Management Poem

I decided to write a haiku about the class activity involving the egg.

The egg shall be safe
All we need is good planning
But splat goes the egg

Communication via Blog

    When I first found out that we needed to make and continually update a blog for class, I felt a little bit of dread and wondered how it was going to work out.  My anxieties were instantly tamed when I found out how easy it was to get started on blogging when using blogger, which just so happens to be an extension of a google account.  The process to set up the layout and begin blogging was very user friendly, and that helped get me into the mood to make my blog a little more elegant in the early days when I was still trying to find a good layout and what not.
   This blog has indeed been an interesting, unique, and effective way to get value from this class.  I thought it would have been annoying, but only because I am somewhat lazy.  The assignments were far enough apart from each other so as to not be annoying, but also keep the whole class interested in doing a good job on it.  I really enjoyed just reading the blogs of my fellow students, especially the ones that had posts beyond what was required.  The bloggers' personalities really shined through in these posts, and I learned a lot about my classmates that I otherwise wouldn't have.
   Although the atmosphere in the classroom is very relaxed, the majority of the time is devoted to learning what we have to learn about management.  Because of this, and the fact that students often have their lives to go back to after class ends, we really don't get too much time to engage with each other for conversations and interactions outside of class.  I feel I definitely benefited  from  meeting others online and that allowed me to better relate to them when we are in the classroom.  We can check our blogs on our own time and pick up exactly where we left off.
   The diversity of the activities that we did in class was staggering.  One day I would walk in to class and see a carton of eggs and straws on the table, so I knew it was going to be a spectacular lesson.  These lessons sometimes take the whole period to complete.  There isn't really a follow up assignment, so the blog topics were a good way to get us to think about the significance of our classroom activities.  Reading about other students' perceptions is fun and a good way to find out what I missed when only using my mind to figure things out.
   Updated periodically, just like our own blogs, the professor's blog included fun topics that deal with management in a different way than our course curriculum.  I think it's a welcome change to read these posts and it was enough to provide for a change of pace.
   I actually forgot that the blog was worth 20% of our grade, so my test anxiety was higher than it is now that I remembered this.  It's definitely in our favor that such a big portion of our grade is totally in our control.  This offsetting of test anxiety is such a huge help and I understand now that this blog helps us in many ways that can't be understood at first glance.
   Other than doing the assignments that were required, I haven't been updating them with my own ideas and thoughts that much.  This is mainly because I haven't been actively thinking about issues that could be good ideas for a post.  I would like to start doing this in the future, and I think I remember many people saying that they will update us when they reached their goals that was the topic of a blog assignment not that long ago.  I will probably check out other people's blogs occasionally after class is over just to keep up with whatever interesting things they decide to post about.
   Now that the semester is winding down, I realize that I will miss this class the most out of all my classes.  It was a blast going to class and having a professor that teaches so differently his peers.  This blog should definitely remain a component of this course so that those that come after us won't miss out on the experience of being able to share ideas easily and creating something that has a chance of being a big part of their lives.  I'm not a very good critic, so I don't really see much that needs to be changed.  It's a well thought out component of the class that we will always remember.

Dominance, Influence, Conscientiousness, Steadiness.

    These are the components of DISC.  These are the management orientations of the test that we took in management class.  I suppose it was accurate in determining that I was a Cs.  I'm the kind of person who likes things a certain way and I like to make sure that all the details are correct.  A clearly defined goal is what I respond well to and stability is important to me.  I actually do wish that I were another type, mainly because it seems like it would be easier to just go with the flow of things and not worry about the little stuff.  I would probably want to be a combination of a D and an I because they are the ones with qualities that enable them to get what they want, and are recognized as a result of it.  Becoming a different type of person is possible, although you would really need to change yourself.  Professor Kurpis says that the different types of people see the world differently, so that is perhaps the hardest part to change.  At the same time, I don't think this test should limit you, because you can be whatever you want to be.  Many people have qualities from all four categories, so perhaps just using a combo of two orientations is limiting, although the evaluation of which two are the strongest isn't wrong.

A burger, Fries, and Mac Sauce on the Side

            One day after school, I decided to stop putting off going to a McDonalds to get the extra credit assignment done.  The goal was to order a hamburger with five pickles and fries that are well done with a side of big Mac sauce for dipping.  Besides getting the actual food exactly as specified, the receipt itself has to indicated that the specific additions to the order.  Pictures will have to be taken to prove we actually did this successfully.  Now let’s get onto what happened.

            I actually had to go to two McDonalds before I was able to accomplish the task.  The first one that I went to was the one on Canal Street in Chinatown that is right next to the subway station for the 6 train.  It was around one o’clock or so, so the place was pretty packed with a lot of people waiting on line.  When I had first found out about the assignment, I thought it was going to be a nightmare because I usually don’t like to give people trouble.  Then I didn’t think about the project for a while.  During the couple of minutes that I waited in line for, I was no longer worried about how annoyed the cashiers might be and started to really think about how I was going to tell them exactly what I wanted in the clearest possible way.   After a little bit of thought, I decided to just go with the flow because the cashier would most probably mess up anyway, since this was such an unorthodox order.  Finally, it was my turn to order.  To give her a heads up, I told the cashier that my order was going to be weird.  She didn’t seem to be troubled by this, however.  So I began by saying I want my hamburger with 5 pickles.  Simple enough.  Then I told her that I wanted her to list the 5 pickles on the receipt.  I thought that this was where it was going to start getting troublesome.  However she said okay anyway, despite having a look of incredulousness on her face.  With that out of the way, I thought I was in for a smooth ride.  After ordering the well done fries, I was somewhat skeptical they’ll actually be well done, because I don’t actually even know what constitutes fries as being well done.  Maybe I should have more faith in McDonalds.  In any case, I also asked for a side of Mac sauce.  She then went away to speak to her manager.  She then told me that they wouldn’t give me a side of Mac sauce.  I then politely asked if I could speak to her manager.  The manager was a man who seemed to be somewhat annoyed at me.  I kept asking if he could just put it on the side, but he refused and said he couldn’t do it.  How can a manager not give me a simple side of Mac sauce?  I had to just say don’t want the order anymore (the burger had already been made,) and I did feel bad, but I needed to get everything right.  After that, I just walked out of the place disappointed.

            The second McDonalds that I went to was one on Bowery Street, also in Chinatown.  This McDonalds was less busy than the first one.  Almost immediately, I was on to ordering again.  I told the cashier that I wanted a special order and then proceeded to tell her my order.  After I told her the order that I wanted and said that all the details needed to be on the receipt, she didn’t really know how to proceed, which was perhaps due to her never having to use those options on the ordering machine.  She then called over what I believe to be the manager of the cashier stations.  This manager was more knowledgeable and was able to get me my order.  However, the receipt that she printed out had a problem.  The burger part was correct, but it only listed that I had a small fries, and there was no mention of it being well done or having a side of Mac sauce.  I got into an argument with her when I said that I wanted the receipt to say well done.  She said it was impossible, but I had insisted that I had done it before, so I knew it was possible.  This turned out to be a misunderstanding, as I later found out, because the receipt could apparently only say “well” instead of the full phase, “well done.”  Nevertheless, she became very frustrated when I said I wanted my money back, as I had already paid, which wasn’t such a good idea in hindsight.  As a result of the frustration, she called her manager, which I assume was the general manager of the place.  At first he was very confused about exactly I wanted, and I thought I would have another argument, but he turned out to be a very nice guy.  I told him I needed him to print the recipe again to get it right.  He told me he couldn’t print it again, because I would have to order it again and pay.  But I insisted that I needed the receipt to show the exact contents.  What he ended up doing was he decided to use a dollar of his employee discount to “buy” another order of fries so he can print the receipt.  I felt bad that he had to do this, but it did solve the problem.  I received my order and checked it at a nearby table when I realized they forgot my Mac sauce.  I went back asking for it and I wondered what the container would be.  The first manager went to get it for me herself and it was in a small cup with no cover on it.  It didn’t really matter, so I just put it into my bag and positioned it so that it would not tip while I was carrying it.  Overall, I was satisfied with the service at this McDonalds and it was in stark contrast to the somewhat cold treatment that I had gotten from the manager at the first McDonalds.  Both managers and the original cashier here got a good laugh out of this and bade me good bye at the end.  I’m glad this was the case because at the end of the day, it’s not worth making a fuss over a demanding customer.

              I will now address the staff’s management process throughout this affair.  In the first McDonalds, the organization was not very flexible.  Only minor variations on orders were handled with efficiency, such as extra pickles.  When it came to the Mac sauce, they simply wouldn’t budge on giving it to me.  To change that, I would encourage that the managers and the workers be given the power to better serve their customers.  I suppose that the communications between the employees and manager here had no problems, because she was able to get her manager right away to come speak to me.  However, I’m surprised that he couldn’t give Mac sauce with my order no matter how much I asked.  To improve on this, I would say that customers are much more likely to return if simple requests like mine could be addressed without making the customer think that it’s hard to get they want.  Since I didn’t actually get to look at the receipt in this case, I couldn’t assess whether the employee was trained to know how to be detailed in the receipts.  Other than that, she seemed adequately trained and knew when to get the manager when issues arose.  The leadership was only existent in the manager that I talked to.  When he said that I couldn’t have my Mac sauce, he really meant it.  To be honest, he seemed like somewhat of a dictator to me, and was rather inflexible.  I would the workers have a little more room for leadership in that they can have the power and wriggle room to better serve the customers’ specific needs.

            The organization of the second McDonalds was better than the first one.  At the higher level with the managers, they knew exactly how to accommodate my “extra special” orders and how to list the details in the receipt.  However, at the worker level, they were probably not trained in that aspect of the job, so the quality of service suffered a bit at that level.  To better accommodate these orders, the managers should make sure to train them better.  From what I saw, there was nothing really wrong with the communications at this McDonalds.  From the workers to the “floor manager” and to the more general manager, communications did seem like it flowed from one level to the next and there was a hierarchy of command.  Communications to the customer would be better if the workers didn’t always have to go to the managers for assistance.  Once again, the training of the front line workers seems lacking in the area of special orders, so the efficiency and effectiveness in the event of special orders will be a problem when they slow down the rate at which they serve customers during a busy time of the day.  This definitely needs to be improved.  Both managers showed leadership here, but the general manager especially did so.  He was able to take the initiative and even go out of his way to fix the problem.  It would be better if the cashier allowed me to view perhaps a digital receipt to make sure that it is exactly as I want it.

My Goals in Life

Since I don't have any professional goals at the moment, I'll list some of my personal goals.

1.  Skydiving.  These is probably a  goal that is shared by many of fellow classmates, and for good reason.  Skydiving seems like a great way to feel alive and experience something dangerous.  I would have to make some money before I can take on this endeavor and probably do some research about where to do it.  I'd have to convince some of my friends to do it with me, just because it'll be fun to share the experience.

2.  Traveling to different Asian countries.  I've always wanted to go visit places like Japan, Malaysia, and Hong Kong.  I would want to do it after I graduate before I have to start working every day.  This once again requires a lot of money and I would need to start saving my pennies.  To get prepared for the trip, I'd have to find out the currency exchange rates and make a plan of what I am going to do every day while I'm there.

3.  Learn to cook.  Frying an egg or making instant noodles is not cooking.  In the near future, I would like to put on an apron and a chef's hat and go craft my masterpiece in the kitchen.  To do this, I will have to watch the food channel a lot.  But the most important thing would be to have hands on experience.  At first, I will follow the recipes I find in books and master them.  Then, I will add my own special touch to make the food taste even better.  Eventually, I will be a good cook and people can eat my food without wondering if they should.

Decisions, Decisions

    When I saw my test grade, I was horrified, and was hoping that there would be a curve.  Luckily, the class ended up getting that, and then some, but getting there was quite an interesting process.  Professor Kurpis asked us to come up with a solution that the whole class had to agree with, or else we would get nothing at all.  I personally was using the Collaborating approach to handle the decision making because not everyone in the class will want the same things, so there would need to a give and take regarding what options would be acceptable to everyone.  I saw all the other four methods being used in class.  The people in the front were or less using both the compromise and accommodation methods and were acting as mediators, as well as organizing the ideas that popped up and integrating them into our package of demands.  Amongst the class, some also used the avoidance method since it seemed really hard to try to reach a consensus.  I would have to say that the most enjoyable approach for witnesses of this decision making process would be the students using the "compete to win" approach.  There were various individuals that knew what they wanted and weren't afraid to speak up and tried to get everyone to see it their way.  An example would be taking out the essay question, which did end up happening, and the test's essay is now just extra credit.  I didn't really want this, since it would mean more of the other types of questions that are not as open ended, and would possibly make the test more tedious.
    Having gone through this experience, the other way I could have used to handle this conflict would have been accommodation.   I realized that the essay was hard for the students who aren't native english speakers, so I can see why they wanted to get rid of it.  There were also others who didn't want the essay for various reasons, and I guess if there were a lot of people that wanted to make the essay not as important, I should be accommodating.  This would have been better because the time taken to reach the decision would probably be less than the collaborating approach.  Overall, I was happy that we got it done as a class when it counted.

The Broken Egg

    Designing a contraption to save Shelldon (the name of my team's egg) from breakage as a team was quite the experience.  Step 1 of the planning process went smoothly enough, as we had a clear idea of what needed to be done before the deadline.  When it came to step 2, our team was able to identify the resources that were to be given, but we didn't identify the strengths and weakness of our group.  I think at that point, everyone was individually trying to come up with an idea about how to make something that will allow the egg to land in peace.  After some thought, we moved on to step 3, where we shared our ideas, although not everyone had one.  However, that may have been better because we were able to decide on one design and possibly another as a backup.  For those group members that did not have their own idea, thinking about how to improve someone elses design would have been a good way to contribute.  As the time allocated toward planning was winding down, we should have actually implemented step 4.  We didn't assign roles throughout the team, so we ended up having to wing it when we actually started on step 5, where we actually began to build it.  I think that after this project, we have learned that it would have saved a lot of time if everyone knew exactly what they had to do.  When we actually began step 5 of implementing our plan and building the design, we ran into many problems.  The most glaring one was where the person who thought up of the design was the one actually building it.  While we all did help, such as giving him tape, and helping him with the materials use, he was the primary builder.  If we were able to figure how to divide it into parts and then putting it all together, we would have used our time much more efficiently.  At the end, with about a minute left, we had to rush to just tape whatever straws we had left on the bottom for cushion, since we were not able to complete the contraption.  Shelldon eventually went on to have his shell broken, but that's okay.  I feel that the team's ultimate performance came up short because we actually decided to modify the design from the one in the planning process.  We could have been more effective as a group in the planning of the task by making sure that we can build the entire thing in the specified time, and trying to work out a way to break up the design into more than 1 part so more people could work on it at once.