connections 3

In chapter 17 we discussed accounting in a business. I did not know much about accounting before we started this chapter, but i know i lot more now. I was reading an article online the other day and saw a local business in Houston had failed due to poor financing (The former owner was talking about it). He was being interviewed saying it is really important to make sure your money is in the right places and planned where to be. This reminded me of how managers are SUPPOSED to use accounting to plan future business like taught in chapter 17. So maybe if this guy would have looked at his financing closer he would still be in business.....(He needs to take a intro to business class)...taught by the best teacher at blinn...Bethany Adams!!

Connections 3

I was in charge of the financial performance section for our group presentation. I found this hard at first but after I started applying some of the things i have learned I realized I could make sense of the tables and graphs I was looking at and figure out important information about a business. I found this pretty interesting and I plan to use it in the future to keep track of companies I may want to invest in and also to just entertain myself at times and see how the major corporations in the world are doing.

Connections 2

At work this semester I got to experience some interesting things with my job. I work at the movies and while cleaning a fellow employee dropped a booster seat on the head of another employee. It caused them to have to go to the hospital and get stitches. During all this i got to experience the plans the company I work for has in place for crazy situations like this. I do not think it ever had to go to federal laws and no one got fired over the ordeal but the one employee can no longer touch booster seats and will be fired for throwing things now. while i was not involved in the predicament I still thought it was interesting to see the different levels of management at work as they took care of the situation.

Connections 1

Since taking this class I have noticed myself picking out different things that we are talking about in class in my everyday life. Most recently, I found myself thinking about the different types of products around me. This started with me noticing all the convenience products by the register when I was paying for my gas at the store. The mall and car dealerships I passed on my way home also made me think about all the specialty and shopping products there are in the world too. After thinking about this for the rest of my way home it amazed me how oblivious I was, before this class, to how much thought goes into every product I see everyday.

Reflections 4

Since our last test we have been gone on break. We have been going over a lot of different details of a business and have recently been covering different business laws and the importance of accounting to a business. The laws we have been covering are ones that have shaped business to be they way it is today. One in particular, the civil rights act of 64, it is responsible for the end of discrimination in the business world. We have learned that accounting is important because it can be used by the different levels of management to see how the business is performing. It can be used by lower levels to simply keep track of stock and used by upper levels to see how the business is doing in a particular region.

Connections Post 3

Like most people, when I am paying a business for a service, I expect to be treated with respect and as though my business is appreciated. In this class we discussed a lot about company culture and how important employees are to the success of a business. I am constantly surprised at the lack of ability for some companies to higher employees with smiling faces or that are willing to help out the customer any way possible. This class has made me consider the attitudes of employees at business's I frequent and consider the company culture and it's effects on the personalities of employees.

Connections Post 2

The organization of a company is another aspect of business that I find myself connecting and considering when it comes to my day to day habits. When going to a restaraunt or using a service of some kind, I cant help but to consider ways the service I'm paying for can be done more efficiently. Im constantly noticing areas in which the business could improve by using techniques and strategies discussed in this business class.

Final Post

All the functions of business are important and they are all required for a business to produce to its capacity. While they are all important, I feel that the function that is the most important is human resources. My reasoning for this lies behind the fact that for a business to be effective it must relies on its employees to carry out the everyday tasks of the business. Effective human resources allows this to happen by first going through the trouble of making sure that all employees are in the jobs that fit there skills at the right time. It is also very effective because through HR, businesses can figure out how best to encourage and train their employees to be productive. I feel it is also important for the fact that HR is there to serve as a line of communication from employees to management about things going on in the business.

Final Post

After learning of all the different aspects of business, I have found that the most important is marketing. Successful marketing can truly change the face of a company. How the public views your company is the single most important issue concerning a successful business. Marketing can not only get your product out into the world, but also create an opinion about the company. If that opinion is a positive one than there will always be a sense of loyalty toward the business creating a solid customer base regardless of the product.

Connections post 1

Before this business class, the commercials that interrupt my favorite tv shows were nothing more than an annoyance. After taking a more in depth look at marketing and the different ways it can be utilized, I found myself paying much more attention to commercials and the different strategies used in each. Even walking down Northgate or through the mall, I am constantly analyzing the marketing techniques of the business's i see and using what I have learned in this class to determine weather or not the advertisement is effective.

connection 2

Happiness and motivation in the work place can be a key to having successful employees which lead to a successful business. I know this is not a good example to some people. Over the summer i worked for my dad and while working for him he could be a pain in the butt. Sometimes it was just to prove a point to me or something not to serious, but it would get so annoying and old i would just want to quit....even though i couldn't. And this would make me not want to work as hard. So i believe making employees happy or treating them with respect will make a business a better place and possibly more successful.

Connections Post 3

While Christmas shopping at the mall, I was bombarded by the usual in your face obnoxious kiosk worker.  The guy tried to force some mediocre random junk into my hands as I was walking by.

In class we learned that personal selling is the most effective form of the promotion mix because of the ability to adapt a "pitch" to a customer.  It also happens to be the most expensive form of promotion, if an employee can not recognize that I am not part of their target market, and fails to adapt a pitch well enough for me to even pretend to take interested in the product he is selling...  They are probably wasting their money. 

Connections #2

Our group project was over Google, and I thought it was something that related to what students do daily, look something up. For me it is cool to know just how Google works, and they go about getting the things made that they come up. When looking things up for our project I came across a website just on how to search things better with Google. It has a list of words and phrases and symbols that makes it easier for your search. The next time I searched something and used that informaton it made it a lot easier to find what I was looking for.

Last Reflection

The past few weeks we have been going over accounting, and I am also in an accounting class right now. When we went over chapter 17 it was nice to know what was going on completely and not be unaware of some of the terminology. The basic accounting equations that we went over in class is something that I use all the time when I am doing homework in my other class. It makes it so much easier for me to understand it in class.

Connections #1

In our group project the financial performance was my part that I worked on. I am also in an accounting class so the things I was looking for had a lot to do with what I have already learned this semester in accounting, so it helped a lot.

Final Post

I think the most important part of a business is marketing. I find marketing to be to most important part of business because marketing shows what product you have and how it is used. Through marketing businesses build relationships with people and other companies. If a company has a good marketing strategy their product has a high chance of selling well. Promotion is a big part of marketing, and with good promotion comes a good business name.

Connections Post 2

While speaking with the warehouse manager at my job, I noticed some odd products I had never seen before.  I spoke with our marketing director who explained that they are modified existing products that have been reformulated and repackaged for foreign markets.  Each foreign market looks for different qualities of the same product, so quite a bit of modification is required to adapt our products successfully in a foreign market.  But not all products labels were changed for each market.  In Brazil, people actually prefer our products that are still labeled in English, because they believe that products from U.S. are superior to local products or products that have been relabeled in Portuguese. 

Connections Post 1

The further into the semester we dove, the more I started to recognize some of the things we have learned about in class at my own job.  My job requires me to have a thorough understanding of things I can and can not say in regards to the contents and purpose of the products we sell.  This reflects on the consumer movements, with product safety, the right to be informed, right to be heard etc.  If customers or clients ever call in with any concerns or complaints, by law we have to document and report each incident.

Reflections Post 4

Last week we covered the last chapter of our semester, Accounting information CH 17.  Although it may not be the most fun or interesting of the topics we have covered, it is probably one of the most important.  I now have a better understanding of my companies financial reports, and why auditors are necessary.  We also went over depreciation, Equity, income, revenue, etc. 

Reflections Post 4

Last class we went over Chapter 17 which is about accounting. In class we learned several different basic equations for accounting worksheets. We also learned what these equations are used for and how to get specific information for a balance sheet. This is something that I find helpful in every day life, wheather you own a business or are just trying to balance your checking account.

Connection Post 3

In chapter 9 we discussed "attracting and retaining employees," I was able to connect to this chapter in that, that is what I am currently being trained to do in my job. I am learning how to determine what people are right for each specific job. In doing that I have become familiar with the motto, getting the right people, with the right skills, in the right job, at the right time. I have also become familiar with job analysis, I like the concept of thinking of new ideas to retain employees as well as keeping them happy.

To Earn Scribe Post Points

If you have not been chosen as a scribe yet this semester, to earn your Scribe Post points (50 points possible) you will need to create a new post on the blog with your response to the following question:

• Which function of business (management, marketing, accounting, human resources, finance) do you consider the MOST IMPORTANT to the business and why? 

All final posts will be due Thursday, December 9th.  All posts must include the label "Final Post" - NOT the label "Scribe Post".  Your post must also be labeled with your name.  Like all other posts, if your post is not labeled correctly, you will not receive credit!

 

Connections Post 3

Chapter 2 relates to me in the fact that when my coworkers and i were due for a raise, they made more than i did. I know employees shouldn't talk about how much they make, but I was angry. The first raise I ever got was .5% of my salary. I think it was about 2 cents or something. I feel like that is wrong, because nobody deserves a 2 cent raise when they work for a company for over a year.

Connections Post 2

I connected to chapter 1 very well because I had taken an economics class at a community college during high school. The class and this chapter related in a lot of aspects. Economics taught me a lot of the basics of business and related things, which is what chapter one was about.

Connections Post 1

Chapters 9-10 were about motivating employees. I can relate to this because I worked in retail outlet stores at a mall for about 2 years. I never reallt felt motivated because I felt like I was the one doing all of the tough work. Every day I had to work I didn't want to go. Another problem I had was that they would always schedule me to work the day after they knew I was going to party. For instance, after prom and after New Years. Motivation is a key aspect in business.

Reflections Post Numero 4

In the last class, we learned about accounting. We learned what is is used for, who uses it, and why it is important in everyday business. During the lecture, we were taught the equations for assets and many other things. We had a worksheet to use to help us understand the equations and to prepare us for the final exam.

Connections post 3

Current assets are assets that will be used up in less then year. These kinds of assets range from cash to stocks to accounts. Then we also learned about fixed assets. Fixed assets will be used or held for a period longer then a year. Looking at fixed and current assets and i was looking at my job. Recently i found out that the heb i now work at will be getting scanning guns for each register. I had scanning guns at the old HEB i worked at and they were quite useful. Scan guns would be classified as a fixed asset since it will be used for longer then a year. To me this is a great investment for this HEB.

Reflections Post 4

During our shortened lecture of accounting we learned the basic equation for accounting which is Assets=Liabilities+equity. Then we also learned several other equations of accounting. Also we had a practice worksheet our class worked on during the lecture to practice the math based stuff over accounting. Then we also learned how accounting is important to managers, investers, suppliers and the government. All in all this class was quite interesting and i know accounting will come in to my life later on.

Connections Post 4

I connected to this last chapter over Accounting because this is what my major is. I have done accounting work for the past 8 years and lost my job to someone who had a degree. I really connected with this Chapter because there is so much more to Accounting than I ever thought. I am looking forward to learning more and hope that I will excel in accounting once I finish my degree program.

Reflections

I found the Accounting extremely interesting. This is what I am getting my degree in and I have done accounting work for the past 8 years. You would think that I would have the terminology and formulas down but no. I love accounting and working with numbers and found this chapter very interesting. I have really enjoyed this class and know that I will use all the information we learned throughout my life.

This Class

I have learned a great deal of information in this class that I will take with me beyond my college years. I love business, and this class confirmed/strengthened that passion. Accounting was a great deal of help, because we applied the formulas to real life situations on a worksheet. Chapter 9-10, atrracting and motivating employees was a great chapter to apply to my job, especially since I am currently training in interviewing possible employees. Creating organizations was more of an informative chapter for me, because I really didn't know much about it until we went through the powerpoint. The management process and HR were awesome chapters that were so useful to learn about. I feel like we learn so much in college, but most of it we won't take past college with us. I know that these chapters will stick with me.

Management

Chapter 6 was an interesting chapter for me. I work in management, so I was able to see the bigger picture more clearly. Chapter 6 also made me consider, if I did work in management beyond college, which layer I would want to be in/ why. I really liked in class when we talked about how the higher up you are, the least amount of technical skills you have. I remember when I first started working my job, a DM came into the store, and barely knew how to use a register. I remember it sort of bothered me, because I took alot of orders from her on how to suggestive sell, ect. This chapter made me realize though that my DM has a wider span of stores to look over, and operating a register is a small detail in her lists of responsibilities.

Human Resources in the Work Place

Chapter 9 was my favorite chapter to learn about in this class, and inspired me to look into a future career in human resources. I feel like where I work, they make us believe what they want us to believe, rather than teach us by the rule book (if that makes sense). I was told if I told someone how much I make, I could be written up or fired. I have been told mutiple things along these lines, and learning about HR polices helped me realize that the people I work under don't call as many shots as they make it sound like.

Work, Work, Work!

In Chapter 17, we learned several formulas that I have been able to apply to my job. If I close, I have to send my district manager an e-mail, that explains our sales for the day in depth. My DM is very picky about what numbers she wants, so I have to be careful. I calculate net sales and send her that #, plus our comp. percent for the day. She gets VERY angry if you send her gross sales, because gross sales includes sales tax, and gift card purchases, which aren't money that we technically made that day. Formulas for net sales, gross sales, and return on sales from Chapter 17 can all be applied to my job.

Reflections Post Ch. 17

During this brief, but important lecture the class discussed some of the basic principles of accounting.

-Always note that equation of acct. is Assets=Liabilities+Stock Holder's Equity

Accounting is important to help determine the health of a company and organizations. It allows the following to perform their task:

Managers: to plan and control

Investors: to evaluate health of business

Suppliers: to evaluate credit risk

Government: to confirm tax liability and moderate business

There are other equations to interpret certain useful data of a firm such as:

Return on Sales: Net Income / Net Sales, to figure money made per item sold

Working Capital: Current Assets - Current Liabilities, how much cash firm is using

Debt to Equity: Total Liabilities / Equity, to figure how much of your worth is from debt

Connections Post III

Looking back on how our country was developed and comparing it to the new stage of production and technology there are obviously drastic changes. To be an entrepreneur or a businessman didn't demand as much as it does today. Being in this business class helped me recognize how diverse and technical the world of business is today. With complications like human resource management, distribution, and the whole marketing mix business today can seem intimidating and difficult to manage. The lectures and our discussions in class have given me perspective on all basic business subjects. With what I have learned I have already generated ideas, and put them to use. This class has made me realize what I am capable of.

Connections Post 3

This post is about productivity within my company recently we had only part time workers and only one delivery driver and one person in ther wearhouse to pull orders going out and recieve all incoming orders. Well this worked for awhile but then we started getting backed up in reciving and we had to hire another full time worker for either delivering and wearhose help. Since we have made this change we havent been backed up at all and our wearhouse looks better now than it ever has. It just shows that with two people running a big wearhouse and being productive throughout the day can keep up with everything and we didnt need the 2 extra people the manager thought we would need.

Conections Post 2

The company I work for has a nice breakroom setup where we have a big screen TV and a PS3 when we go on break we play madden and we also ahve a basketball goal where we will play pick up games. This is kinda like our company culture we have fun things to do when we go on break to were it isn't just work all day and it keeps us as workers happy and I think more productive.

Connetions Post 1

Recently my company i work for did our yearly inventory where we had to specificly count out each item in our wearhouse and see how our numbers matched to what our system showed we have in stock. This connects to class because it shows how well our company did in sales for the year and how much our net worth/loss was.

Refletions Post 4

In class we have went over the accounting portion of a business and learning some of the accounting equations for thins like assets and owners equity. We have also been preparing for our group project and spending some class time to get everything ready for presentations.

connections post

In class we have previously talked about fairness in the work place and one issue or law is the equal pay act. Even though the equal pay act was put into place so ppl who are (females/males, possibly color) can not be treated unfairly with different pay for the same job. Companies find many ways to get around this act and i think it does not do much, but i can not blame the government for this because ppl do live in different situations where the same job say in a different state should be payed differently. I read in a newspaper article the other day of someone suing because she had the same job as a male working but they worked 5 miles away from each other and the male had a higher wage. Like i said this is unfair but it is very hard to stop companies from doing this.

Reflection 4

In class we have only covered one chapter from the last test. I missed class during this lecture but this is what i got from the book. Accounting in a business is extremely important. The accounting aspect of a business can be used to determine how mistakes were made in the past and how things will look in the future. It will telll you if something makes financial sense. Audits in a company have to meet standards of the generally accepted accounting principles or GAAPS. Sarbanes Oxley Act was put into place to make sure accounting was done right. The accounting process involves 5 steps 1)documents analyzed, 2)transactions recorded, 3) appropriate ledger accounts, 4) accounting equation in balance, 5) finacial statements prepared for trail balance. Accounting is a major role in the success of a company and the success of its possible stock buyers. Accounting can be used to make judgements on business in the future.

Reflections Post 4

Sense the last test we have covered chapter 17 dealing with accounting. We discussed audits which are financial statements and accounting practices, GAAP which stands for generally accepted accounting principles, and Sabanes-Oxley which are accounting firms restricted in services they can provide to companies they audit they also protect whistleblowers. We also looked at the summary of what a company owes owns and their overall net worth, which fall under assets, liabilities, and equity. There are three types of assets; current assets which are used in one year, fixed assets which are held or used for a period longer than a year, and intangible assets which are assets that don't physically exist but have value. There are two types of depreciation, which is apportioning the cost of a fixed asset over its useful life. The two types are straight-line depreciation and salvage value. The two different types of liabilities are current and long-term, both are debts that need to be returned. Retained earnings fall under equity, the company's net worth. The cost of goods sold falls under revenue, which is the amount earned for the goods and services. Most of the above having equations to figure financial transactions, losses, gains, worth, debt, etc. The final section covered was financial ratios, including three; return on sales, working capital, and debt-to-equity ratio.

Connections 3

In class today we looked at accounting and the different ways to collect, analyze, and report financial information. A fixed asset are assets that will be held or used for a period longer than one year. At my job this would be the land the property is on, equipment that the employees are using; such as ovens, microwaves, and other equipment used to cook and keep a restaurant working, another fixed asset would be the store itself. At the place I am currently working the sales revenue is high resulting in a good net income to keep the business going, pay their employees, and make a profit.

Connections Post 2

I have been able to relate to some of the labor laws, most importantly being the Eual Pay Act of 1963. I am a woman who works full time and has quite a bit of banking experience and I had a coworker who was a male with not much experience to speak of. He transferred to another branch within the same company with the same title, but was given a $1.50 raise. This is very interesting to me. Given that different areas of the country hive a higher cost of living while other areas have a lower cost, the work should match the cost of living. Though I feel that companies can always find a way around the labor laws, that is if they would want to. To keep this male employee happy, they transferred him so he could get his pay raise. In chapter 9 we learned about what is leagal and what is illegal when it comes to the work place, this incident seems to be entirely leagal.

Scribe post: 11/29

Last class, we went over our Test, and worked on out group projects.  Next class we will be covering out last chapter. 

The next scribe will be Dee.

Connections Post 3

I was reviewing for our last test and connected to the Fair Labor Standards Act which established minimum wage and overtime pay. I used to work for a company and worked for a salary instead of an hourly wage. I was told when I accepted the salary wage that I would be required to work a minimum of 60 hours a week. I did this for a period of time until I realized that because I was not considered an exempt employee (which basically means that I was not a member of management, and did not make any decisions for the company directly) that I should have been being paid overtime for the extra 20 hours a week I was "required" to work. When I approached my supervisor with this information I was told that I would either work the hours or they would dock my pay. So when we discussed the Fair Labor Standards Act it reminded me of this situation I found myself in. I ended up leaving this employer and was eventually compensated for the overtime pay I was entitled to but I don't believe employers should automatically assume that their employees do not know the law and/or will not figure it out not fight for what is legally theirs.

Connection Post 1

In the very beggining of the semester we learned about different kinds of mergers. I found this chapter interesting because I work at Wells Fargo and we recently went through a merger with Wachovia. I could relate to this topic in that we are both banks, we merged, and all Wachovias will now turn into Wells Fargo's. I liked that I got to have an "insider" look into the whole merger process, and the exact mechanics of what really happens and how the companies are changed.

Happy Thanksgiving... next scribe...

Reminder: We will not be meeting next week.  Everyone should be working on their group projects.  Group projects are due December 6th (one week after we return from Thanksgiving break)!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

The next scribe will be AdamBlinn!

Connections Post II

In one of our lectures we looked at products and saw how some of the manufacturers did. I'd like to look back at the video we saw in class of the little girl and her idea of nifty things for a locker. A simple idea like that came out to gross nearly 20 million dollars. I was blown away after watching the video. I took it upon myself to figure out what you have to go through in order to patent and manufacture your own idea. First the inventor or idealist needs to see if the idea isn't already out on the market. Then you need to have a firm conduct a patent search. The firm lets the inventor know about all the different products that can be related to the product having the search. After that it goes to marketing mix and who you can get to rep your product. This process lead me to an idea of my own and I have taken the following steps in order to bring my idea to life.

Connections Post 2

Last week we discussed the Maternity/Paternity Leave during article discussion. I can relate to this because I recently regained custody of my two daughters and can understand why parents would need this time to bond, adjust to life with a child, ect. My ex-husband has only had custody of my daughters for four years but it has been extremely difficult for me to adjust to having them home permanently. On top of continuing my own education and being a full time college student I have also had to incorporate both of thier schedules into mine. You would think as a parent that you never get used to not having your children around every day but believe me it is ALOT more difficult when you have been without them.

Connections Post 1

Recently in class we discussed the equity theory. I can relate to this because I used to work for a company who hired a new person which I had to train basically to do my job, once I trained him he was promoted to manage the accounting department and I was moved to the service department. However, he was never responsible for all the tasks I was doing and continued to do even after being moved to a different department. I later found out that he was being paid twice as much as I was but not responsible for a quarter of the work. This made me very angry as I had been with this company for three years and in a matter of six months this guy was hired, promoted and responsible for less. I don't know about any of you but this made me even angrier and when I approched the owner with a request for a raise and was denied I quit working as hard because I didn't feel like I was appreciated for all the things I did do. I was later laid off due to a reduction in workforce but was already looking for another position due to the fact that I did not feel like I was being treated fairly.

Reflections post 3

The past couple of chapters has been really easy to relate to my work life. It showed the different levels of management and how much responsibility they have at each level. We also went over how companies are organized and how most are very different from each other. We went over what some consequences of what would happen if they broke the federal laws. this relates to my work in how i dont give as much credit to my boss when he has more responsibilities than i expected. this class helps me put things in perspective and use it to my advantage at work.

Reflections

In class these past few weeks we have been studying management and HR. It is really an eye opener on what exactly an HR worker does. We all know they deal with hiring and firing and things like that, but the extra work and how they always have to deal with little things every day is pretty interesting. By far the most interesting so far to me is the employment laws. Knowing what can be done and what cannot be done is always strewed so to know the simple facts about it is pretty cool.

Reflections 3

Since our last reflections post we have been going over chapters that have been dealing with the management process. There are many parts in the process but the part that has interested me the most is about the human relations part of it all. I enjoy this because it makes me realize what really goes into every little part of a business. I think the HR catches my attention though for the fact that I have always been real big into the process of meeting new people and getting to know them the best that I can. I believe that by learning more about business and everything that goes into it, I will be able to effectively use my social skills to evaluate the people I will be coming into contact with over my job career. I know that by doing this I will be able to effectivley position the people around me to be productive.

Reflection post 3

The past couple of weeks in class we have been discussing the management process and special skills it takes to be a manager because of all the different situations a manager might need to handle. At different points in their careers depending on what level of managing someone is doing it takes many different skills to be successful in your work place when having to deal with adversity. We have also been discussing company culture and companies being active with their employees. When i saw the Zapoos and Google video it really blew me away that companies actually did stuff like that. After watching the videos and seeing what it was all about it actually made a lot of sense to let your employees have a workplace where they can be creative and relax. Obviously this will not work for all types of companies but when you are in an industry that needs creativeness to stay alive you want your employees to be relaxed and working at the best of their ability.

Scribe Post Article Discussion Day

Article Discussion day was today. We split into small groups and picked out an interesting article to discuss with the rest of the class. There were so many great articles to choose from. Our group picked an article to share based on google benefits. It went into further detail from our class lecture where we discussed motivation and employee benefits. We also had to research a new article based on Employment Law and share with the class as well. The article picked to receive five extra bonus points was the facebook article. The facebook article was about a woman who is suing a company for being terminated for a negative post on her facebook page she made about her boss. We discussed how if you are going to make comments on your internet site (no matter if settings are at private or on public) it will always be where someone will see it or find out about it. I personally am interested to see how this lawsuit will be handled and if the woman will win in the aspect of her termination. I would like to see whether she is found illegally terminted or legally terminated. I think our class had many different opinions on the article and that everyone's opinion made a good point and brought in a different aspect to what was going on with the woman who is suing the company for illegal termination based on her facebook comment. Today's article discussion was in my opinion the best discussion and most interesting we have had in class.

Reflections Post 3

In class we have been talking about the different levels of management in companies and what each level is responsible for. We have also seen how different companies motivate their employees to try and keep their creativity up. I have enjoyed watching how Google and Zappos do this for their employees by having a fun laid back work environment. I believe that that kind of culture will make employees happier and more productive and personally think it is a great idea.

Reflections post 3

Lately in class we have been discussing the different responsibilities of management and the different levels of management.  We also discussed employee motivational and how it affects productivity.  I really enjoyed learning about the unusual company culture of Google, and Zappos.  If only all companies could support similar atmospheres...  The most important thing we have discussed, in my opinion, would probably be the various laws that have been created to protect workers. (OSHA, etc.)

R3FL3CT10N5 P05T NUMB3R 3

Recently in class we talked about management, which includes delegating tasks, creating a plan of action, as well as discussing the different levels of management. We have also discussed how the motivation of employees is a large part of what makes someone continue to want to work. Google has the best environment for its employees to work in, by far. It keeps them busy but allows them to have fun, which motivates them to work because they want to keep their jobs. I think Google rules, and I'm glad they're taking over the world one day at a time.

Refelctions post 3

In class we have recently been talking about the management process, what skills a manager needs, how to create an organization and the structure of the organizations, and how to attract and motivates employees. I find the motivating the employees the most interesting since at work i slack and don't put as much towards the job as i could. I look around and see others slacking and I dont see the point of giving 100% effort.

Connection Post 2

In class we recently discussed the Family and Medical Leave Act. This act states if your company has over 50 employees, they must give the employee up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave if they give birth or the employee or family gets seriously ill. Then they can not be demoted when they return, they must get the exact same position. This act reminded me when my manager at work took 12 weeks off for when she gave birth to her third kid. Then once she returned, she was still a manager of ours. Now i understand where and why my job allowed her to do this.

Reflections Post

I found Hawthorne's Studies to be very interesting and true.
I think people want to believe they are making a difference in their company, or at least being model employees. In Hawthorne's theory both the control group and the group being studied productivity went up because they were aware they were being 'evaluated'. Like Ms. Adam's said about the boss coming around the corner and you hustling your tail off to show you're hard at work is true, whereas maybe two minutes before that you were moving at a slower pace.

I really do think that most workers like to be evaluated and need for someone to offer some sort of constructive criticism.

I always think evaluation is important for a company to do as often as feasibly possible. I think it gives employees a sense of worth as well as helping to give them goals to strive for.

Connections Post 2

The equity theory of motivation is based on the premise that people are motivated to obtain and preserve equitable treatment for themselves. Equity is the distribution of rewards in direct proportion to the contribution of each employee to the business. If everyone doesn't recieve the same rewards they are motivated to act in ways to change the circumstances. I can relate to this because at my current job I am putting more input with my time and effort than my output is showing me with my pay check. I work at McAlister's Deli and I relatively do the same job as a waiter would do, however it is set up differently. I have been recieving minimum wage for about eight months now and our tips go to "charity." I have recently found out that the managers use our hard earned tips for things such as donuts in the mornings and also that a couple newly hired employees are receiving more pay than I am. This has caused me to not work as hard and I have been currently looking for a new job.

Reflections Post 3

The past few weeks in class we have discussed the management process, creating organizations, attracting and retaining employees, and motivating and satisfying the needs of the employees. There are many different functions that go in to management along wit goals and planning. I have learned that the culture of the organization can reflect widely on the productivity and the general satisfactory of the employees. We also covered in class the laws that are in place to be fair with all employees and to ensure their safety and health in the work environment; along with the acts to prevent discrimination in the work place. And lastly we covered theories that explain the motivation to do the job itself and the effects of productivity.

Scribe

The next scribe is Will.

Reflections post 3

In class recently we have been talking about the management aspects of business as well as the human resources and some of the laws that affect business. This is important to me because one day i hope to own my own business. The laws we discussed in class today about discrimination and equal opportunity in the workplace directly affects every business. I thought it was interesting how some of the laws are interpretted. We also discussed motivation which is key to management success in business. We talked about how intrisic motivation is just as effective if not more so than extrinsic. This means that money and benefits are not the only thing needed to motivate your employees. We talked about maslows heirarchy of needs which shows basics needs of human life which help to explain why people are motivated by certain things.

Scribe

Today in class we discussed chapters 9 and 10.
Chapter 9 included attracting and retaining employees
Human resource management- all the activities involved with acquiring, maintaining, and developing an organizations human resources. Which include staffing, compensation, and employee and labor regulations.
The legal environment of HRM has 8 laws
1. Fair Labor Standards Act- established minimum wage
Equal Pay Act- men and women doing the same job get paid the same
Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII)- 15 or more employees, all educational institutions, and all government agencies or contracts.
Age Discrimination Act- Prohibits discrimination against people of age 40 and over
Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA)- ensures employees safety and health while working.
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)- Prohibits discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities
Civil Rights Act of 1991- provides appropriate remedies intentional discriminatory practices (disparate treatment) or reckless indifference t the law.
Family and Medical Act - 12 weeks of unpaid leave and employees must be given position after leave is over.
Chapter 10 Motivating Employees
Motivation is a individual internal process that energizes, directs, and sustains behavior.
Intrinsic Motivation- produces the behavior because of the pleasant experience of the behavior itself
Extrinsic Motivation- produces the behavior because of the consequences associated with it.
We also discussed theories
Maslow's Theory- people's needs are arranged in a hierarchy
Hawthorne Studies- light does not affect productivity however a sense of involvement in the work increases motivation.
Reinforcement Theory- Rewards and punishments that follow a behavior will be use to shape the behavior in the future. Positive and negative reinforcement
Expectancy theory- A person is motivated if they believe the are able to complete the task, if they are going to be rewarded, and by the value of the reward.
Equity Theory- when people find themselves in situations of inequality they are motivated to act in ways to change their circumstances.

Reflections

Recently in class we have been discussing skills in managment. Being a homeowner I realized that I had a span of managment of my own that I deal with. I have had to use skill in interpersonal and conceptual managment. I've had to settle a dispute with my neighbors in regards to my fence. I have had to deal with multiple neighbors in the process as well as look for the best price for the job and hiring multiple crews. Managment is something obivously important. If there is a lack of control in the working envrionment the idea of efficiency goes out the window, and productivity will decline.

Missing Scribe

The next scribe for Monday, November 8th will be Marie!

connections post 1

Monday in class we talked about job specialization. Until that class i only thought i was dealing with one person technically, but i didnt take in account about the few others back there making my food. Well yesterday i went to Chipotle and started looking at things in this perspective. I then relized i had interaction with three people. The first one warms the tortilla and works with meat, the next person puts in the rice and etc, and the third person takes the money and gives out drinks.

Connections Post 1

A couple weekends ago I had to work cattle and it reminded me of our lecture discussing distribution. I thought the cattle industry had little to do with channels of distribution then I gave it some thought. I figured that I myself was a producer. My product goes from the field to the slaughter house which would be similar for a product going to a wholesaler. From there my product may reach the consumer or the meat markets/supermarkets, which amounts to the retailing process. I realize now I've been in business for awhile now.

Connection Post

Yesterday in class, the lecture was regarding managers, leadership, power, and all the different types of functions a manager must posess.

I definatley believe that managers must have the five characteristic skills in order to be considered a good manager. They are listed as Interpersonal skills, conceptual, and technical.

I have had an experience with a manager who had the skills required to be manager...all but one. She had no people skills. She was great at everything else, and in fact was excellent with everything else, just not with communicating to clients. I also think she may have been great in another field involving research in law, but because her job was very similar to mine I know that 80 percent of what we do as a paralegal is consult clients, console clients, and prepare them for the worst and best case scenerios. If you can't properly handle this part of your job it is chaotic. It is as Ms. Adams says "constantly putting out fires". Partly because whatever case you are handling can be the only (or main) important thing going on in that person's life at that exact moment. So you have to adapt your ability to cater to each client differently. One person may be ok with something being done tomorrow, and the next may want it done that instant. You just can't expect the client to cater to you, it's just not done that way, and it's inappropriate.

From all that I have seen, I think it also takes a person who is swift on their feet in reacting to things and who is prepared for the worst but hopes for the best to be a manager.

Ultimately even though this manager I speak of was the most organized, smartest, over achiever in her work, she just couldn't get the people skills together to help put out the fires she would sometimes start. I definately think you need all qualities and appropriate skills in which ever field you may be in. May that be top manager, middle manager, supervisor, or employee, you must have the right skills to be in that line of work.

Connections

We had a test today and the past couple weeks we have gone over marketing, production, branding, etc. One of the marketing measurements is by sales forecasting, which is an estimate of the amount of a product that an organization expects to sell during a certain period of time based on a specified level of marketing effort. I currently work at McAlister's Deli and they are known for there sweet tea, it comes in only one size and it's a large Togo glass. They underestimated their inventory levels of how many cups were going to be sold and used so we ran out for a couple days and had to use smaller cups. Managers rely on these marketing measurements when purchasing things such as McAlister's sweet tea cups or any other type of raw material, schedule production, secure financial resources, equipment purchases, and many other things needed for their business to function properly and smoothly.

Scribe Post

Last time in class we did a jeopardy game for review for our 2nd test. It was over Product, Price Promotion and Distribution. Then we also had a category for last tests as well. Then today in class we will be taking our 2nd exam, good luck. Then the next scribe will be Dee.

Reflections Post 2

The last few weeks we have been covering chapters 12-15.  It really made me realize that there is so much more that goes into things that most of us would normally not think about, such as marketing.  From the marketing mix to product differentiation and branding.  We have also covered distribution, pricing and promotion.  Target markets, etc.

Scribe 10/18/10

On 10/18/10 in class we had our 2nd article presentations. We also had to describe ads in magazines given to us by Ms. Adams. Basically...that's it. Oh yeah! The next scribe is ROBERT.

Reflections 2

Since the last exam we have had we have been going over chapters 12-15. The past few weeks have been filled with a ton of new information and recently we talked about the way different companies choose to get customers interested in their products. I found this very interesting because I never realized how much thought goes into a product when a company is putting it on the market. One thing that has been a little confusing though, is the fact that we have also been learning about the different pricing strategies companies will use. I understand the concept that companies contemplate and decide which strategy will work best for the product but it is just a little frustrating sorting through all the different types of strategies that are out there.

Reflections Post 2

Recently in class we have discussed the concepts of promotion, product and price, marketing, and distribution. All of these concepts are key in making a business/product sucessful. in my opinion marketing is what really puts a product out there, consumers would not know about a service or product if it did not market. What I have found most intersting in the past few weeks is that slogans and characters really can make a brand into something huge. For example the energizer bunny is known all accross the country, its kind of amazing we can hear one jingle or see one specific character that may or may not relate to a brand but instantly know what product or brand it is.

Reflections Post 2

In class lately we have been learning about how companies market new product they are coming out with. The thing that caught my interest the most was how some companies like coke and Pepsi will advertise against each other in the same commercial or advertisement to persuade you that one is better than the other. Then there is the cycle that each company will go through when they want to introduce a new product that will effect how well it sells. I never realized how much time they actually put in to decide on the price of something new.

Reflections post Ch. 12-15

The past few weeks have gotten very interesting in Business 1301. The main ideas in the past couple chapters have covered a lot about the aspects of marketing and the basics of getting your business out to the public. I thought the one aspect of the marketing world that was the most unknown to me was the different pricing strategies. I had no idea so much went into determinging the placing and pricing of a product.

Reflections Post 2

Right now in class we are learning about everything having to do with production with a new product. The first thing is marketing. You have to generate awareness of your product to gain a customer base. Marketing strategies inform customers as well as remind them about the product. The next step is to come up with the price for the product. Different companies use different strategies here. They also have to decide what type pf product they will produce. The different types of distribution is also something that companies have to decide over. Once the product is out, the company has to keep the customers aware of the product's availability. that is where promotion comes in

Right now in business we are learning about many different things. We're learning about how to market a product, the different types of marketing, and why people are interested in those products. We are also learning about the different types of categories of a product. Some products are for everyone, and some are only for one type of person. We have also discussed what makes a utility, including time, place and form. Marketing alone is what drives people to buy one product over another, so it is a very important aspect of business to pay attention to.

Refelctions post 2

Now in class we are learning about many different aspects. The most important thing we have learned so far, in my opinion, is how to build relations with customers. Most customers do remain loyal to a certain business if you treat them right. Then we learned about of management and how to market pictures. With marketing products, we learned there life cycle and how the grow and mature. Then in the last chapter, we discussed the five promotion mixes.

Reflections Post 2

The topics we have been covering in class are getting more involved in the overall aspects of business and not just the general basics. We have covered marketing and developement of products, introducing products to build them up and their product life cycle. We have also gone over the different types of products and how they are sold. We have discussed how everything from the environment, personal experience and psychological factors can influence purchase as well as buying power and convenience. We discussed how a product must be available when you need it in the form that you need it, be affordable and in a convenient location. Differnet types of convenient products are sold almost everywhere and are easily interchangable where as other types of products are less likely to be substituted. Marketing in general seems to be very important because it shows that everything influences how likely a product is to be succesful.

Reflections Post Ch. 12-15

In class we have been talking about marketing, building customer relationships and the importance of management and the customers relationships. We also covered utility, the affects of marketing, types of products, the product cycle; which goes through the stages of introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. In chapter 14 we covered wholesaling, the different types of retailers, and we also identified the various channels of distribution that are used for customer and industrial products. And in the last chapter covered we discussed promotion and the five promotion mixes; which include advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, and public relations.

Ch. 15 Promotion

In class we discussed what Promotion is and how it is effective for the following:

• Brands- help remind you what products exist
• Slogans- "melts in your mouth not in your hands"
• Characters- makes you think of the product, even if it does not relate. Tony the Tiger

Promotion mix

• Advertising- mass media
• Personal Selling- one on one, most expensive, most adaptive, changes for every customer
• Sales Promotion- direct value to customer, offers a direct value to cost. Attracts new customers, encourages trial product, boost sales of current customers
• Public Relations- maintains favorable relationship with the public

Advertising- paid message communicated to audience

3 types of Advertising

1. primary- buy any product like mine!
2. selective- buy only my product
3. institutional- buy from our company

Next Scribe is Steven!!

Connections Post II

In class today we talked about personal selling as a type of advertisement. The description of personal selling is a person who is selling a product one on one to another person. The product could be described one way to one person and another way to fit another person's needs. It is the most effective way to sell your product(s). The very first thing that popped into my mind was The Buckle. They use this method of one on one selling to sell their clothing, jeans, shoes, jewelry, purses, etc. I believe it can be a great approach if done correctly. Of course you always have the Buckle sales person who is a teeny tiny bit over bearing. However, they always greet you happily when you walk in the store, which I think is important for The Buckle because it's what they are known for. You definately get service there you are either not use to or appreciate like never before. They always ask you what you would like in your jeans, and for the most part they do always convince you to buy the extra expensive pair of jeans because it's exactly what you 'need'. The older I've gotten the wiser I have gotten to their tricks, but I couldn't help but connect the dots here. One on one selling will probably always remind me of "Hi, welcome to The Buckle."

Reflections Post II (Chapters 12, 13, 14,15)

We are learning how to build customer relationships through effective marketing in class. The most interesting part to me that we have covered up to this point was the situational, psychological, social, and buying power factors that come into play regarding your buying behavior. I think society plays a bigger role on our mindsets than we actually believe it does. I find this significant because it makes you evaluate how much control you actually have and how much control you really don't have. I mean you are restricted to a certain degree when it comes to your disposable income, however the perception you carry of a brand really sticks with you.

Reflections Post Ch. 12-15

I think this section of the course, dealing with marketing, is fairly important. The first month of class went over more of the basics of business, but now I'm starting to learn how to conduct business and get my product to consumers.

Marketing is about getting your good or service to the public. The marketing mix gives steps and ways of accomplishing that goal. It consists of the: product, price, promotion, and distribution.

Product deals with: classification, brand name, trademark, its own life cycle, line and mix, and packaging

Price: the main goal is to maximize profit, but there are different strategies to go about doing so

Promoting is about getting the public to know about your products. Dealing with advertisement, public relations, personal selling, and sales promotion

I found distribution interesting because I never knew to much about retailing. Distribution is concerned with getting goods or services to the people that want or need them. Depending on the product a sort of marketing coverage is needed, wether it be intensive, selective, or exclusive. Today there are many types or retailers to choose from. Having a retailer makes things much easier than buying from original source.

Scribe Post for Monday, Oct. 11

Today in class we finished discussing pricing strategies.  We covered the following 5 categories for pricing strategies:

• New Product - which is used in the introductory phase of the product life cycle
• Differential - which is charging a different price for the same product to different buyers
• Product Line - which is when other products in the same product line (or mix) determine the price
• Promotional - which is when price is used as a form of promotion

Then we began discussing Chapter 14 on Distribution.  Distribution is how a producer gets the product to the consumer.  This fills the TIME and PLACE utility.

There are 3 types of market coverage:

• Intensive - used for convenience products, all possible outlets chosen
• Selective - used for shopping products, multiple outlets chosen
• Exclusive - used for specialty products, only one outlet

Then we discussed channels of distribution:

• Producer to consumer
• Producer to retailer to consumer
• Producer to wholesaler to retailer to consumer

The retailers and wholesalers help to improve efficiency in the distribution system and because they can buy in bulk, actually drive the price of the product down for the consumer.

Finally we ended with a discussion about different types of retailers.

In next class we will discuss Chapter 15 on Promotion.  Also, the bonus assignments given are due by next Monday.  (They are listed in the announcements in eCampus.)

The next scribe will be COURTNEY!!

just playing around

just wanted to see how this thing works....

Scribe Post

Today in class we discussed products and their packaging. We discussed the product classification which is determined by the purchase of the actual product. Convenience products are generally universal and easily substituted. Shopping products are more along the lines of clothing and other products that are somewhat interchangable but more time is spent considering the purchase and Specialty products are high price and a long time is spent in the purchase and research process along with brand loyalty taken into consideration.

We also discussed the product life cycle and how the price, production cost, and amount of sales change throughout the introductory phase, growth phase, maturity phase, and the decline phase of a products life. We discussed branding and product line and mix as well as product modifications and packaging.

the next scribe will be courtney

SCRIBE POST 10/4

Today in class we discussed marketing. We went over how to create utility. The four types of utility are form, place, time, and possesion. Buying behavior was also discussed and the factors of that behavior which are, situational, psychological, social, and buying power. We also learned about marketing mix which is the most important part of getting people to buy your product. Product, price, promotion, and distribution make up the marketing mix. The last thing we covered was the approaches to marketing; undifferentiated, concentrated, and differentiated.

The next scribe will be Justin.

did anyone pick up a business book after the last class?? If so please let me know

The next Scribe...

The Next Scribe will be Aaron.

Review for Test 1

Today we played played jeopardy in class to help review us for what will be on our upcoming test this Wednesday. The questions went from fairly easy to very hard. As the scribe I also got to be the score keeper and I will say it was a very competitive jeopardy session. Some of the questions asked were what does Laissez-Fair mean? What is a hostile take over? What is a whistleblower? The team who had the most points at the end of the game was the winner. It was pretty close esspecially at the end, because you weren't sure which team would wager it all or just a little. But when it came down to it Group 3 won in the Final Jeopardy round. I think it was a really fun way to study for our test this Wednesday.

Reflection Post

So far I have thoroughly enjoyed intro to business. We have gone over many different types of businesses and business plans so far. I have enjoyed learning about entrepreneurship and small business practice the most. Learning how a small business works and the ins and outs of it interest me as I hope to use these one day.

Reflections Ch 1-5

So far in Business 1301, I find the stories of innovative entrepreneurs quite interesting.  It is pretty inspiring to hear stories of people turning their passions and ideas into successful businesses.  I feel that I have built a solid understanding to the basics of the business world that will hopefully pay off for me later in life. 

Scribe Post

Today in class we divided into groups and discussed the articles of each person in the group. We were asked to choose one article within our group for Article Discussion. We then discussed those articles as a class with each group summarizing thier chosen article and discussed how that article related to the class and what everyones thoughts were on each article. We discussed the articles as a class and how they related to what we had learned thus far.
**Remeber that we will have a test next week and will review on Monday for Wednesdays test.

The next scribe will be ALEXA.

Reflections

So far this class has been a major refresher course for me. As it has been 20 years since I was in a class room I can definitely say that I truly needed this course. The most interesting thing to me so far has been the different types of businesses but it also is confusing to me to keep them straight. I think the most interesting thing to me has been learning about Entrepreneur's and hearing about someone who started from scratch and became a millionaire. The hardest part for me is just the studying since it has been a long time since I have had to study. I am excited about the coming weeks and what we will learn in them.

what i learn in class

i learn alot in class about small business, and to know where u going to get the money at when u open youre company, and what u going to sell and to know how to profit youre money back.. its good to know alot about business , so u can know what to do when u open youre on company ..

Reflections

So far in BUSI 1301, I've really enjoyed all that I've learned. There have been things we've talked about that I would have never even thought are related to business, like having a business plan or the different morals involved in having a business. There are so many different types of businesses that I never even knew of, which is surprising to me. All in all, I've really enjoyed learning about everything from small businesses to the advantages and disadvantages of being a corporation.

Reflection

As we enter the 4th week of school I think the most interesting thing we have learned is the different types of business and how one who go about starting one. This class as been very interesting so far and I like that we have such a long time to work on the big group project. I think the project is a great way for us to learn about all the aspects of a company and what it takes to run one.

Reflection Post #1

So far we have learned the basics about running a business, and the purpose of businesses. The most interesting thing we have learned thus far has to be the entrepeuner part. I like seeing ordinary people that have an idea that they strongly believe in, run with it, and make it into a huge profit for themselves. There is nothing too complicated about the things we have gone over. The only thing that could get confusing is the different ownships and who is in charge of what, but other then that it is all pretty straight forward.

Reflection

I've taken this class before in high school but did'nt understand anything but being here in your class makes class more fun and you learn a lot more. I've learned a lot about what the different tupes of businesses are and how things work. Looking forward to learning more.

Reflectionzzz, ya dig?

Wadup, this is Steven. I'm here to talk about what's gone on so far in Business. I, like a few others, missed the first week of class. Did it hurt me? No. I took Economics at ACC when I was in high school so I have the basics down, which is basically what we've learned about. I also took Entrepreneurship in high school so I know even more than Robert Pelkey. Something I did not know was how easily it actually is to start a business. I thought it would be much tougher. Day in and day out my roommate and I constantly think of ideas that will make us millionaires, and we have a few, we just don't know where to begin. I hope that someday I can be like that 13 year old girl who made bottlecap necklaces.

Reflections Post

Although joining this class late, i feel like your teaching helped me catch up and understand the basic knowledge of the different businesses. Obviously it seems ive learned a lot of the basic information from my high school economics class, but thats just the basics. Im very intrigued in the future things we will be learning to see if im really interested in becoming a business major. Hopefully the next few weeks will be as fun as the first

Reflections Post

Even though I did miss the fist week of class, I was able to catch up to pace pretty quickly. I feel that brushing up on American Bus. was a good refresher of past information Iv learned. Im not a bus major so I was concerned I wouldnt be able to keep up, but so far I have been able to keep on track. The most significant information I feel Iv learned so far that I didnt know was the ins and outs of sole proprietorships and partnerships. Iv learned that about the special types of bus ownership; s-corp, llc, non-for-profit corp, co-op, and joint ventures.

Reflections Post

The first couple weeks in Business class I have developed the understanding of how different types of businesses are run and set up. This class is very beneficial to know how businesses are organized and the effects it has on our everyday lives. I have learned that it is not so simple to open and run your own business and there are drawbacks, but in the long run there are also many benefits. There is a lot of responsibility and risk taking that comes with business ownership but if people are aware of these risks they could profit greatly.

Reflections Post Ch. 1-5

My experiences thus far in Business Principles has been a beneficial one. From types of business owners and investors, to certain areas of competition, I have already learned much more information than I started the class with. Im relieved that I was finally able to learn the correct definition of the word entreprenuer and what it means to be one. It is also very relevant that my past economy classes will have a large correlation with this business class. I can honestly say this is a class I am interested in and have no problem paying complete attention to the instructor.

Scribe post

In class today we went over chapter 5 in our. These are the topics that were mainly focused on in class.

Small Business: one of which is indepently owned and operated for profit and is not dominate in its field. They make up 99% of all business

Advantages: personal relationships with customers and employees, easily adapt to changes, simple record keeping, Independence

Disadvantages: Risk of failure, limited potential, limited ability to raise capital

Entrepreneurs

Are highly motivated Willing to work really Hard!! Take Big Risk

Franchise: License to operate an individually owned business as if it were part of a chain of outlets or stores.

Franchisor: person granting franchise

Franchisee: perpon purchasing the franchise

We talked in class about how purchasing a franchise is the easier to do than to create your own business and try to make it big. the reason for this is because the franchise already has a name for itself and you would have to do a lot more work to get you business out there.

The next scribe will be Michelle

Reflections Post for Chapters 1-5

So far in class, I have encountered more information about my career than I had planned on. Its interesting to see how this class benefits me so much and to see what we discuss is used in my daily life. We have covered the four types of businesses, how to earn profit and/or earn purpose for profit. We've looked into supply and demand while focusing in on the economis system. Some things I centered on was the information on a sole proprietorship and its advantages and disadvantages. This class keeps me looking forward to opening my own business. It puts everything into perspective about time management and money management and also what it takes to run your own business. In discussion we've compared the economic status with our mixed economy to the reality of what it takes to make a living and successfully run a business.

reflections post by dee

Connection Post I

I work for an attorney here in Bryan, and have seen him change his corporation three times now. In class we learned about the different corporations and how each company has different needs so therefore the business has different reasons for setting itself up certain ways. I have been interested to see why my boss would set up his partnership as a LImited Liability Company, and learned in class last Monday that one of the benefits is that there is limited liability on him. He recently added a partner to the firm the beginning of January and went fromb eing a sole proprietorship (I think that's correct) to a P.L.L.C. I learned that there are tax benefits to this as well. (Not being taxed twice) I'm glad we discussed this in class. Now seeign how he went from one stage to another and now to anther stage in his career, I see why he would have his business set up different ways to benefit his different needs.

Reflection Post for Chapters 1-5

In class we have been introduced to business in every aspect. I have esspecially enjoyed learning about small businesses. I also think I got alot out of the lecture where we learned the differences between corporations and how L.L.C.'s are taxed differently than other forms of corporations. I found peace in learning about the business cycle too. One day the economy is up and the next day the economy is down. I just really hope that we make it back up again soon. Even though for the most part, living in the Bryan/College Station area is comparable to living in a bubble from the rest of the world, I know that our community is feeling the effects of the 'recession' too. I can't wait until we well on our way through recovery and to the peak again. But like I said, learning that it is a business cycle is comforting in a way.

Reflections Post Ch. 1-5

Reflection over Chapters 1-5

Coming on to the 4th week of school, I'm glad to say I enjoy this business class. I see that what we learn is relevant when considering business as a part of my career. In our past lectures we discussed general aspects of business such as exchanges, the business cycle, ethcis, and different types of business. I think the most interesting part of class is the book work. In previous classes I found group work to be unporductive, but the way Beth sets up her class is effective.

The next Scribe will be

Tim

Scribe Post

When we first got to class we were asked to draw a number. Then we had ten minutes to find people for our group projects, and we also were asked to pick a publically traded company for our project. The number we drew was the order that we got to choose our companies.

After our project discussion we then went in to going over ch. 4. Here are the things we went over:

1)Sole proprietorship's (one owner).
Advantages: Ease of start up, pride of ownership, retain all profits.
Disadvantages: Unlimited liability, lack of continuity, lack of money.
2) Partnership (with two more owners) and its advantages and disadvantages (similar with sole)
Limited (the investor "silent" partner)
General ( the day-to-day manager)
3) Corporations and Stocks
Closed (stock owned by few but not sold to public)
Open (stock can be bought and sold by any individual)
4) Different kinds of stock
Common: Has voting rights
Preferred: No voting rights (most popular)
5) Special types of businesses
S-corporations,limited liability company, and non-for-profit.
6) Other business organizations along with merging companies.

New Scribe

new scribe will be Danielle

Ethics

Scribe Post: Ethics

9/8/2010

In class today we finished Ch.1 and began Ch.2. At The End of Ch.1 lecture we discussed different ways of exchanging goods. The topics are as follows:

Barter System: goods in exchange for other raw goods

Domestic System: goods produced within a home

Factory System: goods produced within a factory

Specialization: separate different tasks to different people

We also discussed sustainability, meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

In Ch.2 the class covered the principles of Ethics in business. We discussed how morality is important to business in different sectors of business, and how it has improved through out the years. The topics covered are as follows:

Protect the Consumer: businesses are now responsible of the safety, information, choice, complaints and concerns, and service of the consumer. The consumer has buying power which makes them important to industry. So rights of the consumer are necessary.

Protect the Employee: businesses are also responsible for the safety, fairness, dealing with discrimination, and working condition of their employees. We talked of two organizations that help with the protection of employees: the EEOC, equal employment opportunity commission, and OSHA occupational safety and health administration.

Protect the Environment: businesses are responsible for their impact on the environment. may be liable for clean air, noise control, water pollution, oil pollution, etc.

We also talked about big firms and how its necessary for them to be responsible for society. In the early 1900s the policy was more of "buyer beware," but since the great depression and many drastic changes to the economy, instead of the government trying to solve the issues of society businesses have started to play a bigger role in being efficient and being green. It's important for business to play a role in society (other than dealing with their clients/consumers) because large corporations have an effect on the GDP of our country. If a business can effect the economy and generate considerable income I believe they should have Social Responsibility.

Scribe 9/6/10

Monday, September 6th in class we took notes over chapter one. Here is an outline of my notes :)

t The Purpose of a Business is-

1. A business must satisfy a need

2.People have infinite amounts of needs and

3. Businesses can create needs that people don't even know exist.

Four Types of Resources: Financial, material, human, and information. We were shown different examples of these resources and categorized them as a class.

Manufacturing- Processing materials into goods for customers. EX. Intel, Dell

Service- Provide a service to customers. EX. HR Block, Google, Blue Baker

Marketing Intermediaries- Buy products from manufacturers and resell. EX. Best Buy, Target

Competition-supply,demand, equilibrium (market price)

Types of Competition:

Perfect-Market price

Monopolistic- Product differentiation

Oligopoly- Hard to enter market

Monopoly- Natural or legal

Factors of competition-Land and natural resources, labor, capital, and entrepreneurship.

Capitalism-The invisible hand(Adam Smith) and Laissez="let them do it."

Free Market Economy-There is no government in Adam Smith's free market economy.

Command economy- Socialism, Communism, and Mixed Economy.

Measuring Economic Performance- Productivity, GDP, inflation, deflation.

The Business Cycle: The peak, recession, trough, and recovery.

The next scriber will be:Ronpph

In class

Class is interesting

Together

Today in class we were separated into groups, so we could go on a scavenger hunt and each group came back with a card that had words on the back of it. When we connected them together they said " You are a community of learners capable of achieving anything you believe possible." What that tells me is that without each others help we couldn't have made that sentence.  So what this says to me is that we have to work together and help each other out and we well achieve anything we want.

The next scriber well be Ally M.

Welcome!

Hey there! You found our class blog - or as I like to call it, our interactive textbook!

This is the place where we will share and combine our knowledge throughout the course.  A large part of learning involves working with and discussing new ideas with other people -- THIS is the place to do just that.  Throughout the semester you will be responsible for a variety of posts to the blog.  You will also be able to comment on other students posts and interact with the information you learn in and out of class.

You might be wondering..... WHY? What is the point of the blog?  Why not just use our eCampus website? Or why even do create the blog at all?  

Well, I could give you a million reasons for this assignment, but I will limit it to 4:

1. The blog will help you think deeply about your learning.  As you are asked to post to the blog, you will be able to reflect on what you have learned.  Reflection creates deeper learning.  You will also be teaching others, and the greatest learning comes when you teach someone else a subject.
2. The blog will allow you to take responsibility for your own learning.  I am not in charge of the blog - YOU ARE!  It will be up to you (the entire class) to ensure it stays up to date and to know who is responsible for what, you will have to check the blog regularly.  (More about this in the Blog Organization & Responsibility post)
3. The blog provides a compilation of all the class notes for everyone.  If you miss class you don't have to worry about finding out what you missed - just check the blog.
4. Finally, the blog will be around FOREVER!  That's right - forever!  Unlike your actual textbook (which you will probably sell back at the end of the semester) or the eCampus website for the course (which will be disabled when the course is over), the blog will be here for you to reference for many years to come.  

Contribute to the conversation because this text is only as rich as each of us make it!

To begin, take some time to read the following introduction posts: (You may need to respond to these posts.)

• Blog Organization and Responsibility
• Digital Ethics

I can't wait to see how exciting our interactive textbook will be!!

Blog Organization & Responsibility

BLOG ORGANIZATION

There are 4 types of posts each student will create throughout the semester:

1. Scribe Posts:  These posts are a daily summary of what was discussed in class each day. After each class meeting the 'scribe' will write a brief summary of what was discussed in class.  Be sure to include enough detail so that someone who missed class can catch up on what they missed.  Over the course of the semester the scribe posts will grow into our interactive textbook for the course - written by students for students.  Remember, as you write your scribe post to ask yourself, "Is this good enough for our textbook?  Would a graphic or another example help illustrate this information more clearly?"  On the second day of class I will ask for a volunteer to be our first scribe, after that, the responsibility of who is to be the next scribe is determined by the previous scribe.  Each scribe will end their post by selecting the next class scribe.  I will keep an ongoing post - The Scribe List - up to date with all possible scribes.  Once a student has been a scribe their name will be crossed off the list.  Depending upon class size, all students may or may not get to create a scribe post, and may or may not be asked to be the scribe more than once.  These posts are labeled: Scribe Post.
2. Reflections Posts: One week prior to each exam each student will publish a brief post outlining their reflection of the course information thus far.  What has been interesting?  What has been confusing?  What do you find significant? Each student will be responsible for 4 Reflections posts. These posts are labeled: Reflections.
3. Connections Posts: These posts will allow us to relate the information learned in class to the real world.  Throughout the semester, each student will publish several brief posts explaining a connection they have made between the course information and the real world.  This connection could be to something in their own life - a job, another class, an experience - or it can be a connection to a relevant news event.  Students are encouraged to watch the news, read relevant magazines and newspapers to find connections.  Students are responsible for a minimum of 3 connections posts.  (These posts are not the same as the Article Discussion Assignment in class!)  There is no specific due date for these posts; they must simply be published prior to the last week of the semester.  These posts are labeled: Connections.
4. On My Mind Posts:  Students are free to post anything they would like - information, thoughts, questions - as long as it is related to the class, at any time.  There is no minimum or maximum On My Mind posts for each student. These posts are labeled: On My Mind.

Students may at any time comment on other students posts with thoughts or questions.  It is up to the post author to respond when necessary. 

POST PUBLISHING GUIDELINES

Anytime a student publishes ANYTHING on the blog, you must include exactly three labels:

1. The type of post: Scribe Post, Reflections, Connections,  or On My Mind.
2. The title of the chapter (not the chapter number) the post relates to (all are listed below):
• Business Overview (ch 1)
• Ethics & CSR (ch 2)
• Business Ownership (ch 4)
• Small Business & Franchises (ch 5)
• Management Process (ch 6)
• Flexible Organization (ch 7)
• Attracting Employees (ch 9)
• Motivating Employees (ch 11)
• Customer Relationships (ch 12)
• Pricing Products (ch 13)
• Distribution (ch 14)
• Marketing Communication (ch 15)
• Accounting (ch 17)
3. Your name (first name only)

If you do not label your post properly, you will not receive any credit for it.   

Students are expected to follow all rules of the classroom when publishing.  If it is not appropriate to be said in class, it is not appropriate to be published on this blog.  This goes for all posts and comments.  If I have to remove any of your posts or comments, you will no longer be able to contribute to the blog and will not receive credit for this assignment!  Please keep in mind Digital Ethics!