Case 3 Worksheet
Case summary: Write one paragraph summarizing the case.
The case is about teenagers talking about their future career paths, more specifically about their careers
in music, or their back up plans. They talk about how much experience they have in the music
instruments their playing, mostly violin, viola, and piano. The guys were more confident about making it
in the music industry than the girls. The girls were more thinking about their back-up plans, so taking on
a double major, just in case they wouldn’t make it in music, than actually focusing all their time on the
thing they love, music.
Question from the case (p. 19): “What are some forces influencing the anticipatory role socialization of
classical musicians that are mentioned in this case?”
The only influencing factors in the case are the parents of the teenagers and a professor that was
mentioned once, when saying to not only play with the mind but also with your body. The parents did
have a huge influence on the girls having a back-up major, because one girls mom said that she should
get a real job or marry someone with a real job. So, in other words, her mom didn’t have faith that she
would make it in the music industry.
Question from the case (p. 19): “In the case, one student mentions that verbal socialization messages
and socialization messages from the media and environment can be contradictory. If you were or are a
musician, athlete, or dancer, and you have been the recipient of such contradictory messages, how did
you make sense of them for your own career choice?”
I have never been a musician, athlete, or dancer so I’ve never received those messages. I did however
hear a lot, why I wanted to become a flight attendant, because I was studying Landscape and
Environment Management. A major with a lot of job prospects, that I just didn’t want. But it is my
dream so I just don’t listen to people when they say that I could make more money doing something
else, or when they say it’s stupid that I even wanted to get a degree. If I did choose one of the earlier
mentioned careers, I would have probably acted the same way, but I’m not really someone that is easily
convinced that something won’t work, if I put my mind to it, I’m a bit stubborn.
Notes presentation:
- No PowerPoint, summery and case connections, presenting them to the class.
- Anticipatory role socialization:
o The study of anticipatory role socialization focuses attention on how communication
experiences beginning early in life, and continuing throughout our lives, influence our
choices about the positions and careers we pursue as employees or volunteers.
-
, Case 6 Worksheet
1. “When did Sam experience sense-giving and who/what influenced Sam’s behavior throughout his
experiences” (Case 6, p. 36).
Sense-giving is ‘communication that tries to influence others to accept a certain interpretation or
understanding of the situation’. Sam experiences sense-giving when Ken convinced Sam to drop out of
college to work for him, saying that ‘it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Ken mentioned that he took a gap
year to and went to college again later on, and that he thinks that Sam is bright enough to find a way to
make it work. This influences Sam and convinced him to drop out of college, like Ken did.
2. “Name and describe the different transitions Sam experienced throughout his time with Drive U.
What role did communication play in these transitions?” (Case 6, p. 36).
Chapter 14 mentions something about ‘the American dream, working hard to climb the ladder of success.’
This is probably one of the reasons why Sam chose to leave college. Going from being a college student
to a full time employee is a transition Sam experienced. He still had to finish his semester while working at
Drive U. The role of communication in this transition was that Ken actually convinced Sam to go through
with the transition.
Another transition Sam experienced throughout his time with Drive U. is when he’s moved from the
Heights neighborhood to the Memorial neighborhood. This was part of a acquisition, because Ken bought
the Memorial neighborhood about a year ago. Sam was supposed to stay at Memorial for a short period
of time, clean up the situation, whip them into shape. This is part of the actual transition phase of mergers
and acquisitions. The people who worked at Memorial don’t want to change because they are like family,
this is what the acquired organization is most concerned about. The acquiring organization, Drive U., is
more concerned about changing the acquired organizations routines and duties to fit their organization.
Communication is an important part in this this stage, talking about the changes and maybe keeping
some of the original culture can help with the transition.