Sean O'Reilly's Online Journal

For the week of 12/12/05

Mon, 12 Dec 2005 19:00:54 EST

The class is almost done and I would like to thank all the teachers, TAs, and my classmates for a great semester. I feel the best parts of the class were the simulation and the personality tests. See you all next semester!

For the week of 12/5/05

Sun, 04 Dec 2005 16:18:14 EST

My learning plan is almost complete and I feel it to be a satisfactory project. I do feel somewhat lacking in some areas but have attributed it to problems that might be unsolvable. I cannot possibly go into full details or factor for every future imaginable obstacle. Our simulation is almost done and I think our "workers" are more productive and happy than they have ever been. The whole simulation has become routine and we can accomplish the tasks in about an hour. Once the first few simulations are done and you have hired the majority of people and established most of the programs the simulation is extremely easy to manage.

For the week of 11/28

Mon, 28 Nov 2005 17:54:51 EST

The class seems to be winding down, as is our group simulation. We have performed to the best of our abilities and we seem to have the project on "auto" right now, that is, we have the process down to a routine. The peer editing session for our learning plan IIs was extremely helpful in getting an idea of how our peers are doing things. My partner's Learning Plan II was very long and had volumes of information. While I thought that too much planning would surely lead to failure I think the view of what someone else was doing helped. Particularly in the area of writing down my "crazy dreams".

The group session has been going well but I have been unable to attend several meetings due to a family emergency. I feel bad but it was unavoidable and I feel my team has the process well in hand.

For the Week of 11/21/05

Mon, 21 Nov 2005 23:44:35 EST

I've completed my learning plan and I'm pretty happy with the outcome. As for the performance appraisals that we've been doing it has been exceptionally informative. I thought it was interesting how so many people had no real idea of how to objectively rate their own teachers. In fact, it made me question many of my views as to how to rate my own teachers.
The simulation has proceeded well and the group usually winds up in agreement about all aspects involved by the end of the meeting. I am impressed at how my original thoughts change after hearing what, for example, Liz or Ryan have to say.

Week of 11/14/05

Mon, 14 Nov 2005 23:13:01 EST

In class we are going through the rounds of peer assessment and how to properly reward employees. This has probably been the most useful topic we've covered other than the personality tests and self assessments. Peer assessment and how to properly reward employees is so useful because we will all encounter it in our future careers and it is a big part of the job. Rewarding and retaining talent is one of the most important things an organization can do. As for the group project I am extremely pleased with the grades we've received thus far, especially the annual report.

Oct 31, 2005

Mon, 31 Oct 2005 17:33:52 EST

Last week's Harrah's case was extremely informative and is possibly one of the most intriguing topics we've covered this semester in Management 250. I enjoyed writing my case and questioning my own views on how to best keep a work force happy. I was also happy with my solution to the problems presented in the case: tying wage rates to the goal achieving abilities of the workforce.

The simulation continues to run well. In the previous week's simulation we were well under budget so we made it a point to use up some of the extra cash for fringe benefits and additional programs.

October 17, 2005 Entry

Tue, 18 Oct 2005 21:38:01 EST

Our HR Simluation is proving to be easier as time goes on. At first a large number of programs had to be implemented where the effects would be unknown. As time went on, which is most likely the intended result, my group has gotten a feel for how the simluation should be run and what to do in every situation. I'm pleased with our wage and fringe benefits and the accident rates which were originally high for our group are on the decline because of our increased allocation of money to programs aimed at eliminating this problem.

Entry for week of 10/3

Tue, 04 Oct 2005 12:16:21 EST

Last week we found out our personality types and met our group members, as well as planned how we would work in the groups. With regard to the personality type I was not surprised and generally pleased. Although apparently I'm a rarity as I represent around 2-3% of the population. My group should work well together, we have smart, competent people with a range of skills. Everyone from leaders to people who like to take orders and execute. My group is meeting tonight and I look forward to seeing the results.

Learning Style Test

Mon, 19 Sep 2005 02:16:30 EST

I enjoyed thursdays class and interacting with people of my same learning type. The fact that the convergers, my group, wound up making a decision quickly and our opposites talked and digressed was very telling of the effectiveness of the test. One can even tell which group members were closer to the other quadrants than others. We even decided on our weaknesses and major flaws pretty openly in our group. I look forward to learning my personality type later this month.

Oct. 9 Entry

Sat, 10 Sep 2005 21:58:58 EST

The HR Simulation we started last week went extremely well. The group worked together perfectly, efficiently dividing up tasks as well as going over the whole thing as a group to make sure everything was taken care of. I look forward to this Tuesday's session and the next Simulation.
Of note is how we got to know eachother and didn't actually get a great deal done in the first hour. I don't expect the sessions to be this long in the future but feel that it was time well spent in this case.