My Management Flow

Management, oh management
What can i say?
For five points on the final
I'll recite poems all day!

My Blog experience

First off I want to say that this was my first experience with blogging, so the whole thing was kind of new to me. At first I found it to be a little annoying kind of like busy work. Having to remember the deadlines and then remembering to respond to other classmates proved to be a little tedious.
However, after doing a few assignments I realized the blog wasn't all that bad. First of all, it forced me to reflect on class and even sometimes life and put those thoughts down on paper. Although this may seem trivial we often don't take the time to just reflect on things and look back on our accomplishments and more importantly into the future. Putting these thought in text though blogging was also very helpful because their is a big difference from having thoughts in your head to seeing them in front of you.

Another thing the blog brought to the table was being able to read the thoughts of our peers. Reading others post often gave me another outlook on situations. I wouldn't mind continuing my blog or being involved in a blog for this same reason. That is, I like seeing others perspectives on given situations after that fact because quite frankly, it gives me something to compare myself to. I think the blog can help a person realize things about themselves they might not have been aware of before the fact.

Professor Kurpis should definitely keep the bog in his curriculum. My only advice to him would be to incorporate more assignments that have to do with individual goals and visions. I say this because I enjoyed reading my peers visions and it gave me a sense of security as to where I am in my life. Since all of us are for the most part at the same stage in life, it helps to hear what others are going through and where they see themselves.

DiSC Behavior

I have to admit, when I was taking this test I was a little skeptical that the test wouldn't be able to accurately judge my personality based on some trivial questions...But when it was all said and done I think the test described me somewhat accurately.

I was diagnosed to be D high C (Dominance with high conscientiousness). Actually, the overall difference for the two personalities came out to be the same number. Anyway, that means I want to shape the environment by overcoming the opposition to accomplish results while working conscientiously within existing circumstances to ensure quality and accuracy.

Now, I believe this did a good job describing me because I would describe myself as someone who likes to be in control of my density and ultimately my surroundings...And I also consider myself to be a rational person who likes to make every move a calculated one.

I have no problem with being in the dominance and conscientious group, and i didn't really need a test to tell me this because I always knew I like to be in control of situations. Although, I think the test is helpful in that I can try to keep in mind being an influential and steady person in order to become a more well rounded person.

Lastly, I think it's hard to become another type because that involves changing a persons thought process, which is usually embedded in them. I also think the professor was right in that this test could help people with their personal relationships. However, I think he was wrong in saying that two people of the same type are most likely compatible. I say this because I couldn't see how two dominant people could coexist in a relationship.

Aiming for the Sky

Like I mentioned in a previous blog, my brother and I operate a commercial construction company here in NYC. During my two years here at Baruch I have come up with several different ideas that can help take our company to the next level. Unfortunately, all of my ideas merely encompass a vision without action, but hopefully that all changes when I graduate. So in a nutshell, here are my visions for the future:

1. Establish my company to a point where my brother and I are only dealing strictly with sales and that operational aspect of the company is running effectively with a system of checks and balances.
2. Take capital from the company and invest heavily in both the real estate market and financial market.
3. After about 25-30 years of investing hopefully, we would have done well enough to cash out of a few investments and retire.

In the near future, I can see myself working towards getting my operational employees to run in a more efficient manner. That is, instead of my brother and I going to every job constantly to check on progress and quality; I would like for my foremen to take a much more active role this. On my behalf, this is going to entail a teaching process where I let foremen know how I expect them to deal with customers needs, how I expect them to locate materials and tools in a timely manner, and how I expect them to manage the various helpers below them. These are only a few of the responsibilities I would like for them to take on, and what I realize is, that the more responsibility they take on leads to less responsibility for me. This would allow me to concentrate more on sales and getting new projects, an area of the company that can use some growth.

Pandemonium

Coming into the class after the test, I was very curious to see what the professors idea of the most important class would be. When he told us that we would be able to figure out what we wanted to do with our grades on the first test and decide on a format for the second test I was shocked that a professor would even entertain that idea. I thought to myself, this is every students dream. But when the professor stated we had to have 100% agreement and I looked around at the size of the class I quickly realized that this could end up being much harder that everyone thinks.

All that being said, when the assignment began I partook in the accommodation approach. Being that i was happy with my grade, I took a more hands off approach and asked the people around me what they thought we should do. I got mixed responses, usually based on how good or bad the individual did.

As I looked around the room I realized that everyone was basically doing what i was doing. That is, they were conferring with everyone in their immediate vicinity. I realized that this was very ineffective because we would never come to a 100% consensus this way. Finally, a few people began to realize this and started to grab peoples attention towards the front of the room. Once one person had everyone's attention we were able to make some progress but time and personalities were working against us. This process ultimately led us to our final decisions, although I think they could have been better.

Our final decisions could have been better if we would have elected a leader from the beginning to help mediate everyones ideas. In this way, the entire class would of had more time to come to a consensus. By wasting half of the class talking amongst our respective groups we were not able to generate the best ideas possible.

The "Yo-Yo" Egg

In terms of the planning process my group did a great job in defining our goals and determining our resources. We were very aware of our 25 mins to plan and identified that the 10 minutes of constructing time was very little. Everyone in the group took part in brainstorming different ideas but 2 individuals came up with the idea on the "Yo-Yo" egg. We all decided that we liked the idea of taping 8 straws together and proceed to lower the egg down. But after analyzing the straws a little better we realized that the length of the 8 straws tapped together would still leave the egg to drop 4-5 feet. We then came to the conclusion that it would be best to cut the straws in half the long way in order to double the length. We then proceeded to ask professor Kurpis a few questions about whether or not our yo-yo egg complied with the assignments rules. At this point we felt ready to put our idea to the test.

When the ten minutes began we knew one of our hardest task would be to actually get the scissors, so we had one group member dedicated to that. Another group member showed that she was the best taper so she was in charge of taping the straws together. Another group member had the responsibility of cutting the straws in half and straightening them out. The other two guys where in charge of protecting the egg and attaching the egg to the end of the straws. We worked down to the final seconds be when it was all said and done our egg survived!


Looking back at the planning process I realized my group never had any alternative strategy and we never put together a tactical plan. At the end of the 25 minuets the yo-yo egg was our only well thought out plan. And now i realize we could have planned a little better by delegating responsibilities before the 10 mins started rather than during. This way, we wouldn't have been so pressured for time during the 10 mins.

Never the less, I believe my group did an outstanding job. We were able to think outside the box and come up with a plan that actually worked all while finding a way to cause our classmates greif.

My Managemnet Dilemma

Over the 3 years that my brother and I have taken over the construction company (MAC Maintenance), we have changed the structure of the organization. When we were handed the company we had 23 employees all of whom had no specific job or title within the company. We currently have 26 employees, 6 of whom are foremen that each control a different aspect of the company such as framing, joint-taping, painting, etc. We gave the six foremen their roles based on seniority and performance.
5 of my foreman have really embraced their leadership roles but 1 of them is having a hard time doing the same. This one foremen has trouble rallying guys around him mainly because of character issues. We have talked to him several times about him and his section of the companies shortcomings but this was to no avail. My dilemma lies in that this foreman's workmanship is great but leadership qualities are poor. And if I was to demote him I would have to promote a guy with significantly less experience but better leadership qualities.