In my business fraternity trust and reputation are very important to our members. Trust is important because we need to know that we can count on each other for advice, guidance, and help in numerous situations. We often share personal details about our lives and other business information that could be used against us if shared with others outside the fraternity. Reputation helps build trust and therefore we have a reputation system in place setting values on certain events.
We give certain points out for attending/creating professional events, social events, community service events, as well as for helping brothers in need during certain difficult times. Basically, our desirable behaviors is for every member of the fraternity to be as actively involved with the fraternity as possible through both building cognitive and emotional trust. And for our fraternity to become closer and stronger as a result of this build in trust and reputation.
Points are given out at every chapter with various amounts allowed for certain standardized events. Brothers can also suggest giving points to other brothers for certain good deeds either to another brother or the fraternity as a whole. The individual explains why they deserve to be rewarded and the brother being rewarded explains in further detail what he/she did. Then the entire fraternity votes on whether this is to be awarded or not.
Brothers are then rewarded at different times throughout the semester. Brother recognition occurs weekly at chapter and at our banquet each semester. These have only value intrinsically yet reputation and praise from the whole brotherhood is valued by all of us. For more concrete rewards “familys” within our fraternity with the highest total points each semester get the first picks for “littles” who are new fraternity members who will join that family. Family pride is also a driving force in working towards this goal. As Resnick, et. al. explain in “Reputation Systems,” a good design will cause users to expect past interactions to influence future interactions. Past interactions with others within our fraternity builds a reputation and trust within the group allowing for others to understand and predict their future behavior.
Our scheme could be manipulated if our ties as a whole were not strong. One could collude to give each other points as to make themselves look better. Yet many of our rewards are for respect and holding our reputation which if it wasn’t for our bond as a group would not matter to others. According to Charles Handy and the Bos et al. article and seen in the graphs shown in class, “Trust needs touch” and I think this pertains well to our fraternity as experiences together make our reputation system strong and work well where it would not in other communities.
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I like how your reputation system both uses trust and strong ties, but also builds trust and strong ties. The fact that you reward each other on deeds shows members what deeds will be lauded. This can make it easier for you to bond as you know what will be appreciated and give you a higher rating. This kind of system also promotes an environment with a strong motivation to do things for each other that then increases your already strong bonds. I wonder if the trust and bond of the group is a result of each member trying harder to have a good rating or if it's just a result of making it clear what behavior would be appreciated.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a very good reputation system. It rewards individuals for their work and promotes healthy relationships. The thing that I like is that it is hard to manipulate the system since it is based on trust and respect.
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