Stacy Kozina's Online Journal

MGMT 251

Sun, 11 Dec 2005 23:13:00 EST

I am really looking forward to MGMT 251, especially having Professor Piderit as our professor. I really appreciated all of her help to my group on our HR Simulation. One thing that I hope we don't have to do in MGMT 251 is blogs. I forget if we have to or not, but I don't think it's actually a good thing. I think most students just pick random things to talk about and don't really care what they right down just as long as it's long enough and on time. I am, however, looking forward to having the same people in the class. It's nice to have the same people in the class because we already know how everyone is in groups, it moves along the process of working together. Also, I am interested in doing the term project because I actually like working in groups and I'm anxious to see exactly what we will be doing. All in all, I'm excited to come back from break without stress from one class.

MGMT 250

Sun, 11 Dec 2005 22:59:36 EST

When I was first in MGMT 250, I'll tell you, I didn't like it. Also, I got some bad first impressions of people in charge of the class. People say that first impressions are what matter, but I disagree. The more I went to the class, the more and more my first impressions were proven wrong (even though they were right on target when they happened). I am pretty proud of myself because I completely changed my opinions of those in charge and they ended up teaching me a lot throughout the course. We talked about first impressions on the first day and I was made fun of because I said that I like to shop. See, if I would've held my grudge about that, I wouldn't have learned probably anything in this class. I don't think first impressions are what matter, I think people need to find a way to adjust them and change them. First impressions aren't really what a person is like, it's what a person is like at that moment. So, I just want to say that my first impression has completely changed about this course and almost everything related to it. I think Professor Powley is a great teacher and that Meredith is an awesome TA. I'm really glad my opinion changed because it allowed me to enjoy this class.

Learning Plan Part Two

Sun, 11 Dec 2005 22:29:33 EST

Surprisingly, I actually liked doing the first part about the Learning Plan. It allowed me to find out a lot about myself. However, I don't enjoy doing the second part. It's really hard for me because I don't really have any goals for the next 6 months to 3 years, except for graduating college. So, I basically have to make stuff up. That's not fun for me at all. Also, to make specific goals that I don't even really consider goals, that's challenging and pointless. I guess I don't have any goals because there are many things I want to do, but most of them, I do without a plan, they are just strictly impulsive and spontaneous. I think goals are restricting and planned, and I don't want my life to be either one of them. I know that sounds crazy, but that's just how I feel. So, I don't like doing the second part of the Learning Plan for those reasons.

Tom Mendola Case

Sun, 11 Dec 2005 22:04:30 EST

When I read this case, I couldn't see how anyone would not agree with firing him. He was reprimanded five plus times and it didn't do anything. That's ridiculous. I did, however, agree with transferring him and giving him a second chance in that respect. After he failed to live up to what he said, I think that was the last time he was given a break. I think that he should definitely get fired and as for his appeal about his family needing the money, I think that is completely irrelevant. He should've thought about the importance of and the dependency that his family held on the money earlier. He had numerous times to redeem himself, and he didn't. He needs to deal with the consequences of his actions and stop trying to put a guilt trip on the supervisors.

HR Second Annual Report

Sun, 11 Dec 2005 21:21:33 EST

At first when I was thinking about doing the second annual report, I wasn't too thrilled. However, when I started doing it, I thought it came together better than what I thought. My team really came together and it was really nice to see. Also, it was really nice to finally get the HR Simulation over. Even though I thought that it was a really good learning experience, it was just a hassle ever week. Luckily, since my team was so great, it wasn't as bad as what it could've been.

Incentives

Sun, 06 Nov 2005 23:41:56 EST

I think that incentives are a great thing to have in a workplace. It was stated that in class that pay "may undermine intrinsic motivation." I find this to be untrue in relation to myself. When I get out of college, I would love to get a job in which I have a certain set pay, but I also make commission. I love selling things to people. I worked at a job over the summer, in which I didn't work on commission, but I sold stuff to people everyday and I loved it. Selling things to people gives me intrinsic motivation because I like to see people happy with what they are purchasing and I don't try to sell something that I know the customer will not be entirely happy with. By working on commission, I would get the intrinsic motivation of making my customers happy, but I will also be rewarded with money, which will be an extrinsic motivation. I think it just depends on what kind of incentives you are getting and the way you go about getting those incentives. I wouldn't go about getting the money from commission as simply receiving money, but as something that motivates me to help someone be happy and just getting an extra bonus of money from that.

HR Simulation

Sun, 06 Nov 2005 22:54:17 EST

I decided to write this blog on the HR Simulation now because we are just getting ready to write up the annual reports. I kind of have mixed feelings about the HR Simulation. On one hand, I think that it really does simulate some situations we as managers will be put into when we become managers. It is a really good learning experience to take part in this project. I hope to continue to learn more as the semester goes on. On the other hand, I find team projects to be somewhat unfair. In general, a few people end up doing all the work for one reason or another and I've heard this from many different people on many different teams. I'm not speaking personally about this because I think that would also be unfair. Another way that I think this is a good learning experience is because it improves teamwork and allows the team to come to a decision by working together towards the intended goals.

Jonah Creighton B Case

Sun, 06 Nov 2005 22:13:03 EST

When I was reading the Jonah Creighton case, I was unaware that there was a continuum, meaning a part B. I was pleasantly surprised though, I felt like the case we had to read was incomplete and that it didn't give enough information about the situation. By reading the case and especially the last thing that Jonah stated in the case, I was even more convinced that Jonah handled the whole situation completely wrong. He made it too personal and that was just proven when he said that Gordon Harris "never saw the integrity side, the personal side...the discomfort to me." That right there just says that he made the whole thing personal to himself, which was not what he should have done. It should've been strictly business. Also, another thing that I think proves how personal he made it was the fact that Martin didn't do anything about what happened when he found out. It's his battle, not Jonah's.

Ethics

Sun, 06 Nov 2005 21:46:30 EST

When we were talking about ethics in class, I think that I might've seemed unethical in some of my answers to the questions that Professor Powley asked us. What I mean by that is, the place that I currently work, I send personal e-mails, I play games during the work day, I sometimes shop on the internet, etc. However, I work at a certain time on certain days and if there is nothing for me to do, then I am free to do what I please and still get paid. I know that when I get a serious job that won't be the case, and when I get that job, my idea of what is ethical at the workplace will change. I think someone's idea of what's ethical in the workplace varies from one job to another, or at least mine does. If something is allowed, I don't consider it unethical at my current place of employment.

Learning Plan

Sun, 06 Nov 2005 21:12:34 EST

When I was writing the Learning Plan, I wasn't too thrilled. The number one reason why I wasn't too happy about it was because what I see myself doing for the rest of my life is not really appropriate for this class. The first part of the Learning Plan was easy because it had to do with who I am now, but the second part was about where I see myself in 5 to 10 years. Well, where I see myself in 5 to 10 years is married with many children. Most people would think that I'm crazy because when I have children, I do not want to work and I see myself having children in 5 to 10 years. I guess I found it hard to kind of make something up that isn't really where I see myself, just for this paper. Now reflecting on the paper, I realize that maybe it was good for me to write the paper because sometimes things don't work out the way we want them, too. So, it's nice to know that I can see my future through a backup plan.

Blogging...

Sun, 09 Oct 2005 23:44:43 EST

Throughout the duration of this class, I've changed my opinion on blogging many times. At first, I thought it was going to be some easy assignment that wouldn't take a lot of time or effort. I soon learned that was completely off. Thinking up something to blog about was kind of hard for me because I wanted to pick something that I found specifically profound and interesting to me. It was hard to think of about 8 different topics that were all interesting and profound. Once I found out that this assignment wasn't a breeze, I began to think about the benefits to blogging. One benefit I found was if someone doesn't get a chance to comment in class or is too scared to speak up in class, this is the perfect place for him or her to speak his or her mind. Another benefit to blogging is that we don't have enough time in class to verbalize our opinion on everything, what we've learned, how we've applied what we've learned, and some other thoughts that we might have on something discussed in class. Also, blogging allows the instructors to get insight into the way the students feel about the class, good or bad. I think that blogging is a good learning experience for the professors and for the students, even if it doesn't seem like it at the time the students are writing the blogs.

MBTI, LSI, and teams...

Sun, 09 Oct 2005 22:45:24 EST

When I took the MBTI and LSI, I didn't really understand how this was relevant to the class. I know it is good to know what type of personality you have and how you learn. I discovered that these are beneficial things to learn when you are forming a team. Looking back on the past, I realized why certain teams that I was on didn't work. This was because the team members had conflicting personalities and/or learning styles. One example that I remember is when I was working on a project with two other people and they were both introverts, and I was and still am an extrovert. To them, I felt like I was in their face and overbearing. They seemed to take it personal and were afraid to speak up. It made me feel bad about myself because I thought that I was doing something wrong or something to offend them. I realize now that it's just how I am and I couldn't change that. Another thing that I realized about taking these tests in relation to working in teams was the importance of how people approach life. My approach to life is flexible and spontaneous, but I find that most people that I am teamed up with approach life planned and organized. It might be frustrating for them, but I use it as a learning experience and I try to become more organized myself; it's really good for me to work with people like that. I think that these tests can serve as a foundation to build a great team and great teamwork.

Managerial skills to develop further...

Sun, 09 Oct 2005 22:13:29 EST

When I came into this class, I already knew that I possessed many of the basic managerial skills needed and that they were close to being developed fully. However, one thing that I learned was that I have some work to do in developing some other managerial skills. I really need to work on being more trusting of people. The reason for this is because I like to be in control and I don't really like to delegate tasks to people if I know that it's going to effect me. I really need to work on this because a manager needs to be able to delegate tasks to people and trust that people are capable of getting the job done. Another thing that I need to work on is trying not to be so opinionated. Sometimes it's good to be opinionated, but only to an extent. Many times I take it to a point farther than what managers need to when dealing with employees. I'm sure that through the duration of this course, I will find out more about myself and what I need to improve in relation to my managerial skills. That's something that I look forward to knowing about myself.

Tips to share...

Sun, 09 Oct 2005 21:56:11 EST

If I was going to share some tips with my older brother and sister about a job interview, I would have a lot to advise them about. First and foremost, I would tell them to be completely honest. It doesn't start anything off on a good note if you go in there lying, even if it is about something little or something that might not matter, it really hurts your credibility, if nothing else. In addition, everyone knows that sooner or later the truth will come out, and this is not an exception to that. Another thing I would tell them is to go into the interview with confidence. When I went into my mock interview, I was really nervous and not confident enough in who I was, which is very unlike me, but that all changed when I stepped into the interview and realized that I had nothing to be worried about. Also, I would tell them how important it really is to know about the company that is conducting the interview. Knowing about the company, it starts the interview off on the right foot because it lets the interviewer and company know that you care about the interview and the chance to work at the company. It shows a lot of respect to the company and interviewer. There are many things that one should know going into the interview, but those are the main three that I think someone should know.

Why I chose Management...

Sun, 09 Oct 2005 21:42:48 EST

When I was thinking about what I wanted to do with the rest of my life, management was not at the top of that list. I was dead set on interior design, but then I changed drastically to management and marketing. The reason I changed is because when I was thinking about jobs that were versatile for a family, interior design was not one of them, but management was. With a management degree, I figured that there is more that I can do with it, and if I want to change my mind back to interior design, it would be capable. In obtaining a management degree, one learns many skills that can be used for the rest of his or her life. A person can always use skills that help with dealing with people and managing them. I guess I ended up choosing management because it's something that I could use the skills learned forever and they would be very helpful for any career path that I choose.