Question

Address and discuss the following question (using items from the popular press, recent news stories, examples from people close to you, etc.) "Are all generations the same? Back in the 1960s, and 70's the young baby boomer generation challenged societal and cultural norms. How is that different from today?"

Answer 1

Three of the most studied generations are Generation X, the age cohort born before the 1980s but after the Baby Boomers; Generation Y, or Millennials, typically thought of as those born between 1984 and 1996; and Generation Z, those born after 1997. In a survey of 18,000 professionals and students across these three generations from 19 countries, it was found that are some important differences in their aspirations and values.
Generally it is observed that the Gen Y and Gen X professionals are more enthusiastic about the coaching and mentoring that comes with management jobs than the higher responsibility. However, Gen Z cites higher levels of responsibility and more freedom as attractive attributes of leadership. Men and women’s leadership preferences also differed across generational cohorts. Many Baby Boomers have the parenting philosophy, “We want it to be easier for our kids than it was for us.” This philosophy, in turn, helped create and reinforce Millennials’ sense of entitlement. Millennials exhibit different attitudes toward employment, sales, and marketing, which are challenging many conventional strategies and approaches. Gen Z is an interesting mix of tech savvy, smart and dependent. They have many interesting ideas for the future of technology.

The baby boomer generation was extremely large because of the relative political stability after the Second World War. They were much more optimistic than their parents due to the economic boom from post war reconstruction and the following years of steady industrial development. Baby boomers tended to reject the traditional values of their parents, religion and became much more individualistic and liberal.They idealistically looked for social change. They experimented with different ideas, lifestyles, sexual freedoms, ways of thinking, as the hippy movement exhibited during the late 60’s. Baby boomers were free spirited, open, tried to be fair and took up social causes. This was the time when the civil rights, anti-war and women’s movement emerged and politics became a mass event where two clearly defined sides (liberal and conservative) developed. were witnesses to rapid development of technology and came to appreciate and accept it. They saw the space race, the arms race, the invention of the transistor, television, the green revolution in agriculture, and great improvements in medicine, i.e., the first heart transplant. Baby boomers probably got the idea that mankind could control and harness nature during this time. They became the healthiest generation so far and life expectancies increased dramatically.
Baby boomers in their mature working years accepted the system, not only becoming part of it, but being the ones responsible for building it to what it is today. The 70’s and 80’s were the time of rapid corporate growth where the baby boomers were workaholics. They competed with their peers and became a relatively financially well off group. They respected success and achievement as an important institutional foundation.

The Current Generation however have grown up with computers, multi-channel satellite and cable TV, mobile phones, instant messaging and other high-tech gadgets like iPods, etc. Our Generation appears to be a self confident generation. Based on influence from their workaholic parents, We believe that we must build strong resumes and become skilled to get on in life. We believe that success comes through hard work and this external drive is what motivates us, rather than inner ambitions. Generation is generally good at multitasking and have entrepreneurial initiative. We generally want to make a difference and feel strong about social responsibility. Our Generation have high expectations of ourselves, constantly trying to solve their own problems and take the challenges that come their way. We can work quickly but need definite objectives to motivate.