Assignment 2!!

So this is the 2^nd week where we meet again the cheerful and awesome Miss Elaine in APK class.

                      
            What did I learn??

 I learn how the problems arise in the company and the way different party handle them, whether in a professional and appropriate way or not. From my observation, I find out that every party such as the investors,workers, top managers, competitors, customers, and the suppliers keep blaming each other and no party dare to take the risks and be responsible towards the situation. Each of them did not find the right solution and start to doubt and questioning other party so that they cannot be blamed. Then the problems in the company cannot be solved, yet the entrepreneurship spirit cannot be delevoped in that matter.

                                                  

                                               

                How do I feel??

After watching the scenario that occur in this entrepreneurship field, I feel that it is very hard to overcome the problems in a bureaucracy level if there is no cooperation and interpretation towards the solution of the problems. I also think that everyone is just busy looking for profits and money yet did not notice the importance of finding the solution towards the problems in order to achieve the goal of their business.

Where and how can I apply what I had learn?

After this class, I really could see the problems that being encountered in this field and the way critical thinking and professionalism being applied to find the solutions. I strongly believe that I can apply in my daily basis of life when I have some problems, in the way of the parties solve their problems, which are by cooperating and be responsible for it. Everyone should take note that it is not easy to solve a big problem if everyone is keep blaming on each other.

                 OTHERS

Watching the scenario of the entrepreneurisms in the global level make me realize that every problems should be encountered professionally and efficiently. Passion in solving problems is more important than everything.


Written by,
NUR MASTURA BINTI MAHMOOD
SEN120018

REFLECTION 2

Entrepreneurship is neither a science nor an art. It is a practice. – Peter Drucker

Hi everyone!
So, this is my reflection on this week class 15 October 2012.

WHAT HAVE I LEARNED?
During the class, I have been exposed about the real situation happened in big companies. 
From my observation, every person in the company kept blaming each other and at last they couldn't find solution at all. So, to overcome this problems I learned that we need to hear comments or complaints from the other party and reflect ourselves. If it is true that we made mistakes, we have to admit our faults and take proper actions. This way, roots of problems can be identified and the problem can be solved. 

HOW DO I FEEL?
Well, this is not the first time I heard that blaming each other won't solve problems. And I have to admit that it is hard to admit our own faults, too. However, I think that if everyone learn to accept critics open-mindedly, the problem can be solved faster. In addition, I love the concept where competitors become partners. This is one of the best way to ensure our company survive. When you go around viewing everyone as “the competition”, you miss out on many opportunities to collaborate with others.

WHERE CAN I APPLY WHAT HAVE I LEARNED?
Basically, I can apply what have I learned in my daily-student-life. As a student, I always busy doing group assignments and also joining club activities, so when my group encounter problems I hope we can be more tolerant and also positive in order to solve the problems. 

0THERS
I love this class. Every class have different activities and this make it more interesting. :)

MUNIRAH BT GHAZALI

SEN120014

ASSIGNMENT 2

Hi everyone, I fell so excited to share my class reflection with you guys and here they are.........

WHAT HAVE I LEARNED IN THE CLASS? 

Yup, as we watched any business based dramas or movies, normally they will blame the others to defend themselves when something bad happened in their business. So that is what actually we watched last Monday, a business scenario acted by our friends to imitate what is actually happened in real business world and each of them represented the top manager, the employee, the supplier, the customer, the investor and lastly is the competitor. So what I learned actually was before we start pointing our finger to the others, we should reflect or look deeper in ourselves first, probably the problem rose due to our mistake because there is an idiom in Malay "kuman di seberang laut boleh nampak, gajah di depan mata tak nampak pula". Then, if we did the mistake, it is always better to admit rather than pretending like nothing's wrong. Next, in order to solve the problem, everyone must cooperate to find the root of the problem then solve it together. Easy right? And finally try to believe that "every cloud has a silver lining". 

HOW DO I FEEL?

 I watched the action and it was fun and I impressed at the same time to our friends because they can speak spontaneously to defend themselves eventhough some of the reasons were nonsenses. So from that, obviously we are good in making reasons to blame the others, to defend ourselves and pretend that we are always right although we already know that we are the one who wrong. So, this is what we usually do in our daily life right? Do you guys agree with me? Hopefully you do. Therefore, personally in my opinion, the previous class actually tried to change us to be more better in the future in term of attitude and others, but to make it comes true, definately we have to practised what we have learned and will learn in our real life in frequent.

HOW AND WHERE CAN I APPLY WHAT HAVE I LEARNT?

If not in business, as a student, my opinion is when I and my friends have to do the assignments in a group. Yup, the situation like the Monday class might be occured, at least once, oh I believe that, but it is better to prevent it. If it happens, just apply what we have learned to solve it in no time. So, just hope it migt not be happened, OK? Not only as a student, I also can apply this in my family, when we face a problem such as to decide our holiday destinations, or in the clubs and societies that I joined and many more. Therefore, eventhough it may sound childish, I will always bare in my mind "quarrel is bad, discussion is good". 

OTHERS...................

      So far, the class became more interesting. It gave a lot of usefull motivations and tips to me to be more succesfull to face my challenging future life. I'm not a psychic, I can't predict what will be happend tomorrow and hereafter, so I need to learn more from the class. Therefore, I will come to our next Monday class. See you guys there. Bye bye...................

Prepared by:

MOHAMMAD AZIM BIN SURANI

SEN120009           

Assignment 2

Greeting!!!

Hi, I'm back again to do the class reflection!

What did I learn?

First, I learned that, when something bad happen in a company, everyone in the company will point their fingers to others. However, in order to solve a problem, instead of saying that others are wrong, we should reflect ourselves first! Did we really don't have any fault at all? Then find out the real problem, try to cooperate with others, finally solve the problem.

How do I feel?

I shocked actually, because what Elaine ask us to do are what we are doing in our real life! Pointing at others while ignoring our own fault is exactly what we usually do in our life~ Thus, actually in this class, we also have a chance to reflect ourselves!

Where and how can I apply what I had learnt?

I can apply what I had learnt anytime, anywhere! Company is like a society in small scale, therefore, if everyone can learn to reflect themselves before pointing others, many problem can be solved easily. Besides, we also can apply this knowledge in our class, clubs and family! Hence, it is really useful in our life!

Others

Till this stage, I'm getting more and more interested with the class and I'm very curious on what will happen in our next class, what activity will be conducted by Elaine and what will I learn in the next class!! Can't wait!

So, that's all for my reflection!! Bye!~ See you all on Monday!

Communicator

Ng Jin Ying

SEN120015

Assignment 2

1. What did I learn?

We had a business scenario that everyone usually points their fingers to other people when bad things happened....So, from this lesson,I learn to admit my mistakes if I was the one who make the mistakes....this can reduce a lot of problems as I will find out the roots of problem instead of arguing with each other..Sometimes,alliance with competitors can bring a lot of benefits and also expand the business worldwide!

2. How do I feel?

Profits! In order to get a huge profits, more and more people will do something against the laws and regulations. This attitude will cause serious problems to others....

Merging sometimes bring benefits too....Through merging, we can learn new technologies in order to improve the qualities of products..and also increase the efficiency of certain departments!

3. Where and How can I apply what I had learnt?

Same as previous, in our daily lives. There will be some collisions between one another especially group assignment....Some of people will take for granted! Why I say so?? Because some people will always pretend doing a lot of things in front of the audiences....BUT actually he/she does not do anythings at all.....he/she just order other people to do the assignments....

4. Others

Finding the roots of problems if something bad happened...Arguing cant help very much... So for me, every business has the risk and we should analyze it to reduce the chances of losing money....


CHONG HONG LAN
SEN120003

Lesson review 2.

Greetings earthlings!

So, let’s do the class review straightaway today. No postponing works. Conquering the art of mastering the time management!

FIRST! What have you learned in the class

Miss Elaine have read most of the students review and she said almost everyone mentioned about having an excellent communication skill and high confidence level, like her! Hahaha. Well, who doesn’t want to be like her, right? Anyway, during the class, we were divided into different roles to mimic the business world drama, yes it is full of drama. Among it are the investors, the competitors, the top managers, the employees, the suppliers & last but not least, the customers. We were given a situation to deal with and at the end of it, it is concluded that the ability to make alliance with your competitors in the business world will somehow benefits both companies, provided that everyone plays their role fairly.

SECOND! How do I feel about it

How do I feel about it? Yeah, maybe at first, the thought of questioning “Why on earth should I make alliance with my competitors? He’s my competitor, we should be competing each other.” Well, I don’t deny that. If it can be handled in a healthy way, by all means do proceed. But, after today’s class, my perspective has been revolved to a different level. If we were to use the strength of both companies & combine it together, it’ll be much more strong and imagine the outcomes. It might be quite shaky for the short-term but looking at the long-term, after a few advancements has been made, voila!

Look at the successful merge of Disney-Pixar. Mickey & Nemo. Pinocchio & Toy Story. The merger of legendary Walt Disney and everything-we-create-kids-adore Pixar was a match made in cartoon heaven. Disney had released all of Pixar’s movies before, but with their contract about to run out after the release of “Cars,” the merger made perfect sense. With the merger, the two companies could collaborate freely and easily.

Did the merger work? Well, take a look at the successful movies that Disney and Pixar have put out since: “WALL-E,” “Up,” and “Bolt.” Pixar has plans for twice-yearly films, unthinkable before the merger, and has certainly gained the expert advice from Disney when it comes to advertising, marketing plugs, and merchandising. When it comes to marketing to children, no one does it better than Disney. Even pre-merger cartoon “Cars” got the Disney treatment and remains a top seller in merchandising amongst 4 year old boys.

Next, have a look at Exxon-Mobil. Big oil got even bigger in 1999, when Exxon and Mobil signed a $81 billion agreement to merge and form Exxon Mobil. Not only did Exxon Mobil become the largest company in the world, it reunited its 19th century former selves, John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Company of New Jersey (Exxon) and Standard Oil Company of New York (Mobil). The merger was so big, in fact, that the FTC required a massive restructuring of many of Exxon & Mobil’s gas stations, in order to avoid outright monopolization (despite the FTC’s 4-0 approval of the merger).

ExxonMobil remains the strongest leader in the oil market, with a huge hold on the international market and dramatic earnings. In 2008, ExxonMobil occupied all ten spots in the “Top Ten Corporate Quarterly Earnings” (earning more than $11 billion in one quarter) and it remains one of the world’s largest publicly held company (second only to Walmart).

I think it’s safe to say that the merger was a success.

[source]

THIRD! Where & how can you apply what you've learnt

Obviously, applying this kind of thing in the business world brings lots of good things to both companies, but, still there are failures in merged companies. So, in order to make sure the idea of collaborating and making alliance with other companies goes well, they need to know their weakness first. It’s a round table thing. Sit together and find out which hole to seal and don’t proceed by having a blame game going around. Nothing’s gonna change if that’s how it proceeds. This is where critical thinking applies. 

FOURTH! Others & comments

So, we were also given a task whereby we need to think of what kind of business we would want to run and things are getting a lot more serious because we also need to have evidence and stuff to support our plan. This is getting interesting but its quite a challenge to deal with as staying in different colleges would make it a little bit hard for us to discuss face to face. Let’s just hope it’ll goes well.

That’s all for now. Thanks for your time.

-RAJA MUHAMMAD NUR SAIFULLAH BIN RAJA OMAR, saiful

SEN120025

INDUSTRY: FOOD & BEVERAGE
COMPANY: McDONALDS

Introduction

McDonald's Corporation  is the world's largest chain of  fast food restaurants, serving around 68 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948 they reorganized their business as a hamburger stand using production line principles. Businessman Ray Kroc joined the company as a franchise agent in 1955. He subsequently purchased the chain from the McDonald brothers and oversaw its worldwide growth.

Problems faced by the company

1. Rising food prices:
 Higher food commodity and energy prices have recently pushed up wholesale and retail food prices. The US Department of Agriculture predicts that prices will continue to accelerate during the first half of 2011, leading to a 2% to 3% rise in food price inflation for the year. McDonald's and other big burger chains have largely been unaffected so far, but that might soon change.

In a report last week, RBC Capital Markets analyst Larry Miller said McDonald's will raise prices by 2% to 3% to help offset its higher food costs. McDonald's declined to comment, citing a quiet period ahead of earnings next week. However, the chain's CFO Pete Bensen told analysts in October that while prices for beef and other ingredients were rising, the burger chain could deal with the increase.

But it may be too early to conclude that the Golden Arches will survive the inflationary pressures unscathed. Rising food prices could be a risk for McDonald's, says analyst Andy Barish of Jefferies and Company, even though the chain is largely safeguarded from such volatility because the vast majority of its operating profits, about two-thirds, come from franchises and royalties. While individual franchises might have a harder time dealing with rising prices given the sensitive demand of cost conscious consumers, it could eventually hurt profits of the overall chain if prices rise to levels where it makes it difficult for franchises to expand.

Barish doesn't see any major disappointments in sales or earnings this year, but rather a gradual slowing of earnings growth. He expects McDonald's to post 16% earnings growth in 2010, followed by 10% growth in 2011.

2. Limitation of beverages over burgers:

 McDonald's increasingly diverse menu has helped it become the nation's best-performing restaurant company during the economic slump. The chain realized quickly that consumers have lots of options when it comes to food and drink and they want the option to stop at McDonald's for snack time as opposed to just regular meals. Creative drinks are the product du jour at the chain, with everything from fruit smoothies and specialty coffee drinks.

But beverages might only take the company so far. The Wall Street Journal recently cited a company email that disclosed that McDonald's peak lunch-hour business has been flat for five years. And the few analysts taking a bearish view of McDonald's 2011 outlook say real growth of the company's core business -- the burgers and fries part -- is overstated.

Howard Penney, restaurant industry analyst with investment research firm Hedgeye and a Fortune contributor, believes the chain has expanded too broadly into beverages, and the plan will eventually catch up with the company -- helping send U.S. same store sales to negative levels during the second, third and fourth quarters this year. Much of McDonald's success in beverages has come from specialty coffees such as lattes, which are sold at relatively higher prices. Penney says year over year sales growth of the pricier beverages has flattened.

"McDonald's makes a lot of its money on fries and beverages," Penney says. "So selling beverages is good but it makes operations more complex. It takes more to make a latte than to pour a Coke. To continue peak service time you have to add labor."

3. Insensitivity towards customers' belief (Vegetarians):

 Facing a class-action lawsuit from angry vegetarians, McDonald's has confirmed that its French fries are prepared with beef extract, a disclosure the company said is not new. Although the fast-food giant has been saying since 1990 that its fries are cooked in pure vegetable oil, company spokesman Walt Riker said Wednesday that McDonald's never said its fries were appropriate for vegetarians and always told customers that their flavor comes partly from beef. The list of French-fry ingredients that McDonald's offers at its franchises and on its Web site includes potatoes, partially hydrogenated soybean oil and ''natural flavor.'' The list does not mention that the ''natural flavor'' comes from beef. To discover that, one would have to contact a McDonald's customer-satisfaction representative. Beef extract, not beef tallow, as the suit alleges, is the only natural flavor in McDonald's French fries, Riker said. Asked why the company simply did not write ''beef extract'' on its list of ingredients, he replied, ''It's a good question. We're sensitive to all our customers' needs and concerns. We try to be as forthcoming and user-friendly as possible. We'll review it. We'll take a look at it.''

.

ASSIGNMENT 1

Hi everyone………….

WHAT HAVE I LEARNED TODAY?

From previous class, I have learned a lot of things especially on how to improve my skills such as communication skill, time management and so on. Yet in the class, I knew myself better than before and hopefully I am able to practice all the skills that I learnt to achieve  what do I want in the future. So thanks a lot to miss Elaine for giving us the tips.

HOW DO I FEEL?

WOW….. the class was so enjoyable and miss Elaine was so amazing. Did you guys realize how she maintained her energy until the end of the class? To be honest, I didn’t  feel sleepy at all compare to mr. shukri’s class and in sudden the class covered 2 hours! I’m wondering how come the time moved faster on that day?

WHERE AND HOW CAN I APPLY THIS KNOWLEDGE?

Honestly, I’m not interested in business but I agree that the skills that we learnt in the class are important to be practiced in our future work and our daily life as well. As an example, time management is important to us as a student as we took many subjects and at the same time we need to be active with the activities organized by the college and hep. So from that situation we have to divide our time properly.

OTHERS….?

So in the class I’m happy with my groupmates as all of them at the same time are my coursemates. I know that we are rarely have an interaction. So I will take this opportunity to know all of you better probably. Bye bye………………….

Prepared by:

MOHAMMAD AZIM BIN SURANI

SEN12009  

Lesson review 1.

Greetings earthlings!

So, last Monday, by the time the class ended we were left with 4 questions to be answered to conclude the whole 3 hours lesson. 

FIRST! What have you learned in the class

So, where should I start. This shall take a few minutes for me to remember back what happened a week ago....Okay here it goes, at first, as I entered the lecture hall, I thought it's gonna be another day of Entrepreneurship theories and stuff. But, no! The presence of Miss Elaine brought a new perspective for me towards this course. One word, AWESOME! It's a whole lots of thing to write to answer the question of 'What have I learned in the class'. Lots of thing! The first thing that comes to my mind during that moment was, it is very, very, very important to have such a good communication skill! *applause to Miss Elaine* She did such a fantastic job! From that instance, that's it, she's gonna be my idol for this communication skill thing.

SECOND! How do I feel about it

How do I feel about it? There's a lot of good feelings mixed up at the same moment during the class. I mean  look at her, look at Miss Elaine! See how enthusiastic she was during that time? There's no way the aura couldn't reach every students in that hall. As she walks around, the aura was spread throughout the hall. Yes, I'm saying that she got her own aura that attracts people to listen and focus on what she's saying! I feel glad and blessed to have such an awesome instructor for this course to guide us for the whole semester.

THIRD! Where & how can you apply what you've learnt

What I focused on during that class was the importance of having such a great communication skill. So, when it comes to this, it is universal in a sense that wherever you are & whatever you're doing, this skill, communication skill is always essential. It is applicable everywhere, in every single place you go. To answer the question of how, that would depends on the situation. This is where your level is tested. How good you are in your communication skill and how quick can you think to apply one.

FOURTH! Others & comments

I think I've expressed all my thoughts so, all I'm wishing for is for Miss Elaine to inspire us much more with her awesomeness! Looking forward for the next class.

-RAJA MUHAMMAD NUR SAIFULLAH BIN RAJA OMAR, saiful

SEN120025

Assignment 1 !

Assignment 1 !

               ASSALAMUALAIKUM & GREETING EVERYONE!

8th October 2012,is the date where for the first time I saw Miss Elaine standing in front of the lecture hall and talking cheerfully,with full of informative values and the content of her lecture would I summarize as below.


                           WHAT HAVE I LEARN TODAY

Generally,the knowledge that I have gained from the previous class are related to the soft skills that a student should have and should be applied in their daily basis of life in whatever they are doing.I have learned a lot about the analytical skills,time management skills,leadership,creativity,responsibility and other skills that are very crucial for everyone in order to develop themselves in every aspect.I also learn how to work as a team as we have been assigned with a few tasks that need us to generate the ideas and use our critical thinking and general knowledge in giving the opinions,besides can improve my communication skills,yet build a healthy and open relationship with my new group-mates,which are very open-minded and awesome.

                                   

                                             How Do I feel???

Excited and awesome! Those are the first two words that come across my mind when talking about how do  I feel after having a 2-hour lecture with the lovely Miss Elaine.Of course,I feel being motivated by her lecture and gain more confidence to speak in front of other people as Miss Elaine is the type of person who likes to have a double way communication,which means no one can sleep in her class as her lecture is very fantastic.She taught us a lot about the values that an entrepreneur should have and she also stressed on about the importance of those values in every aspects of our life,whether being a student,worker,the entrepreneurs or being as a part of the society.

           WHERE CAN I APPLY THIS KNOWLEDGE???

  Basically,all the knowledge that has been taught by Miss Elaine can be applied anywhere and everywhere in this world!Miss Elaine has stressed on us the importance of creativity,leaderships,responsibility,time management and communication skills in order to be a successful and a good entrepreneur which is compatible and strong in this economy era. As for me,I can apply all the skills and values in my daily life as a university student when I am joining or conducting the group work projects.I also can use the the skills such as analytical skills,the ability to interpret and concluding the data,reasoning,etc during my studies in Genetics and Molecular studies in University Of Malaya.During the talk,speech or in forums I can also use the effective communication skills the way Miss Elaine do during the lecture.The high level of confidence shown by the lecturer can guide and motivates me to talk better in front of other people in the public,besides give me the ability to extract the idea and talk spontaneously.The values also can be applied in our society as I can show all the moral values and the skills when carrying out all the activities in my neighborhood.The most highlighted part is I can use this knowledge during having an interviews session especially for the interviews in getting a job.In the future,I can work out all the values by giving consultancies to specific people to guide or influence them in making their decisions.

         HOW CAN I APPLY THESE KNOWLEDGE?

Of course,there is no way for me to apply and use all these knowledge unless by practicing it continually.To improve my communication skills,I have to practice to speak in front of other people confidently and prepare an informative,high quality type of speech for everyone because I realize that to become a good speaker is not as easy as abc but as the saying goes, practice makes perfect!Besides that,all the knowledge from this course should be implemented in my daily life so that I could achieve a better quality of life as a Degree student.Some values such as cooperative,being tolerant,understanding and responsible can i workout when meeting the societies.The analytical skills can I apply when I am managing my financial and the most important is I can apply all those soft skills when working out any projects whether in groups or individually.

                         OTHERS & COMMENTS

I hope I would apply all the knowledge that I've gain through this course in my daily life,for this time being and also for the future ahead.I am grateful enough for being as a part of Group 10!  <3ME GUSTA<3





                      Written by Group 10 Responsibility-in-charge

                        Nur Mastura binti Mahmood

                       SEN120018

Assignment 1

Hi,everyone..

1. What have I learnt?

I learnt to manage my time wisely as I am the person-in-charge of time-management. It is very important for us to manage our time between study and activities..

2. How do I feel?

I enjoyed the lesson very much as I can interact with all the groupmates..We discuss and share our opinions and this allow us to know each other well and prevent misunderstanding as well..

3. Where and how can I apply?

Firstly, is my study....time-management is important for me to divide my time equally between my study and activities..

Secondly, is my activities....leadership is needed in every aspects..I learnt how to conduct the clubs' meeting and improve my leadership skill as well....

4. Others

I feel happy with every groupmates..we share and discuss among us and this improve our relationship..I hope that my group is the BEST among the rest!

From Chong Hong Lan
SEN120003