Class Reviews of A Business Major

As a Business major there are many classes that students are required to take and there are many that count as general classes. The general classes usually don’t have anything to do with a person’s major but instead are classes like Science, English, Algebra and History which all students are required to take. While they may be relevant if you are actually a science or history major, if you are a business or accounting major, chances are they are not a part of the core curriculum. As a senior with only a semester left of school, I have taken my fair share of classes, a lot of which I feel I will never use again but had to take in order to graduate. I have also taken my fair share of core classes which are specifically for me, such as Management courses.

There were some classes that I believe will benefit me greatly that I have taken. Some were core classes and some were beneficial just because of the teacher and the environment I was put into. Here I will talk about the three classes that I think were the most relevant and beneficial to my future career.

The first class was English 214. This class had absolutely nothing to do with my major and was in fact a requirement for graduation but the environment in this class was what I really enjoyed. In this class, everyone was separated into a groups and a major portion of class success was based on group work. We were taught to give constructive criticism as well as how to build portfolios of our writing. I feel that the group work we did was AMAZING! This class was the first class that I have ever taken where I learned how to interact with group members in a positive and beneficial way. In the business world, there are times when group work will be crucial to a person’s job. Knowing how to interact with people can mean the difference between a project succeeding or failing. Having the chance to sit with my group members every week and help each other to grow as writers was an essential part of our personal success.

It is very common to have group settings such as these, but what made this specific class so great was that our professor allowed us a sufficient amount of time to become aquainted with one another. She did not just force us into a group and create an awkward situation where everyone just stared at eachother. Instead, she had us chat with eachother and had us write about things that were interesting to us and that had to do with our personal lives. As a result, we were able to learn a great deal about eachother and discuss things that we could relate to. If my group was put into a situation where we had to create a project or meet a deadline,  we worked extremely well together and overcame any obstacle that we may have encountered. If you want to know more about why group work is so important here are a few sites to visit that discuss the importance of group work in general, Group Work In Companies, and the importance of group work in business, Group Work in Business.

The next class that I feel was extremely beneficial for my future success in business was my IBUS 330 class which was conducted online. For those who don't know, IBUS 330 is an international business class. What made this class so beneficial was that the teacher created strict guidelines for completing all of the work. Even though the class was online, the teacher expected students to hand in work on time. He also expected students to be keeping up with the classes and doing the readings on assigned days. Due to the fact that this was an online class, the teacher was actually able to monitor when students were logging on, when they were viewing the reading and for how long they were viewing it. He could also monitor who was watching his lectures and where and how many students were completing their quizzes in the same area. He did this as a measure to prevent students from cheating. The reason that all of this was a great experience was that it was like a real world business experience. In my future job, I expect that my boss will assign me many deadlines. Also, unlike with other online classes, I won't always have a week to complete something. I may only be given a few hours or a day to get my work done. By having the teacher give strict deadlines for each day of the week, I learned self-discipline and how to meet deadlines.

The final class that I am going to review is a class that I am currently enrolled in. It is Management 605. In the class I am learning all about how to be a successful manager and how to give presentations. One assignment that I felt was really beneficial was when my group and I had to create a 20-minute presentation based on a video that we had selected that had to do with a topic assigned to us from our textbook. We had a strict set of guidelines, and a certain timeframe to complete it in. We had to create a power point and dress professionally as part of the assignment as well. In this class we have had to do many group presentations like this. In the business world, I know that I will have to prepare and present many presentations. Having the experience that I have gained from this class will allow me to succeed in anything that my boss gives me. There is no room for mistakes when it comes to presenting something to a client that could be worth a multi-million dollar contract. One mistake could cost a company everything. Knowing how to do everything from making connections with a textbook to knowing how to dress that part is crucial for success. Roger Darlington, a man from a website that I visited, has listed many key things to be aware of while presenting. I used these steps to help prepare for my Management class. Here is the link -----> Roger.

 

Reading and Writing

 

Reading and writing are an essential part of life. People write for school, work, and for fun. Reading can be used in the office or out of the office. Both reading and writing are crucial skills that a person must possess in order to succeed in the world of business management, among other areas. For Terry, a man that I previously interviewed regarding his career in management, reading and writing are essential. When I first conducted the interview, I thought that because he was the owner of a major motel that he had someone to assist him with his legal affairs. I also figured that the only things that he wrote were schedules and reprimands. To my surprise, Terry insists that he handle his own affiars, no matter how big or how small.

On any given day, Terry reviews and responds to multiple emails. One would think that there is not much to reading an email or even to sending one. However, as I have recently discovered there are rules for both. Terry does not just review emails, he also has to know how to respond to them. When I say respond to them, I don’t mean emailing the person back either. As we all know, there are people out there who do not know the do’s and don’ts of sending emails which can also be found here -----> Source. Some people like to send emails without proofreading them or while they are in a bad mood. Reading emails means to first read and then to decide how you feel about what has just been stated. If the email does not offend you then it is safe to reply back. However, if it is offensive than the best thing to do is to wait a while, read it again, and then reply. Never reply back and try to offend the other person or tell them that you were offended because this will only make things worse and everyone could end up being offended.

As for replying, Terry must try to be as professional as he can be. As I have just learned from my teacher in one of my Management classes, it is always proper to address the person by name or title at the beginning of the email and then to state your name at the end. Another professor of management also stated that the wording should sound professional and if it is not, he won’t reply back. Learning to send and receive emails is an important part of being a manager and owning a business. Terry is not able to simply read an email and respond however he chooses because that is not the professional thing to do and it could be very costly if he offends someone.

The next type of reading that Terry does everyday is to review comments that are written by customers. Here is a website that has some reviews on it, (this site has nothing to do with Terry, his motel, or the company), Source. As an owner of a motel it is important to know what your customers think about everything from the service to the room and even the parking and food situation around the motel. If Terry reads that a customer is unhappy with some part of the service they received it is important to address those issues. Customer reviews are very important also because if the customers are not happy then they will not want to return. If nobody wants to return, then Terry is out of business and does not make any money.

As a customer, I also know that reviews are an important decision maker when I am choosing a place to stay. If I see a bad review I will choose not to stay somewhere and the same goes for if the place has a good review. I think that all managers and owners should try to read reviews from their customers. If Terry can read a review, address it, and let the customer know the changes that have been made, then the customer may be willing to write a new review and return to the motel again.

Some other things that a business owner of a motel may have to write would be the employees work schedules and notes for the manager to read. Some other reading material that a business owner of a motel may have to read would be rules and regulations that govern their field. An example of this would be the rules and regulations about the rights of handicapped guests that stay at their motel. Some rules to consider can be found here -----> Source. Labor laws, minimum wage costs, and safety regulations are also some other things that an owner of a motel would need to research.

 

A Day in the Life Of

 For my “Day in the Life Of” interview, I chose to interview an owner of a motel. This motel is a part of a very large motel chain that is also part of a network of a few different motels. The interview was conducted using the average day in the life of Terry.

Terry first acquired the motel by investment. He, and a group of fellow investors bought the property because they believed that it would be a good investment to put a motel and restaurant together on the parcel. As it turns out, it was a great investment!

On any given day, Terry wakes up at about 5am. He begins his day by drinking a cup of coffee and reading the daily newspaper.  He then checks his emails for any messages from other partners of the motel that he co-owns. A good portion of his morning is spent reading reviews from the customers that have recently stayed at the motel. This is done to ensure that the needs of the customers are being met in order to keep the business running smoothly. Afterall, happy customers equals loyal customers. After reading reviews and checking emails, Terry then does some yard work, watches the news and relaxes for a while before continuing with his motel duties.

Later on in the day, Terry hops into his car to drive over to the motel to check on how it is running for the day. While there, Terry checks on the occupancy, rates, and appearance of the property. Two main factors of occupancy, besides the season, are the rates per room and how the property looks. If the rates are too high, no one will want to stay. However, if the rates are too low- the motel won't make a profit. After reviewing these things,Terry deals with any problems that may be occurring at the motel. Some day-to-day problems that can occur are: maids not showing up to work, maids not cleaning the rooms in the allotted time frame or not doing so efficiently, a front-desk clerk showing up late, or the parking lot being fuller than the number of guests registered at the motel.

When any problems do occur, Terry has to try to find a solution. As a way to try to be proactive, Terry will on some days drive to the motel early in the morning and count vehicles to ensure that the parking lot is only being used by registered guests. He also checks in with the desk manager to make sure that they are patrolling the parking lot as well. As for maids not showing up to work, Terry tries to hire employees who are trustworthy and value other's time and money. If a maid is late or a no- show Terry tries to find a maid to come into work or get the remaining maids to clean a few extra rooms each. If problems with the same employees are recurring, there can be few days where Terry will have to let an employee go.  

Some of the other challenges that can occur for Terry are dealing with competing prices, advertising, keeping a good manager employed, hiring reliable maids, and keeping the property up-to-date. If there is not enough advertising being done, this could also hurt business for obvious reasons. As for the employees, it is important for any business to have reliable employees because if they are late, steal, do a poor job, or are just plain lazy, all of this can have a negative effect on the overall success of motel. Also, a good manager can be the difference between how much time Terry must spend at the motel as well as the level of morale of the employees and the service that the customers are receiving.

Being a co-owner, on the average day, Terry spends about 25% of his day at the motel or dealing with problems that occur. As a management major, I think that this is a relatively small amount of time to spend at the motel but this is not a bad thing. Due to his own management skills, Terry must be hiring the right employees, training the staff properly, and assigning smaller duties to employees who are capable of completing them. Overall, Terry loves his job and wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

 

 

Time for Reviewing!!

 

After spending some time searching the internet, I found a site called Rassmussen College. On this site there is a list of 20 Business Management blogs that students can access in order to learn more about different subjects in their field. While reviewing some blogs, I noticed that each blog had its own unique style. One blog I read was written by Natalie MacNeil. Natalie is a very decorated blogger who writes mostly for women. Although, I think both men and woman could learn some very valuable lessons from her blog.

In the blog titled, "This is Why You're Broke" , Natalie discusses pricing strategies. At first glance, this blog was nothing like I expected. The page was multicolored. It was informative, yet entertaining! She used simple analogies that everyone could relate to. The one heading that really stood out to me was: "You Desperately Want To Be Liked". This section discussed how people in business are not selling themselves, but rather they are selling their expertise and that is what price should be based on. As a business major I had never really thought about this but after reading the blog, I can see that price shouldn't be effected by a person's own feeling about themselves. She also posed a thought that had me thinking for hours after reading the blog which was, "And, don’t forget to ask past clients what they valued most about the result you helped them achieve or their interactions with you. That has value!" This is very true! The most important thing to remember is that feedback from a past client could help change the way a business is ran. If something didn't work, a business person should want to know about this and if something is working they should know this as well. Another thing that I feel is as equally important for people in business to think about are ethics.

In the second blog that I reviewed, the writer Lauren Bloom discusses ethics when it comes to spamming. Click here for her blog!! The first thing I noticed about the blog was that it was nowhere near as entertaining as Natalie MacNeil's. It was set up in a more conventional manner. The topics that the author discussed could be one reason for this. Ethics is a major topic in business and so it seems appropriate that a blog discussing ethics would be a bit more mundane.

This particular blog discusses spamming which I find to be important to any business major. Partly because technology is a huge part of the business world today. Millions of emails are sent out each day and it is important to know what is acceptable and what is not. Too much spamming can actually turn a client off of your product which is never a good thing. In her blog, Lauren pointed out that the majority of her 300 spam messages that she had received in her inbox from one day, were all received within a time of "a scant thirty-six hours". Thirty six hours! What was even more disturbing about this was that almost all of the messages came from marketers, and online businesses. Talk about a turn off from the products! This made me re-think emailing and the "do's and don'ts" that come with it. All of the time that potential clients are wasting deleting spam emails is time that could be better spent talking with "real" representatives of a company. In business, time is everything and it should not be wasted. If I don't want to waste my time, why should I waste a future client's time?! This leads up to the third and final blog that I reviewed...

                                                   
Management. Time management is crucial. If things aren't planned properly, it can run a company right into the ground. Lisa Hanberg, in one of her blog posts titled Management Craft: Redifining the Essence of #Management, discusses management and some of the things that managers should be doing, such as organizing their time properly. She also had many other posts inside of her blog that talked about the same subject. What I noticed mostly about this blog was that it looked completely different than the other two blogs I had reviewed. There was not as much color and the background was plain white. There was also more advertising on the sides of her posts. I also noticed that the way the information is set up in a blog really makes a difference. The other two posts had nice layouts that made the reading easy. However, Lisa's blog layout was very long and tedious. All of the posts were short and even though the topic was management, which is usually interesting to me, I found that it was hard concentrate on what I was reading. As a result, I really didn't finish reading the entire post. I think that this is an important lesson to learn. If it is not interesting, people will not read it.

As a business management major, I know that in order to be a successful manager I must keep my employees interested. If they find their work to be monotonous, my company will suffer. It was interesting to see that as someone who was writing blogs about management, that the information being given was not as relevent as it should have been. There were words such as "luv" and examples about Eminem, the rap artist, were used. I would have to say that this blog was definitely its own genre of business management blog. It was by no means, a blog that I would have expected from a business.

My favorite blog of the three would definitely be the first that I reviewed by Natalie MacNeil. She took the genre of blogging to a whole new level- with her creative layouts and simple yet, interesting posts it kept me engaged.                                        

A New Genre

Throughout history we have come to know many famous writers, philosophers, authors and journalists. They have all expressed their views and stories through a variety of different techniques. Novels, essays, articles and short stories are of the most common forms. Recently however, blogging has taken over the social media world as we know it.


But what is blog?  "A blog is a personal diary. A daily pulpit. A collaborative space. A political soapbox. A breaking-news outlet. A collection of links. Your own private thoughts. Memos to the world. Your blog is whatever you want it to be. There are millions of them, in all shapes and sizes, and there are no real rules." In my opinion, a blog is any form of writing through the use of the internet. It may sound like a diary and can consist of writing, pictures, videos  or a combination of all three. Personally, I enjoy blogs that have both pictures and videos as well as relevant links.


                                  Youtube has a great video that simplies a blog.

 

 Blogging has become a popular phenomenon around the world. One way to think of a blog is  defining what makes a blog. Blogs can be what you choose to make them. They are not in any way like an essay. Essays don't have pictures. Essays try to prove a point. A blog can just be someone rambling on about whichever topic they choose. With essays, a person has to create a thesis, have structure, make an argument for one side, and nicely conclude everything together at the end. It is usually 5 paragraphs long and must be in times new roman, size 12 font. With essays there are too many rules. That is what makes a blog different, there are no rules. Blogs are “intended for public viewing.” They’re meant to be controversial, happy, sad, informative, random or anything in between. They are a way for people to communicate. Blogging has become a new form of community. Millions of people interact with blogs in one way or another everyday.


Within each community there are different types of blogs. There are business blogs, job search blogs, personal blogs, and many other types of blogs. Business blogs are usually used for a company to advertise their products and services. These blogs are also a great way to allow customers to give their feedback. One of the great things about blogs are that they allow those reading them to make comments about what they have just read. Customers who are looking to buy the product or who have already bought and used it are then able to post a review for other buyers to see. The business can also see these reviews which helps them to improve their products and customer service. If I owned a business, utilizing a blog would more than likely prove to be very resourceful.
 
Job search blogs are another way for businesses to find new employees and for people looking to find employment. These blogs allow people to network with others and post all of their education and work experience. Job search blogs are usually owned by the person searching for the job and are along the same lines as a personal blog but instead they serve the purpose of finding work.

A personal blog is an example of what I am writing now. They are used to write about everything. The sky is the limit with these blogs. Today there are over 150 million blogs on the internet. People such as PerezHilton have made a name for themselves just by blogging and have hundreds of thousands of followers. The internet has created a new genre of reading and writing unlike anything we've seen before.



When I first learned about blogging I had no idea how popular they had become or how innovative they could be. Who would have known that by simply stating your own thoughts or telling a story online could attract so many followers. Huge communities are formed around blogging. Fellow bloggers have become more like family members than just online acquaintances. There are also many different types of blog communities.

One thing that I have found very interesting about blogging since I have started is that my thoughts seem to flow out a lot easier while blogging, as opposed to writing an essay. With essays there is always so much thought and effort put into writing the thesis statement that the rest of the essay seems boring.