Monday, December 29, 2008

Check out my new retaggr card! (http://ping.fm/vNXW0)

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Has three assessed questions to do on Friday. I must focus.
Feeling Good about my reading this week for Management 521

Operations Management and the "Big Three"

Operations Management is a specialized area of management that converts or transforms resources into goods and services. Operations management has hit the mainstream news with the struggling “Big Three” automakers. Everyone has become an Operations Management Specialist on the 24 hour news stations. The question is always what can the “Big Three” start doing to become profitable again. The American automakers are compared constantly to their counterparts around the world. Some of techniques used by their overseas counterparts may offer a light at the end of the tunnel. Flexible Manufacturing could help many of the GM, Ford, and Chrysler plants. Currently many plants specialize in one or two models. If the plants were flexible enough to make multiple models at the same plant this would allow for long term flexibility of inventory. This would allow the automakers’ plants the ability of lean manufacturing which would increase productivity. Mass Customization would also benefit the “Big Three”. Customers would be able to order a car built with certain specification for the same price as a car on the lot which may not be what the customer originally wanted. Currently Mini Coopers and VW offer the convenience of ordering a car built to specification. This would allow for less excess inventory and higher customer satisfaction. On a personal note, I have always purchased American Cars (Yes, I know the parts were built all over). I have supported the Detroit automakers when I bought my Chrysler Town & Country Mini Van two years ago and my husband’s Ford F150 three years ago. I believe that my next automobile will also be from an American automaker. My hopes are that after all of this I can walk into the dealer and say,
“Hey Mr. Ford Dealer since you started your Mass Customization I would like to trade in my mommy van for a Black Mustang Convertible with these specifications. Thanks, I will be back in ten business days to pick it up.”
The Automakers have their dreams of bailouts I can have mine too. I just think they might get theirs a little quicker.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Just found out she ranks #3 on Yahoo for Online Marketing Director...I know it is not Google, but I like it

Managers vs. Bosses

Managers are different than the bosses of 50 years ago. No longer do managers tell people what to do and reprimand those who do not do it. Managers are looked at as leaders to educate, guide, train, support, motivate and coach employees rather than tell them what to do every moment of the day. Is a manager different than a leader? It depends on the manager. Managers that are leaders create visions for employees and appreciate them as a knowledge worker. Director Managers dictate and micro manage employees in daily tasks. In my current position as an Internet Marketing Director I manage some employees that are international. It has taught me to think more as a visionary. I need to share with them the overall vision of the project. I am unable to micro-manage their daily work day because I am not even awake when they are working on the project. At the start of the project we discuss the vision, time frame, and goals of the projects and then I tend to coach and guide. I worked for one visionary principal when I was a teacher. She always shared her vision and goals with her staff openly. She was available for coaching, guidance, support, and most importantly to motivate. I have never worked as hard for any other “boss” than her. She retired two years ago and had over 600 people attend her retirement. She was a true visionary leader and I hope that I can offer the leadership with those I work with that she offered me.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Turned in my week 3 APA Paper for my group project

Differences Can Make For A Great Team

Differences Can Make a Strong Team
MaryEllen Gibson
University of Phoenix










Differences Can Make a Strong Team
Working as a team requires time, organization, and a willingness to exchange ideas. During the masters program at the University of Phoenix students are required to complete a team project in each class. In our first class we are getting our feet wet using the tools from the Learning Team Toolkit. This paper will review the team personality types, listening skills, trust levels, and our team charter for group A.
Team A represents four of the sixteen Jungian Personality types ENFP, ENTJ, INFJ, and ENTP. Three of the team members were “Extraversion (E)” and one was “Introversion (I)” this was a good combination of ideas and action to make the group successful in completing the team charter. All four members were “Intuition (N)” which made the team effective taking in the information required and synthesizing it into a working team document. Team A had equal members of “Feeling(F)” and “Thinking(T)” in addition to “Judging(J)” and “Perceiving(P)” this gave the team a balance between the personality types and made it both logical and emotional centered. The personality types worked well together completing the project.
Listening Skills ranged in the group from forty-five to fifty-nine, which made the group as a whole below well honed and above needing improvement. It is difficult to tell the listening skills of the group when working online. Since team members correspond through the written word. Listening was developed more through team building.
In an asynchronous virtual classroom, taking time to do team building before assigning students to major team-based projects can be time-consuming for teachers and students.
However, it is an important first step in translating critical pedagogy and collaborative writing to the virtual realm. (Garcia, Nagelhout ,& Staggers,2008)
We will be creating an open environment of correspondence within our team area for our assigned projects.
Trust Levels in our group ranged from two to four the range for the test was one to five so our team had members with high, middle, and low trust scores. This range of trust worked well for this assignment because those with low trust of other were proactive getting the group moving to complete the project. I believe the trust level will increase after additional projects are completed by the group.
The Team Charter was complied by each member adding her own ideas. Many of the ideas overlapped which gave direction to what ideas were considered most important. The assignment was a significant reflection of the way many businesses now operate having teams across the country or across the world. General Electric considers this to be paramount to the way business is now done.
"virtual collaborations" are at the heart of the way business is now being done. Sharing documents, running product tests over time zones, real-time discussions--all are essential to participating and thriving in the global market. A typical team today at GE could span two or three continents and must call upon all of the electronic resources available to it in order to share technical drawings, presentations, notes, and ideas, bridging distances and language barriers. (Kellson, 2008)
As an Internet Marketing Director I have worked with designers and programmers around the world. This makes it very important to have good project management when working across continents and time zones the Learning Team Toolkit and Forum will help us create this project management.
In Conclusion, the first team project had many teachable moments that have allowed us to learn the do’s and don’t of working with a team virtually. I believe that after this project and the knowledge obtained through the Jungian Personality Test, Listening Skills Test, Trust Test and finally the Team Charter that our group will be even more successful in the coming projects.



















References


Garcia, S., Nagelhout, E., & Staggers, J. (2008). Teamwork through team building: face-to-face to online. Business Communication Quarterly, 472-487.

Kellson, K. (2008). Virtual teamwork. T H E Journal, 22-24.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

An Argument for Attainment of My MBA

Acquiring My MBA
It is important for me to complete my Masters of Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing. One of my life mantras is to keep moving forward in all that I do. When I sense I might be stagnant, that is the time I do something to make sure that I change a part of my life that will propel mine and my family’s life forward. So here I am at 38 years old starting my MBA. There are many reason that I believe that I will be very successful in the MBA program at the University of Phoenix.
I enjoy change. I grew up in New York as a child, moved to California as a teen, and lived in Utah for two years early in my marriage. I like the change of scenery. I like to experience a little bit of everything so a change of career is not a shock to anyone who knows me. When I started my career shift, I knew that additional education would need to be a vital part of the transition and an MBA with an emphasis in Marketing would be a degree that I would require. Finally, I enjoy the change of perception that people have of me when I tell them when I am going to school to acquire my MBA. Friends and family have a different perception than when I told people I was working on my Elementary School Teaching Credential. These changes keep me motivated to pursue my goal of an MBA degree.
I enjoy learning. I have always loved to learn. As a child I would read non-fiction books on animals, people, places and things. As I grew I found that I did not enjoy reading unless I grew from the experience I did not want to fill my head with silly stories that took up space I could be using for something that would let me grow in knowledge. My Apple Itouch became my “learning central” in the past year. I discovered podcasts. I listen to at least three to four of them a day. Sales training, public speaking, internet marketing, business management, project management and the occasionally Chinese language class play constantly in the background as I work throughout the day. Choosing to acquire my MBA online was just another way for me continuing learning with the structure of school and the geographic freedom of the internet. My love of learning makes the additional time of reading and writing throughout the week for my MBA a positive part of the process.
I have always wanted a Masters Degree. I remember sitting at my graduation from California State University of Long Beach when receiving my Bachelors Degree and watching the Graduate students receive their degrees. I knew I would someday return to school and get a Masters Degree. At that point I was not sure what I would want to receive my Masters in, but I knew I would. Career came, Marriage came, Children came, and the desire stayed the same, I wanted to receive my Masters Degree. After completing my Jungian personality test I found it supported my decision to acquire my Masters of Business Administration.
” ENTJ: Assertive and outspoken-they are driven to lead. Excellent ability to understand difficult organizational problems and create solid solutions. Intelligent and well-informed, they usually excel at public speaking. They value knowledge and competence, and usually have little patience with inefficiency or disorganization.” (Chauhan & Chauhan, 2001)
My educational desire to obtain a Masters Degree keeps me focused on my goal.
I love marketing. I have always loved marketing. In high school I loved writing Press Releases for my high school clubs. In college I was Public Relations Director for my sorority Alpha Omicron Pi for 4 years. It would have been nearly impossible to have gone to California State University Long Beach in the early nineties and not to have known that Alpha Omicron Pi was a club on campus. Even when I started teaching I marketed learning to my students. Finally, when I changed careers and became an Online Marketing Director I knew I found what I wanted to do. I love marketing and want to continue to pursue this career vigorously.

I would like to make more money. Teaching is secure, but the pay can be considered less than stellar. The average person holding an MBA degree makes $104,891.00 (Median Salary MBA, 2008) and the average school teacher makes $55,987 (Median Salary K-12, 2008). Over the next 25 years that affects my household income by $48,904 annually. This change of income makes a substantial difference in my children’s college fund, my retirement, and life in general. This additional income may also let me express my entrepreneurial spirit and allow me to create my own business in the future. The increase in income is definitely a motivating factor for attaining my MBA.
It is important for me to complete my Masters of Business Administration with an Emphasis in marketing. I believe the evidence supports that I have considered my acquisition of a Masters of Business Administration seriously. I believe that for the next two years I will remain incredibly motivated to reach my goal.















References
S.P. Chauhan and Daisy Chauhan (2001). Are You Aware how Your Personality Type Affects Your Behaviour? . Global Business Review, 290-297

Payscale (2008, November 28). Median Salary by Years Experience - All K-12 Teachers. Retrieved December 3, 2008 from http://ping.fm/vYv2p

Payscale (2008, November 28). Median Salary by Years Experience - Degree: Master of Business Administration. Retrieved December 3, 2008, from http://ping.fm/G0YmL(MBA)/Salary