Business Goals 2/12

Kyle Thompson

Setting Professional Goals

IDM

Maryanne Harkins

February 24, 2012

Goal Number One: To graduate from Full Sail University. 

1. Have an overall grade between 95-100% for a Cumulative GPA of 4.0  

2. Graduate Full Sail University by March 2014.

3. Complete as many Grants and Scholarships to avoid working a full-time job

4. Connect with former and presently enrolled students at Full Sail, for encouragement and knowledge.

5. Research “how to” videos and articles. Do personal interviews and read books pertaining to my Industry. Be in the top 5% of my graduating class.

6. Find Volunteer Opportunities, and locate Job Fellowships and Internships

7. Achieving my goal would allow my to pursue my passion of sports. I would by living a more enriched life and a life of actual meaning in my opinion.

Professional Goal Number Two: You want to achieve within one year from when you graduate. 

1. Be working for a top notch and established company in a position higher than entry level. 

2. By March 2015, I will be either organizing or running a team. 

3. Getting my foot in the door and having the opportunity to do an internship. Setting myself apart from all of the other applicants with my unique skill set and real desire to succeed. Being on the constant look out to improve my skills with more readings and communications within my industry and my peers. 

4. Establishing more and more connections within the industry with individuals higher up in the corporate ladder. 

5. With my extensive knowledge of the Apple MacBook Laptop and the programs associated with it- iMovie & GarageBand, I will have the knowledge capable of handling the current market place of technology within my industry. 

6. Working with other professional peers in the industry and with my knowledge, I will have a successful plan of action in my career path. Staying up to date and relevant with what the competition have to offer and what it takes to stay on top. 

7. The benefits are a competitive industry that provides myself with a drive to be the best and to be happy for what I have accomplished. 

Professional Goal Number Three: You want to achieve within five years from you graduate. 

1. In five years I will be the manager at my job or I started my own company and I am the president of operations. In either case I will be the boss. 

2. By March 2019, I will be a successful boss in my dream career job. 

3. Rising competition and new technology. I will have to combat these issues by being one step ahead and always being relevant. 

4. Having connections built within other competing companies and a support system of peers that has been groomed and established through years of successful work together. 

5. Being five years removed from my completion of my BA degree, I will have gotten my Masters degree and have shown excellence and mastery of my industry once again. 

6. In my plan of action, it requires furthering schooling (Masters degree) and an even deeper attention to detail in my schooling. 

7. The benefits in this five-year plan would be immense. I would have the creative control of my team and could in return express my ideas and thoughts through a large medium. I will reach out to the young generation that is going to school with the opportunity for the students to intern at my company to give back and continue the higher education of my industry. 

Mobility and Technology Report

My Elevator Speech

Business Models 2/12

Problem Solving Assignment

Problem Example Two

Kyle Thompson

IDM 

Maryanne Harkins

February 11, 2012

The Basic Steps Applied In

This Problem-Solving Case Study “Sparkle”

Sparkle is a small business owner that operates an event planning company. Even though the company has been around for two years now, her business is starting to take off and has resulted in new workers, new clients, and new demands. 

Clearly define and state the problem.  Due to Sparkle’s business expansion, Sparkle has three new part-time workers. These new workers are not handling their aspects of their jobs duties correctly. 

Inaccurate dates and times have been sent out. 

Extracurricular activities are occurring by the new hires on the job. 

The three part-time employees are not giving 100% of their time towards the coordination of events. 

The problem going forward is not to have those little mistakes and the lack of attention to detail by the new workers. 

Analyze the problem. 

Completed work needs to be reviewed by co-workers or by Sparkle herself and then signed off on so that the wrong concert dates and times are not being sent out to the clients.  

Sparkle is not use to having workers, which has lead to the three new workers not being held accountable for their extracurricular activities on the job. 

Listening to music devices when tasks need to be completed and the communication developed between co-workers. 

Browsing the Internet through non-work related websites. 

Using cell phones to make personal phone calls instead of the phone strictly for business calls. 

3.   Formulate at least two possible solutions. 

Move one of the part-time workers into a personal assistant position under Sparkle, which will look over and double check any information by the other two workers before it gets submitted. 

Change the browser settings on the computers to allow only certain websites to be displayed. 

Implement a no cell phone policy while at workstations. 

Provide more training to the workers to establish more of a concrete set of rules, guidelines, and task acknowledgement. 

Re-establish what rules need to be followed with a zero tolerance for workers not following the rules. 

Fire workers not listening to direction or constantly making mistakes.   

4.  Evaluate possible solutions. 

Moving one of the part-time workers into an assistant position to Sparkle, takes away from the initial idea of having three part-time workers. 

Changing the browser settings, having a no cell phone policy, and not allowing music are cheap ways to control distractions. 

Looking into doing a training program, it takes Sparkle away from her managerial duties and puts off the potential of adding any new clients during the training process. 

Replace the workers with new workers that are better skilled and trained to handle the job. Transition period between new workers might have some problems with established communication lines with already established clients and new workers could be as inept as the first crew was. 

5.   Choose a solution.

Keeping in mind that Sparkle is a small business owner, the most viable option is to have no cell-phones or music devices and the installation of browser settings on the computers.  All of these options are free or relatively cheap and can be implemented very fast so business can keep going on schedule. This solution is a short-term and a long-term solution for Sparkle. After assessing the other options they were too costly and time consuming for Sparkle and were not an option at this moment.  

4-Step Managerial Process 2/12

Tower Heist (2011)

Kyle Thompson

MAN2020 IDM Section 01

Maryanne Harkins

February 5, 2012

A Demonstration of the Four-step Managerial Process

The movie I’ve selected for my planning, organizing, leading/directing and controlling (POLC) assignment is Tower Heist (2011). This movie was released under the direction of Brett Ratner and had a cast including Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Casey Affleck, Alan Alda, and Matthew Broderick. Tower Heist’s movie plot line provides perfect examples on how the four managerial processes can aid in the completion of set goals within any proposal, idea, concept, or scheme. 

Step one of the managerial process is planning.  Planning is defined as “establishing the main objectives or outcomes of the work” (Thomas, 2007, p. 10).  In today’s business world we can see the effects of not having a solid foundation of planning and not sticking to a main devised plan. If companies stray to far from their initial business plan the results can be devastating to the company. In Tower Heist, the steps of planning were set in motion in the early stages of the movie.  As the building manager, Ben Stiller recruits his fellow co-workers and a petty crook to plan the ultimate robbery from one of the high-rise apartment complex tenants to get back their stolen investment money. The planning process helps the team not get caught and to retrieve the stolen property back.

The second step in the POLC process is organizing. Organizing is defined as “establishing formal structures of authority so that tasks and activities can be defined and coordinated amongst the people involved” (Thomas, 2007, p. 11). For the building manager, he required all of his hired accomplices to have set steps in the robbery process that were specific to the teams background work. Having a strong organized process ensures that every part of the team would have the best chance of completing their individual goals correctly and the first time. Organization is key for any business as it provides an environment for the individuals to work within and avoid the pure chaos of miscommunication that is brought upon with the lack of an organizational structure.  

In the third step of the process is leading/directing. According to Thomas, this part of this process is a combination of decision making, communicating, motivating and aligning people, and developing people. Even with a solid plan drawn up from the first step in the POLC process, plans do not always go as they were initially devised. With so many variables out there, the way the manager leads and directs the crew through turmoil makes up a great manager. A great leadership example from the film would be when the team saw one of the team members go off on his own to complete the mission and to take the money all for himself. The business manager re-grouped the team and re-directed them to the original plans end result. In this instance the manager motivated the team to not let one individual dictate what they had worked so hard on completing. By communicating this newfound plan to the team, the team members were able to communicate better and accomplish their goal albeit in a different approach. 

The final step to the POLC model is controlling. In this function it “involves monitoring any work in progress so as to ensure results are ultimately delivered” (Thomas, 2007, p.12). During the course of the movie it became apparent to the business manager that the initial plan would work but someone would ultimately take the fall for the robbery charges. To ensure the results would be what they had planned, the manager was able to provide some dirty details on the rich tenant that provide the manager getting only a two year jail sentence and the team free on all charges.  In this example the team accomplished what it set out to retrieve, which was their stolen investment money. 

After reading about the POLC model as told by Thomas, I viewed the Tower Heist movie differently with a keen eye towards the managerial process and all of the steps attributed towards that model. Whether it is in movies or in “real life” the business process is the same and is broken down quite effectively through the use of planning, organizing, leading/directing and controlling. When starting a project and the manager is developing a team, following the POLC model is the most efficient way to avoid errors, miscommunication, team angst, proper completion time, and good overall moral. 

References

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0711840/#Director 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0471042/fullcredits 

Thomas, Mark (2007). Mastering People Management. Location: London

Business Management Informational Interview Guidelines 2/12

Kyle Thompson

Introduction to Management - February 2012

Ms. Harkins Class

Informational Interview Part A

Name and company of potential interviewees with website addresses:

1. Eric Metz - President of LMM&P Sports Management LLC 

Website to LMM&P - http://www.lmmsports.com/about-lmm/our-team/

2. Dr. G. Lynn Lashbrook – President and Founder of Sports Management WorldWide (SMWW)

Website for SMWW - http://www.sportsmanagementworldwide.com/lynnbio

3. Adam Nisenson - Principal, Creative Director of Active Imagination Sports Marketing & Vice President at the Captivate Group, Inc. 

Website for Adam's companies - http://www.marketingforsports.com/content30.html &

http://captivate.publishpath.com/about-us

List of three background questions that will be used for the interview:

1. What was your career path to this position?

2. What are the basic prerequisites, training, and education requirements for this position? 

3. What entry level positions would I hold before I would be qualified to hold your position?

List of the three open-ended questions (out of the six needed) for the interview:

1. In my Introduction to Management class we study planning, organizing, leading and controlling, problem solving processes, decision-making and delegating as well as motivating, influencing, communicating and managing conflict. What do you consider the most important qualities for a supervisor? 

2. Describe a time you had to introduce an important change? What was the result? 

3. What part of your job do you find the most satisfying and also the most challenging? 

4. Speaking about work management take me through a short-term plan you developed and implemented for your department. And what methods you used to prioritize work assignments?

5. Communication is key to any business; give me a specific example of when you had to clearly communicate your expectations to a subordinate. Tell me about the steps you took to establish a rapport with a new staff member. 

6. What important trends have you picked up in your industry?  

Problem Solving Business Management 2/12

Problem Solving Assignment

Problem Example Two

Kyle Thompson 

MAN 2020 IDM Section 01

Maryanne Harkins

February 11, 2012

The Basic Steps Applied

In this Problem-Solving Case Study “Sparkle”

Sparkle is a small business owner that operates an event planning company. Even though the company has been around for two years now, her business is starting to take off and has resulted in new workers, new clients, and new demands. 

Clearly define and state the problem.  Due to Sparkle’s business expansion, Sparkle’s new part-time workers are not handling their aspects of their jobs duties. 

The three part-time employees are not giving 100% of their time towards the coordination of events. 

Inaccurate dates and times have been sent out as well as extracurricular activies are occurring by the new hires on the job as well. 

The problem going forward is not to have those little mistakes and the lack of attention to detail by the new workers. 

Having a small business, word of mouth and referrals are the main keys to continued growth and a larger client base. 

Analyze the problem. 

Completed work needs to be reviewed by co-workers or by Sparkle herself and then signed off on so that the wrong concert dates and times are not listed. 

No one has held the three new workers accountable for their extracurricular activities on the job. 

Listening to music devices when tasks need to be completed. 

Managing the visits on social media websites through blocking of certain websites and content. 

Using cell phones to make personal phone calls instead of business calls.  

3. Formulate at least two possible solutions. 

4. Evaluate possible solutions. 

5. Choose a solution.