My Way or the Highway...Apparently??

The other day in class we were given a leadership/management diagnostic test to determine which qualities we possess and the type of leader or manager we would make. Interestingly enough, I ended up being a Dc. D is a manager who tends to be dominant shaping the environment by overcoming opposition to accomplish results. When I first read that I was a D, I was a bit confused because I didn't think "dominance" was the word I would use to describe myself. After reading all of the descriptions and characteristics of each of the 4 styles, I learned that Dominance probably best characterizes me. There are some particular tendencies that describe me more than some of the other ones. I thought at first  that I would be a C conscientiousness which oddly enough ended up being my second style. I'm content with being a D mainly because of my competitive side and I also like a good challenge. I think it would be difficult to change the type of manager you would be because its changing a lot about yourself. Though it may be difficult, I do not believe that it is impossible to change certain things about the way you would manage or lead. I think it's probably a good idea to figure out what type of management style they have to learn more about the way they would lead and the way they would handle certain situations. This type of test would probably help in personal interactions to see how people would react in different circumstances and to learn more about their personalities and ways of doing things. I think this was a good way to discover what type of manager I could potentially make in the future.

The McDonald's Experience

Ashley Brandow

Management 3120

Professor Kurpis

The McDonald’s Experience

How many times have we walked into a fast food establishment and placed an order but before leaving we have neglected to check our receipt and our order to make sure everything was right? I know this has happened to me numerous times and it is perhaps because I didn’t pay strict attention to the management process involved. Although it seems simple enough to fulfill an order, sometimes even the tiniest steps get overlooked creating a series of problems.

As I walked in to the crowded McDonalds’ by my house, I thought about how the cashier would react to this “customized” order. I felt uneasy going up to the counter and asking for a burger with five pickles and well-done fries. Not only did I think about what the employees would think, I thought about what other customers around me would think. I know if I was behind someone who had requested an order such as mine, I would think they were absolutely insane. I walked up to the counter to place my order and when I asked for five pickles on my burger the worker went to the back to the person who was making burgers and said “make sure to put five pickles on that one.” That employee asked the girl at the register if she was serious and she replied that she was. I ordered my well-done fries and the side of big mac sauce. I was told that the fries would be a few minutes as they were to cook them to my specifications. I opened the burger to check to see if the extra pickles were there, they were. With that, the receipt printed out and it only said hamburger and fries. I asked the employee if there was anyway I would be able to get my exact order on the receipt. The employee said that there wasn’t anyway that this can be done but I insisted that there must be a way. The employee politely said that she would have to ask her manager if he would be able to show her how to do it. The  manager quickly came over asked what I had ordered and input the information into the computer. The manager printed out a new receipt and explained that he had to press pickle five times, had to press a certain sauce button for the big mac sauce and put well-done for the fries. I walked out of the store with everything I ordered and it seemed the employee learned a bit from the manager.

If I were hired as a management consultant to visit the McDonald’s in which I placed my order, I would have to say that the employees seemed very organized and pretty effective. When I ordered my burger, the girl who took my order went right back to the man who was making them and told him five pickles. She also was in charge of making the well-done fries and getting the big mac sauce. In that respect, the organization  knew what to do for special orders but did not know however when I asked for the exact order to be printed out on the receipt. I would have the employees trained further to handle special orders to not only be able to prepare them but to also be able to input them into the computer the correct way.

Communication was definitely key to the order. If the worker who took my order did not personally tell the worker making the burgers to put five pickles on it, my order could have been messed up resulting in a dissatisfied customer in many circumstances. Also, when I asked to have another receipt with the correct information, the girl who took my order admitted she wasn’t sure on how to do it but went right to her manager for help who explained both to her and I exactly what he had to do. The communication was well executed despite having to turn to the manager for help. I was treated politely and with a great deal of respect while I was being helped.

Training on the other hand seemed to have been lacking a bit. The order had been placed exactly to my specifications which was great but she did not know how to record the transaction on the computer. At first she told me that it could not be done but I insisted there must be a way and that was when she asked the manager. I would have more “advanced” training on how to input these types of special orders into the computer. The manager clearly knew how to perform such a task but his employee on the other hand had no idea she could do such a thing. Even though the employee wasn’t too sure what she doing, she treated customers with respect and was very polite about her mistake which I found to be very important as the customer.

In this particular situation, I would say that the leader was the manager of the organization. The employee turned to him when she was unsure of something and sought his advice. As we have learned, a leader is someone who can inspire and help others to accomplish important tasks. The manager not only fixed the problem, but showed the employee how to handle the situation and told me exactly what he had put on the receipt.

In conclusion, from placing an order as specific as the one I did, I learned that what seemed to be a simple task was in fact more involved then I had ever realized. It had never crossed my mind that a customer would go into McDonald’s and place such an obscure order until I became that customer. What seemed to be something very easy, in fact turned out to be a bit more troublesome then anticipated. Perhaps the order would not have taken so long if the employees were more thoroughly trained not just on the basics but also trained on how to deal with certain circumstances that they might be faced with. A more proactive approach to operations would certainly benefit this particular organization. For example, a customer may ask what is in a particular food because of a food allergy. If the employee is not knowledgeable or does not know how to find out this answer, trouble may ensue. It is essential for management to be able to lead and inspire their employees to work toward a common goal, in this case pleasing the customer. It was an interesting experience to see how a seemingly simple task can be made more complex without the proper training. I think I learned a lot about how management works and how it is key to the success of all organizations. 

Dream, Vision, Action...Success!!

Someone once said, "you can do what you can dream." I don't remember where exactly this quote comes from but I often keep this in the back of my mind when things seem unreachable or unattainable. To do something of significant importance requires a vision. But a vision isn't merely enough. As we have learned, "Vision without action is just a dream. Action without vision merely wastes time. Vision coupled with action can make things happen." So not only to we have to envision an end result but we have to figure out to attain that, what are the steps we must take to make our vision a reality? I would have to say that my first goal would be to have a good job when I graduate from Baruch. In whatever job I choose to pursue, I want to be successful, not necessarily financially, though that would be great, but I want to be happy and I want to create a name for myself. To achieve this, I will push myself beyond limits to do the best of my ability and created opportunities for myself. My second goal is one in which I have had ever since I was a little kid. Playing softball and being an athlete my entire life, I have always wanted to develop a state of the art softball facility in my home town. It always seemed like the baseball fields were always cared for while the softball fields were left neglected and I wanted to do something to change that. To achieve this goal, I hope that I am successful and am able to somehow raise funds and donate money to an idea I think would be extremely beneficial to young girls interested in the game. My third goal would be to eventually be able to go back to Baruch and my high school and be able to donate or to be able to help students obtain jobs or internships in the fields that I have chosen. To do this, I would have to work hard in my career and become a leader someday. Vision can become reality, one must have the want and the willpower to take action.

"The Best of Both Worlds"

There seemed to be a lot of disappoint the day our first exams were returned. We learned that about half the class failed with below a 60 and the highest grade in the class was an 86. With all of us striving for success, this was obviously a huge disappointment to all of us who studied countless hours with our heads buried in our Management book. Luckily, we were given the opportunity to develop a decision that would make the situation better. The catch, the entire class had to agree 100% on the decision. Initially I thought this task would be impossible as I thought that many people would have concerns about the suggested ideas. Two members in our class stepped up to be our leaders. They were the ones who took the suggestions and wrote the ideas on the board. From their, people would raise their hands and share their opinions on the various issues at hand. The leaders definitely helped as many didn't quite understand what the "deal" included. I think it was difficult to come up with ideas because I know I honestly didn't believe that our professor was going to be willing to help us out as much as he did. Ideas were given and some were immediately turned down right off the bat. Some wanted to do what was best for the class as a whole, some thought about themselves, some wanted to receive the grade that they deserved and learn from their mistakes. With a lot of thought, debate, agreement, and disagreement, we finally came to our decision, we would have a curve, our lowest exam score dropped, and an extra credit. As a class our decision strategy was one of compromise as we were all able to throw out different ideas and suggestions and eventually agreed on one after weighing the good points versus the bad points. Personally, I engaged in avoidance decision making as I listened to what everyone else had to say which ended out working out the best in my opinion. I think this was a great demonstration of how the decision process is carried out and how difficult it can be to get a large group of people to agree on something as important as grades.

The "Unbreakable" Egg

Managers from all different industries must follow certain steps to plan, execute, and achieve goals. The egg project reinforced these steps in a hands on way to demonstrate how much really has to go into the planning process. Not only did we have to plan on how we were going to build our egg devices, but we were forced to manage our time in and work in an efficient way. Our groups objective was to create a device that would hold the egg and keep it intact upon impact. We planned to use all of the materials given while adhering to the rules and regulations of the game. We came up with a couple of ideas and decided on which one we thought would work the best. After coming up with a general plan, we developed more backup plans just in case our original idea did not work out as we expected. We tried to plan out where each of the materials would go to help utilize all of our resources. Since it was the first time working in this group, it was difficult to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each person and bypassed this step. Everyone was able to contribute to the group in one way or  another. We developed different ideas and weighed the pros and cons against each other to come up with what we thought would work the best. We tried to identify what would happen if we put a certain straw somewhere or where would be the best place to put our leftover tape to make the most out of our materials. We seemed to have bypassed the 4th step and just performed as we went along and it seemed to work out well. We were aware of the time and would let the group know how much time we had remaining and went along accordingly sticking to our original plan. As we were near the end we realized that we had leftover materials and found a way to best use the excess tape. When all was said and done, we stuck to our plan and modified as necessary but in the end we ended up with a broken egg.

"A Rich Tapestry of Diversity"

As Maya Angelou once said, "We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color." This seems to be quite true when looking at the student body of our school. Ranked the most ethnically diverse school in the country, Baruch is a melting pot of different cultures and backgrounds who all have the same goal, to be successful in whichever path they end up. Going to school in New York City opens my eyes to all different kinds of people from all walks of life. There is never a dull moment in the city and we see this everyday. Though I haven't really traveled out of the country, I don't have to go far to explore the different types of ways in which people live. I attended school upstate for a year at the University at Albany and was able to live amongst people from different cities, states and even countries. While at Albany I became good friends with an international student from France. Though she spoke English fairly well, we noticed quite a few cultural differences between life in France and life in America. I also met a number of other people from countries such as Mexico and other Europe countries such as Holland who also said that the American culture was very different from their home countries. I currently reside in the Ludlow dorms and have a suitemate who is from the Dominican Republic. I never realized how completely different life could be living in another country. Upon talking to my suitemate and getting to know her better, I was amazed to learn that she had never seen snow before and didn't know what a skunk was. While riding the subway she pointed out that Americans don't like being very close to each other but in the Dominican Republic, this is not true. Americans value personal space but in other countries personal space seems to be a lot less. Living in the city has so far given me a chance to meet with people from different cultures who have different values and beliefs. It's an exciting way to get to get to know other cultures and learn new things. I learn something new everyday and the diversity in which I live amongst opens my mind and has given me a wealth of knowledge.

About Me...

My name is Ashley, I am an Accounting major at Baruch. I am on the Baruch softball team which won its first ever softball championship this past spring. I named my blog "Insomnia Cafe" after reading a Snapple fact which said this was supposed to be the original name of the TV show "Friends," which I am a huge fan of.