Reflection Post

Although each blog post has a specific theme or prompt, I think that in general, except for the first post about my alias, they generally do address different aspects of working in a team or some sort of group. For example, the very first post about transaction costs in organizations, which is the cost required for organizations to make decisions in the most effective way. In class, we talked about Williamson's theory about transaction costs, and how organizations manage these costs through rules and regulations. I talked about how the organization Alpha Phi Omega engages with transaction costs by indirectly enforcing the importance of joining committees and contributing to the overall well-being of the fraternity. When people do not actively engage with the group, they lose out on some social aspects. In the next post about opportunism or taking advantage, I was able to directly tie my example of my high school cross-country coach prioritizing athletes who purchased shoes from his store. There is a sense of transaction costs because by coordinating with him, you are able to obtain a better outcome. However, when this question of ethics and moral hazards comes in, we can really see how this is a form of opportunism. The coach knew that if he were to essentially force runners to purchase his shoes, he could make money. I think this is a good intersection of transaction costs and opportunism, in the way that it helps differentiate the two with moral hazards.

Later on, we talked about the organization and structure of teams, and I talked about group projects in school. In my experience, the workload has not been divided equally. However, when people choose to join an organization and are more optimistic about what they are doing, they tend to care more about it. I think this ties into opportunism in a way: people take advantage of people when they know they can. For example, my cross country coach knew he could make profits off of athletes, so he engaged with immoral selling and coaching. Students who know that someone else will do their portion of the work in a project choose not to do it. If someone else will do it, why should they; it is opportunistic behavior. I also think this ties into coordination costs: what should organizations, or groups of students working on a project, do to make the workload more fair. However, it is difficult to decide who the manager should be among a group that is completely students, or in some cases, freshmen who have never dealt with these types of situations.

The last post was about Illini Bucks and how transfer pricing, rules and methods to handle transactions, play a role. Clearly, this has to to do with transaction costs and how companies or big establishments such as the U of I manage providing the needs of their students. I know many students are unable to get into the courses they want, but it is very difficult to plan for such a large student body. In a way, this ties into opportunism. Some people may argue that giving certain students such as athletes priority in registering is not fair. I mentioned how many athletes do not even attend classes because many of their practices or competitions conflict with class. Also, they are given better treatment. In many of my syllabi, professors explicitly state that there are very few exceptions to missing assignments including family emergencies, extreme illness, or an athletic competition. I personally do not know what is morally correct, for we attend a Big Ten school and athletics are important.

When reflecting on my posts these last few weeks, I think that initially, I had more difficulty in addressing what we learned in class with the prompt. This is the first class I have taken that uses blogging and writing this heavily. Although I do not know much about blogging, I think this is a good way for me to demonstrate what I am learning. I think our classes are very exam heavy, and this is an innovative way to examine learning. Also, I have been reading the prompts in advance and during class I try to keep the prompt in mind when learning new material.

For the prompt, I would like to see direct ties into my daily life, which they have been doing so far. I think that when I apply economic theories and ideas to things I deal with everyday, it is not just something I memorize to get through a class. It is much more meaningful. I would also like to see some key words tied into the prompt. This helps me understand what the professor is trying to illustrate with the prompt. Especially at the beginning, I had a hard time trying to figure out the purpose of some of the posts.