Weekly Summary

Weekly Summary

Reading assignment:

The reading assignments were excellent this week. Learning the details of the 9-step model for problem-solving will be beneficial to my business for years to come. I have learned many models in my industry over the years to manage the business but have not seen the model we learned this week. The process-orientated technique is effective for making sound, factual decisions that are pointed and objective for the business solutions needed. The importance of needing more factual decisions has become so important since many of the people involved in the decisions may not have the knowledge they need in their industry. Not having the experience does not necessarily mean that they are ineffective decision-makers. Having a model will eliminate much of the uncertainty for the decision at hand.

Instructor's lecture:

The lecture provided some detailed information about what skills leading companies were looking for in their new employees from MBA programs. Interpersonal and communication skills have been the pillars of success for many businesses and disciplines and the study showed excellence in this are to be first. I was not surprised to see creative problem-solving as being a desirable skill but have experienced that this skill is the slowest to be accepted in my industry. For many years, I was under the impression that my companies wanted creative solutions within the box of the organization. By using the tips in the lecture, I will be able to be more focused and help drive our team more effectively. The information provided allowed our class to begin discussions about what these skills meant from their perspective. These discussions I believe gave the class a concrete understanding about the foundation of our diversity.

Discussions:

In my undergraduate program, the class discussions were very engaged in challenging each other's beliefs in order to test the logic of the foundation. What we discovered is that many of the foundations were based on where each one of us was from. Our childhood education and family roots affected our thought. This was very evident in the discussions of the first week. The discussion questions allowed each one us to express our opinions about the important