What I learned- Carter Rouleau

To be honest, I did not learn too much different information than I already knew.  In high school I took business management courses and this course was pretty much just repeating what we did in high school.  But if I had to choose something that I learned about this year it would probably be that CEO's of all sorts of different companies have a lot of the same traits and personalities as each other.  I learned that if you want to be a successful leader, you should have some of the same qualities that the CEO's we researched have.  My favorite assignment that we did in this class was the group entrepreneur project.  This project helped me learn about people that I did not know about, as well as help me get more comfortable presenting in front of a class.

Samantha MacMillan

Taking the Business and Society Management Course is certainly not a regret of mine. I have learned a lot of valuable material that I will be able to use in my life and future career as well as had the opportunity to realize what sparks my interest. Such topics include characteristics of what an entrepreneur should have, the five key components to having a successful business, and I have become interested in the aspect of becoming a manager of some sort.

Entrepreneurs are certainly one of a kind. They can come from all different kinds of backgrounds and can make a business out of all different types of ideas or needs. The things they each have in common though, if they are considered good entrepreneurs, are their characteristics. These include being self-directed, self-nurturing, action-oriented, highly energetic, and be tolerant of uncertainty. As stated in the book, they “should be self-disciplined and thoroughly comfortable being [their] own boss” (pg. 148). To be the “head honcho”, one needs to be able to have confidence in making their own decisions as the primary leader and to have the quality of being organized and good mannered. I feel as though I would be a good boss who could deal with problems in a relaxed fashion and also have the quality of staying on the ball with things. The second quality an entrepreneur should have is to be self-nurturing. “You must believe in your idea even when no one else does, and be able to replenish your own enthusiasm” (pg. 148). Being your own boss also includes sticking to what you believe in and being able to confidently promote your idea. I feel as though I would definitely be able to replenish my enthusiasm for my passion but I also believe that I would need at least one other person’s support. Having another who believes in the same thing as I do would make less of a vulnerable of giving up my idea. With the third characteristic being action-oriented, one has to build their dream into a reality. I would have no problem with taking this extra step to making what is a thought into a reality. I consider myself very much a “doer” instead of a “watcher”. The fourth quality of being highly energetic about your business is very important. If customers see that you love what you are doing, they are more likely to give your business a shot due to your love for it. “You must be emotionally, mentally, and physically, able to work long and hard” (pg. 148). I know I could work long and hard for my business but I don’t know if that is how I want to live. I do not want to always have work on my mind and I love being able to enjoy my life. This aspect turns me off to owning my own business, especially with how I got to interview grandfather about his small business and heard all the hours and family time that he had to sacrifice. Lastly, one has to be tolerant of uncertainty. I hate not knowing things and I think I would struggle with the thought of not knowing if my risk to start a business would fail or not. An entrepreneur has to have the ability to tolerate such unknowns.

The second piece of knowledge that I will walk away with is how an entrepreneur can never really stop learning or attaining new knowledge if they want to be top dog. In order to be successful in this fast paced world, one has to be able to keep up with the changes in society, and especially the technological ones. Nowadays, lots of companies do business online or use technological advances in order to communicate better. Being open and willing to learn new things will definitely set your business apart from those who choose to be lazy and not take on the world’s newest ideas and creations.

What interested me about aspects of my future career was being a manager. I believe that I have the ability to deal with all sorts of people and also have the ability to use different forms of motivation to get people to complete tasks. Being a mentor, “a corporate manager who supervises, coaches, and guides selected lower-level employees by introducing them to the right people and generally acting as their organizational sponsor” (pg. 300) would be a great thing for me to do. I love helping people understand how something works or answering any questions. Problem solving is my hobby. I also know that I could take the affirmative action that is necessary from the experiences that I have had in my previous jobs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ukp_CzGaZI0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUKn1XoB7oA

J

John Cullen
Professor Fleury-Lawson
Business & Society
October
25, 2011
Sleepwalker
Coca-Cola is known to be one of the best advertised
companies out there. Everywhere you look
there is a Coca-Cola ad. This Coca-Cola
ad is about man who goes the ultimate distance for his Coca-Cola. There are many pros and cons to this unique
ad.
One of the many pro’s for this ad is that it keeps the
viewer interested with animals. When the
man sits up from his tent and heads out into the forest, the first animal he
sees is a leopard. I think this leopard
plays a big part in catching the viewer’s interest because a leopard is a
“cool” animal. As the man is going to
the destination of the coke he runs into elephants, a snake, and ends it off
with a hyena. All of these animals show
that the man is fearless when it comes to getting a Coca-Cola. Another pro to this ad is that they use an
unusual setting. The man ends up finding
the coke in a fridge, in a random village.
On top of this fridge is a snake and the man completely ignores it. He is dedicated to get his Coca-Cola. The Coca-Cola Company took a real risk by
making this ad in a unique setting. Risk
means “The chance an entrepreneur takes of losing time and money on a business
that may not prove profitable” (Understanding Business 5). Lucky enough for Coca-Cola, they were very
profitable.
One of the con’s to this ad is where the man is actually
walking. The man is walking on a ledge
that if he fell he would die. I know it
is a commercial, but kids might want to re-an act this scene. They might think it is really cool that the
guy was walking along a ledge. Another
con to this ad is that they didn’t concentrate on Coca-Cola enough. In the Coca-Cola video we watched in class,
a man said “What you are trying to do with the consumer’s, is trying to create
a memory bank that has positive attributions.”(CNBC). This whole guy sleeping walking through the
wild is not the best positive attitude.
They could have changed the setting to a more natural place for
Coke.
With all of these pros and cons, this ad shows how far
someone will go in the middle of a night for Coca-Cola, even if they are
sleeping walking. The Coca-Cola Company
has been success for many years because of their advertising. This is not one of their best, but good or
not, this ad will not hurt them in the long run. Coca-Cola is too big of a company to be hurt
by one ad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkHA2pf1gvc&feature=relmfu

Course Evaluation

Rich Smith
Business & Society
12/12/11

During the past semester this class was my only class that brought me true interest and had my full attention. I am extremely determined to become at prominent business man in the future, accounting is my intended major. Even though am in some accounting classes, I am ahead of the course I was taking, so it was quite boring for me. So this being my only other class in relation to my major it became the class I endeared the most effort into.

I would have to say doing both of the presentations was one of my favorite parts of the class. Hoping of being a business man as a career I know at one point I will most likely have to give some form of presentation of information type meeting. So the real experience of explaining something in front of an audience was great experience. My first presentation was the one about electronic cigarettes was quite interesting to learn about. Even though I do not smoke it’s still interesting to learn how an electronic cigarette works. Next was the group presentation that we just did recently and I did mine on Jake Burton and Ken Block learning about those two entrepreneurs was very interesting. The thing that caught my eye the most was how Jake Burton created the whole idea of snowboarding; introducing the boots and bindings rather than the original base model of "grip pads and a rope".

Through me passing this class and having a good feeling of understanding the course I know it will only further me more with my learning and attaining a great career. I have taken a course similar to this but it was only half year course and of course it’s at a high school level which to me was a much slower pace. Learning at a much faster pace I was able to learn much more knowledge of business in this course than the one in high school. To end it all I found the class very interesting and has only helped me more with what I plan to do in my future; to come.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/13/business/economy/recession-crimped-incomes-of-the-richest-americans.html?ref=economy

Course Overview

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/08/business/smallbusiness/a-business-tries-to-decide-whether-its-location-is-perfect-or-a-disaster.html?_r=1&ref=entrepreneurship

During this course I expanded my knowledge of the business
world in many ways. In high school I didn’t take any classes on the world of
business so I had no clue what it entailed or where to begin. I learned all
about entrepreneurship and what it meant. I learned that entrepreneurship is “A
person that risks time and money to start and own a business”. To expand a business you have to provide even
more goods and services to keep your customers happy. I learned that it’s not
easy to start up your own business because you are either going to fail or
launch your company. You have to deal with revenue and make sure your make
enough profit out of your product so you don’t experience a loss. You must take
risks in order to succeed.

The other thing I learned was that you are going to have
hardships no matter how big of a star you are. When I did my project on Ellen DeGeneres
and Oprah with Alley and Hillary, I learned that even they had their problems. They
had hardships as young teenagers with physical and verbal abuse because of
their appearance and preferences. Both entrepreneurs had to come up with an
idea that everyone was interested and launch their business with the few people
that helped them.

The last thing I learned was the basics of business. I
learned about the business environment and how you have to be in the right
geographical place in order for your business to have so many customers. You
have to keep in mind the legal, technological, competitive, social, and global environment
in mind when launching your start up business. When I interviewed my dad he
said the thing he was most shocked about when starting up a business it the
time and effort you have to put into it. It takes long hours and you have to
love what you do in order to be successful. Going through this course I learned
that I am not interested in starting my own business because that stuff does
not get me exited and I am not interested.

Hillary White
Professor Fleury-Lawson
Business and Society
12/12/11
Reflection
In this course, Business and Society I learned many things
that I was not knowledgeable with before. I learned a lot about entrepreneurship.
This is “A person that risks time and money to start and manage a business.” I
learned that being an entrepreneur is not an easy task; it takes one hundred
percent commitment to your business, because you have your own money invested
in it, and usually all of it. I did a
group project on Ellen DeGeneres and Oprah Winfrey and I learned a lot about
what they do and there business. I learned about their success, obstacles and
personal life. I thought that project was not only interesting, but fun to do. This
has helped me understand more clearly the true work an entrepreneur. They first
have to create a great idea and then market the product to their customers.
Such as Ellen came up with The Ellen DeGeneres Show and Oprah came up with the
Oprah Winfrey show. They were both very popular talk show host. That is just where it starts because they then
need to then manage their company which is where most people fail because they
are unable to manage the economic aspect of their business. Overall I now feel
more comfortable on knowing what exactly what an entrepreneur does in the business
world.
In this course I also learned just overall general business.
I learned how to start, run, and manage a business and all the other aspects of
running your own business. I learned about the requirements and the facts. I
learned about how to get started and what’s the right business for you. I also
learned about small business owners and how they got started and most of them
started out just as a college student like I am today. They all had to work their
way up to reach their goal and where they wanted to be. And I plan to do the same.
Although this course has not given me
enough information to pursue the work force yet, it is a great step towards my
future in the working world.
http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/todays-chicago-woman/2010/01/the-dawn-of-the-new.html

What I Learned

One of the most basic concepts that I learned a great deal about this semester was entrepreneurs. When the semester started I knew that a semester was a businessman who started their own business. I learned that the official definition is “a person who risks time and money to start and manage a business.” This has helped me understand more clearly the true work an entrepreneur must perform for their business to be successful. They first have to create a great idea and then market that product to their customers. That is just where it starts because they then need to then manage their company which is where most people fail because they are unable to manage the economic aspect of their business. This has given me some firsthand views of the do’s and don’ts  when starting and managing a business.  One of the best entrepreneurs is Bill Gates and he has made a fast rise to the top because he had a brilliant idea and mind, and was able to manage his money to where he is now one of the richest people in the world.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/197526

The second and probably the most important thing I learned from the class was a general understanding of business. This may seem so simple but it should prove very effective in my pursuit of a degree from a business school. I knew a majority of the information that we covered in this class from my high school economics class. As for the new information I was able to combine it with my information my economics class and I believe now I have a strong background in business and we are only getting started.  Many of these basic topics are things such as the types of trades and how to trade. As I said earlier this may seem so basic but I have acquired some more knowledge such as different types of trades and there are certain cultural differences that may seem friendly to Americans, but are offensive to another group of people. I have plans to work within the NFL and if you follow them, they are working on expanding the market into other countries so it will be very important in the future to have employees that have a good understanding to the culture of the people so he can effectively communicate with them. Although this course has not given me enough information to pursue the work force yet, it is a great stepping stone and starting place that I can work my way up from.

http://westsidetoastmasters.com/resources/book_of_body_language/chap5.html