Managers

Managers do more than just sit around
and command others,
They assist, supervise
and maintain the order

Acting as the middle man between executives and workers,
their job can be far mosre stressful than those of stock brokers
By taking on four different roles,
managers can plan, lead, organize and control
This is known as the management process,
that is established  to minimize a company's losses

While the leader is who establish a vision;
managers are the one who plans and budgets the resources to support and deliver
They aren't only focus on a company's success,
they also have the ability to manage emotion in relationships with their employees
and the rest
Emotional intelligence is what thats called,
this is one of the many hats that managers hold

So before you say that a managers job is a piece of cake,
you should take some time and get your facts straight

Communicating via Blog

When the professor told us at the beginning of the semester that we were going to be writing blog entries I was kind of interested but also curious as to how it was going to tie in with the lectures because this was going to be my first class in which blogs were going to be used. Now looking back, I can say that this method was an interesting, and an effective way to learn about the ideas and thoughts of my classmates. Normally one goes to class and rarely interact much with the people around them. But I feel that through the use of the blog getting to know people became a bit easier because you were able to relate to them more. One aspect that I enjoyed about this class were the different activites we did that put into practice several topics that we learned. Blogging about these activities furthered my learning and understanding of them since I had to actually think and tie the activities back to the lecture and notes making it more likely that I would rememeber the key points. The blog did provide an easy link to outside readings. From the few times I checked, there were interesting topics that are always good to have in the back of your head. The fact that I had the power to control a portion of my grade through the use of the blog did give me some sense of security. I do believe this was an fair 20% portion to manage although I admit there were times where I forgot that I had a blog to write. I enjoyed posting my thoughts and feelings on the blog and I hope that I do continue to do so, if time permits or if I rememeber to do so.
Overall,I think the blogs were useful and should remain as a component of this mamagement course. It should stay as it is because it wasn't necessarly hard to do the thing is sometimes it was easy to forget to do it but that responsibility falls on us.

So I'm conscientiousness...

When the professor told us we were going to do a type of test to see what type of leaders/managers we would be I was eager to find out what my leadership style was. I got a C which stands for conscientiousness and I believe that perfectly describes me.  I am the type of person that not only likes to get things done but get it done the right way; detail by detail. I also believe that I have some traits from D (dominance) because there is often times that I want things done my way, period. I think it is helpful to determine people's management types because its their personality that greatly affect their style of managing and if you see how they manage then you are able to get an idea of how this person is as an individual. By knowing this, it can help you figure out the best approach you can take to work with them and effectively get work done. I think it would help me in other personal interactions because getting a sense of how people are as individuals can greatly help foster a good relationship with them.

The power of envisioning a better future

"Vision without action is just a dream.
Action without vision merely wastes time. 
Vision coupled with action can make things happen!"
These are the quotes that stood out from the video "The Power of Vision" which baiscally spoke about having a vision for your future and making it happen. There are many things I would want to accomplish after graduation one being getting a job in which I would feel comfortable, happy and would actually want to get up in the mornings to go to. This is why I am putting all my effort into actually doing good in all my classes trying to get the best grades that I can possibly get. I would also want to get paid fairly well not because I want to earn alot just for the heck of it but because I would love to be able to set up a foundation or some sort of charty for kids with Downs Syndrome. I know that will take alot of work but I am willing to work "my butt-off" to be able to achieve that by excelling and putting my all in my job. And of course I would also want to give back to the schools that made it possible for me to get where I wanted, which would be my elementary, middle and high schools as well as Baruch. I strongly believe that we must never forget our roots and who helped us along the way.

Decision Making

Seeing as how half the class did not do as well as expected on this first exam we were given an oppurtunity to boost our grade up. Once the professor gave us the floor to come up with some sort of extra credit the class immediately began throwing out ideas. I took the role of avoidance not because I didnt think we weren't going to get aything but because I knew that many were in the same situation as me as far as the grade went and a solution that would benefit us all would eventually be reached. However, I was discussing what the class was deciding with the classmates I had around me. I did notice the methods being used in the class discussion one of them being the compromise method. Here two students immediately stood up and sort of took control of the class to try to get out ideas out of all the shouting and come up with concrete proposals. They were hearing people out and trying to accomadate each and every idea. Although the whole process was a little chaotic we did end up getting a pretty good extra credit package. But now knowing how everything went I think if we had to do this a second time a collabrating process would probably work the best because breaking up a fairly large group into smaller ones would facilitate getting out ideas better and it would be more orderly.

Applying the Planning Process

Step 1: Define your goals and objectives
I believe my group fully understood the objectives of the egg planning activity. The professor listed the specific steps he wanted us to take and we knew exactly what we had to do to be able to test our invention at the end of the activity.

Step 2: Determine current status compared to objectives
I think we were pretty good in keeping on track with the steps we had to follow. The first step the professor listed was to discuss in a group exactly what and how we were going to go about building a contraption for the egg.

Step 3: Develop premises and several alternative strategies
Here we didn't really come up with several alternatives. We baiscally thought up of one design and just tweaked it. We probably would've done a much better job if we would have come up with several designs but we were so focused on baiscally getting it done within the time constraint that was given to us.

Step 4: Analyze alternatives and make a tactical plan
As stated in step 3 my group just had one design and each one of us incorprated ideas to try and make it work. We didn't really allocate roles, once we were given the supplies each of us just took up something to do whether it was building, or putting the tape on or holding the egg.

Step 5: Implement the plan and evaluate results
Although we only came up with one idea we actually did stick to it and was able to build the contraption as we had planned plus add some more ideas and in the time that was given. But even though we built it, it didn't serve its purpose which was to protect the egg from breaking when we threw it.

My group was able to almost follow through the whole planning process. Thinking back now I think if we would've come up with more ideas and if we would've given each memeber a specific job then our objuective of not breaking the egg would have been achieved. Regardless, I really enjoyed this activity.

Culture Shock - Learning a new culture through Food

I am a person that values and cares very much for my friends. Among the many things I like about them, one of the most important is their culture diversity. I rememeber that one day during my senior year in high school one of my friends invited all of us to her house for lunch. She was born in Pakistan and came to the U.S at a very young age.  So that day she cooked for us typical dishes from Pakistan. As soon as we arrived her mother greeted us and before we entered her apartment we took off our shoes and left them at the entrance.  Her mother was very friendly and instantly made us feel at home. As it is custom for her we ate on the floor. All the food was brought out and placed on a mat on the floor.  Typically they wouldn't eat with spoons or forks but to make it easier for us her mother gave us some. I forgot the names of the dishes we ate on that day but what I do rememeber is that all of it was very delicious. I enjoy learning about different cultures and even more actually experiencing it as I did on that day.  I actually learned new stuff about her culture and about her family. This day became one of the many cherished memories I have of high school with the best group of friends I could ever ask for.