Nature's Finest Seed

A manager is like the seed of an oak tree;
many won't make it,
few would succeed,
but if tendered and cared for,
it grows stronger, resisting the elements;
it stands tall, proud,
looming over a beautiful landscape of flowers.

Blogging

Let me start off by saying this is the first time in my life I've ever had a professor using blogs as a way to communicate, interact and entertain yourself outside of class and still get 20% extra towards your final grade. The whole experience for me was overall pretty good. First because I had the chance to express my ideas, my thoughts or concerns in regards of the activities we did in class and second, because the blog is such a great way to know other classmates a little more in depth.In my personal opinion, professor Kurpis should continue to use the blog for future classes. Not only because it keep us busy and engaged with the class, but also we have the opportunities to express our thoughts and feelings about the class in very informal way. What I mean by informal, is that we do not have to write long essay or think that we are writing something that only the professor will read. On the other hand, it makes it more fun when you are writing for other students because you tend to loose it up a little bit more and be more honest in regards of your thoughts or feelings about anything that happens in class.I wish I could have the time to read every single blog but since the class was too large, it was quite impossible to make it happen. The whole experience, and reading other students experiences, was just great!!! Two thumbs up for the blogs!!!

"Hurry Up..she might be the inspector!" McDonalds

It was a Sunday evening and I was out with my mother picking up some things from Target, once we done with our shopping, I noticed that there was a McDonalds located within the shopping center. When I saw the big golden “M” I told my mother if she wouldn’t mind if we can stop in there quickly; she looked at me and said, “We just ate in the house not too long ago, you’re still hungry??” That was when I told her about the extra credit assignment, and she agreed to accompany me. While walking into the fast food restaurant, she asked me if she can “pleaaaase” place the order so that I can just stand next to her and analyze everything that’s going on in the back. So I told her that she must stress the four extra pickles and French fries with NO salt, she agreed and we walked in. She felt that maybe the employees will extend more courtesy to her since she is older than I am, and maybe feel a bit more intimidated. We were both anxious to see how the young staff of employees was going to react with the curve ball that was going to be thrown at them.
It was close to 8 pm and there weren’t that many people in this Mickey D’s, there were a few tables taken, but there was no long line to place the order. There was only one person next to who was placing their order at the register next to us. So my mother places the order and stresses that she needs a hamburger with FOUR extra pickles and I cut in and said “oh and can you please add an order of small fries with NO salt, please (and smiled).” David (the young man who took our order), at first looked at us as if we were joking around, and my mom kept a serious face and he finally realized we were serious. David repeated our order to us, just to make sure he heard “everything right” and we both shook our heads. My mother then added, “David can you please make sure that our order is printed exactly on our receipt.” As a result David shook his head but in a very intimated and nervous manner. David then went off to the back and made sure he told the French fry girl and hamburger boy the “special” order we had placed. I then heard David tell those two employees in Spanish that he thought that my mom maybe some sort of inspector checking up on them so they better get the order right and fast. As we were waiting we noticed that all 3 employees were working at a hasty pace yet trying to show how nervous they were. David then told us kindly if we can please sit down and wait for the new batch of fries to be made.
So my mother decided to sit down, but I stepped to the side and stood by the counter so I can observe better. To not make it obvious I pulled out my phone and pretended I was texting, when I was really timing them. David started pacing around the register area probably because she had nothing to do but to wait for my order to be completed, and was constantly looking back to see if the hamburger boy and French fry girl were almost done. While the girl was waiting for the French fries, she told the other people in the drive thru to come and look at the people who ordered the “French fries with no salt”. The other employees were looking at us as if my mother and I had come from another planet. After 6 minutes and 20 seconds, David caught my attention and said, “Here you go Miss, your order is done. Sorry for the wait and we hope you enjoy your meal-- Thank you for choosing McDonalds and have a nice evening (and smiled).
As previously mentioned it took a total of three workers to get involved—the cashier and the hamburger boy and French fry girl. From what I experienced, I thought the service was good, considering they were hit with a curve ball. Although they were a bit nervous, I feel they did a decent job. If I was a consultant to McDonalds, I’d recommend that employees keep comments to themselves or say them when customers aren’t around. The order preparation was okay, considering the fact that they tried to stay calm while fulfilling my special requests. Communication between the employees was good. Coordination-wise, the workers did well, except when the cashier got nervous and started pacing back and forth by the register; perhaps he could’ve either made conversation with me the customer (since there was no other orders to take) or maybe help the people at the drive thru. My only other suggestion is for McDonalds to come up with a better way to relay specific customized orders to the kitchen staff because the cashier had walked to the back to tell his coworkers personally our order. This way, things would be more efficient and the cashiers can spend more time interacting with the customers. For the most part, my experience at McDonalds was pretty good; I left with a “smile on” -- McDonalds did a job well done when thrown a curve ball like customized orders come its way.

"I D" please....

Surprisingly the Personal Profile System test, did accurately gauge my management orientation....and according to the results of the test...I'm an "I'' with a high "D". People who fall within the "I" category are supposedly seen as natural born leaders. After reading that info, I was a bit surprised to find out that my managment orientation would be that of a natural born leader. In a way it made me feel a bit more confident of how personality would effect my management skills. I feel I fit in very well with this category--- the tendencies of an "I" person....describe me almost to the tee. I like to make favorable impressions, I'm an enthusiastic person, enjoy entertaining people, like to network, and I most of the time do view people and situations optimistically. The high "D" tendencies embedded in me are: the fact that I like to cause action, accept challenges, and make quick decisions. I've noticed that I like to be in environments where there is opportunity for advancement and individual accomplishments. I do believe that these type of tests are helpful in determining people's management "type" because not only can you better understand the person, but you can also take note of whether your capable of either working together with that person. Personally I would not want to be dominant in any other category, BUT I would like to be a bit more conscientious in my management orientation. Why? So that hopefully when it comes my decision making, I can be more analytical and accurate---instead of choosing the first satisficing decision that comes to mind.

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions...

First of all let me start of by saying that I've never witnessed such chaos in a classroom environment, as I did that day. Anywho, the method I personally chose during this class exercise was Collaboration. I felt that it wouldn't be fair to the class as a whole if just one person would just give their opinion and thats it! the decision is made for the class. I felt that what we did, which was breaking up into small groups and everbody voicing their opinion...and then each group sharing their idea to the whole class was effective. But of course, it wasn't that easy. There were some agressive people who were "supposedly" voicing the opinion of their groups,but in reality seemed as if they just wanted everyone to go along with their idea and that was that! An alternative method that I should've used was to be a bit more assertive but in a more compromising manner. I should've opened my mouth and also voiced the other opinions of the other groups whose voice wasn't heard due to some agressive people that were trying to take "charge". But overall, the class as a whole came to a good conclusion, one that I feel everybody would profit from in the end---but let me just say it was a very stressful experience!

Not Sooo Eggs-cellent

I feel that our group followed Steps 1 throught 3 of the Planning Process successfully. We knew the goal of the project, which was to create some device that would protect the egg from breaking after being thrown 10 feet off the group (Step one..check). We knew what supplies/tools we had to work with --2 feet of tape and 8 plastic straws (Step two..check). We created different plans, or alternatives as to how we were going to contruct this egg protector and discussed the advantages and disadvantages of each alternative (Step three..check). After step three, I felt that my team was not so successful. As for step four our group did unaminously choose a plan and went for it---BUT we did not assign any specific roles for any of our team memebers. The only thing we did assign was for Kristen to drop the egg since she was the shortest haha. As for step five, we did not know how we would've been able to save our egg (or revise our plan), after seeing everybody elses plan in the class turn out to be unsuccessful as well. Even though our team was not successful in accomplishing our goal, I still feel we had excellent teamwork and great communication--which I feel is vital in order to strategically plan our goal.

Excuse me, what TIME is it?

The first managment issue that I have that comes to mind is....how I manage my TIME. Unfortunately, I'm at an age where I should be able to manage my time wisely, but still tend to not do so. Being a full time college student, working part time (along with the responsibilities I have at home is considered another part time job), and trying to have a social life----how can I be able to complete all these things and yet keep a peaceful state of mind? I feel like I'm forever in a race, trying to complete all my tasks in time. I've tried the whole "planner" thing (I even own a blackberry!) and at times I still feel out of sort. I feel that there is not enough time in the day to accomplish all the things I need to do, without having to stay up till the wee hours of the morning or stressing myself out because theres not enough time! Hopefully, throughout the semester I will be able to help resolve this issue through the lessons we learn in our management class. :fingers crossed:

Who is Maggie Ortiz?

Hey everybody! I'm Maggie Ortiz and I've just started my junior year here at Baruch College. My major is Marketing Management and my minor is Communications. I was born and raised in Queens, NY. I'm half Argentine and half Puerto Rican. My passion is to dance! I've done ballet for about nine years, and kept in touch with my cultural roots by learning how to dance salsa professionally for about 2 years on and off. My current hobby is to dance Tango (where my Argentine side kicks in lol) and have been addicted to it ever since! Besides dance, I love to travel, hang out with friends & family, or anything that shows me a good time. My favorite sport is soccer--I love to watch the Argentine National Soccer team play or my favorite Boca Juniors! Well that's Maggie Ortiz in a nutshell, I wish you all the best of luck this semester.