Scribe Post 9/29

In class we discussed the different theories of leadership (CH. 8). We began by discussing four questions: (1) Is there a difference between a leader and a manager?, (2) What determines how successful a leader will be?, (3) Do leaders have power?, (4) What is the best way to lead?.

(1)We came to the conclusion that a leader works to achieve a goal through buy-in, and a manager works to achieve a goal through order and efficiency.
(2)The success of a leader depends on the emotional intelligence of the leader and the readiness of the followers.
(3)Power is the ability to influence, and leadership is the ability to influence towards a goal. So, yes, leaders do have power.
(4)There are several different theories on the best way to lead. These consist of the Leadership Grid, Situational Leadership, Heroic vs. Developmental, Transactional vs. Transformational, and Servant.

We ended class by learning that while there are many different opinions on the best way to lead, the best style of leadership will always depend on the leader, the follower, and the situation.

The next scribe will be Gary.

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the next scribe will be kristen

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Today in class we played a game to review. The review is posted on E Campus

Scribe Post September Monday 20th 2010

Today in class we got in groups and discussed our Articles and how they related to ; levels of management and skills needed, challenges faced by managers, planning, decision making and organizing. Then we came together as a class and discussed them all together.

The next scribe will be Justin

Will

So far this class has been quite interesting and useful as one day I aspire to run and manage my own business. It so happens that I am the only son of a farm/ranching family so naturally my major is ag business. So now that im learning the roles and challenges of management I am intrigued. The knowledge I have gained in the organization levels of management as well as the fundamentals of planning should prove crucial in my future. I have also been studying the importance of the values of an economist. Now I'll be studying for our test Monday.

Reflection

The past couple of weeks we have talked about a number of things. One of the things we did learn about were the roles of management. Growing up my parents owned my their own business. This allowed me to be in charge of certain things around the business. I never knew that what my parents had put me in was a management position. After going over the roles of management in Ch. 1 I was able to look back and see exactly what I was responsible for. The role my parents had given me was a Supervisory management role. My father would task me out with certain jobs and I would take 3-4 workers with me to complete these tasks. I wish I could have taken this class a long time ago so I would know exactly what my role entailed.

Reflections: Rachel

I am not titled as a "manager" at my job, but with all what we have learned in these past couple of weeks I have management responsibilities. This class has helped improve my skills with my job at Country Inn & Suites as the Sales and Hiring associate. A lot of topics we have covered just here in the first few chapters relate precisely. In chapter 4 we discussed organizing. Being the sales associate, I meet with quite a few patrons to increase business. I've learned to adequately use a plan to review and sell accomodations to future attendants. I would say our company uses the Inverted Pyramid perspective. Here at the hotel we come close in contact to our guests daily and make sure the guest has what the need to be comfortable and to have a perfect stay. Otherwise, ratings will go down and Country Inn and Suites will be just part of the 50% statistic of failing in their first year of establishment. We have the "line" role of relationships. Most of the employees all have the same responsibility, other than the sales and hiring and top management. One thing that I learned in class that was a little discouraging, is that top managers are brought in externally. It makes sense, but it makes me work that much harder to get to that goal of Top management.

Reflections Post

In chapter one we learned about the roles and challenges of management. In chapter two we learned about planning and how important it is to plan things ahead of time. In chapter three we learned about the decision makings, problem solving, and ethics of people doing business. In chapter four we learned about choosing the different forms of business ownerships. The thing I found to be most interesting and significant up to this point is that company that doesn't have the normal triangle for company operations. They actually listen to what customers want instead of just seeing the ways they spend the money. That reminds me of small family owned businesses that care about customers and know them by their first names. As a customer of a company like that you actually feel like the company is going to listen to anything you have to say instead of feeling like they just care about taking your money. The most confusing would be all the decisions you have to make when starting a new company. You have to figure out what kind of company you want to be and in which direction you want the company to go in the future.

Reflection Post - Evan

The most interesting thing i have learned throughout chapters 1,2,3, and 4 is the Inverted Pyramid in chapter 4. I used to work at a sandwich shop called Earl of Sandwich back in my hometown and whenever a customer came to order and asked for something that wasn't on the menu my manager would require us to write down the customers suggestion and when suggestions would repeat we would make orders for ingredients to make new sandwiches so that the returning customers would have something to their favor. This is very helpful for the company because instead of losing the customer we make decisions to order specific ingredients so the customer returns and spends their money toward the company instead of a competitor.

Reflections Post

This class thus far has been really fun. The topics we have covered so far have been very intresting. For me the most intesting topic has been planing. I had no idea planning could go into so much detail. With all the diffrent types of plans that can be used to be affective, such as strategic plans, tactical plans, and even operational plans it can even get very confusing. If you are able to use all of these types of plans it is almost a straight road to success. For me the most sucnificant thing we have learned so far has been the stages of growth in organization. Im not the most organized person so learning about diffrent ways to be organized was very cool to me.

Reflection Post

In chapter 1 i have learned how to work with people and different management skills. In chapter 2 we discussed the basic planning steps like: strategic plans, tactical plans and operational plans. Chapter 3 tells us about decision making , we watched the short videos Apollo 13. In this chapter i liked problem solving puzzles it was very interesting. In chapter 4 we covered fundamentals of organizing.

Reflections post

In chapter one we discussed the different roles of management. Every manager has to have four different skills administrative, technical, conceptual and human relations. In the experience I have had the most help full skill I have used would be conceptual, the ability to acquire , analyze, and interpret information. In chapter 2 we discovered the basic steps to planing. With out a plan we have no direction. In chapter 3 we looked in to decision making, how a manager directs his/her employee's directly effects the manager. Finally in chapter 4 we went over the fundamentals of organizing, all the different ways businesses organize are to create the highest form of production.

Reflections Post

Chapter 3 on Decision making, problem solving was very significant. As a manager you don’t have to do some much hand on work. You’re the manager and you are judge on how much you can make other get accomplished. But something that is mainly the responsibility of a manager is taking on problem that occurs. Having back up plans is important. Especially when it is a common problem. For example knowing what to do when employee does not show up to work, you would need to know what to do so that there is coverage on what that employee task was. Also dealing with unsatisfied customers complaints and problems with in employees. Decisions have to be made and sometimes there is not a whole lot of time problem solving techniques are very significant for a manager.

Connections Post

What I have found most interesting throughout these chapters is the topic of the Inverted Pyramid. This really stood out to me because I have been on a sales floor and interacting with customers and have heard there wants and demands. I work for Lowes Home Improvement and I worked in the Seasonal department and I was specialized in outdoor power equipment. Many customers came to me asking for certain brands that the store did not carry and sometimes I knew that, that product was much more efficient than the one we carry. Because I was very knowledgeable of the products I could sometime match it with one of our own and was the same or better. But many times I had to direct customers on where to find certain product that the store did not have. This is why I like the idea of the Inverted Pyramid because the people up front can pass down to their manager what the customer wants so they can see about getting the product on the shelves.

Reflection post

The concept in the lecture than I can relate to most are the cycles of planning. I have been a victim of the vicious cycle of not planning many times. I felt that I didn't have enough time to make a plan so I tried to remember everything that needed to be done. Needless to say I was blindsided by unforeseen obstacles and I didn't have the tools to put out my "fires." Through many trials, I finally began to plan things out and write down. Now when a "fire" happens I can put it out with a solution and complete other tasks. I stopped using short term operational plans and started to use long term strategic plans. I made a set of contingency plans so I could be prepared for emergencies. The cycles of planning are used for all walks of life not just in the business world.

Reflection Post

Departmentalization was interesting to me because it shows how different businesses are run through different organizational structures. Knowing the advantages of the different types of organization will be helpful to me when I open a business of my own one day or take over our family business. Learning that encouringing your employees rather than disciplining them and how to communicate with your employees and motivate them through idea's like the inverted pyramid and team structure used by Google and Nordstroms is interesting as well. It allows your employees who are directly related to the customers to be creative and in a way be their own boss. This individualism makes for a more prideful and enjoyable workplace because the employees are their own boss in a way and they are more secure with their job. Being on the same level as employees from a manager's perspective allows the manager to learn from others ideas and creates a more diverse and generally more efficient work place.

Reflections

I think the most interesting topic we have discussed thus far is the idea of the inverted pyramid. This may not work for all companies, but for companies such as Google and Nordstrom this consept has expanded their company on a large scale. I think that by having the people closest to the customers make key decisions in organization is fantastic. It not only encourages the employees to interact with customers at a more personal level but to enjoy there job more as well. Learning about this has boosted my anxiety to work for a corporation to see first hand how these decisions impact a company.

Reflection

The chapter 2 discussion about planning was interesting to me. It is something that I have never been good at or ever really wanted to do. I am generally an unorganized person who just handles things as they come. After reading the chapter I realized that planning could definatley prevent a lot of stressful situations as well as increase productiveness in everyday life.

Reflection Post

One of the more interesting things was on chapter 3 with the decision process and problems. It relates to me a lot in we have problems come up at my work all the time that we must solve. It seems as if nothing can ever go right there sometimes. I really liked how we had the riddles and had to try them by ourselves, then with half the class, then with all of the class, and that when we all worked on them together we got the answers pretty quickly.

Reflections

The most interesting concept we've covered so far, simply because I'm by nature a planner and list-maker, is planning. The cycles of planning (and not planning) made a lot of sense to me. It reminded me that staying on top of things doesn't necessarily mean that there will be no "fires," only that they are easily extinguished when you have a plan. I think this applies to life in general, not only business. If you have an idea of where you're going, or at least know what you're living for, it's easier to deal with the day to day things. I feel like I do better with day to day planning, as opposed to long-term plans. It's easy for me to lose sight of something that is far off; if I'm only thinking of today and tomorrow, I stay more focused.

Reflections #1 Ryan

This course has been interesting to me so far, not only with the information given, but also with the way it is taught. I was particularly interested in the planning and organization aspects we have covered so far, as I would consider myself a very creative person but sometimes I have issues with organizing my ideas and putting them into action. The S.M.A.R.T. goals acronym was interesting because when you think about it, it makes complete sense to set your goals progressively instead of just one main end to aim for. For the organizing aspect, I liked thinking about what each business could do if it used each type of departmentalization and what that could to to help or hurt the business. I also think the inverted Pyramid scheme is very significant because if companies who heavily rely on customer satisfaction switch to this style, I cannot see how it would hurt them.

Scribe Post for Wednesday, September 15th

In class on Wednesday we finalized our groups and movie selections, as well as go over Chapter 4 on Organizing. This involved the four different stages of growth in a business, from a one person (you do it all yourself), to assistants (you hire a few people to help with the work), to Line Organization (each member has a role and a direct supervisor), to Line and Staff Organization (you add experts to the equation, who have no direct role in production). We also went over Departmentalization, which could be functional (common functions are grouped together), product (functions are associated with common prodcut together), or matrix (a blend of the two, as we said in essence having two bosses). We went over the advantages and disadvantages of each style as well. We then discussed an Inverted Pyramid style of business which involved having the Sales representatives make the decisions as they are the closest to the customers. We also watched a video on Google, who uses this Inverted Pyramid style, and we saw what their office looked like as well as the decisions they are able to make on a daily basis that can affect the company.

The next scribe will be Marcos

Reflections #1 Cooper

While reading through chapters 1-4 I have come across several topics that interests me, not only because it's new information, but because I can use and apply this information in my future career. When I graduate from A&M and open up my own business out here in college station  I am going to refer back to my Supervisory management book and use those materials to ensure my company will be very successful. Although I will be reading numerous text books on my mission to get a degree from A&M I will always think back to the first Business class I took at Blinn because this course has given me the motive to achieve my goals. Chapter 2 discusses the steps for planning which is (1) setting an objective or goal (2) identifying and assessing present and future conditions affecting the goal (3) developing a systematic approach to achieving the goal. Knowing these simple steps will help me accomplish the four functions of organzing, leading, staffing, and controlling. Before I read this chapter my life was very unorganized, I never had a plan for anything, and I kind of just lived life on the edge. When I wake up now, I create a plan for the day,  go over how I am going to complete the task, then proceed to achieve my goal, I will not go to bed until I am successful at doing so. This makes my life so much more organized and I actually feel a lot less stressed out about the day since I have it in a perfectly organized plan. When I own my own business I will use this technique to organize my day so that I can get everything that I want to accomplish for the day in a minute to minute schedule so there will never be any confusion about what needs to be done. Applying this process to my lifestyle has changed my day to day activities and has made me a more responsible person with my job, school, and extra curicullar activities. I'm excited to learn more about Business management in the future chapters so I can ensure I'm going to have a successful business and faculty.

Cooper (reflections post #1)

Connections Post--Planning--Kristen

While studying chapter two, I continually thought of my managers at the restaurant I work at. Although I don't know what their job consists of first-hand, I have observed them and realize that planning is absolutely essential for them to keep the restaurant running successfully. From an employee's point of view, I notice especially the planning that goes into making the work schedule. With so many employees, almost all of which attend college, making the work schedule seems to be like fitting puzzle pieces together. The manager making the schedule must take into consideration the request sheet filled out by the employees and the various class schedules. Not only that, they must make sure that they are scheduling the right selection of people to work each day. For example, it is important for at least two very experienced servers to be present for the two biggest sections, as well as four others who can handle the middle-sized sections, and so on. Any number of things could go wrong if the manager put out a poorly organized schedule.

Scribe post for Monday, September 13

Today in class, we chose our partners and movies for the Group Leadership Project. We also discussed/took notes on Decision Making from Chapter 3. The decision making process includes 6 steps: defining the problem, developing alternatives, evaluating the alternatives, selecting the best alternative, implementing the decision, and following up on that decision. We learned of the two types of decisions, which include programmed (frequent) and unprogrammed (rare). Then, we did an activity where we had to solve 4 riddles, first individually then collaboratively as a class to learn the importance and value of teamwork.

The next scribe will be Ryan

Scribe Post

Today we covered Chapter 2 which went in depth about the planning aspect of management. We covered the 3 basic steps of planning, the vicious and virtuous cycles of planning, the types of plans, and how closely related planning and controlling are related. The aspects of a "SMART" plan were introduced and explained as well (Specific-Measurable-Achievable-Relevant-Timely). Bethany used mainly Starbucks examples to explain how plans are communicated between different levels of management, and Dominos examples to demonstrate the value of having plans ready for whatever happens. The last thing we did was watch an admittedly cheesy video (from the self help guy that sold about 9,000,000,000 books) that used a kids soccer game to explain how important it is for all employees to know their goals, buy into them, and spend time working to achieve their specific goals.

The next scribe will be Josh

Cooper's Blog connections #1

Throughout my life I have always wanted to own my own business, It has been a dream of mine due to the fact that when you own your own business you feel a sense of satisfaction and pride. When you start out small with just a few employees, and the basic neccecities you need to start up your own business and you work your way up to a multi million dollar organization you feel as if you accomplished something in your life. Before this class I wasn't sure how to even begin creating and managing my own company or where to start mentally. My friends dad started up this multi million dollar company "Game Gaurd", which is a camoflauge used by hunters all around the world. He started out by going out to his land in South Texas, setting out a chair, and drawing what he saw around him, such as cactus, weeds, brush, ect.. before this he was not an entreprenuer he just felt like making his own camoflauge because he thought it was a cool idea, he had no intentions of creating a successful company out of it. While reading chapter 1 my mind really opened up to the fact that maybe one day I could work with him, possibly even open a gamegaurd  up out here. It gave me the guidlines to what it takes to become a top of the line manager, reading through the chapter showed me that I need to plan : make goals, Organize : group, Staff : People, Lead : Motivate, Control : regulate. These are just a few basics to becoming a great manager/owner but as I read and learn about business management and ownership something that I thought I would never achieve in my lifetime could indeed be in my near future.

Cooper

09/07/10

M/W 2:50 - 4:15

Scribe for Mon. September 6th by Evan

Today in class we discussed Management Roles (Chapt. 1).
We discussed what it takes to be a manager, why we need management roles, the three levels of management (Top, Middle, Supervisory), the four skills managers need (Administrative, Human Relations, Technical, Conceptual), where managers come form, and the challenges managers face in the workforce (Diverse Workforce, Industry Shifts, Technology, Ethics, and Crises). We also discussed what managers do (Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Leading, Controlling) there is a graph on page 12 in the textbook that shows this. This chart will be the overview of what we will learn throughout the semester.

The next Scribe will be Joe.

Scribe for Wed. Sept. 1st

Today we broke into 5 groups and went on a scavenger hunt. After the groups got back we all got together and put the pictures in order to show a message about all of us being a community of learners, and by working together we can achieve and accomplish. After that we took the pre-test for the course.

The next scribe will be Evan.