Communicating via Blog

This class has been a class out of the mainstream. The tools and projects that were given to us duing this semester can be descrobed as "out of the box", which includes the Blog assignments. The Blog assignments were very revealing to me and helpful because it gave me a perspective within myself but that is the only fucntion that it has served me. I am not faulting the blog assignments becuase they replaced the standard homework that I would have received in nay other class. I appreciate it but it was an assignments that gave e some liberty to dispense. My schedule does not allow me the ablity to "network" with my fellow classmates, so i ws not able to develop any ties with anybody else from class. It figues, as I have no comments on any of my blogs. At the time, I saw the merit of the projects within the class but I could not make any sense in the blog, again no time to fully extend myself to the blog. As far as using the blog as a management experience, that is correctly defined. It took management of time to be able to post and to response to blogs. The grade issue is also, greatly appreciated becuase the blogs determine some of the grade and I greatly need it. Finally, I do not think I will keep the blog site, unless I need some place to vent my fustrations with my current job.

A Haiku

I picked this type of poem because it is short and simply but more importantly, it is short and concise, a characteristic that we need to develop in the business environonment. The Method of the poem is a Haiku which is noticable by the 5 - 7 -5 word ratio, a total of 17 words to express an idea. Can you tell me what I am trying to depict?

The Manager by Walter Palacios

The Leadership role

Can I dictate it to them?

Or just sit and watch?

Thank you. WPX

McDonald’s: the Management Process at Work

During the course of our semester, we have seen various theories of management. These processes have very different aspects which all serve to incorporate a strong value of stability and reliability. But these have been only theories that I have never really seen as an objective participant. Remarkably, it is very apparent at McDonald’s and other places, as well. The object of this essay will be to show you that the management process that was involved in my order is complex and that the workers of McDonald’s deserve more credit than they have been given.

It was late in the night, which is my customary time to arrive at my neighborhood from my daily routines. I regularly do not consume any McDonald’s food, as they are very high in fat calories even with the zero fat oil they are now using. I walked to the counter and ordered the small burger with four pickles and a side order of French fries without salt. The order was taken by a young woman, probably in her early twenties. I wanted to tell her that it was a project from school but I thought it best if I let her take my order without any pressure from me. She politely took my order and gave me a smile, a good customer service trait. She charged the order to the cash register. The total of the charge was two dollars and seventeen cents. It seems that this process of registering the charge is a dual process, at the very least. The register acts as a recorder of the order and displays my order on an internal screen that only the McDonald’s employees are privy. She verbally relayed my order to two people behind her, one at the frier and the other to the person at the grill. Both persons wore blue shirts. They were very amicable. It may have been because they were bored. Whatever the case, it made me feel very welcomed and valued. The person by the frier had no problem providing me with his respective part of the order but the other person did have some problem. Before I proceed, I must state that I do not possess any inner knowledge of the employee role in providing service to their customers but it seems that they have a support staff at McDonald’s. One of the members of this support staff, in a red shirt, assisted the person that was handling the hamburger request. She cooked the meat and the other prepared the pickles. Apparently, this must be a complicated process! The physical order was checked by confirming the order description on the internal screen. In any case the order was prepared in the span of four minutes, a reasonable time to wait for any order. The girl that took my order gave me a smile as I left. The whole operation of preparing a hamburger was coordinated by a total of four people; each had their own task and responsibilities but all worked in unison to perform a specific function.

The function was flawless, which was not what I had expected. It is obvious to me that McDonald’s has a corporate, business and functional objectives which can help any employee focus on the company’s goals. I expected shoddy service or at the very least a shoddy burger but both were superb. It was my impression that all employees have been given some type of course in customer relations, as displayed by the young girl at the counter. It was not clear to me if this young lady was a manager or not but she handled the delegation of each respective task with any consequence. In the four minute event I saw the hierarchy of management. We had a formal structure where the girl at the front delegated my order to the support staff. Then I saw the informal structure, where the cook in the front got received help from the person with the red shirt. Their communication skills were adequate. They managed to get my order correct. I did not see any of the inadequacies that others have referred to. I think that they thankless job of McDonalds goes unnoticed. It is these people that serve you a burger, fries and drink with the enough sense to get an order correct that should get tips. I mean, we tip other waiters that are dumber and ruder than these workers.

The workers at the McDonald’s may not have the vision to manage but they have the sense to get the order correct. They were able to hear the order and relay the message to the proper department. Each department handled their task some with ingenuity. They seem to have a cooperative work force where each handled their task regardless of rank. They satisfied me to the fullest as a McDonald’s patron.

If there were things that I would change, I would have to do the following changes:
Change the uniforms. These may sound trivial but the clothes make a man and most of these uniforms look very uncomfortable. I would prefer to have a comfortable employee than a bothered one. God knows what he is planning to do with your meal.
Provide better technology. Though the monitor in the McDonald’s was able to relay my order to the “floor”. It was not flexible to the activities of each worker. They were forced to go to the front or have someone relay my order to them. I propose hand held devices.
Language Classes. It is apparent that we have developed into a multicultural society with culture holding on to their beliefs and interpretation of certain actions or words. We need to educate the employees of McDonalds the mainstream language or the McDonald’s jargon of fast food ordering. Implementing such policies would eliminate some degree of miscommunications and presenting the public with correct orders.
In conclusion, my trip to McDonald’s was pretty uneventful and the food was great but I have had some complains about McDonald’s staff. I believe if er were to implement some of these programs that I have mentioned above, we would have more service as the on that I had on November 27, 2008.

The Leadership / Management Diagnostic

In the the class session where we participated in the leadership and management diagnostic, we took a battery of questions that showed us our strengths and weaknesses. It showed us what type of leader we are at that current moment according to the diagnostic test. There were four types of leaders that we could have been.
1. D - Diplomatic
2. S - Strength
3. I - Influence
4. C - conscientious
I was the conscientious one.

I believe that this test is a good demonstrator of our types of personality, as I have always been conscious to circumstances to others, sometimes to my own detriment. If I were to be different than the conscientious type, I would prefer to be a leader with Influence because a leader with influential owner is conscientious, as well as a strong and diplomatic leader. This was the second option that deferred to me.

I guess the that this shows me that I can resolve problems without forceful ultimatums that can destroy or at the very least grow resentment within a working environment. As far as helping me in other circumstances, I hope so but I highly doubt it. I have always known that I have been c conscious type.

Professionalism Vs. Financial Security

Currently I am taking a Management class at baruch College. It has given me the tools to be a practical professional in a business enviroment. I have always given my best in all my jobs, regardless of any duress that I may be encountering at work. Presently, I work at a place that I am not entirely happy. I have over-bearing bosses with hidden agendas. I have been given a delicate project that will help them in a legal matter. The work is very complicated. It has made me work over the weekends and to long hours of the night on the weeks. This is what I am best at but the opportunity has come accross.

I have been offered a job but I must start right away which means that I will have to stop my project. If I stop the project than the company where I am currently working can become liable for the full extent of the claim which is in the millions. What should I do? The other company, though the position is not on my career path, will pay me more.

On one side, I have my ethics. I cannot leave them to a certain litigation but on the other hand I can increase my salary and make my life easier. Today, I will go to the other job and have a preliminary interview but I need some advice. PLEASE HELP!!! WPX

My Future Goals

It has taken me a long while to accept what the rest of my life will look. It has been recently that I have been able to envision my future mostly due to my Father's health. Most that I have done and that I will do is for him. The following represent my current goals.

1. Graduate from Baruch
2. Get Married
3. Have Children
4. Buy a Home
5. Secure my Parents Future

These may seem like corny ideas but I must be true the only people that have been there for me, my parents. They just wants to see me happy but making them happy is my hapiness so I have started to make my future come true. My top priority is school and paying my rent. I juggle both and sometimes I drop the proverbial ball but I pick it up and keep on guggling. As for the rest of the items on my list, I know it will come in due time and I leave it alone.

As for the rest fo my dreams, I do not think that I have much a problem. My carreer has been in progress since the beginning of this Millenium. Once I have acquired my degree, the doors will open. This is an agreement in my employment contract with my employer. The position will make the rest or maybe some of my goals a reality.

I do have longer terms goals. These goals are more personal. I have always wanted to be an engineer. As a child, I attended a special school in Manattan College, an engineering school. The school was geared for children with aptitude for math and geometry. As preperations for this goal, I keep myself ready by refreshing the math skills that I will need and so forth.

I guess my goal at the current moment is to make my parents proud. That is paramount to me. WPX

Decisions...Decisions

AVOIDANCE!!!! That was my choice of method. I cannot think to have it an other way for many reasons.

The first reason was that it is not really fair for the rest of the students that really earned their points, fairly. Based on this sreason, we should accept the grades we received. But on the other side of the porverbial coin, it would be great to be graded on a curve because I did poorly and I need the grade and on hindsight, I should have been more proactive. I should have collaborated to the overall decision.

In the end, though, I ended up with what was not fair to all but pretty good to me. I have a chance to raise my grade.

That was an Eggs-cellent Idea

There is nothing more chaotic than a group of kids with a goal but with out any direction. Though we tried to complete the task, we were not mentally ready and therefore, our egg broke.

We knew our objective. Don't break the egg! How hard can it be to not break the egg? Well, did you know that this is a contest in M.I.T. That is right! M.I.T! The Massachusette Institute of Technology. Yeah! I think that is would be easy but we ran into some problems. We knew our objective. We knew the plan and tried our best to implement it but we barely had enough time to evaluate the results, much less did we have time to determine our current status or develop a different solution to our objective. It was not vis - a - vis but more like C'est la vie.

Everyone in my group had ideas. We did not have directions. We needed to define roles. Who would build the cage? Who would plan the cage? Who would go inspect the resource? And who would manage the whole process so that a in-process evaluation could have been performed and have a better use of our time. But overall, it was a great idea because it gave me the insight into improvised management. WPX

My Biggest Managment Problem - Chris

The biggest management problem...I think we could all write a book about it. In our lives, we encounter some problem that we must manage. I am glad that the professor has asked us to write two or three paragraphs because this will leave me enough material to write about for the rest of the semester. The best topic that I believe could relate to my job.

As my first blog described, I used to run operations for two divisions where I learned to manage a myriad of problems. I became proficient in my industry. I recently took a job in order to be closer to school. It took some sacrifice because I now became part of a team. I am no longer a "manager". I am now managed, but I am managed by someone that does not have any idea how to run operations. His name is Chris and he is the quintessential "bully" boss. It takes a lot of will power to restrain myself and not to react to his behavior. If I don't, I could lose my job. If I lose my job, I will not be able to afford the tuition and that is the bottom line. So what do I handle this situation? I manage!

How do I manage? I manage by applying the managerial psychology I learned in my prior jobs. I put him in perspective. I need him to perform his function. He knows how to process orders. I let him. I coax him to relinquish functions that he clearly has not grasped and I perform the rest. I have to put aside my ego and let him lead because in the end I am still determining the output and the functions of that department. As for Chris, I let him be and I go by my business, the business of managing a department in cognito. WPX

The First Post

Hi! I am a fellow student. I am accounting major and I currently work in the garment industry. I have worked in the industry for seven years as part of the accounting department. My responsibilities within the accounting department have given me a great experience and understanding of the financial cycles involved in the logistics and production of garments but I needed to experiences more. In the last year, I was responsible for operations of two garment divisions. The new position gave me the responsibility of management. As a manager, I had to deal with deadlines and output. I had to deal with internal issues within my own support staff. Both are dependent of each other and as a manger, I had to deal and resolve issues. I realized that in order to be an efficient manager, I had to have innovation or imagination.
This is my first post and I have titled my blog name as “Imanaginations” because in the modern world of innovative business, we need to have an imagination to give us an edge. An imagination in context to business, can allow us to be prepared for any situation that will arise, situations that you may not have experienced but have imagined it.