busi 520 forum 1 group consensus report replies (2)

REPLIES NEED TO BE:  you  will reply to at least 2  classmates' threads. Each reply must be  at least 250 words and reference at least 1 source in current APA  format. 

 FIRST REPLY TO ANSWER

Christopher Robertson

Liberty University

Forum #1

            About me       

My name is Chris, I am from Abingdon  Virginia and am currently located in Texas at an Air Force intel base.  In the next few weeks I will be relocating to Florida for my next  assignment, which hopefully will be a little cooler, I’m tired of the  triple digits and 80’s at nights. I am quite a busy person, I am taking a  few more courses then recommended to try and finish this degree before I  start pilot training, I am also working on my pre-course material for  officer training, its safe to say I have my hands full. This is my  second semester at LU, this summer being my first where I took 12 hours.

My personality type would be more in line  with the introvert, I am very analytical and numerically driven in my  decisions, everything is calculated to me in some way or fashion. The  biggest thing that annoys me would be commercials, on tv, radio and  movies. If you pay for a movie ticket you should not have to watch them,  otherwise ill just stream it for free at home. I work very well under  stress, I have been in countless life or death situations working at a  hospital, you must keep calm and react appropriately. My boss would  describe me as someone who looks for ways to improve workflow and lean  out unnecessary processes.

            Communication expectations

I would imagine because this program is  designed for the working professional who does not have time to check  daily a 24-48-hour response time Monday- Friday would be acceptable.  Since people live in different time zones and work various shifts I do  not expect any conference calls or live sessions to be efficient or  reasonable. Email seems to be an efficient way to communicate and I do  not know of any chat features in blackboard.

Behavioral expectations 

The behaviors expected from this course  would be prompt and timely completion of assignments to achieve the  highest grade possible. Late work gives points away and is unacceptable  especially when the entire 8-week schedule is already out. Timely  completion of assignments will ensure that this will not happen but  people who procrastinate will threaten this. We all do it at some point,  I do myself, but there will be many weeks where I only have the first  half of the week to do assignments therefor I will work to be done with  everything by Thursday each week.

Flexibility.

Due to this being a 100% online program  designed for people who are working and have various work schedules  there should be ultimate flexibility. This group assignment seems to  destroy the very concept the degree is advertised on which is very  disappointing. For example, I mentioned I will be moving across the  country one week, already 60% of that week is taken up for me so I will  have to do that week early so that I am not behind. This program is  supposed to be for people who cannot attend regular scheduled courses.  Flexibility means to me the ability to bend, being understanding means  to hear, patience means to work with or wait. Since I am traveling 1800  miles in a few weeks I will largely be unavailable for that week but as I  said before I will work ahead that week and never submit late work. I  will not be online any weekends at all as I will not have internet on  weekends. Again, this program was designed for people with inconsistent  schedules.

Performance

I would imagine everyone would like to  achieve the highest grade possible, performance should reflect the  desired grade, some people are probably going to produce A+ work in  draft mode and some individuals may require more editing, plan  accordingly, if you don’t care then fake it. I am by no means an expert  writing or researcher so please tell me if something needs changed, its  nothing personal it’s just business.

Timelines

The due dates are on Sundays’ as  previously mentioned I will not have internet access on weekends, all my  work will be completed by Friday’s at the latest, but my goal is  Thursday. So, the definition of on time is Sunday but for me its Friday.  If you’re on time is Sunday at midnight that is ok, just understand not  everyone will be on the same page, some people might work 12 hour  shifts until the weekend and can only work on schooling on weekends.  That’s was supposed to be the beauty of this program.

Final Submission

I would like the final submission to be  early, but this isn’t a requirement unless it can be submitted by  someone else, then it does not matter to me. Ill leave the approval  process up to the leader, if they want to vote that is ok with me, if  they want to be the ultimate authority on that its ok with me. I don’t  have time to review every single submission, so I will trust in  everyone’s ability to produce decent quality work.

Conflict resolution

I will leave the conflict resolution up  to the leader, voting is fine but a major flaw in this is during what  time will the vote be cast, if someone can only work on weekends and I  will not have internet access on weekends then I will not get to vote. I  am 100% ok with this, it’s an assignment not a vote for kicking someone  off the island, we will get it finished earning a great grade then move  on with life. Yang (2004) talks about franchise’s and their benefit in a  market, they found that if the person entering into the franchise is  happy with the agreement both parties are likely to thrive. This is due  to many reasons but most importantly brand recognition.

.

References

Chiou,  J., Hsieh, C., & Yang, C. (2004). The Effect of Franchisors  Communication, Service Assistance, and Competitive Advantage on  Franchisees Intentions to Remain in the Franchise System. Journal of Small Business Management,42(1), 19-36. doi:10.1111/j.1540-627x.2004.00095.x

SECOND REPLY TO ANSWER

Jessica Ramsey   

 Group Consensus  

         

1.  About Me

            My name is Jessica and I currently reside in Kentucky. I  had my first child in January. I am fairly laid back and think of myself  as easy to get along with. During a previous course I tested as an ISFJ  personality, meaning I lean toward the introverted side, which is  accurate for me. I am not usually one to take a leadership role but am  using my Master’s program to step outside of my comfort zone and step up  a bit. There is not much that annoys me, but a major annoyance is lack  of communication and/or ignoring one another. To me ignoring somebody  shows a lack of respect. We do not have to agree on everything, but  professionally speak your opinion rather than ignoring the situation.

I usually perform best under stress,  which is something I am trying to work on as it leads me to  procrastination. This is something I battle with because I do not buckle  under stress, but rather thrive. My boss has described me as “the  tinker bell” of the office. She noted I was always happy and there to  cheer others up. I have been said to be creative and have good ideas,  but I also need to speak my opinion on certain matters. Overall I have  been a handworker and effectively get done what is asked of me.

2. Communication

            I know everybody has lives outside of school work. With  that said, this is a group based course so group communication will be  key to our success. I think response times should be as prompt as  possible, and certainly by the end of the day. I feel we all should be  checking the Group Discussion Board daily to be sure there is nothing  new posted, and if there is, see it in a timely manner in order to help  answer any questions there may be. I believe online chats will be an  integral part in our communication and success. If we need to include  calls, we will as needed. The discussion board/emails should be used for  any topics related to our group project.

3. Behavior

            I feel that timeliness, openness to ideas, open  communication, and a positive attitude will contribute t to successful  completion of the course work.  A lack of communication and negative  attitudes will be detrimental to our work together. I want my peers to  be honest with me and provide constructive criticism throughout the  course in order to help me grow and provide better work for the group.   To resolve conflict I feel an open communication where all feel safe to  speak their mind will be most effective.

4. Flexibility

            This degree is based on flexibility and I think we all  need to keep that in mind as we work through the course. Being a stay at  home mom, I have to work around my little ones schedule as she is at  the stage which everything is in her mouth and hands.  I often take  advantage of nap times and bedtime in order to complete my work. To me  flexibility means understand we all have lives outside of schoolwork. It  means being empathetic of others and their needs. If someone were to be  struggling they need to let the group know as soon as they realize it  in order for us to work together and help them through the problem.  While flexibility is an advantage of the online course format, being a  group based course we must still be respectful of others time and  efforts.

5. Performance 

Individual work should be presented to the group  only when the individual feels all errors have been omitted. I think  MBA-level writing should be expected of us all as that is what we are  all working toward. If a group member has a specific question I think  they should reach out and ask, however it would be very time consuming  to edit each others papers, especially this is not my only group based  class this semester. I would like to receive an A on the group project.  To help my group achieve this I plan to communicate with my group as  needed and help when I can. I will explore the most research I can in  order to find the newest and most relevant information. I plan to step  up and take command of the project to get the final compilation together  for review by the group. I would like to be valued for the quality of  my work and if in the future I am in a group with any of these peers  again, they have a positive feeling toward working with me.

6. Timelines 

To me, being on time means meeting the deadline.  If our group agrees to have all work submitted by Friday at 8pm, all  group members are responsible for meeting this deadline. While work  turned in before this would be appreciated, I do not considered “on  time” to be late. I believe being “on time” is just that. So to meet the  deadline is “on time” however timelines would ideally be beating the  deadline and have things completed earlier.

7. Final Submission 

            The final submission of the group project is important.  Before submission I hope all group members take the time to do their  research and put forth their best work. I would prefer the project be  submitted before the deadline so all members have time to approve the  submission, however this should be completed prior to submitting to  blackboard. With the final paper and approvals being due by Friday at  11:59 pm, I think the final project needs to be posted by the Wednesday  of that week to give all time to read and post. I think to be sure all  members are happy we should reply, “I approve” on the final submission. I  think prior to this submission the file should be shared so all members  have a chance to read it. If group members choose not to reply to this  file share, the project will still be posted on the Wednesday and  members will still have a chance to read through it. 

8. Conflict Resolution 

            Working together in a positive manner is of utmost  importance, however it is human nature to disagree time to time. The way  these disagreements are handled can make or break us as a team. “Teams  willing to have the difficult conversations are more likely to resolve  their conflicts in a healthy way and lessen the chance of  recurrence”(Herrmann,2018). So while it may be uncomfortable being open  to constructive criticism, being upfront when something is bothering  you, and handling it professionally will help us become a more effective  team in the end. I think group communication is the best way to solve  conflict, if open dialogue does not solve it, I feel a vote amongst the  group members would be the fairest way to resolve the issue. 

References

Herrmann, M., (2018). Building a better leadership team through trust and quickly resolving conflict. EHS Today.