Jonathan Maruri's Online Journal

Management 250

Sat, 09 Dec 2006 23:07:01 EST

As my last blogging assignment I would like to briefly reflect on my experience taking Management 250. This class was great for me as far as the grading was done. So much of the class is based on class participation which is something I enjoy. The other assignments almost always seemed to be more meaningful then regular school assignments. Some of the class discussions seemed a little basic and some of the answers to class questions were obvious. The truth is that as elementary as some of these things may be I would bet that people forget about them. It didn't bother me to have to go through some of the boring parts of 250 because the truth is I got a lot out of it. I look forward to taking the next step which is management 251 and I wonder whether it will have a similar structure. If 251 is similar then 250 then I will feel confident going in and that confidence will definitely show in my results.

Reflecting on the Blogging Assignments

Sat, 09 Dec 2006 22:55:26 EST

I must admit I stumbled into the blogging assignment because the semester seemed to begin so quick I missed the first case. I was a little upset at the time because I felt that this would require much more energy then a case write up. After time I found that I got things out of this assignment I never could have gotten during a write up. I still believe that blogging ended up being more work, but I can look back and enjoy what I got out of this assignment. Blogging allowed me to really analyze the things I was learning in class. I tend to leave class and not remember things until I need to on a test. Blogging forced me to take a closer look at what I was learning. I wrote a blog on an assignment we did in class having to do with ethics and in writing this blog I began to find the different layers of the case I didn't see the first time. Despite all the extra work that I needed to put in to blogging I can look back and find the positives it has had on my Management 250 experience.

Learning Plan II

Sat, 09 Dec 2006 21:03:00 EST

This week I finished the second part of my Learning Plan. I liked writing this part of the essay more then the first. The reason for this is because the first section was about my past and recounting where I have come from. It was also an analysis about what kind of person I am. The second part focused on the future, and this allowed me to be creative in thinking about where I can go. My ideas needed to be creative but the sub-goals that explained my ideas needed to make sense and be rational. It is also fun to think about the future and dream about how life might end up. My favorite essays in high school were the ones in which we could imagine things in the future. A lot of my paper was about my greatest skill which is creativity. This paper allowed me to explain my character in a creative way, and as I stated in my Learning Plan my favorite assignments are the ones in which I can be creative.

Session With Prof. Poonamallee

Sat, 09 Dec 2006 19:04:52 EST

It is my belief that because of a lot of complaints surrounding the HR simulation we had a special session with Prof. Poonamallee. During this class we were able to voice our opinions on how the simulation was going. I had some fears going into this class because I knew people were very upset about how the simulation was going, and I wasn't sure how people would act in class. I though this class went well because everyone had respect for each other, but at the same time everyone got their complaints in the open. Prof. Poonamallee took all the criticism well and did not get defensive about anything anybody said. Some of the main points that I think were hit upon were the fact that too many mistakes were being made plugging numbers into the computers. This was creating results that groups did not intend to get. I think that future classes will have better experiences with this project if our concerns were taken into consideration. This project was useful and educational but changes need to be made in order to maximize the potential of this assignment.

Wal Mart and Business Ethics

Sat, 09 Dec 2006 18:30:10 EST

I am currently taking Marketing 301 and one of the units in this course takes a look at the company Wal Mart. Wal Mart partakes in many actions that raise concerns over business ethics. In Management 250 we dedicate a lot of our time to discussing ethics. The main question surrounding our studies of Wal Mart was whether they should buy its products from Chinese factories that exploit workers. If the Chinese government does not change the laws in a way that will benefit workers, is it the right of Wal Mart to get their products at the best price possible? This is capitalism at its best but is their certain point where we need to say that profit comes second? In business school we are taught that we want to minimize costs in order to maximize profits. From the very beginning this principle is engrained in our heads, it may seem as if all the Wal Mart executives are doing is practicing this strategy. These are tough questions, in 250 we are consistently confronted with scenarios that have questionable ethics but the answers are never clear cut. I think Wal Mart has the right to buy from China, and it is China’s responsibility to award their workers better conditions and wages. The problem is when Wal Mart turns around and treats their own workers like they mean nothing.

Drawing inspiration from 250

Fri, 10 Nov 2006 15:21:38 EST

In my Marketing 301 class our final project is a business proposal to the Career Center addressing issues they have. The Career Center asked our class to try and figure out how to make more people use the career center. More importantly the Career Center wants to ensure that they will have a good number of repeat customers. Our class began thinking about our experiences with the career center, which for most of us revolves around our Management 250 experience. This train of thought gave us the idea that we should try and design a program that would do what management 250 does, which is force people to use the career center. The only difference would be that we would try and get more people involved. We assumed that if this program was done through Sages we would be able to have every Case student exposed to the Career Center by 2011. This would increase the number of first time users of the Career Center and this would definitely increase the number of repeat customers. The hardest part about using the Career Center is striking up enough courage to go the first time. Management 250 forces that process which gives the students confidence in dealing with the Career Center.

Studying in Germany

Thu, 09 Nov 2006 23:35:15 EST

A week ago our class was given a presentation regarding an opportunity to study abroad in Germany. This course would take two weeks, and would count as 3 credits. The first thought that crossed my mind was that it would be great to get 3 credits done in 2 weeks but as I have thought about more I have began to see how this could give me so much more. I always wanted to study abroad but that was never a something that I realistically could do. When I first heard about the class I understood that the work load and time dedicated to class would probably limit the culture I could experience while I was their. After talking about the opportunity with a friend who wanted to go, I began to think maybe it would be a good idea to go a week early and experience a different country right before I went to class. If I was able to do this I could get my three credits, experience a different culture and learn about a new topic. I have always wanted to travel and see different perspectives around the world. Living in the United States I know I will have to work with people from many different places with different outlooks on life. Being able to go to another country will help me understand different people which I know will help me work better with people. Going abroad will not only give me an academic education but it will also teach me ways to interact with different people. This realization made me so much more confident in partaking in this program because I really believe the lesson I will learn will be priceless.

Goals

Thu, 09 Nov 2006 15:10:21 EST

On Monday, November 6th 2006, we had a class discussion on goals and dreams. One of the first things we did was distinguish the difference, goals being measurable and having time constraints and dreams being less concrete. The class made me think about how my goals and dreams have changed over the years. I remember being in 5th grade, and as a part of graduating from elementary school we had our individual pictures in the yearbook with our name, favorite subject and goal in life. As kids everybody put something like "a football player" or "a veterinarian." At the time it seemed like our lofty aspirations were inevitably going to come true. At this point in my life I have a goal of making 6 figures by the time I'm in my late 20's and there is nothing set in stone about whether that can happen or not. My goals have changed a lot, my expectations of my goals have changed, but what I found most interesting was my lack of comfort with sharing my goals and dreams. In 5th grade I published my goals in a yearbook and did this without care. Today I have a hard time admitting my goals; mostly because I am afraid people will find it either too ambitious or too boring. This class just hit me as odd how the last time I really sat down and wrote out goals was almost 10 years ago, and what I wrote down couldn't have been more different.

Group Project

Sun, 05 Nov 2006 12:44:53 EST

My group, Pepsi Co., has just finished its first annual report, so I thought this would be a good time to evaluate how this process is going. So far I would have to honestly say that I have mixed feelings about how the group project has been going. Even though I feel like I am contributing to my group I don’t think it is necessarily as much as a couple of our other group members. One of the reasons for this is because of a lack of communication. We have had a couple of meetings cancelled or pulled together at the last minute. This has led to our group leader needing to do work that could have been delegated had our meetings been planned better. Part of me feels bad that our group leader is doing more work then the rest of us, but part of me also understands that this is the job of the group leader. It is also the responsibility to announce meetings in a timely manner which hasn’t always been done, but I think our group leader understands this and takes responsibility.
The group chemistry is pretty good, and I feel like everyone in the group adds their own piece every time we meet. The group has also gotten a lot closer over the course of the semester. I have noticed that we all seem to talk with each other freely and about a variety of subjects. I was happy with our annual report, it took a lot of work from everyone, but I think in the end it was pretty good.

My thoughts on Management 250

Sun, 05 Nov 2006 12:32:14 EST

At this point I am half way done with Management 250, and I have to say that this class has been a positive experience. This course, like any other course, is not perfect, but overall I feel like I have learned a lot and I have actually enjoyed myself. My biggest problem with this course was how quickly it started. Within the first two weeks I felt completely bombarded with work from all different angles. We had reading assignments in the our text book, packets to read, contracts to sign, memo’s to write and group projects to start. After the first 2 or 3 weeks I really had no idea what was happening in class, and I felt so lost that I was actually scared that my grade was going to suffer badly.
After these first couple of weeks I began to understand how the course was going to work. I began to learn how I was going to budget my time between group meetings, blogs, reading and class discussions. It also helped that the work load decreased substantially after those first three weeks. My advice to anyone taking this course would be to really pay attention the first couple of weeks and meet with your professor at least a couple times early on to get clarification on the course expectations.
Like I said before, I really have enjoyed this course. Many people complain about the forced participation, but I am lucky in that I don’t mind talking in class. I like to participate in all my classes once I get comfortable with the professor and my class mates. The forced participation helped quicken that process and now I am able to talk a lot which helps my learning experience and my grade.

Writing Workshop

Wed, 18 Oct 2006 18:02:27 EST

On September 27th we had a writing workshop that ended up being pretty useful. We had a person from the writing center talk to us about different things including different styles of writing, common mistakes among other things. I have never been a good writer when it comes to grammar, and so I am always very open to getting all the extra help I can get. In that sense I enjoyed having the presentation that day. I also liked that she brought in an example of bad writing that she had encountered, and she asked us to fix it. This assignment was good because I could find some of my most common mistakes in this persons essay. It is always easier to find it in someone else's paper and maybe by working on other peoples papers I might be able to get better at revising my own.

"Hiring a Bank Teller" Response

Wed, 18 Oct 2006 17:51:39 EST

In class, on October 4th, we discussed a case that involved a handicapped women applying for a job as a bank teller. Basically the case was trying to find out whether we thought the lady (Anna) was able to sue the company she was rejected from. I liked the article because it addressed certain issues that I sometimes think need to be cleared. The main struggle was that the employer thought that her handicap would limit her productivity, while Anna maintained that it would not. One of the good points made in the article is that it is not wrong to deny a person a job because they are handicapped, as long as you can prove that the fact she is handicapped makes her inable to do the required work. This is a point that was well made in the case, and I think a lot of people forget about. In the end I think the class all agreed that Anna would have been able to do all the required work, and she was very well qualified. In this case I felt it was wrong what the employer did; and therefore Anna would have a case, if she chose to sue.

Learning Plan Part I

Wed, 18 Oct 2006 17:42:48 EST

I finished writing the first part of my learning plan on October 8th, and I found this paper to be more fun then most papers. Even though their were parts about this paper that were a little annoying, for the most part writing this paper was very therapeutic and reassuring. This paper was almost like a diary entry at times in that I was partly expressing how I feel about some personal subjects, mostly regarding my family. I was also able to tie in my future plans as a professional and family man. This exercise also reassured me of my decision to major in marketing. Just writing about the possibilities and choices I will have one day made me excited to be doing what I'm doing. This could also be attributed to the intereviews we had to do in which you need to talk to someone in your field. This assignment was actually kind of fun to do, and I am looking foward to completing the rest of it.

Mock Interviews

Wed, 18 Oct 2006 17:31:56 EST

On September 22nd I partook in the mock interview assignment with National City. I was interviewed by Jeff Wilson, who is a Senior Recruiter at National City. My interview went about an hour, and at points it felt like what I imagine a real job interview feels like, while other times I felt like he was a teacher and I was a student. Mr. Wilson was very helpful in that he wanted to make sure I got something out of this interview, and he really seemed to have a genuine interest in helping me out. The interview was what I had imagined; many of the questions he asked I had prepared for the night before. At the end of the interview we talked about how I thought the interview went, and then how he thought the interview went. He gave me a great score and said he thought I did great, but he also did mention a couple of things that I definitely need to improve. The only problem with the interview was that I didn't get an interview with a field I'm interested in. Trying to pretend that I really wanted a job from Mr. Wilson was a little difficult, and when we began talking about National City I felt it was like trying to fit square pegs in a round hole. I was looking to talk about marketing and he was trying to sell me on small banking. Overall the interview was great and something I'm really glad I did.

Networking Exercise

Wed, 18 Oct 2006 17:20:47 EST

On September 20th 2006 we had a networking exercise during class. Beforehand we were told to dress up for class, print business cards and prepare quick 1-2 minute "commercials" about ourselves. I really didn't think this was going to be the best assignment, but when all was said and done I have to admit it was a good experience. Outside of the actual networking part of class, what I felt really helped was having different people come in and talk to us. Kevin Carduff, Amy from the career center, Prof. Piderit and a couple of other people came in and talked to us and answered questions. I was really trying to figure what kind of method should I take in networking. I wasn't sure if I wanted to get around the room and give my card to the most people possible or try and focus on having a couple of long good contacts. The people who came in to talk with us, along with Kleio and Prof. Johnson, responded a question I had regarding this issue by saying you have to find a happy median. They also added that the only way to know is based on results. If I were to hear back from the 2 people I talked to and get what I need out of them then it was worth it, and be better then talking briefly to 40 people and not getting anything that I was looking for.