Nature's Finest

A manager is like an oak tree seed; 

many won't make it,

few would succeed,

but if tendered and cared for,

it grows stronger, resisting the elements;

it stands tall, proud,

looming over a luscious field of flowers.

Self-expression via blogging

The traditional learning environment is one where the professor teaches and the student learns, but college is supposed to be different.  Professor Kurpis’ class is one of the few classes offered at Baruch that actually breaks tradition.  He creates an environment that allows everyone, including himself, to be the student AND the teacher.  One way Professor Kurpis has created this construct is with this blog.  This communication tool allows for students to give their input on assigned topics or on other people’s entries, make management connections to class activities and speak freely of any sort of management-related topic on separate entries.  The management blog is surely a benefit to us students.  With a lecture class of about 70 people, it’s hard to interact with everyone; this blog allows me to communicate with a great many others that I haven’t gotten the chance to speak/work with in class. 

The blog did effectively get me to reflect on what we did in class.  I haven’t gotten the 5 extra credit points at any point during this semester yet, so every time a new blog assignment is posted after a class activity, I use the assignment as my chance to review what I did wrong and think of what could have been done better, hoping that it would be helpful for the next class activity.  Writing my own entry for each assignment allows me to gather my thoughts fully together, which is helpful when I go to my fellow classmates’ blogs to comment on their entries because then I'd have something valuable to offer them as a response.  Commenting other students’ blogs made me think outside of my comfort zone at times too, which allowed me to understand their points of view and opened my eyes to new perspectives on certain things. 

There was a decent amount of outside reading to do via the blog.  The various management topics introduced in Professor Kurpis’ blog did not directly relate to the course material, but they certainly related to topics that I’m sure many of us could relate to.  The “cabinet” entry got me to realizing that it’s best that I surround myself around good people that won’t intentionally bring me down and that networking is vital.  The “time management” entry was surely insightful because all college students experience trouble with it at some point, and it fitted in perfectly with many of my peers’ biggest management problem entries about time management.  The “success” entry opened my eyes to new ways of defining the word and caused me to mentally change some of my personal goals.  The last entry about our generation’s image problem was definitely helpful because it gave me some insight as to why I haven’t gotten a job yet. 

The overall assignment to manage this blog did relieve some test anxiety.  I like free writing and I don’t get to do it often because I don’t usually have time, but this blog allowed me to do so since it was required.  It was enjoyable because of its lack of strict structure and directions; it let me explore management freely in my own way and allowed for the in-class discussions to continue outside of the classroom.  I think it tested our grasp on the material more so than the actual exams because it allowed us to add in our input; the exams were straight textbook material.  My test anxiety wasn't completely offset because I get EXTREME test anxiety and do really badly on tests; I’m just hoping this 20% (if I get the full credit) can make up a good deal for my atrocious test grades =/. 

I’m not sure if I’ll continue posting on this blog after this class has ended, but I might.  This blog assignment has reminded me of my days when I used to blog on Xanga, and I kind of miss them.  Blogging is a good way to vent, share ideas, network and get input from other bloggers.  Still, I don’t know if I will feel comfortable sharing personal information on this particular blog, but I might use it as a professional/career blog (when I get to that point, which is hopefully soon).

 * Definitely continue using the blog as a component for this course.  No other professor or teacher that I’ve had has ever done something as innovative as this.   The blog is a unique form of communication that allows everyone to speak their minds, even the quiet ones like me.  It’s definitely better than the tool on Blackboard, especially since Blackboard continuously is down.  The only suggestion I would make is to have more management topics/entries that aren’t related to the course.  Since there’s no time limit to respond to those entries, it isn’t that hard for students to reply to them.  Those were enjoyable to read.

The Final Outcome

It can be very difficult to work with people, especially if they are intentionally uncooperative.  One of my previous entries mentions my biggest management problem this semester, which is to successfully carry out my scene in the BASU fashion show.  My original team members bailed on me by just not answering my messages; my next set of team members (which were the replacements I mentioned in my previous entry, "In a quandary") had busy schedules so they couldn't really assist me either; my final team was the actual two producers of the entire fashion show.  At first, I was glad to work directly with the producers, but things kind of went south still.

I wasn't sure if I was overreacting, but I felt as if they didn't want my scene to go well.  The producers told me not to come to any of the model practices until the last 2 dress rehearsals, which I personally thought was incredibly weird because they kept saying how they wanted my scene to be the biggest scene of this year's show.  Why would you not rehearse the biggest scene until the very last minute???  Maybe they didn't want my face to be shown??  I was at the first model practice; they just skipped my turn to introduce myself to the models as a choreographer for one of the scenes.  Perhaps it was because I wasn't a sister of their sorority anymore and they always spoke of wanting the choreographers to be exclusively from their organization.  

Communication with the producers was kept limited.  It was as if I was supposed to be intentionally left in the dark about things... Money - I had to constantly bug them about getting money for the scene.  I wasn't really given any except for $550 to pick up 14 traditional East Asian garments for my scene.  Now, to get authentic ones, it definitely requires more money, but that was all I had, so I made it work somehow.  2 people also generously lent some of their cultural garments for the show.  Props - ummm well, I wasn't going to get any more money so I had to lay out everything myself and get reimbursed later.  I got help from my brother to mix the music.

Dress rehearsal wasn't really utilized effectively.  I came late to the first one because I had to lug my 8 by 4 ft scenery by foot and up 29 flights of stairs to my apartment with my brother (since it didn't fit in my elevator).  Now, I had informed the producers I'd be late, but I guess they forgot to tell my models this.  When I finally arrived, I got to practice my scene a little bit.  The next rehearsal never happened because the models assumed I'd be late again I suppose and didn't come until later probably, and I had to leave because I had to go and buy paint for my scenery.

When it came time for the absolute last chance for rehearsal right before the show, one of the producers then told me there'd be no rehearsal for my scene.  I got so frantic.  How can that be?  The choreography was never finalized and the models don't know what to wear or what order to go in.

All or nothing?  The scene happened.  5 models were still in makeup, and the producers decided to go on without them.  Models were directed as they went out onstage by one of the producers.  Then, after the clothes were modeled, there were drummers and a lion dance performance.  Even though the producers almost entirely disregarded my layout for the scene and did not let me use my other props except for the background I painted (drawn by a friend), it went okay.  The models did a great job, and I heard some good feedback from the audience.  (There's probably some bad too, but I cover my ears for that.)

After reviewing the whole experience, I'm glad I went through it.  It could have been better if I got some more help preparing for the scene and actually was given the chance to rehearse it during the regular model practices during club hours, but the producers somehow made it work last minute.  

A Deeper Look into the Golden Arches

What would happen when something unexpected is thrown into an incredibly systematic situation?  Take a look at the setting of a toy factory that runs in an assembly line.  Let’s say a worker was drinking something by his station and spills some of his drink into a machine.  The machine probably will stop working and the process of making the toy will become chaotic.  Just like this scenario, McDonalds used to be disorderly when it had to take customized orders that strayed too far from its set menu.  Employees did not know how to fulfill orders that weren’t straightforwardly labeled on their cash register either.  Probably because of the complaints for poor service and competing fast food chains like Burger King succeeding in fulfilling their slogan, “Have It Your Way,” McDonalds realized that it had to improve employee-customer relations.  Thus, its customer service has surely improved, and it can be seen through a simple experiment.

On April 10^th, I walked into the McDonalds located at 213 Madison Street with a Spanish-speaking friend around 3:30pm.  I figured that since the neighborhood was mostly Hispanic, the employees would be bilingual.  My friend could translate the employees’ remarks made in Spanish (if any).

I asked the cashier for “1 small hamburger with exactly 4 pickles and 1 small order of well done fries with no salt” and the receipt.  Due to the cashier’s difficulty in comprehending me and entering what I asked for into the register, I repeated the full order.  She still had trouble understanding my request for exactly 4 pickles but eventually realized that she could enter it in as “extra pickles.”  Because she didn’t understand the word “salt,” my friend had to say it to her in Spanish, and after 1 minute and 20 seconds, she finally took my order. 

When the cashier went to tell the workers in the back my order, she remarked that “She (me) is trying to make us work” in Spanish and joked about it with them.  Then, she went to check on the fries.  She started pacing around the register area probably because she had nothing to do but to wait for my order to be completed.  When she came by my way, I asked her for the receipt again because she had forgotten to give it to me after I paid, and she apologized for the mistake.  She walked back to the workers in the back and joked around with them a little more in Spanish.  After, she told me that my fries will take a little longer and that I could sit down first and she’d let me know when my order was ready, which was nice of her to say.  (I continued waiting by the counter so that I could observe them better.)  To make sure she grabbed the right one, she kept asking one worker, “Is this my burger?  Is this my burger?” She then walked to get the well done fries with no salt, packed my order, gave it to me, smiled and wished me a nice day.

My order was completed in 5 minutes and 53 seconds, which is a bit long to carry out a small order when the place isn’t busy but understandable because a new batch of fries had to be made.  A total of 3 workers got involved – the cashier and the 2 kitchen workers.  From what I experienced and understood, I thought the service was good, but when my friend told me what the cashier said in Spanish, I was irked a bit.  If I was a consultant to McDonalds, I’d recommend that employees keep comments to themselves or say them when customers aren’t around.  The order preparation was okay, considering the fact that they stayed calm while fulfilling my special requests.  Communication could have been better.  She should have understood the English word for “salt,” so I’d recommend that the cashiers’ English-speaking and comprehension skills are up to par, or at least be enough to take down an order correctly and fully, which can then improve efficiency.   Coordination-wise, the workers did well, except when the cashier got nervous when she didn’t understand me fully while taking my order and when entering it into the register.  She shouldn’t have been pacing either because it made it obvious that she was bored; she could have spent that time talking to me, the customer.  My only other suggestion is for McDonalds to come up with a better way to relay specific customized orders to the kitchen staff because the cashier I dealt with had to keep shouting to the back to make sure they got my order for my hamburger correct.  This way, things would be more efficient and the cashiers can spend more time interacting with the customers.

For the most part, my experience at McDonalds was okay.  It did a decent job fulfilling its mission statement of being “the world's best quick service restaurant experience… so that [it can] make every customer in every restaurant smile." (http://www.samples-help.org.uk/mission-statements/mcdonalds-mission-statement.htm).  I left smiling so I say McDonalds does a job well done when something like unexpected, customized orders come its way.

The Assessment

When doing the test, I was so sure that the results wouldn't be accurate because I couldn’t even decide what characteristics described me and the test results were supposed to be based on my responses.  For a test to describe me so well when I couldn’t even do so myself is amazing.  

I am a C high S.  I definitely like and need to plan and organize before making any serious decisions, and I like examining things thoroughly to ensure quality and accuracy.  I take a methodical approach towards situations, handle conflict in a subtle manner, would like to work in an environment where one gets the opportunity to demonstrate his/her expertise and get acknowledged for it, have others lead the discussion, and definitely need to develop more tolerance for conflict. 

Sometimes I do wish I was another type, perhaps have some of the characteristics of an "I", because I let my opposition get what they want too much, making it seem like I’m too much of a push-over. I don’t like conflict so I do my best to avoid it, but sometimes it’s the worst thing to do because I just know I’m right.  When the outcome comes about and the opposing side turns out to be wrong all along with their decisions, I just can’t help but regret about not being more forceful with my opinions and ideas.  I know I’ll never be domineering because I will always have the tendency to examine things very thoroughly before making any decisions, so I aim to be more influential and persuasive so I can shape the environment around me.  I think this is very possible; I just have to work at it.  As I get more group work experience, like in this class, I see the importance of verbalizing my thoughts and to participate in the teamwork process more.  I don't want to completely part from being a "C," though.  It's good to analyze - just not good to over-analyze.

It is definitely helpful to examine a person’s management “type” so that you can better understand where the individual is coming from and perhaps he/she can better understand him/herself.  Tests like these allow for the manager or leader of a project to know his/her workers a little better so the individual can understand who he/she has to work with, which will allow him/her to control the work environment better.  Also, sometimes it’s hard to realize what type of worker you are until you take a test of this sort and have it all laid out for you so that you can reflect on it and say afterwards, “That’s actually true.”  It then allows for the individual who took the test to see his/her faults and to see what he/she can work at to move a letter up or to just improve their weaknesses as a worker.  

Tests like these could be helpful for other personal interactions.  Like Professor Kurpis said, D's and C's probably wouldn't get along in a relationship because a D would want to make quick decisions while a C would want to spend time analyzing each of the D's decisions; it would definitely get annoying since they are opposites.  But, on the other hand, as the saying goes, "opposites attract each other."  This type of test can allow you to understand your partner better so it will be helpful regardless of anything, but it may not necessarily be accurate.

For the winter survival scenario, we discussed in class (“Stranded!”), it would have been best to have a “I high C” type leader.  It’s good to have a leader who motivates and encourages other team members to getting the task done within the time constraint while still weighing out all the options, which is especially vital for that task because we needed to come up with the exact top 4 items the military chose that were needed for survival.

[My] TOUCHDOWN!

For most of my life, I was never really given the power to visualize my own future; my parents had always set the expectations for me.  Most dealt with mastering all areas of academics, but when I neared my college years, they realized that that just wasn’t possible – to be good at everything.  So, since I never really chose my own path for school, I let them decide for me that I should take the business route.  Now, it wasn’t entirely a decision made by them.  I’ve had experience working at Bloomberg LLP, as mentioned in a previous post, as well as in the Youth About Business program at Columbia University, and I liked it; I don’t know if I love it, though.  Now, here I am at Baruch College, chasing down my BBA in Marketing Management with a minor in Communication Studies.  But, what kind of life can I lead with this sort of major?

[*] My first goal is to become a part of or even head the marketing team of a new, developing business or project.  Some of my friends aspire to become entrepreneurs and start their own, thriving business, and it’d be ideal if I could help with the marketing aspect.  My other choice would to be work for Disney’s marketing team.  I’m open to working with almost any project with Disney because I just love the mood Disney sets for people.  Growing up watching the shows and enjoying their theme parks, I’ve gotten to know the atmosphere they set up for their customers, and it’d be great if I could continue giving the sense of warmth, family and fun customers expect to receive from Disney.    

[*] My first goal leads to my second one of becoming financially independent and living on my own.  It’d be awesome if I can finally make life decisions on my own without my parents breathing down my neck every time.  Since I’ve lived in New York City all my life and always felt I’ve been kept in a shell, it’d be ideal if I can move away from this city.  I plan to be financially sound in either a suburban area close to New York City (because I don’t want to be too far from my family) or in another urban area.

[*] Since I live in New York City, driving isn’t really necessary for me, so once I move away, I want to find the courage to learn how to drive.  No matter how silly this sounds, I’ve always been afraid of driving because I really suck at driving games … lol … Naa.. It’s mostly because I grew up having motion sickness, and even though I don’t feel this way as much as I did when I was young, I still get dizzy or nauseous every now and then during a long car ride, and being in the driver’s seat might still give me the same feeling.  Still, I hope to get over being motion sickness altogether, get my permit and be able to sit behind the steering wheel.  And, plus, driving would definitely, or at least hopefully, improve my sense of direction.  If not, thank goodness for the invention of a GPS.

[*] After I’m financially sound and have found a career that I enjoy, I’d like to settle down, start a family and get a dog (always wanted one but my building doesn’t allow pets =/).  In no way will I quit my job, though.  I definitely want the best for my children, and if it means that I have to quit my job, I will, but I really prefer not to.  My mom is a housewife and works normal business hours, and I would like to be able to do that too.  I don’t want to rely on my husband financially, and I truly believe I will be able to have a successful career and work at the same time.  I would love to have my children grow up in a house, too.  I’ve never lived in a house before (only apartments), so it’d be awesome to live in my dream house (with a lawn/garden, picket fence, garage, basement, an upstairs floor and backyard) with my family.

[*] My final goal that I will mention in this blog relates back to my parents.  I will never forget my roots or the fact that my parents have always supported me throughout my childhood, high school and college years.  And for that, I want to earn enough money from my career as soon as possible so that my parents can retire and then I can support them financially after.  

To make my vision a reality, I plan to solve my problem with time management and be more optimistic when it comes to doing things.  This will surely allow me to become more productive in school, in the business world and when I plan club/school events.  I also plan to get an internship/job related to marketing for this summer.  Ultimately, these actions will set me on the right path to making things happen for my vision.

Everyone Must Vote

When the class received their results for the first test, many were not pleased, including me.  I knew I didn’t do as well as I could have, but I definitely wasn’t expecting to get as low as I did.  Thankfully, the professor offered us the opportunity to collectively, as a class, come up with a decision on how exactly we wanted to be graded and how to reformat the test by the end of class.  Many were pleased with this task, but as time went by and compromise among about 80 people seemed nearly impossible, people’s attitudes went from “Alright, let’s get this done!  I need this;” to “We’re getting nowhere fast.” 

When we started conversing about how to make the final decision package to hand in to the professor, immediate chaos erupted.  Small group conversations were going on from all areas of the room.  But, not long after though, one male figure stood up and went up to the board to tell the class we should get some ideas down together.  He admitted his handwriting wasn't great, so another male figure immediately volunteered to lead and write down everyone’s ideas on the board.  It started alright; people were raising their hands and waited to be called on before speaking in defense for their idea.  During this time, I took the accommodation approach.  I saw the matter as being more important to everyone else rather than to myself, and I figured that I would let everyone else work it out and see what happens from there since I felt a bit timid.  Perhaps my silence should be viewed as the avoidance approach, since silence can be taken as withdrawal from the group, but I don’t believe I was withdrawn.  I paid careful attention and had faith that the class would come to a consensus eventually, and I figured I’d let them work it out first and add in my input later when the tide cools down if needed. 

Unfortunately, some students got antsy and started shouting (without being called on first) and this caused a domino effect because others would do the same to get their point across.  It then became impossible to comprehend any one person with the near madness that started.  Seeing chaos erupt more so than in the beginning caused me to switch to the avoidance approach, which made me withdraw my attention from the class “discussion.”  I thought about raising my hand to put in my input, but with the tide so high at this point, I’d be overcome by those who shouted louder than me, and there was no point.  I lost interest and just reverted to hearing people shouting rather than listening to what people actually were saying.  

Another person in the room actually got up to leave because he didn’t see the “discussion” going anywhere, but the professor asked him to stay, and he reluctantly did so.  Fortunately, this changed the tide and mood.  Everyone saw this student almost leave since nothing was agreed upon and knew that if people continued to argue for their self-interests, that was how the class would end – with no collective decision and no gain for anyone.  Then, the first male figure who stood up, from the beginning, took charge in the front, and things became more efficient.  People began collaborating their ideas, bargaining (like with the T/F section for the next test), and agreeing to cross out some unpractical ideas.  As I saw the tide changed, I began taking the compromise approach.  Everyone’s opinion mattered and was heard.  When I agreed with an idea, I made sure to vote for it and vise versa.  I didn’t literally speak up at the end, but my arm was my voice in the matter, and it was how I used my right to vote.  Thanks to the two male leaders (the catalysts), the male student who almost left (who caused the turning point) and the class’s collaborative effort, a final decision package was proposed to the professor and approved! 

There are a couple of ways that this conflict could have been handled better.  When the two male leaders took charge, both of them should have stayed in front – one could write while the other could take charge of the group discussion.  When dictated to, it’s sometimes hard to write on the board because it’s different than writing with pen and paper.  I know that when I write on the board, it’s harder to get down what someone is saying because I’m not used to writing on a vertical surface, so it requires more concentration.  Perhaps that is why the one who was writing couldn’t get down everyone’s ideas quick enough??  The other male leader could have dealt with the group interaction from the beginning because he did a great job controlling the madness towards the end and seemed more vocal than the other leader.  So, the original method of seeking everyone’s individual responses and then making the decision could have played out better had it been organized with more leadership, since we did have a sufficient amount of time.  Combining the two male leaders’ capabilities (one who made sure everyone’s opinion was heard and another who controlled the group and encouraged everyone to get the task completed) would have been better than having them separate during the decision making process. 

We could have also split up into groups in the beginning, set up a time limit for each group to come up with their ideas, write down the final decisions for each group on the board afterwards and vote/compromise collectively among those.  This method would have ensured that everyone’s opinion was heard, even the quiet ones, throughout the entire process.

Let Go My Egg-oh

I never knew I could get so stressed out about working with an egg.  When I stood in the front of the room waiting on line to perform the drop, my heart was pounding with fear of the egg cracking, even when it was in the safety of my hands.  Each time I heard the other teams’ eggs “SPLAT,” it only made the anticipation more nerve-wracking.  Then, it came time for me to represent my group.  I gave Professor Kurpis the paper of the design of my group’s contraption, egg’s name and my group members’ names.  I stepped onto the table in front, extended my arm and “Let go my egg-oh…”  Diablo was no longer in the safety of my hands; it was undergoing its drop of a lifetime – well, the end of its life.  Ahhh, how wretched I felt when it splat… poor Diablo.  

What went wrong?  Why didn’t my team’s contraption work?  After reviewing the steps in the planning process, it became somewhat clear why our plan wasn’t so “egg-cellent.”  Defining our objective was quite simple.  In fact, Professor Kurpis laid out what the goal and objective was, so since we were given it from the start, my group didn’t feel the need to spend time discussing Step 1.  Step 2: My group didn’t fully know where we stood in reaching our goal from the beginning.  We knew we had each other and the limited materials listed in the task to build the contraption and thought that was all we needed to know.  Perhaps if we defined our strengths and weaknesses when we began planning, we would have understood each other better and used what we knew were our strengths as a group to achieve our goal.  Step 3: A lot of the time was used for discussion of the perfect design.  Ideas were getting juggled around and scrutinized for each of their flaws.  Someone took out a sheet of paper, and we started drawing each design out and added details to each one as the paper was passed around.  Step 4: We stuck with the idea of making it sort of like a rocket on both the top and bottom of the egg with straw going around the side for extra cushion in case it fell over to the side.  Then, discussion of how each straw would be used went underway.  Roles weren’t exactly distributed.  We kind of agreed to go with the flow and each step up to the plate when it came time to building the contraption.  Step 5: The plan was executed but changed along the way.  After evaluating what went wrong, perhaps we should have stopped questioning the design we settled on and just went with it. 

We definitely bypassed a few steps in the planning process because of our time limitation to complete the task.  There wasn’t enough time to think everything through.  We may have had multiple designs that would have allowed us to achieve our goal of successfully building a contraption that allowed our egg to be fully intact after a 10-ft drop, but time did not allow us to examine each design entirely.  Though, team work was at its best because everyone contributed ideas for the final design, helped build the contraption and/or watched the timer in the front.  There wasn’t one main leader, but leadership was evident in each member because each person stepped up to play a specific role.  Our planning, teamwork and commitment all played out to our favor, but our time managing skills caused our downfall.  We let time get to our heads and decided to change our design at the last minute, literally.  Our goal towards the end also changed to: Just get it done and make it to the front of the room on time.  Sticking to the original plan would have probably been wiser. 

Haha.. Maybe it was just the name of my team’s egg.  Naming an egg “Devil (in Spanish)” might not have defined its faith in the end in a good way…