Blog Topic #7: Nurturing Creativity in Business

I apologize in advance.  I am absolutely terrible with poems....

Management

Learning to manage

At Baruch, around 5:50 MGT 3120....

What did we do?

some slides and some lectures....

Class activities, group activities, and a sad egg that fell into a trash can.

What did we learn?

Leadership roles, trust, and learning to get along.

Those are the lessons i will carry on with me.....

Blog Topic #6: Communicating via Blog

When our class was first asked to create a blog and participate on it.  I had mixed feelings about the situation.  It was a fresh new semester and i was optimistic about my ability to focus on school work.  So asking me to keep an up to date blog sounded simple and basically, online homework.

However, as the class progressed i noticed that the blog posts were more or less asking for our opinions on the class activities we had during class.  And with that, also about the specific topic the class activity was about.  Our professor would ask us about our opinions of the activity, did we learn what the activity was really about? and in what way will it help us.  I feel in this way, this is an excellent homework assignment.  But i don't think anyone wrote on this blog with an opinion that they could say anything they wanted with no penalty.  Obviously. we are well aware that our fellow students and teachers would eventually see this, and without that sense of anonymity the opinions can be sugar coated.

As with other blogs, blogging gives others an insight to their opinions and perceptions of a specific topic.  With this, i would say commenting on other people's blogs was an excellent way to get to know people in our classroom.  As well as learning about their past and what inspires them.  I really like how the commenting helped give positive feedback all around.  Towards the end, i would start looking forward specific people i've commented on before to comment on again.  I guess thats just because we become more comfortable as we get to know each other.  I would say, that it would be better to require comments on different people each time.  that would force us to move outside of our comfort zone and experience more of the blogs from our classmates.

I would say. overall the blog was a homework assignment.  Did i value its criticism? not so much, did i post anything negative on the blog? absolutely not, would I if this blog was anonymous like the internet?  well, being anonymous would certainly allow me that privilege.  and now, my opinion whether blogging should be kept or not.  I think that blogging is a perfect substitute for homework.  In fact, it basically is homework, however, i think it can be an excellent study tool.  Instead of just how input on how we felt about class activities, i would say, make students work for the 20% of the grade, require 1 blog topic about each chapter.  I'm not saying summarize what the chapter is in a blog, but more like. what your opinion is about the chapter, especially theoritical concepts, or whether a specific method really works in the real world.  In assigning one chapter, that leaves a blogger a lot of freedom about what to write, while helping them learn the material for the test.  At the very least, a blog post about the chapter requires them to look at the chapter.  That in itself can be more than some students do.  (myself included)

Extra Credit

 

Elliot Su

Extra Credit Assignment

                In our day and age, viral marketing can often be more productive than direct advertising.  This is what happened with McDonalds and their elusive McGangBang.   There are a lot of rumors to the origination of the McgangBang, which is basically a McChicken sandwich (buns included) wedged in between a double cheeseburger.  However, the origin of this epic burger is not as important as how people came to know about it.  The most common way people have discovered this delightful burger is through their facebook page.  This facebook page describes the burger and is also an open petition to have McDonalds add it to its menu.  Unfortunately the burger is not exactly sanctioned by McDonalds and therefore is not on the menu.  However, that won’t keep me from trying to get my hands on it anyways…..

                When I arrived at Mcdonalds I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.  Would I have to fight tooth and nail with the manager for my McGangBang?  Were blank stares and misunderstandings all I was going to get at the register?  Time to find out, the initial response from the cashier was indeed to stare at me blankly.  “You want the…..what?” was all he had to say.  I feigned shock and said “yeah the McGangBang, you don’t have a McGangBang on your menu?  Cause that’s what I want.”  At this moment the cashier is not taking me seriously at all.  He simply says, I’ve never heard of it, are you sure it exists?  Luckily enough for me the manager was within earshot of my request.  He quickly comes up and nods at me and says to the cashier, “yeah I know what it is, here you have to order this mcChicken and this double cheeseburger…..”  And the manager quickly stepped onto the register and briefly explained to the cashier what the Mcgangbang was and how to order it.  However, ringing up a McChicken and a double cheeseburger is fine and dandy, but I’m sure the guy in the back had no idea he needed to combine the two.  So the manager then heads to the back to explain the situation to whoever was in the back.  After a very reasonable amount of time (the same amount of time it would take to get my BigMac) I received my very first McGangBang….

Unfortunately, this is not an McGangBang at all.  The McGangBang is a McChicken Sandwich inside a double cheeseburger.  This is close, however, the buns need to be included to be the proper burger.  This was, in fact, just a double cheeseburger with a chicken patty in the middle.  I had no idea that my sandwich was in fact wrong, and it wasn’t until after I got a reply to the picture text I sent to a classmate that I realized that the burger was in fact wrong, and that I would have to order another one……..

                This time the manager wasn’t very happy to see me again.  Lunchtime had started and the store was getting crowded.  He did however listen to what I had to say.  I told him that sadly the sandwich I ordered was incorrect.  Explaining that a proper McGangBang required all the original buns.  He looked confused and told me that to his knowledge the McGangBang was just a chicken patty inside a double cheeseburger.  When I told him I required another McGangBang but with the buns, he gave me a wide eyed look like I was losing my mind.  But, I told him that since I already consumed the previous sandwich that I could not in good conscience have him make me another one for free.  I would need another one, but I would pay for it as long as he made it right.  He rung my order through again, and stepped in the back and again said something to whoever was back there.  And out came the official McGangBang:

 

After receiving the McGangBang I decided it was time to tell the manager that this was a extra credit assignment for college and that he was a great help.  He did not seem to mind at all and was happy to help and sign my receipts.  Overall, the manager made the whole experience very fun and worth its while….

 

Now, when I analyze the management process that went into my “special order”, a few important things come up.  Three key categories to focus on are Organization, Leadership, and Communications.   Had I been working for McDonalds as a management consultant, a few things would have been done differently.  Here are a few key topics I would have analyzed and reviewed.

Communications:

Were communications between employees effective?  Was communication to you the customer effective?  What recommendations would you make for improvements?

Communication is most effective when both sides receive the intended meaning.  In order to have this occur the receiver must understand the sender’s message, but also send back feedback of the perceived message.  If this does not occur, then the communication process causes more problems than solutions.  In this case,  there were multiple lines of communications between the manager and his workers.  First off, The manager explaining to the cashier what a McGangBang is, and second, when he went to the kitchen to explain to the burger maker how to make it.  The communication process was pretty solid in this case where the cashier learned how to ring up a McGangBang, and when it was explained to him he responded with a genuine “okay, I got it now”.  With this feedback the manager feels comfortable that next time this cashier could ring up a McGangBang all by himself.  The communication between the Manager and the kitchen staff however, did not go so well.  This is the main problem with communication is that the intended meaning must be accurate for communications to run effectively.  When it comes to special order items, the manager must adapt to the customer.  In this case, it seems that the manager had some sort of memo of what a McGangBang was, but misinterpreted that memo.  In terms of communications, I would send a more accurate memo of a McGangBang and how to make one.  Even though this item is not on the menu, it is currently very important due to its advertising and viral benefits.  Therefore I would make sure every McDonalds had an accurate memo of how to make a McGangBang.  Otherwise, the manager had a very friendly and patient manner when dealing with his customer, and the communication process seemed quite effective and efficient.

Organization:

 Comment on the effectiveness of the manufacturing process (order preparation).  Are they set up to handle “extra special” orders effectively?  What might you change organizationally if you were the manager to better accommodate orders like yours?

The organization process of McDonalds was pretty simple.  Cashier rings in a regular order, the kitchen makes that order based off of the menu they know.  This organization becomes compromised when there is a special order involved.  This formal structure should not be changed but merely improved upon.  In this aspect the managerial organization is shown by its division of labor.  The cashier’s job was to ring the McGangBang through, so the manager only instructed to him the proper method to do so.  And the kitchen staff’s responsibility is just to make the sandwich, where the manager quickly moved toward instructing him towards.   Therefore, our manager here connected the divisions of labor with his own communication skills.  And effectively kept the process organized.  There are many good things to look upon and very little I would change as my order came out quick and effectively.  Of course my first order was not the intended product I wanted.  But that seems to be more due to the managers initial understanding of the sandwich.  Therefore, again one of my main changes is making sure the manager is more informed of current trends and items that might be asked.

Leadership:

Did anyone display true leadership traits during your visit?  Who?  How?  Is leadership a necessary skill to work at McDonald’s? Describe how the key people involved in your transaction could have exhibited more leadership qualities.

Leadership can be considered to be one of the most important elements of the managerial process.  A manager with a leadership quality can make the cogwheels of management run so much smoother.  It can be said that a leader uses his position power and personal power to manage.  In this case our manager portrayed a lot of leadership skills.  In this case the manager used his positional power to instruct each person on how to make a McGangBang.  There seemed to be no resistance and no misunderstanding of what his intentions were.  In this aspect the manager used the technique of interactive leadership.  Where he emphasized using his communication skills, making sure his employees returned their feedback before working on the sandwich.  And finally participation, trusting his employees to make the sandwich the way he instructed.

Unlike other experiences, my search for the McGangBang had very little issues.  The manager and the McDonalds store showed me that they can run effectively and efficiently.   I had a very pleasant experience attaining my McGangBang and also witnessed proper management from the manager and the staff.  There is very little that can be changed from my experience.  And I leave that with.  Don’t fix what ain’t broken.