Manager's Recipe

Here is my little story
Of the meaning and the glory
How a manager’s success
Is achieved “à l’express”

It takes courage and belief
A lot of knowledge to retrieve
When emergencies arise
So solutions can be wise

A spoon of imagination
A dash of inspiration
Three cups of great ambitions
Instead of old traditions

A quick and open mind
An easiness to find
A team that is content
Then foster their talent

Stir in power and a vision
Here and there a slight revision
Optimism and indeed
A manager’s success is guaranteed

What Would This Class Be Like Without Blogging?

At first, I was skeptical about having a blog because I thought it was pointless to have one. However, throughout the semester I began to appreciate and understand why Prof. Kurpis made it mandatory for us to take part in the blogging experience. Communicating through the blog allowed me to learn about my peers and interact with people I never had a chance to during class. I read everyone’s first blog entry to get a general idea of who was in my class and to discover if anyone was pursuing the same career goal as me. Furthermore, reading other blogs from classmates provided me with different viewpoints on different subject matters such as decision making and the planning process. It helped me see a bigger picture than I already envision in my mind about management. Therefore, I believe that I’ve benefited from meeting others online and learning from them.

In class, we had our share of fun and meaningful class activities. Having to post a blog about what we did during class and connecting it to the corresponding lessons was a unique way to learn the subject. I had to analyze my role in the class activities and relate it to the lessons I was learning. The blog allowed me to channel my thoughts and share my perceptions with others of what we did in class. Moreover, what is special about blogging is that it allows others to give feedback.

The professor’s blogs “Monkey Business,” “The Ultimate Productivity Habit,” and Choosing the Frame that Compliments the Picture” were indeed very interesting to read. I felt that his blogs were more helpful than the textbook because it allowed us to think about the management topics related to the scenarios rather than just reading it in a textbook and memorizing it. I believe the number of blogs he posted were the right amount because it gave it a “significant feeling” since he didn’t post one up every week.

Knowing that the blog assignments were 20% of our final grade, I made sure I posted my blogs and replied to others on time. This was probably the easiest 20% you could have gotten in Baruch College. I try to do the best I can in everything so even though I believe that I am going to get the full 20% for my final grade by doing my blogs correctly, I still push myself to do well on the exams (which comes along with anxieties).

I do plan on continuing to post my thoughts and ideas on my blog after this class has ended because I feel that I can express myself better in writing that I can verbally. I think the blog should definitely remain part of MGT3120 because it allows others to learn and get feedback from each other, and express themselves without being critical of themselves.

Special Order: Burger w. 4 Pickles & Fries w. No Salt

Today I walked over to a McDonald’s directly after my afternoon class with a couple of friends around 4:20pm. Business was relatively slow at the time. I ordered a hamburger with exactly four pickles and a small order of French fries without salt right away without having to wait on line. I thought the lady taking my order would look at me weirdly but instead she did not give me any problems. She processed my order, handed me the receipt with my change, and took the next order from the next customer. I double checked the receipt to see if it was printed correctly showing a hamburger with extra pickles and fries with no salt.

After my order was processed, I observed a man preparing my burger and a woman handling the fries. I would assume my “special order” did not give the burger-maker any trouble because all he had to do was add a few pickles to a burger and leave out the lettuce and a slice of tomato. The burger was wrapped up, placed in a bag, and sent over to the woman preparing the crispy golden french fries. I noticed that she had put a new batch of fries into the fryer and waited for it to be cooked. As I was waiting on the fries, my friends got their food and began eating at a table. The order-takers seem very polite and happy. As I was pacing back and forth, the woman handling the fries reassured me that the fries were almost done. After a couple of minutes, my order was handed to me. It took about a total of 7 minutes to complete the order from the moment I placed the order to the moment I received it. I went over to the table where my friends sat; made sure the burger had four pickles, sampled a fry to taste if it was unsalted, and ate it.

In my opinion, I believe the management process this particular McDonald’s employed was very effective and efficient. Each worker did their job systematically and served their customers in a formal manner. I would rate the order preparation process excellent; excellent being the highest rank. The food was prepared and packaged neatly. I do not normally eat fast food but it tasted pretty delicious. The staff did not actually communicate with each other often besides chatting about personal stuff; therefore, I cannot rate them in this category. The staff’s coordination was very well organized such that each staff member knew what their responsibilities were and preformed them without getting in each other’s way. The order-takers took the orders of customers and processed them as the burger-makers made different burgers at the same time the fryer made the fries. I would also rate their coordination process excellent. The staff’s customer service was great. The lady who took my order as well as the other order-takers were friendly and had smiles on their faces constantly. She made me feel as if I was a valued customer.

I do not think there is anything I would change to improve how McDonald’s ran their operations during special orders because I believe they handled the situation very well. I had a pleasant time there and would probably go back and order the same thing again. One thing I would mention to the managers in this particular McDonald’s is that they need to install ketchup dispensers. (I hate packaged ketchup.)