Our team met after class on Thursday to conduct some icebreaker exercises and exchange contact information. All team members were present and contributed to both the exercises and to the preliminary organizational activities which we conducted. The team set up a wiki page to facilitate collaborative production and to have a centralized repository for our work. In addition, we set up a Facebook group, shared schedules and began to formulate group policies. The icebreaker exercise consisted of each member answering a series of questions regarding their age, background and goals. We then discussed both a current affairs topic (tax policy) and considered an ethical dilemma that enabled each member to both express their opinions and their decision-making process. Lastly, each member identified what they perceived to be their strengths and weaknesses as a part of the team. The results of these exercises are summarized below. Jin Jie is a 22-year old Financial Services major. Her past experience includes work as a Japanese interpreter for the Shanghai Expo in 2007 and at Chinese Network Company. Jin was originally a Japanese language major at her school in China, but decided that she wanted something more challenging. Her goal is to become a banker after graduating from CSUN. Fengyu Cao is a 24-year old Finance major. He has a lot of real-world experience from having worked as a secretary at a clothing factory in Dalian, China. Originally, Fengyu was studying Business English, but decided he wanted to change is major, which is not easy in China. Fengyu therefore decided to transfer to school here in America so he could study Finance and pursue his dream of working for a bank. Alexandria Wood is a 21-year old Accounting major. She has had jobs at the snack bar of a bowling alley, as a sales associate at Gap, and at a travel agency. Ali was studying to become a veterinary technician at Pierce College; someone close to her convinced her that she could do more with her life as a Business major. While taking an introductory Accounting class, she met the professor with whom you intellectually fall in love with and who through his great teaching skills made her want to be an Accountant. She still harbors a dream however, to someday go to law school. Justin Alford is a 23-year old Management major. He had a series of retail-type jobs in Connecticut before moving to California to work as an estimator for his Grandfather’s flooring company; he enjoyed the job and the state so much that he decided to transfer to CSUN and has never looked back. Justin chose the Management major because he wanted to pursue a general path where he could become acclimated with various different aspects of the business world. Justin plans on taking over his Grandfather’s company once he gets his degree. Richard Rodriguez is a 21-year old Marketing major. He is currently an intern for the City of Carson in their IT Department, and has previously worked for a couple of retail companies including 3 years at Hollister. Richard chose marketing as a major because he did not want to work with a lot of numbers; he wanted to be creative, and come up with ideas to sell products in unique ways. Richard hopes to either head the Marketing department of a large firm or help a smaller company achieve major growth through his efforts. Tony Kaloutian is a 29-year old Real Estate major. He recently passed the California State Brokers Exam, which will allow him to open his own Real Estate Company in the near future. Aside from his 5 years of Real Estate sales experience, he has also worked as a technical consultant for J2 Global Communications. He chose his major because of his current experience in the field. David Abasta is a 29-year old Real Estate/Finance/Economics major. He is an Army veteran, having served in the Corps of Engineers. He has also worked as City Planner for several cities (including for New York’s post-9/11 reconstruction efforts), and as a bartender and retail manager. He chose his majors because funding and money are the driving forces behind development and mastering these is required to make the most impact on cities and communities. David hopes to own his own development firm. From an ethical perspective, everyone is committed to following the guidelines in the course of conduct; nevertheless, within everyone’s ethical structures three basic groupings emerge. Ali and Richard are ethical purists, who believe that rules should be established and then followed in a consistent manner. Justin and Jin are pragmatists that believe that the contours of the situation should be considered and that the case-by-case specifics are important in determining ethical solutions. Tony, David and Fengyu tend toward utilitarianism in that they tend to value the greatest good or least damage more highly than other ethical considerations. Aside from having a solid mix of different majors and backgrounds, our team has a wide cross-section of skills and strengths that may complement each other well. Ali, Jin, Fengyu and Tony are workaholics who are good at pushing through deadlines and staying on track. Richard, Tony, Ali and David are good communicators with a variety of creative skills. Justin, David and Richard are good team organizers and able to facilitate group dynamics. Jin, Justin and Fengyu are comfortable with mathematics and numbers. Lastly, David and Tony are good at using technology to meet our combined goals.
The icebreaker exercise consisted of each member answering a series of questions regarding their age, background and goals. We then discussed both a current affairs topic (tax policy) and considered an ethical dilemma that enabled each member to both express their opinions and their decision-making process. Lastly, each member identified what they perceived to be their strengths and weaknesses as a part of the team. The results of these exercises are summarized below.
Jin Jie is a 22-year old Financial Services major. Her past experience includes work as a Japanese interpreter for the Shanghai Expo in 2007 and at Chinese Network Company. Jin was originally a Japanese language major at her school in China, but decided that she wanted something more challenging. Her goal is to become a banker after graduating from CSUN.
Fengyu Cao is a 24-year old Finance major. He has a lot of real-world experience from having worked as a secretary at a clothing factory in Dalian, China. Originally, Fengyu was studying Business English, but decided he wanted to change is major, which is not easy in China. Fengyu therefore decided to transfer to school here in America so he could study Finance and pursue his dream of working for a bank.
Alexandria Wood is a 21-year old Accounting major. She has had jobs at the snack bar of a bowling alley, as a sales associate at Gap, and at a travel agency. Ali was studying to become a veterinary technician at Pierce College; someone close to her convinced her that she could do more with her life as a Business major. While taking an introductory Accounting class, she met the professor with whom you intellectually fall in love with and who through his great teaching skills made her want to be an Accountant. She still harbors a dream however, to someday go to law school.
Justin Alford is a 23-year old Management major. He had a series of retail-type jobs in Connecticut before moving to California to work as an estimator for his Grandfather’s flooring company; he enjoyed the job and the state so much that he decided to transfer to CSUN and has never looked back. Justin chose the Management major because he wanted to pursue a general path where he could become acclimated with various different aspects of the business world. Justin plans on taking over his Grandfather’s company once he gets his degree.
Richard Rodriguez is a 21-year old Marketing major. He is currently an intern for the City of Carson in their IT Department, and has previously worked for a couple of retail companies including 3 years at Hollister. Richard chose marketing as a major because he did not want to work with a lot of numbers; he wanted to be creative, and come up with ideas to sell products in unique ways. Richard hopes to either head the Marketing department of a large firm or help a smaller company achieve major growth through his efforts.
Tony Kaloutian is a 29-year old Real Estate major. He recently passed the California State Brokers Exam, which will allow him to open his own Real Estate Company in the near future. Aside from his 5 years of Real Estate sales experience, he has also worked as a technical consultant for J2 Global Communications. He chose his major because of his current experience in the field.
David Abasta is a 29-year old Real Estate/Finance/Economics major. He is an Army veteran, having served in the Corps of Engineers. He has also worked as City Planner for several cities (including for New York’s post-9/11 reconstruction efforts), and as a bartender and retail manager. He chose his majors because funding and money are the driving forces behind development and mastering these is required to make the most impact on cities and communities. David hopes to own his own development firm.
From an ethical perspective, everyone is committed to following the guidelines in the course of conduct; nevertheless, within everyone’s ethical structures three basic groupings emerge. Ali and Richard are ethical purists, who believe that rules should be established and then followed in a consistent manner. Justin and Jin are pragmatists that believe that the contours of the situation should be considered and that the case-by-case specifics are important in determining ethical solutions. Tony, David and Fengyu tend toward utilitarianism in that they tend to value the greatest good or least damage more highly than other ethical considerations.
Aside from having a solid mix of different majors and backgrounds, our team has a wide cross-section of skills and strengths that may complement each other well. Ali, Jin, Fengyu and Tony are workaholics who are good at pushing through deadlines and staying on track. Richard, Tony, Ali and David are good communicators with a variety of creative skills. Justin, David and Richard are good team organizers and able to facilitate group dynamics. Jin, Justin and Fengyu are comfortable with mathematics and numbers. Lastly, David and Tony are good at using technology to meet our combined goals.