STRAIGHT to the point Haiku....

What's necessary
The world revolves around it
It is management

Communicating VIA BLOG

Having a blog for this class I think was an incentive and it was in our best interest to take it seriously while having fun with it. This blog was a great way to incorporate students’ opinions on certain subjects to really see what their ideology was. In class, the majority of the time you have approximately the same five students that are always participating in oral class discussions. Other students in the class have good statements and opinions to offer the class but it is just not in their nature to raise their hands and speak. This is where the blog comes as a tool for them to speak. Having this blog, this brought about an online life to our class and brings insight on what others who you may never speak to in class think.
Part of this blog assignment was to comment on other peoples’ blog as well. This was a good way for us to read other classmates views and to compare and contrast them to our own. I was surprised to see that some people had the same views as me which pout me at ease sometimes when I thought I was the “crazy” one. Even though at times I did not want to comment on other blogs, it was for the better. When I commented I saw the other comments under the blog, which gave more conversation and more insight on the blog topic.
When hearing that this class had to do a blog, my first thought was that we had to read newspaper articles and write about them on the blog. I am glad that I was wrong because that would have made this experience very boring and I may not have kept up with all the blogs. To my surprise, all of the aspects, such as group assignment, helped us understand the management process. When doing the assignments my first thought was “this does not have anything to do with management so why are we doing this”, but when the assignment is completed and you look back on what you have done you realize it has everything to do with management. Additionally, making us write the blogs and comment on other blog made us see things from another point of view to further understand management.
Being that this blog is 20% of my final grade, I think that this was one fairly easy way to manage and improve your grade. Having 7 blog topics was a fair enough number and given that these were all opinionated, there were no right or wrong answer which made these blog easier and more comfortable to accomplish. Since jobs are very competitive, you need any little advantage to get ahead of another and this blog can be a tool to put on a resume or even as a discussion topic during an interview, especially if you’re interested in the management field. Blogs are very popular now a days and using this tool was a good way for students to be comfortable enough to express their ideas. For this reason I think I am going to continue with this blog after this course and I think that this blog should be included in mgt 3120 further courses.

Personal Profile System… DISC.. Conscientiousness It Is

The day of this Leadership/ Management Diagnostic Test I was not present in class but reading about the four types, dominance, influence, conscientiousness, and steadiness, what best describes me is conscientiousness. Concentration on key details is something that I always do. When doing a project or an assignment, it becomes easy for individuals to become distracted and I also try to remind others of the key details that we have to follow and so forth. Additionally systematic approaches are something that I think is necessary as well as weighing pros and cons. Also, I like to be in an environment that allows me to show my expertise and recognize special skills for accomplishments.

If I can be another type I would want to be the dominance type. I would like to cause action and take authority. I'm very sometimes-ish went it comes to taking authority. If I am in a group that I don't know I do not take authority until the end and sometimes authority is needed in the beginning of an assignment or project to ensure the right results. On the other hand, I know what I have to do to become more dominant and that is something that I am working on. With both dominance and conscientiousness I can shape others around me to accomplish results while ensuring quality and accuracy.

I think it is indeed helpful to determine individual's management type because it can be the reason why they exceed or fail in certain situations. If the assignment was to try and persuade others to join your accounting team you need someone to step up to lead with an influence personality type, generating enthusiasm, making a favorable impression, and creating a motivational environment rather than someone like the type of conscientiousness, analyzing performance critically, checking for accuracy, and being diplomatic with others. Furthermore, knowing an individual’s personality type can give a sense of direction as to what steamed their ideologies and what they can and cannot do efficiently compared to someone else. Not everyone can work well together so knowing personality types can also be a technique used to form groups to better bring about results.

MANAGEment Process in McDonalds... SPECIAL ORDER

           When ­­I first walked in McDonalds my first thought was, “This is going to be an experience I am never going to forget”. I have never ordered something that was so customized in McDonalds before due to me thinking that it was not possible to complete. When it was my time to order I gave a deep sigh and then started to say my order, one small hamburger with five pickles and one small well done fries with big mac sauce. After I said my order to Stacy, the cashier, she gave me a look and asked me to repeat my order. I repeated it again and Stacy said, “We cannot give you a burger with five pickles and you cannot get big mac sauce unless it is on a burger”. I replied, “Yes you can.” Stacy walked over to another cashier and asked them can this order be completed and the other cahier said that she did not know. The two cashiers started talking back and forth while I am waiting for someone to process my order. Three minutes passed by and I asked, “Can you get a manger please” and that was when Stacy went to the back and two minutes later she came back with a manager. After I said my order to the manager, he said, “Ok we can complete this order and this will be $3.45.” After I received my order and I looked at the receipt I noticed that Stacy did not place the “five pickles and big mac sauce or any indication of sauce” on the receipt. I had to go back on line and I could see that when Stacy noticed that I was back on line she rolled her eyes at me. When it was my turn and I asked for a receipt for my exact order, Stacy told me that I will have to pay again because she cannot go back into the system to print me out a receipt. I just asked back for the manager and she said that he was on break. So I insisted that someone else come to the register because I needed that receipt. While Stacy went to the back to get another manager I seen the previous manager walk by and I signaled for his attention. I asked, “Are you on break?” and he replied, “No, is there another problem?” I stated that their employees need not to lie about a manager not being there and that I told Stacy  that I needed a receipt with my exact order and she said that I will have to order pay again and that is something that I  am not doing. The manager said no problem and that he will take care of it.

             The management process of this special order received mixed ratings. On a one to five scale I give the cashier a two and the manager a four, which is an overall score of a three for organization. Stacy’s approach was not effective because she could have done the task with no problem but choose to be difficult. She could have tried again to get the order done in a timely manner but gave me attitude and delayed in processing the special order. The manager was effective since he got the job done in a timely manner. I understand that special orders are rare but employees should still be able to accommodate me. When ordering, it is often that you can deduct items, such as having a burger with no pickles, instead of asking for more than what McDonalds usually provide. Organizationally, I would tell the cashiers to try their best to accommodate orders and if they have any problems to ask the head cashier and if the problem is not resolved to then call for a manager.

            Communication was a big factor and on a scale from one to five I give it a two. Stacy tried to communicate with other employees but I think she did that in a way to intimidate me to make me look “silly” for ordering the special order instead of asking them to get answers or help in processing my order. To have me standing their while she talk back and forth was unnecessary and ineffective. Communication between Stacy and manger was effective since that was the only way I could have gotten my order. The manager was more than happy to help and she did it with a smile on his face.  The communication between Stacy and I was not effective because of the attitude and sarcasm that was presented.  She could have said, “I do not know if I can do this order, let me ask someone to assist me”, or something in that nature. There is nothing wrong with asking for help. With the help you can learn to communication with others better and if someone else asks for a similar order, you will be able to assist them.

             The training aspect of the experience was a two on the scale. I was shocked at the cashier’s steps to process my order since I already knew this order can be made. The attitude that I received was unnecessary and I think employees was trained to keep the customers happy and try their best to get the customers out in a timely manner. One weakness that really bothered me was when Stacy was having a conversation with the other cashier while I was standing there waiting to get a response. She could have just asked the other cashier if she can assist her in the order and if she could not help then to call a manager. I should not have to tell Stacy to get a manager. Additionally when I went back to get the proper receipt she lied about the manager being on break. That just showed that she did not want o help me and was saying that because she did not want to be bothered with me anymore.

            Leadership is a quality that should be portrayed in every place of employment. Desire to influence others, self confidence, organization, communication, and emotional intelligence are some leadership qualities that should be presented to a certain degree at McDonalds. The manager presented good leadership skills and put out an example of how to handle situations with special orders. Some individuals might assume that leadership qualities are not necessary because it is just McDonalds but any in every job at least one person have to be there to set a good example for others in the workplace. Reinforcement, direction, and communication are important even for the cashiers. The manager showed leadership by using those qualities while Stacy showed minimal to none.

The management process of this special order was on average of two point six on the scale. The elements of  organization, communication, training, and leadership is important and when looking closely you can see that even in a fast food restaurant these skills are presented. Special orders are something that is not usually presented and for me to be the one with the order made me more observant at all the aspects.

Power of Vision....

One of my visions for the future is to become a Certified Public Accountant while being an accountant in a major firm. Becoming a CPA will put me ahead of others in my field. Being that I am a competitive person, I would want to work hard for any advantage to have over someone and to make hard decisions. Hard, concise, conceptual decision making is something many are individuals run from but I run towards them. The decisions come with many consequences and if something goes wrong I think I can handle what comes my way.  

Another vision is to work in a firm where I can travel to work with clients. I want to be able to work with different nationalities. It is always good to expand your mind to new people and things. Just staying in New York might be boring and a change of scenery sometimes is the way to go. Furthermore, new ideas would start to form and you can use that in decision making where innovation comes into play. I would explore different people and places while getting paid.

I like to cook and I always had visions in being a partner in a restaurant. I have visions of the menu, target group, and the designing of the restaurant. I would do it myself but knowing how busy an accountant schedule is and me traveling, I know I would not be able to put my 100 %, everyday attention into it so partnership to me is the best next thing.

Speaking of partnership, a next vision is to become a partnership in an online tax software or website like “Turbo Tax”. Now a days, individuals are looking for the cheapest way to do taxes and Turbo Tax brought in many customers last year. If this rates continues, more and more are going to be doing taxes online by themselves and the use of accountants are going to decrease during tax season. So becoming a part of an online tax agent will be either a safety net in case of a major decrease in my  clients or another way to increase my salary.  

Decision MAKING

During this decision making exercise I used the method of compromise and a little bit of collaboration. After hearing Professor K asking us what we would like to do to change the grade of the exams I was in an awe. I have not had a professor ask the class to come up with a solution or a way to better the exam grade. If there were a change it was a curve that was given and you either take it or leave it. Additionally, I did not think that the decision we came up with was going to be the final decision. Therefore, I just wanted to get something rather than nothing from this opportunity. Everyone in the class I think had this thought in their minds during the exercise since it was rare. The collaboration comes into effect for myself when ideas were being mentioned, people in class were forming little aside groups to voice their opinion on how ridiculous or how good the ideas were. People tend to voice their opinions more freely amongst small groups rather to an entire class. I know I was voicing my opinion but I did not raise my hand because when I was going to raise my hand, someone else screamed out something that made me think over my decision or I would just scream something out in hoping that I was heard.

The "compete to win" method is one of the methods that I observed during this exercise. It was about 5 students that took it upon themselves to take charge and go up in front of the class to voice their opinions and to lead the class in making a final decision. I realized these 5 people are usually the ones that participate in class discussions regularly so I wasn't surprised to see them. Additionally compromise was being exercised. There was a lot of mediators trying to calm people down so ideas would be presented and voices being heard.

Observing the class actions during this exercise, I think that if we used the collaboration method from the beginning maybe there would have been a little more organization and more voices would have been heard. Maybe we could have had 5 groups and timed the group discussion to 15 minutes so that 5 ideas would have been presented and we would not have had any choice but to pick from the 5 only. We probably would have came up with a better decision.... or not.

AN EGGS-CELLENT WAY TO PLAN

This class activity I think portrayed what planning is about. At first I said to myself, "this is going to be an awful exercise because there is no way an egg can drop approximately 10ft without breaking. Being a part of the winning team definitely proved me wrong.

Of the five steps in the planning process, I would say that my group used step 4, analyze alternative and make a tactical plan. We first made a plan and then we made alternatives to see what else we can use. We had a plan that we stuck with but made worst case scenarios alternatives for about 2/3 of the time allowed to plan. But we ended up using a plan that was first introduced because while we was coming up with the scenarios, we came to the realization that the prior idea would be the best fit for this goal of not breaking the egg.

We bypassed step 2, determine current status compared to objectives. We did not identify anyone strengths and weaknesses of the group nor appointed a group leader. We just brainstormed and gave pros and cons to each idea.

I will say my team's ultimate effectiveness of the planning was overall good. We did not just shut down others ideas. We evaluated each idea and expanded from that idea to form other ideas. We all knew what the goal was and the incentive of receiving 10 points on the upcoming test was pushing us to work in a coherent manner to meet the requirements.

We could have been more effective as a group by maybe going to everyone and asking them their idea. Asking everyone for their ideas would have made the group more organized. But even though we did not do that we still managed to get things done and form strategies and prepare actions for the next stage of actually building the idea.