Micronesia/Yap

Inside the Reef Doing the same thing, expecting a different result By Joyce McClure   A few years before Covid slammed the door shut on tourism, I was working with the Yap Visitors Bureau and researched ways that Yap might promote the island to more than divers. The marketing director began to explore opportunities to attract special-interest groups interested in World War II. The result was a visit by a tour company that focuses on war buffs. It’s not a huge market, but big enough to warrant getting Yap on their schedule for visits by travelers who have never heard of the island where the Japanese surrendered and the wreckage of planes that were downed in dogfights during the last year of the war are memorials. Reading the stories about Guam and CNMI and their struggles to recapture the tourism market, I am struck by the effort being put toward . . .

Inside the Reef by Joyce McClure (Response Volunteer  2016) .  .  . When I first heard the word “culture” applied to a workplace, I was confused. I didn’t understand what it meant back in the 1980s when it began to appear in job announcements, brochures, advertising and even in job interviews in which the interviewer attempted to explain the company to a candidate. Truth be told, I’m still not entirely certain what it means today when I hear empty words like respect, fairness, collaboration, teamwork, trust and integrity bandied about in a company’s mission, value and ethics statements. Culture is still deemed an all-important playbook that defines the day-to-day operations and atmosphere of the organization. But actions speak louder than words. My confusion stems from the lack of those traits in the highly competitive, power-driven companies and industries that I worked in for many years. The managers’ bad behavior, which . . .