most or all of the first year of study in a two-year fulltime program. In some programs, students who have a prior background in business can be exempted or waived from some or all of the core courses, on the basis of either a special examination or an evaluation of the undergraduate transcript. Some programs regard a few areas as background knowledge and expect you to have learned the material before you start your graduate program. Statistics, economics, and accounting often fall in this group. When you're comparing the length of programs and calculating time to degree, be sure you remember to consider any program prerequisites. (Calculus and computer skills are also common prerequisites for MBA programs.) Other programs take another approach, offering the core courses within the structure of the program but requiring this course work only of those students who have not mastered it previously. If your program has two tiers, with different entrance points—for students with undergraduate degrees in business and those with degrees in nonbusiness areas—you may be exempted from some or all of the first year of the program if you were an undergrad business major.    Source: http://www.docnmail.com/tests/kaptest/mba_skills.htm

Moon Festival

Today is Moon Festival Day in my country, it's also called Mid-Autumn Festival. It is held on 15th day of August follow Lunar calendar, around in the end of September or early October. It is said that for a long time ago, when human still depended on agriculture mostly, farmer often celebrated the end of harvesting season on this day and hope for the up-coming abundant crop. On this day,  the moon is completely circle and it looks very nice, obviously.

Moon cake which is made from powder, eggs and yellow or green bean is the traditional food for this Festival. There are various kinds of Moon cake with different shapes to satisfy customers but it still based on the main ingredients above.

In my country, there are many activities for people, especially for the youth. One important event is lion dance, and it is often performed by non-professional children. Lion dance is shown on the street and got support from a lot of people. Children are also in a group with their lanterns and go around to make a beautiful sparkling line. Other youth can transform their selves by many kinds of masks and dresses. Some like to gather with friends to eat Moon Cakes and enjoy seeing the Moon. I myself on this day love to stay at home with my family, taste the food and watch our beloved programs. Although I am getting older and Mid-Autumn seems not suitable for me much, I still love to see how people prepare for this day, how children are eager for it and how my family gathers. I miss it now!

Four Truths About Today's MBA

With the economic crunch, some old ideas about the MBA as a passport to success have crumbled. Here are four things you can count on

By Alysa Teichman

Until this year, you could say with near certainty that an MBA from a well-respected business school was a ticket to a good job and a respectable salary.
But with the financial crisis, a lot of those certainties are gone. Looking at the business school landscape, however, you can say at least four things with confidence.

1. You will face more competition for slots

Business schools aren't increasing their class sizes to accommodate the anticipated surge in applications. This can only mean that in a year when more people are applying to business school, admissions will be more competitive and a smaller percentage of applicants will get in.
The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) reports a jump of more than 11% in the number of GMAT tests taken this September compared with a year earlier. And schools report an increase in interest—both at information sessions and in online discussion forums and blogs.
For those students who think they can bank on getting into a middle-tier school, think again. If getting in has become harder across the board, students will likely apply to more schools to increase their chances. With a fatter stack of applications to choose from, middle-tier schools could shock prospective students with rejection letters they didn't expect.
One silver lining: For top students, getting into the elite business schools may not be any harder. After all, says Peter Johnson, the executive director of admissions at Berkeley's Haas School of Business' full-time MBA program, "An increase in the number of applicants does not mean an increase in the quality."

2. International students are going to find loans tough

International students face a new obstacle after the rigorous process of getting into a B-school has long passed. With the credit crunch, student loan programs are tightening up or disappearing entirely. For instance, this fall, Citibank (C) cancelled its CitiAssist loan program. That means many international students are out of luck unless they have lived in the U.S. or have a co-signer here.
The cutbacks have some administrators stumped. Rosemaria Martinelli, admissions director of the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business, says that fixes to the problem are only short term and the school is still searching for a solution. Still, Martinelli remains committed to a diverse student body.
Besides the near impossibility of getting loans, international students face difficulties after they get their degrees. In a weak market, where companies have the luxury of sifting through more applicants, international students may find it even harder to obtain scarce H1-B work visas.
The end result: the continuation of a trend in which more and more students are choosing to go to business school in their home countries.

3. Quitting a job is risky

People in steady, well-paying jobs have always had to weigh the benefits of quitting to attend business school. This is especially true in a down economy, when no one knows what the job market will look like in two years. Viable options now include either putting off the MBA or joining a part-time program while staying employed.
According to Judith Hodara, admissions director at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, prospective students most frequently ask about opportunities for summer internships and post-graduation employment and are both "nervous" and "concerned."
Traditionally, students who quit jobs at the start of a recession graduate with an MBA when the economy is in an upswing. But no one is able to predict with certainty how long this recession will last.
Erin Nickelsburg, admissions director at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's School of Business, said that predictors of the "opportunity cost" of going to business school in a downturn have been skewed by the apparent end of big salaries and juicy bonuses in investment banking.
Still, Nickelsburg warns that opportunities could be missed, as well. "Not making an investment in yourself can turn around and haunt you when the economy goes back up," she said.

4. The learning is still valuable

While the return on investment on an MBA is still up in the air, no one is disputing that what you learn in business school will be extremely valuable as the economy recovers. Case studies have new meaning, now that executives face tougher decisions and large-scale business problems.
According to Chicago's Martinelli, now is a "cool time to study this, learn from this position, and figure out how you can add value"—meaning it's a great time to be able to learn about not just hypothetical but real issues.
Still, students may need to adjust their career goals and possibly their salary expectations. "This is a good time to park yourself in an MBA program and build up your portfolio of intellectual capital," says David Wilson, GMAC's president. "Graduates will emerge in two years or so and be in a different market."

Source: http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/content/nov2008/bs2008114_924879.htm

Very first words for my new blog

I am in process to complete my Blog. It is not just my task in BA512 anymore, it is my interesting work. I want to embed a song in my blog. Uhm, thinking about which song I will chose. Feel so exciteddddddddd! Woohoooooo......