Kelsey Schell's Online Journal

social responsibility of a company

Thu, 08 Dec 2005 11:51:05 EST

A few weeks ago we discussed the social responsibility of a company. I think it is the company's responsibility to become involved with the surrounding community. If the company wants to invest in the lives of its employees, it will spend some resources helping the surrounding community in various ways. Social responsibility also deals with ethical behavior. If a company promotes proper moral and ethical behavior, it will in turn affect the local vicinity and positively affect the employees and their families. Change is not always going out and beating people over the head with your beliefs; change is often a response to learning by example. If a company wants to be respected and thought highly of, they should take their social responsibility to the community seriously.

HR simulation annual report

Wed, 07 Dec 2005 15:22:03 EST

Our team has been working on the annual report and finalizing all last minute changes and decisions. I thought the HR simulation would be a joke when we were first given the assingment because I did not think a simulation could accurately describe circumstances in the work environment. I was wrong in my thoughts about the simulation, and as it ends up, I learned a lot from the simulation. Each person in our team was required to write something for the annual reports and quarter reports. It was through analyzing graphs and looking at trends that I learned about managing a company and working with a team to organize the company efficiently. I thought the concept of the HR simulation was fantastic, just maybe a few modifications could be made for next time. But overall, I thought it was a good learning experience and helpful in providing the students with developed skills for future classes and jobs.

overview of class

Tue, 06 Dec 2005 19:06:19 EST

This entry is dedicated as an overview of the 250 course. At first I thought it may be an easy course which required little work. But after the first few reading assignments and case studies I realized I was wrong. Through all the readings I have learned a lot about all the concepts we have discussed in class. The readings make the material very applicable. Also the learning style, MBTI and the my values tests have all been helpful for me as a person to evaluate myself. Writing the learning plan was also beneficial to me now and for future goal setting times because it helped me really dig deep and get to know who I am as a person. My perspective on the class at the end of the semester is much different than my perspective at the beginning of the class; I enjoyed the class very much.

learning plan part II

Mon, 05 Dec 2005 21:38:49 EST

Initially I thought this assignment would be fairly easy to write about myself and just sort of breeze through. As it turns out, I am putting a lot more thought and time into this section of the learning plan. I think the "Catch your dreams" exercise was very beneficial and thought provoking. It has made me think a lot about my future goals and in general, how to achieve goals. This has been a good learning experience and helpful for future goals.

Holland's Theory

Tue, 29 Nov 2005 19:43:25 EST

I thought our class discussion on Holland's Theory was thought provoking. I was somewhat perplexed on how Holland came up with his theory and the way it works. In class we discussed 6 different categories that divided people systematically into groups based on interests and career objectives. It was difficult for me to see how any career could be chosen soley on interests and personal characteristics. It does not seem logical that people can choose a career based on this method. I think that interests, characteristics of a person, personality, as well as many other aspects should be looked at before classifying a person into one of six groups. I also do not think merely six groups is enough to classify millions of people. I am not sure exactly what to suggest that would change Holland's theory to make it more plausible, but some aspect of the theory must be changed in order for it to be effective in any way. Possibly incorporate more specific requirements for specified careers or determine what kind of candidate the job is searching for. Any alteration to make the categories more specific will help the student use this tool more effectively.

HR continued

Sun, 06 Nov 2005 04:27:45 EST

The HR simulation seems to be going fairly decent. It has been a different experience than I thought it would be. Budgeting money, how to hire or promote people in order to conserve money,and what plans to implement have all been a part of the simulation. Being required to be in charge of all these things as a group is a big job with the annual report coming up. So far it has been a good learning tool, so we'll have to see what the next quarter brings.

Jonah Creighton case study

Sun, 06 Nov 2005 04:10:21 EST

I wrote my paper on the Creighton case study and found it very applicable to today's modern world. As companies and corporations increase diversity, racial discrimination will occur and ethical standards will be tested. I was not shocked when the response from Britain was told to Jonah, but moreso disappointed. As there are many people that are very ethical and respectful of the differences between people, there are those who are demeaning and not respectful of others in the work place. As hard as we try to create a positive and uplifting work environment, there will always be that one person or that apathetic group of people that hinder the process of fighting discrimination and unethical behavior. Until we implement new tactical procedures on how to address such problems, we will not be able to change these ethical problems that arise in the working world.

ethics

Sun, 06 Nov 2005 04:03:56 EST

I thought the discussion we have been having in class about ethics is a very prevelant issue in today's working world. Whether it is dealing with a specific situation or racial issues, it is best to be an informed employee and how to handle these problems correctly. As seen in the Jonah Creighton case, it is important to stand up for what you think is right, but if at all possible, without sacrificing your job. It is important to stand up for your beliefs because not too many people do when something they value is on the line. Part of being ethical is not compromising your beliefs when tested. I think this is one of the key elements that can be learned when studying ethics.

Learning Plan interviews

Thu, 27 Oct 2005 17:31:36 EST

I think the learning plan interviews were a good idea for the paper we had to write. Going into the interview, I had my own perception of what this profession would be like, but after the interview, I walked away with a whole new perspective on the matter. One of my interviewees was an old acquaintance and it was easy to converse and we talked leisurely. The second interviewee was a friend of a friend and I must admit I was nervous going into a meeting with a complete stranger. But we got to talking about what we had in common and how we both new this friend and we transitioned very smoothly into our interview. It was a great experience and good networking practice. I made solid connections that at any time in the future I can refer back to. It was a good experience to help me get over being nervous about going into interviews even when I am the one conducting the interview.

real world application

Wed, 26 Oct 2005 21:03:11 EST

For fall break, I went to New York City to stay with some friends. There are so many people in the city and it's amazing the kind of conversations one can get into just from smiling and starting a conversation with someone on a train or on a plane. I got on the train after shopping and a guy from Wall St. got on at the next stop and sat next to me. He was reviewing papers from work and had stock quotes and other information on it and I passively commented on it. We started talking about investing and stock prices and interests. I asked him about his experience and what his job was like. It was a great conversation until we arrived at the West 23rd stop and I got off the train. On the flight home, I sat next to an investment banker who was talking about transactions and business deals with his partner before the flight took off. After we were in the air, I asked him what company he works for and about his job. He was happy to tell me about what he does and his experience. He does the management aspect for his company and so we chatted about many of the issues we are talking about in mgmt class. Both conversations were very enlightening about working in the real world and were made possible by all the topics covered in mgmt 250 so far.

Diversity in the workplace

Fri, 07 Oct 2005 16:47:15 EST

As we have been studying in class and implementing in our HR simulation, diversity plays a tremendously important role. Whether it is racial and ethnic diversity to personality differences to totally different lifestyles, it is important for a company to expand their horizons and increase diversity. Diversity widens the possibilities becase one person will complement another's weaknesses and vice versa. With all the opportunities and benefits presented from having a diverse workplace, I don't see why more companies are not promoting diversity.

mock interview in retrospect

Thu, 06 Oct 2005 12:04:58 EST

Thinking back on the mock interview from several weeks ago, it was a great opportunity for the management students. I enjoyed meeting with an employee in a well-known company. It was also very beneficial in helping me develop my interviewing skills. My interviewer took notes during the interview and afterwards explained to me in what areas I could imporve. He also commented on my resume and maybe how to arrange it differently for emphasis on different aspects and talents. I was able to learn a lot from this interview about working in the real world and how interviewing and networking works. It was a great experience to have and will be useful later when I have a real interview for a job.

first meeting

Thu, 06 Oct 2005 11:46:19 EST

We had our first meeting this past Tuesday. Not everyone was able to be there, so we made do with everyone that was present. Although our group leader was not involved during the project, myself and two other people in my group decided who should do what work. We assigned job tites and read through the HR simulation packet. We read chapters 1 and 2 in the packet and discussed them as we went through. As we filled out the decision and budget worksheets, we were constantly changing our numbers and the logic of why we were making the decisions. I feel like this project is going to be much more time consuming than originally planned. Our group spent 3 hours together working on the decision and budget forms on Tuesday night and then got together Wednesday to finish up the last details. Although it will be an interesting simulation, I think it will require a lot of effort on the part of each teammate to get all the work done on time.

resume shop and career fair

Thu, 29 Sep 2005 18:23:07 EST

I thought that over the past few weeks with the resume shop and study over interviewing, it has had a remarkable effect on my relations with interviewers. I knew close to nothing going into the resume workshop and after looking at several examples of good and bad resumes, I figured out how to write my own. Also, all the studying about interviewing and networking has really helped a lot by just putting it all into context. Preparing for the mock interview and the career fair helped my interviewing skills. I was able to speak about all the items on my resume and through practice, describe each of them well. I think both the resume workshop and the interviewing studies helped me in my mock interview as well as at the career fair.

1st blogging session

Sun, 11 Sep 2005 13:30:04 EST

I'm not exactly sure how to use this web blogging site very well. I can't figure out how to view other people's postings. But I'll give my two cents worth. I am enjoying MGMT250 a lot and learning so many relevant things. I think its great that we're practicing interviews and how to write resumes. It helped a lot to do the resume writing class the other day. I like the case studies we review in class; they're relevant and a good source to learn from about real working life. I am looking forward to the rest of the semester.