Management Poem

To be a great manager
is to reduce costs
is to create opportunities
and to make the company productive

To be a great manager
is to have a vision
is to communicate the vision
is to have a plan to make the vision reality

The great managers
deal with people
deal with problems
deal with performances

A great manager
Learn to do it all
Lead by example
and become a leader.

The Reality of Blogging

Since management is the science of dealing with people through interaction, communication, and motivation, blogging was the perfect tool to motivate us, management students, to interact and communicate among ourselves.

Since business and business communication are moving online, blogging is the most contemporary way to express ideas in a long format. Topics to be blogged in this class required individual formulation of opinions about specific subjects taught in class. In another words, we had to express our own point of views about theories, and to do so we had to understand and reflect about them.

Finally, blogging engaged this class in  a way I've never experienced before. I knew what my classmates visions, gols, dreams, and personalities were in such an intimate way but without not really knowing them.

I will definitely continue blogging. It is a powerful asset for an interview. I actually have another blog: http://behindthescenesofsocialmedia.blogspot.com/

Thanks professor Kurpis, for the inspiration and motivation

DISC leadership/management diagnostic

The result of my test was Id. I was initially surprised with this result. I've always thought I was a C person, but then I concluded I like to think I'm a C person but in reality I'm not. I like to think I'm analytical, logical, rational, conscientious, detailed, and not impulsive. It makes me feel smart and intelligent. But I don't think I can become this person I've always wanted to be, this is just not me!!!
However, the older I get the more I get to know myself and to appreciate who I really am. The test only came to confirm it. I'm definitely a natural born leader, but not a dominant person. I like to influence people and logically convince them to do and think the way I want them to. Many times it happens unconsciously (I hate the idea that I'm all the time trying to get people to do and think on my way, but in reality this is how we live).
From my I side, I like to contact people and I'm very communicative (my major is communication), so I'm all about making a favorable impression and verbalizing with articulateness. I also believe that people must be motivated and act because of incentives. I like entertaining people, participating in a group and I'm a very optimistic person. I believe in freedom of expression, democratic relationships, coaching and counseling, and favorable working conditions.
From my D side, I definitely make quick decisions, like to get immediate results, solve problems and question the status quo. I also believe I'm more productive when I face difficult challenges, as well as many new and varied activities, and when I have freedom from controls and supervision.
It is definitely useful to determine a person's management type. By doing so, companies can distribute employees among tasks based on their personalities, therefore ensuring productivity and efficiency. Every company needs Ds, Is, Cs, and Ss. The problem is that not all types are good to do everything. This is why it is so important to determine who they are and delegate them the right assignments.

The power of vision.

The video's central message is how by envisioning our future, we can make our lives richer. It says that in though times, people only think about the present and forget about the future. And this capacity to think about, dream and envision the future is what distinguishes leaders from managers.

Inspired by Frank Pollack (The image of the Future), Benjamin Singer, and Victor Frankl (Man's search for meaning), the author Joel Arthur Barker created this motivating and inspiring movie about the power of vision. According to him, Vision is the result of dreams and action. Significant vision precedes significant success. Leaders envision, share their vision with communities (create a supporting structure and motivate people to extraordinary achievement) , and make the vision a reality.
The video also talks about values as the way to measure the rightness of our directions; they protect us from making unethical decisions. However, values don't determine direction. To determine direction is the role of vision

My vision of the future is to finish school at the end of this year, to move back to Brazil, and get a great job in the marketing communications field. I envision to stay there working for 2 years and then go to London to do my MBA.
Everyone must have a dream. It is key for our futures. And education is essential to achieving our dreams.
I envision spending time with my family who I have been apart for 9 years and catch up with my country, culture and favorite places and things I miss so much.
I plan to achieve my vision by being loyal to my values and working hard. Being proactive, smart, and ethical is a good strategy to getting where I want to!!!
I learned a lot while living here in New York and I'm sure I'm ready to stop dreaming and act towards my vision.

I know I can make it!!!

Japan's Nuclear Plant Crisis due to Bad Management.

The Fukushima Daiichi Plant in Japan operated by Tokyo Electric Power Company must solve its management and culture crisis first if it wants to achieve any positive result.
As management guru Peter Drucker said, "Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things." TEPCO failed in doing both. The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times reported that when the earthquake and the tsunami struck, TEPCO hesitated to flood overheating nuclear reactors with seawater because of worries about ruining their investment, even tough these steps were included in their emergency plan (contingency plan). The media reported other delays in taking action by the Japanese government, the military and other agencies.
A lot could be avoided if the Japanese Nuclear Plant had an effective management that at least followed its contingency plan.

Book recommendation

I" m reading an amazing book that really changed my perception of Management. It talks about Management as an essential part of business enterprises in the 21st century; the evolution of Business and Management; the Managers' function, tasks, and work; the history of Management; and the Management theories we studies in class.

"People and Performances"
by Peter Drucker
Harvard Business School Press

Decision Making.

Well, the Mid-Term was not as good as the class thought it would be but we were given a chance to collectively decide on a way to change the grades as well as to create an easier test format for the class. However, the way the decision making process was handled by the class was quite chaotic. Because of the sensitivity of the issue, everyone was trying to make the changes that were better for themselves (what is normal, we are all human beings). Each one of us had different difficulties and results in the exam, therefore wanted different changes. It seemed that everyone was Competing to Win, until the professor said that the decision had to be unanimous in order to be effective. This information made the class collaborate towards a conclusion that would benefit the group and compromise that everyone would vote for the agreed changes and would not change their minds.
I initially accommodated due to the big confusion and difficulty to be heard by the group. But when I heard that the class could lose the curve and the extra-credit I decided to collaborate and compromise with the group's decision.
When everyone is forced to cooperate in a decision process in which the result interests everyone equally, the best approach is to collaborate and compromise.