A Poem for Management

Let's reflect on the past
On all the times we had
Like changing our first grade
Which was really bad
The good times of learning and pain of hard work
Sometimes we all wanted to go berserk
But let's look at the present
We're still here now
Class is almost over so we can all take a bow
Look ahead into the future and use what we learned
One day we'll be big bosses
While the other are just interns

Blogging With My Fellow Classmates

My first experience with blogs...it was amazing and one of a kind having in mind it was still school related somewhat. Prior to taking this class, I have never thought about blogging and used to think it was a waste of time unlike other social networks. Blogging did indeed fulfill its purpose in allowing students to communicate outside the classroom and share our thoughts of in class assignments. The course itself was active and blogging made it more interesting. Students reflected on the exciting extra credit assignments we did in class while unconsiously be thinking about management. In my perspective, blogging definitely created that mean of communication with other classmates to discuss about our different experiences in class. We all found a common ground through blogging and were able to express our achievements and frustrations.
In addition, going through the professor's blog, it gave us additional and insightful information in regards to management. I do think that the professor provided us with a decent amount of readings that were interesting. It was a relief that we can at least control 20% of our grade by doing something that was not test related rather yet communicating with our classmates in regards to management. Once the course concludes I will try to keep blogging but nothing is guarantee yet.
This experience was very fascinating therefore I would recommend to keep blogging as a component to the class. The only improvement to this, will have to be to remind students when are blogs due. I sometimes forget to check blackboard and realized there was another blog assignment posted up the same day it was due. Without further due, I will like to wish all my classmates good luck with their college careers and in life. Hope that we all become very successful and accomplish all those goals we posted in one of our blog assignments. I will also like to extend my greetings to the professor and thank him for making this class enjoyable (although his exams were hard) and actually makes us learn what management is really about. Wish
you and the rest of the class to have a good summer.

McDonald’s Managerial Procedures

On Sunday afternoon, while the bright sun was hitting waves of heat, I decided to make a quick stop by McDonalds. I regularly do not eat at McDonald’s because there isn’t one at a short distance from Baruch or by my job. As a young girl, I did not have it as often either, but I definitely did have McDonalds more frequently then what I do now. I guess that, as I grew older, I also grew apart from McDonald’s after discovering other restaurants and fast food restaurants.

When I stepped in, I was glad to see that there was hardly anyone waiting on the line. As I approached the register to make my order, I noticed that the cashier was new and might still be training. I first order the small hamburger with the four pickles in it. I wasn’t sure if it was me ordering exactly four pickles on my hamburger or the fact that the cashier was new and probably nervous, but she was constantly smiling. Someone else overheard my order and jumped in to help. The second cashier noticed that the new cashier was struggling to get me exact order and said to her, “ I normally like five pickles on my burger.” Sarcastically or not, she showed the new cashier how to put the order in the computer specifying the amount of pickles. She then walked away and left the new cashier on her own again.

As I proceeded with my order, I made my other request of the well done fries with no salt on them. Normally, I’ve noticed that if there are not many people waiting on line, the cashier herself will serve the fries. On my receipt, it came to my attention that it only says, small order of fries but it does not specify that they have to be well done and no salt on them. Since the cashier herself took the order and served me, I guess it was not necessary. In McDonald’s, they add the salt after the fries are done cooking. She waited less than 30 seconds and served me from the recently made fries prior to pouring the salt. The cashier put both, my hamburger with four pickles and the well done fries with no salt in a bag and said to me, “Have a nice day!”

Overall I would rate the staff a, 10 out of 10. First of all, the cashier was nice which created a friendly environment for me, the consumer. I made my order without any problems. Another cashier stepped in to help when another co-worker was struggling a little with how to input the order on the system. Therefore the communication among co-workers was very good as well. In view of the fact that I received the correct order, the coordination among the staff was good as well. With the smiles, good greetings, and getting my special order accurately, I would rate this particular McDonald’s with having good costumer service.

If I were to be brought to McDonald’s as a consultant to improve upon their efficiency during special orders, I’ll recommend them to keep up the good work. I will encourage them to communicate to each other especially if they need help with anything. Furthermore, not look at it as a challenge, rather yet perceive it as a moment to cherish and learn more about working together as a team.

The ABCs of DISC

According to the test conducted in class, i am an influential leader. An influential leader is a person who is influenced through the course of events. I think that the test did get it right. Honestly, I wouldn't perter to have possessed another type of leadership because it enables me to be open to other ideas and perfect my original one. I do believe i can become a little more dominant when i feel strongly about a certain issue. However, I also like tot listen and incorporate my team members 's ideas especially when if its valid. Therefore i think this makes me more influential. Understanding where people come from by determining their management "type", helps to know how to deal with the person and perhaps learn how to persuade them to your idea or decision. This test can definitely help and easing up personal interactions because it advices you how to approach a specific kind of personality in a person.During the winter survival scenario, I was an influential leader. I wouldn't want to have become any other kind of leader because my group still earned the 5 extra credit points. I first convinced them to include Crisco shortening into our list and gave them a justification of why should we. After that I tried to include newspaper, and after listening to every one's approach of why sleeping bags were more important than newspaper, I voted for that decision. Due to my experience, I would advise for groups tho have an influential leader because it allows for ideas to be brought up to the table and improved upon the decisions made.The test does accurately assessed my other team members management "type" because they were like me. We all worked together and listened to each other's opinion on what decision to make. I think that as a whole we did an excellent job and definitely deserve those extra points!

The Power of Vision

The Power of Vision is definitely that kind of movie that as soon as you finish watching it, it inspires you to do something very similar. After viewing this clip, I began thinking about my own personal and professional goals in life. My first goal I would like to say is to go into graduate school. I've heard a lots of good as well as bad things in reaching for a higher education. Obviously, as an individual you become more knowledgeable and intellectual. However, graduate school has a more rigorous curriculum and without a doubt its more expensive. Most likely I'll be working while going to school as I currently do. This will make my life a little more difficult and stressful. Nevertheless, I would take both the pros and cons for a better future for both my family and I. My second goal in life will have to be to own a prosperous business. Although I have not decided in what kind of business I'll like to go into since I change my mind everyday, I will like to be the owner and manager of my business. I mean, these last few years invested at Baruch and the time I'll have in graduate school, I will certainly have the grasp of what is to own and manage my own business. Last but not least, my third goal in life will absolutely have to be to own a beautiful home that I've earned with my hard work professionally and my hard work in school. Owning your own home brings that feeling of accomplishment and relief that your kids have that roof over their heads every night. I believe a house is a well made investment and place where you'll share unforgettable moments with your family.

Decision Making

In order to solve the chaos during the class decision making exercise, I personally collaborated my ideas and listened to my fellow classmates. I choose this method because it is how I usually handle group activities. Since this was a class activity, we were all in the same group and had different issues we wanted to be addressed. I listened to theirs ideas because it could of been something similar to what I thought of or something I bypassed. Furthermore, I believe this conflict could of been easier if we would of compromise sooner in the process and given more realistic options. This would of avoided the chaos by dimishing conflicts among students because it would be in a more neutral spectrum. Some options were either too easy or too hard and by giving realistic options, it would fall right in the middle. Overall, we ended up with decent results and addressed everyone's issues

Eggs-cellent Way to Plan

When my group and I first gathered together for this project, we were very enthusiastic. Personally, I thought I had a good plan and so did everyone else in my group. None of us have yet won an activity that will get us extra points on our test so we were very determined. Everyone will listen to each other's thoughts and look at the pros and cons.
From the start we all shared a common idea of creating a box of straws that will prevent the shell from breaking. As we began to analyze how the box will work, we started shifting this idea and came up with a cone shape for the egg. We believed that because we were going to drop the egg, we'll do it very slowly so it falls in one single direction. It was established that the possibilities were 50/50 so we had to come about a better strategy. We thought that if we added more straws, we will not be showing half of the egg that we were suppose to. Instead we applied two straws beside the egg in case that when it drops and goes side ways, the straws will serve as protection. These will extract the first impacts when it hits the floor causing less damages to the egg itself. After we finish discussing, we had to illustrate our ideas into a piece of paper. This was our first challenge because it made us realize how effective of our plan would actually be.
When we got the materials and proceeded with the project we noticed that the egg was too covered up and we feared that due to this we might get disqualified. We took another alternative which was our initial plan to make a sort of base for the egg and we left the other half of the it unprotected because we had in mind only half of it to be displayed. At the end we finished with a different image than that we had in mind. We had a base for the egg, cone shaped. However, we never thought about the straws being too light. This was a problem because when we would drop the egg instead of going the side where the straws were, the weight of the egg will make it go towards that direction. At this point we only had a few seconds, very little time to think of something else.
In conclusion, our egg did break causing us yet another disappointment. After observing everyone, we saw that the successful groups had a base square shaped, very similar to our box idea. In my personal opinion, I think that due to time constraint, we overlooked the little things that could of made us win. We should of had stick with our first plan and elaborate in it. Nevertheless, we sure did have a good time planning and working as a team.

My Biggest Management Problem

Currently, my biggest obstacle I'm facing is time management. This semester I have a hectic work and school schedule. For this reason, its a predicament for me to actually spend some quality time with both family and friends. I work from 8 in the morning till 3 in the afternoon, except for Mondays, I work 7 in the morning till 2 in the afternoon. I live kind of far so my day usually starts at 5:30 in the morning and ends at 10:30 at night, when i get home. This leaves me with very few time to catch up with my loved ones since I'm tired by the end of my day. Once I get home, I usually shower, sometimes grab dinner watch a little bit of t.v. then go to bed by midnight. My weekends are composed of catching up with homework, house errands, and catch up on sleep. Friday nights and Saturdays is really the only time I have for myself. I debate whether I should go out with my friends or if I should just stay home to sleep and relax. Hopefully, I learn how to manage my work and school schedule better soon, so I can redistribute my free time more efficiently.

A Little About Me

My name is Kimberly Huacon. I am 18 years old and an upper Junior at Baruch College. I am majoring in Entrepreneurship Management and minoring in Psychology. I expect to graduate in Spring 2010. I was born in Manhattan but raised in the Bronx. I only have one sibling, an older brother. I work full time at a Marketing Research company and am a full time student as well. Although I have a hectic schedule, I manage to make room for relaxation and share some quality time with family and friends. During my spare time I enjoy going out to eat, movies, dance, cruise/travel, watch television, and meet new people. My favorite movie categories are comedy, suspense, horror and action. Some of my favorite movie productions are: Titanic, Remember the Titans, Exorcist, 50 First Dates, Dark Knight, and among others. Some of my favorite TV shows are: Sex and the City, That 70's Show, Game Show in my Head, 24, America's Best Dance Crew, D.E.A., Law and Order SVU, and Fugitave Task Force. My long term goal in life is to become a professional and acquire a career in something that I enjoying doing. A career that I can wake up to every morning and feel good about myself. In the short term, I expect to graduate college, go for my MBA, buy a house and car, and perhaps go into Law Enforcement.