Decision Making Process Debrief

At first I thought collaborating might have worked the best for this decision making on changing our grade points and changing the format for the next exam. Collaborating requires “bargaining and negotiation among groups”, and each group’s insights are equally important in this process. That was how I viewed the class in the beginning when we divided into our group and shared with our teammates about the possible ways to get that higher grade. As time went by, it seemed like all of us were only focusing on our team rather than getting everyone to join in as whole class to discuss this matter. I was thinking to myself then, how was it possible to get everyone to agree on the final decision? It just seemed to be an impossible mission. Halfway through, few people took the role of a leader and brought all of our attention to the front of the classroom. In order to reach to a final decision, we must gather EVERYONE’s consent and ideas. There were 80 of us there, all of us received different grades for this exam, and most of us did poorly. In this case, we all shared different values—the ones who scored lower grade would seek to bring their grades up, and the ones who scored higher held a different belief. Moreover, each of us has different areas of expertise, either in multiple multiple choices or in the essay questions. It is hard to settle this matter to satisfy everyone’s needs.

When the class got embroiled on the matter of what to do with our current grade, whether we should drop it, curve it, and/or have extra credits assignment, I observed the anxiety that filled the room. I observed the leader was trying to get people’s attention, and some helpers were trying to calm people down and let each person talked about his/her idea. Some got really pissed, I could tell by their tone when they spoke. As for me, I kind of took the step of avoidance—sit back, shake my head, thinking it would be impossible to reach to that conclusion on time. I thought it would be more hectic if EVERYONE proposed their ideas because we had limited time in this case.

I think a better way for this decision making process to work is if everyone pays attention to the person who spoke, because since I chose avoidance, I heard that most people just repeated the same problem over and over again without reaching to an agreement. And some were confused on what the proposed idea was, because the terminology of voc being used make it complicated to understand, such as the idea on having multiple multiple choice but on each multiple multiple choice there should state how many correct choices for that particular questions have. But overall, I thought it was pretty amazing that we arrived to a final decision. It was a tough task.

An Eggs-cellent Way to Plan!!!!!!!!

My group did successfully completed all the steps in the planning process.

First started as a class, we were told of our goal for this activity, which was to construct an egg protector using limited materials and drop the egg from 10 feet high into a container, and if we achieved this we would receive 5 extra points on our exam. Then we were given our objectives, which were to name the egg, to develop and draw the design of our egg protector model, and to be able to see 50% of the egg shell.

As a group, we first brainstormed different ways of using 8 straws and tape to construct the model. We thought of cutting the straws in half, that way we would have 16 of them. We came up with several ideas of using the straws and and placed them around the egg, except not covering the top part, and then we spent some time discussing the idea. We would use the tape and place it between the straws and the egg, because the straw would not have enough resistance to protect the egg from breaking. Then we talked about the flaws and WHAT IFs when we dropped the egg, it landed on the top part where it had no protection. We considered different factors and generated scenarios for alternatives that might have occurred. Most of our ideas revolved around our first idea of taping the straws around the egg. This first idea prevented us from coming up with something different, something extraordinary. I think this was because sometimes we were too concentrated on one idea, and we modified our plan accordingly to correct the flaws. It kept us from overlooking and going beyond that point. We divided up the work in the team. Each of us helped built the model by placing 4 straws on the table and taping the straws. We then taped the straws to the egg. Although the straws only covered four sides, we tried using the leftover tape and covered the rest but with 50% shell shown. We thought it would not break because the parts that were covered by the straws were strong enough to resist the force even if it was dropped and bounced on the floor. However, the parts with shell showed were not guarantee 100%. As the result, our egg only cracked a small percentage on the side. I would say my team’s performance was still successful, and that we were also effective in almost all stage of the planning process.

I think it would be more effective if I could come up with a really different idea. I felt like some times I am surrounded by these borders or walls around my mind that I couldn't reach out. Or simply say that I am stuck by these rules, because I saw how other teams came up with just connecting the straws together and reached it down to place the egg into the container, this was one of the idea, and it wasn’t hard. But overall, I think my team did well.

Alarm Clock!!!! Bling, Ding! Snooze, buzzZZzzzzz!!!!

“Speechless, breathless. 10th floor, 3 more flights. 1 more minute till class begins.” It is even hard to grasp the air—running up 13 flights is not fun in the early morning. Time to me is too little. Even within that 1 minute I can travel from one destination to another. Especially as a Junior, I am overwhelmed by the amount of work I need to do. This does not simply revolve around schoolwork, but also the work from home and from the workplace. In school, I have planned out what to do in between my breaks. Besides the fact that I go to classes, I also want to socialize with my friends. Life involves work, but it needs fun time as well. If one without the other, I will feel life is missing its purpose. With major classes, I need to be studying, finishing up reading, and writing essays. And just to make the matters worst, I signed up for a study abroad program sponsored by Brooklyn College. I need to manage my upcoming trip (with this, I also need to manage my budget on how much I need to save, in other word, I need time to find a job) and at the same time I need to manage my current grade so I can go on the trip.

I often feel pressured when I think about work as in the workplace. I just feel that there is so little time left to actually find a job. I was lucky to be doing internship at a firm that works with recruitment of middle and upper level management for the retail, restaurant and hospitality industries. I only work 2 days at my internship because I can only dedicate some time to be doing it. There is a phrase “Time is money,” I think it alone serves its purpose for many of us. In a large company, during a short duration of time, a transaction might occur that involve millions or even billions of dollars. To me, time is more vulnerable. It’s about money, experience, learning, and fun. Time is crucial in this society. It becomes a symbol for achieving your goal with the least amount of time required and being able to multi-tasks in different environment.

I have some thoughts on the solution to my management problem. That is to compromise. I have to weigh the importance of one thing to another and decide which one to give up. The opportunity cost of one thing is more or less valued than the other. If there is more time, I don’t want to give up anything.

Here I Am!

Hi Everyone,

My name is Wen Liu. Most of my friends like to call me by my nickname, Coco . I started out at Baruch as an accounting major, but now I am also looking into the field of Management and more closely on Entrepreneurship. My family used to own a Chinese Buffet restaurant in Florida few years ago, and even now my dad still works with my uncle in partnership of operating a Chinese restaurant. By far, working in my family-owned business enhances my experience furthermore.

I have a dream of starting up my own business; I want to operate a small coffee shop. I know that in small business environment, especially if I were the owner/manager, I needed to be able to manage everyday operations, inventories, cash-flows, workers, ordering, etc. I have already known from experience that “managing people is the most difficult task.” Human relationship is just so complex. It just takes time and experiences in life to be a BETTER manager.