Black Friday and a BGI MBA program

What do Black Friday (BF) and our MBA program have to do with each other??? Well most students at school would say the only correlation between the two is that you should boycott the Black Friday specials and be more sustainable. I would like to challenge my fellow students on the concept of boycotting BF.

Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year. The time when all everyone hits the stores looking for the best sales deals of the year. But in reality it is so much more and I think that an MBA student would see the corner stone that Black Friday has become for the economy. If BF does not succeed with the revenue projections this year then people will still believe that we are in a recession and the markets will drop on Monday. When the markets drop so does the funding of sustainable ventures.

If Black Friday was a success it builds consumer confidence that recession could be behind us. What does that mean though??? It means that people will free up money for new ventures, banks could start loaning money again, etc. The job markets will open and companies will start to hire positions like "Sustainability Managers." As consumer confidence rises and businesses grow, investors look to support new ideas like Solar and Wind energy products.

In short next time you hear the "dont shop on Black Friday" spiel, I challenge you to think from an MBA prospective on how important it is to actually buy on that day and support the economy. One last thing, supporting BF this year would have meant something even more for the our students. I would say that over 90% voted for President Obama. If Black Friday is a success and the economy is turning around then it will be attributed to the new president and we all want to see that happen.

In the future we need to start thinking of the long term impacts our decisions and actions make instead of boycotting 1 day of the year.

Personal Learning Journal

Should we incorporate personal learning journals into BGI's schedule? The easy answer to this question is YES!!!

From the start of our BGI experience we have had to keep a journal of sorts. Our LPD assignments typically revolve around self reflection and the need to keep a journal so we can reflect on those experiences.

We should and could be tying this into to each course structure. This year we are keepinga journal for Social Media and four CRL. Marketing we are doing a project that most likely reflects what our topic is in Social Media. Unfortunately we now have three different journals (LPD, CRL, and DLM). The personal learning journals would be a great addition to the course structure and bring more continuity to the courses.

Finding the Time

I am currently running into the time problem. Not enough time with all the work that needs to be completed. With work, school, and all the assignments that are due I am feeling a sense of despair. I know the end is in site and I just need to buckle down to get things done over the next couple weeks.

What I have learned is that the writing of papers is pretty un-thougtht provoking. I have type up two papers today but how is that going to change or even acknowledge a behavior. Social Media has taught me to start with the question, What action or behavior am I trying to change by doing this. Within our other classes there are projects that are making us think and allowing us to do just this. What I am confused about it why the mundane action of writing a paper? Why not a a video on our resident expert projects in marketing or even possible filming our creative sessions. It seems that this action would change many more behaviors and actions.

Communication in the workplace

The blackberry is all the rave at my workplace. All the VP's and Directors have received them in the past 3 months and I am next. Don't get me wrong, I love social media and the Blackberry will make work more efficient and productive. What I currently see with upper management though is hiding behind the blackberry and not having constructive communications.

Case in point this week was an issue this week in our office with on how we should manage our accounts. The entire chain of communication was done over email though we sit about 30 feet away from each other and there were many disagreements among the 6 or so responders. It got the point where on director said, "ok this thread is done, X and Z will manage it from here."

The problem with the last line is what the director said, he did not mean. What he said verbally to everyone but X and Z was "we are changing this and X & Z will do it." Unfortunately X & Z are not changing anything as they interpreted the email differently and thus clarifies my point that communicating difficult conversations should be done in prison.

The week after and intensive

The week after an intensive is always challenging. I have yet to find a social media outlet that allows me to recover even more rapidly. Oddly enough it was the socially media aspect that pilled on the work load. I had emails from work and school to catch up on and planning for our social media project.

The conversation we had on "brand" is still at the forefront of my mind. I meet people, read their blogs, and look at their facebook pages and I see a lot of disconnect on what what they want people to think they are vs who they really are.

The idea of brand has really made me think when doing things and even posting on my personal twitter page. So when I post on my facebook and twitter I think, who am I and how do I want people to see me? I think we all need to look at this from time to time.

Corporate World

I sat in HR meetings for over 4 hours today learning about setting performance goals (SMART goals) and how the company measures your performance. What I noticed was that most people were pretty clueless on how to set a SMART goal even after the definition and example was given.

We were in groups of 4 sharing our a goal with one another when I it hit me that most of these people were in their own bubble. This in turn allowed me to reflect on our learnings at BGI.

Could the same be happening to us? Are we in our own bubble?

This has led me to think on how we at BGI can have a positive effect on these type of people outside our own environment.

BGI Beat

I had to create a video this weekend for my Social Media class on a subject that I am blogging on. The subject I chose was transport and logistics in developing countries based on the work I did this summer at VillageReach.

I thought you might find the video interesting and informative. It is posted on you tube if you want to check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x--Gt8FU2CM

Creative Videos

I have to say I have really enjoyed the creative videos so far. Tomas did an amazing job and Manan music was awesome, it even made me thirsty. I feel my intro to my blog was dull and boring and I need to pick it up a little to stay in beat with my classmates. Well done all on your awesome videos.