Poem Of The Semester

Management can usually be a drag

But Professor Kurpis had it in the bag

On the first day when we were told our homework was a blog

I knew then that this class wouldn’t be as boring as a log

Next he asked us to drop an egg

Wished us luck and said “break a leg”

A few weeks later we had fun again

Playing with Legos and making some friends

Hopefully the final will be kind

Professor Kurpis please keep this is mind!

All and all the class was a blast

I’m 100% certain that the memories will last

:)

Blog Review

I think the blog assignments were a very unique part of the class.  I haven't experienced this way of learning before in any of my other classes.  I can't say that I was dying to write every assignment, but I do think overall it was a worth while component of the class.

This was defiantly a great way to help aid in communicating with the other students.  Even if I wasn't able to communicate directly with everyone, it made me feel more comfortable speaking during class time because I felt that I knew many of the students.

I do think the blog made me think about my perceptions of what we did in class, but I don't feel many of the assignments asked us to relate it back to our life experiences.  I did include a few life experiences here and there but not on every assignment.  Maybe I should have done this on my own without being asked in the assignment?

I am not a great test taker, so I defiantly view this as a gift to be able to help boost our grades.  It gave us control through out the semester to be able to easily earn 20% towards the course.

Personally, I do not think I will continue posting on the blog.  I am not a very technological person so for me it would feel like a hassle to keep up with it.  I am the type of person who I would rather verbally talk about things than write it down.

I think the blog should remain a part of the class.  It was a place where I could have a chance to express my thoughts that I didn't get a to discuss during class.  Also, it was great to know what 20% of my grade could potentially be ahead of time. :)

The McGangBang

The experience I had ordering the sandwich was surprisingly great!  The McDonald’s staff was very pleasant during the process.  I was on vacation in Florida for the break and decided to do the assignment there.  I think the location had a big effect on the way I was treated by the staff.  The store was very slow when I went so I feel the staff had more patience with my order than they would have had in a fasted paced store in New York.

I went up to the first cashier who was a young girl in her 20’s.  She was very sweet and asked for my order.  I was too nervous to ask for the “McGangBang” so I opted to just ask for the actual sandwich.  When I asked for “A Double Cheeseburger with an entire McChicken in the middle”, she smirked and asked me to repeat the order.    I repeated the order and she started laughing.  She told me it would be no problem to make she just had to figure out how to enter it into the computer correctly.

There were two women standing a couple feet away making some of the food (one was a manager).  The cashier walked over to them and told her the sandwich I wanted and asked how to enter it.  The manager turned her head around and said, “Is this for you?!”  I said yes trying not to laugh.  The manager replied “Are you pregnant?!”  At this point I was trying very hard not to laugh.  She told the cashier just to ring up the two sandwiches individually and under each press the “Ask Me” button.

Before making the sandwich, the chef in the back came out and asked her what I needed.  The cashier then told her my specific instructions.  While I was waiting for the sandwich to come out the cashier started laughing and asking me things like, “Are you going to actually eat this?  Do you eat this all the time?  Is it good?”  It was extremely hard for me to be serious and keep a straight face!

I didn’t have to wait long for it to come out.  About a minute later it was ready.  I took the sandwich out the bag and opened it on the counter but it was wrong.  The McChicken was on the bottom of the Double Cheeseburger not in the middle.  I apologized to the girl and explained to her again exactly how I had to have it and asked for another one.  She was extremely nice and said she would go back there herself and make it for me.  So she put on gloves and went into the back.  When she came back out with it I opened it to check again and this time it was right!  I took the picture and thanked her for being so great with my special order and walked out.

Being a management consultant, I would defiantly give this McDonalds a great rating.  The McDonalds’ team was very competent and accommodating to my special order.  The cashier made me feel comfortable and important.  I think the communication between the employee and management was excellent but the communication between the employees could be improved.  The cashier was able to locate the manager right away and ask how to enter the order.  They were both very efficient and took care of the issue at hand.  But between the communication of the cashier and the chef there was an issue.  The chef came over to inquire about the “Ask Me” on my order and the cashier explained to her exactly how I needed the sandwich.  When the sandwich was finished it was incorrect.  To improve the communication between the employees and chefs, I think the “special orders” should be written down instead of being verbally transferred.  If the store is crowded or the order has many steps it may be difficult for the chef to hear or remember what was asked to do by the time he or she returns to the grill.

I feel the manufacturing process was quite effective.  It was easy for the cashier to put my order into the computer after she found out how to ring it up using the “Ask Me” option.  To make the process even more effective I would change one thing.  Instead of only having the “Ask Me” option for special orders, I would add an extra text box for the instructions to be typed onto the receipt so there isn’t any confusion between employees.  Then, if there is still confusion as to the instructions the chef can ask the cashier verbally.

            The cashier I interacted with showed outstanding leadership traits!  She was very efficient and helpful in making sure I got exactly what I ordered.  She didn’t give me any problems about completing what I asked and preceded like it was a regular sandwich.  When she realized she didn’t know how to enter in the order, she didn’t hesitate before asking a manager.  Immediately she walked over to the manager and asked her how to do it.

The cashier showed leadership again when the order came out wrong.  When I checked the sandwich over and told her it wasn’t what I ordered, she instantly said she would go in the back and make it herself.  I was very impressed by her actions to be proactive rather than taking the chance of the sandwich to come out wrong again and have me wait.  This cashier defiantly got an A+ for leadership and customer service.

Leadership is imperative in a McDonald’s.  In this type of industry the employees are working directly with customers.  If the customers aren’t satisfied they can take their business elsewhere.  When employees are leaders it makes the ordering process run smoothly with minimal errors.  Although my sandwich was wrong the first time, I was unable to become an upset customer because the cashier took the lead and re-made the sandwich herself.

DICS

My results from the DICS test were I sub C.  I think these results were VERY accurate.  After reading over all of the categories, I would have selected these results for myself regardless of actually taking the test.  It was interesting to go home and read through the descriptions of the Influence and Conscientiousness categories.  While looking at each bullet point I would laugh because it describes me to a T.  My favorite one to describe me is "To be more effective, this person needs: control of time, if D or S is low".  I am horrible at time management! I always try to fit too much in and leave everything until the last minute.

I feel this would be a great tool to help understand people better and lean how to interact with them, but I don't think it should be solely based on these results.  For myself they were very accurate but I am sure there are other students who don't feel the same about theirs. In a business setting, I think this would also be very beneficial.  In an office there are so many different types of people it is hard to get to know everyone on a personal level.  This can be very helpful because it can give some sort of insight to how a person interacts without prying into the personal lives of others. 

Vision

So this was a very interesting video, I can't say I have ever seen anything like it!  It was entertaining to watch but defiantly needs to be updated.  I thought it was straight foward with delivering the "power of vision" message.  It gave great visuals so we could really invision what it was describing.  I would have to say my favorite part was at the end with the scene on the beach.  This basically is my summary of the video...

Budget for the video: $10
Cost to buy the video: $800
Watching a grown man skipping towards the ocean and tossing in Starfish one by one: PRICELESS

The first goal I would like to accomplish is to pass the CPA exam and become a Certified Public Accountant.  It is a very difficult test to pass expecially on the first try.  The actions I intend to take are to study and work hard in my accounting classes while at Baruch so I will be sufficiently prepared when the time comes to take the test.

The second goal I would like to accomplish is to find a new hobby.  Ever since I moved to the city I have been wanting to find either a club or a place to voulenteer at but haven't really taken the time to look.  I heard of a great website called meetup.com.  It is where people can either search for different interest groups or create one themselves.  My plan is to use this website to help achieve my goal before the summer.

My third goal is to make more friends at Baruch.  I live a few blocks away so I usually go home in between classes, especially in the winter.  The actions I am going to take are to try and stick around between classes this spring and meet more people.  Also, I am going to look into joining a social club at the school.  Any suggestions on clubs to join or places to hang out?

Decision Making Continued

Out of the 5 ways a person can act in decision making, I think I can personally identify with two of them.  The first way I think I used to handle the situation was "Compete to win".  I think I was somewhat aggressive in trying to have my ideas heard.  Since I sit in the front of the room I used it to my advantage.  I would tell the girls in the front what I thought would be the best ideas and they would repeat it louder to the class.  The second way I think I used was "Compromise".  By nature I am a very "see both sides of the situation" type of person.  I always like things to balance and have everyone happy. So in this sense, I really tried to see both sides of every one's opinions.

Overall I observed a lot of people using the "Avoidance" method.  I think in a classroom this size many students became discouraged to give their opinions and gave up.  It was probably very frustrating for the students in the back to try and yell to the front of the room what they thought.  It was also very interesting to see a few students from the back come up to the front and help take charge.  They had the "Compete to win" attitude as well.

I think if we had more time to come to a decision it would have been better if we used the "Collaboration" method.  We could have broken up into groups and compromised among the smaller groups.  It would have been easier to work in a bigger group to come to one decision.  This defiantly would have led us to get a more desirable result sooner and with less conflict!

Decision Making With 80 Classmates!

Well last nights class was interesting to say the least!  Trying to create a proposal to satisfy 80 classmates was defiantly not an easy task.  Thankfully, a few people stepped up and took the lead!

The whole "activity" began when we received our grades from Midterm #1.  Overall the grades were not good.  Prof. Kurpis was nice enough to give the entire class a challenge; come up with a proposal for a curve and future test formats that every single person in the class agrees upon by the end of the class period.  It was extremely frustrating to try and hear every classmates opinion especially when we had a time constraint. 

I think in a situation like this everyone needs to be willing to compromise.  It is impossible to make every individual COMPLETELY happy.  Personally I think the best way to approach this was to work with what we have already and make alterations that will benefit most.  The one thing we all disagreed upon was to change or not to change the essay portion on the test.  This was the most frustrating part!  Towards the end a few people were still 100% against having the essay.  Everyone was arguing back and forth and trying to make a comprise but still a few would not even hear about keeping the essay.  It was disappointing because even if one person didn't agree it would ruin it for the other 79 students.  But all and all our class pulled it together in the last 5 mins!  Everyone agreed on everything we proposed to the Prof.  Even though there was so much tension the entire period I think we can all look back on it and laugh.  Hopefully the peace can be restored in the class and we can all still be friends :)