What I've Learned So Far

1.  I have learned a few things that are important in running any business. In order to run a small business one must be able to plan, organize, lead, and control. Planning involves determining organizational goals and means for achieving them. Dairy Depot which is a small business, I have had the experience to see how things are planned and executed. I have seen how budgets are set, and employee meetings, where employees get a chance to explain what they think, can be improved in the business. Organizing is deciding where decisions will be made, who will do what job and tasks, and who will work for whom in the company. I have seen when employees call in sick to work, and substitutes have to take the place of the employee. There needs to be organization in a company and always a plan B. Leading involves inspiring workers and motivating workers to work hard to achieve organizational goals. Lauren, which manages the business, motivates the employees with paid vacations, gift cards, and employee of the month certificate. Employees work better when they are motivated with other things besides money. Controlling is monitoring progress toward a goal achievement and taking corrective actions when progress isn't being made. Currently at Dairy Depot there is a goal to achieve more customers and it’s currently in progress.

2. This picture I took represents the four functions of managing a business. Planning is shown with the sticky notes how things are planned out. The iPhone also represents planing because it's open on the calendar app and the phone also represents communication. Organizing can be represented with the paper and the pencil, because things need to be organized before being executed. For leading I put the calculator which can represent, when an employee is rewarded with little bonuses for showing effort. Controlling are all the sticky cards on the table because everything is being tracked on them, which leads to an accomplished goal.

3. The research that helped me accomplish this was my college textbook “MGMT 4” by Chuck Williams, and my mentor Lauren whom manages Dairy Depot. I learned the four functions to managing a business in my college textbook, and saw it executed in my service learning, which allowed me to get the full experience.