MGMT 437: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PRACTICUM
Entrepreneurship Program Elective
College of Business Administration
Loyola Marymount University
Spring 2002
Dr. Charles Vance Office Hours:
Office: Hilton 219 Wed. 1:30-7:30 PM
Office Phone: (310) 3384508 (or by appointment)
FAX: (310) 338-3000
E-mail:
Introduction
“Know thyself.” --Written on the wall of the ancient Temple of Delphi
“The unexamined life is not worth living.” --Attributed to Socrates by Plato
If you are a selfdirected learner, this course represents one of the best opportunities that you will ever have to think about who you are and where you are going with your life. This advanced business elective will help you to (1) carefully examine through various self-assessment tools your personal career needs and interests, (2) gain and reflect upon valuable internship work experiences, and (3) based on the above develop a shortterm and longterm plan for achieving future career success. But if you are not a selfdirected learner, you should not take this course. This course will require:
· a paid or unpaid personally relevant off-campus internship work experience of a minimum of 100 hours (two different fiveweek internship experiences are also acceptable);
· regular recording (at least twice a week) of ongoing internship observations and insights related to concepts from previous coursework and/or as related to personal career planning;
· with the use of your personal journal entries, internship experience, readings, and several selfassessment exercises, the completion of a final indepth individual report which describes insights and specific plans (both short and longterm) for future career development.
Required Text: Bolles' What Color is Your Parachute? 2002 edition.
Highly Recommended: Chilton, The Wealthy Barber, 1997.
Internships
Students are responsible for securing their own internships. You are encouraged to check early with the internship office in University Hall 1322 for paid or unpaid internships. An acceptable internship can be found in virtually any kind of organization, whether public or private, profit or non-profit. Volunteer organizations are frequently interested in getting extra help in relevant areas for your internship. The internship office typically has many more internship opportunities available than the number of students interested and available to take them. It may take a bit of hunting, but you really have no excuse for not finding a useful and relevant internship experience that can provide a rich source for learning. In fact, there are many non-profit organizations that would readily welcome your volunteer services as part of a relevant, albeit unpaid, internship experience.
A student can not count work experience in which he or she is also involved as part of the requirements of another course. You also are not allowed to count internship experience that has already taken place before you begin this course. A student may use his/her current parttime job as an internship as long as the work can clearly provide experience and insights which are beneficial in some way for the student's career planning. You can have an excellent internship experience as part of a team of students working on a major consulting team project within an organization, as long as each student completes at least 100 hours on this team effort. Even though this is a team project, each student must still complete the course requirements on an individual basis. Be sure to check with your instructor if you have any question about the appropriateness of your internship experience.
Internship Documentation
By the date indicated on the course schedule you must hand in a one-page documentation of your internship (or equivalent) working experience. This documentation must include:
§ a brief description of your organization and department where you are working;
§ a list of your major duties and responsibilities;
§ the name, title, phone, mailing address, and e-mail address or your direct supervisor.
Personal Insights Internship Journal
Your regular work with your internship journal represents a vital tool for your success in this class, and greatly facilitates both your overall learning and completion of your final report for this class. You will regularly (e.g., at least two or more times per week, especially after your work when thoughts are fresh in your mind) enter into a Blackboard website reserved for this class your personal reactions, thoughts, concerns, questions, doubts, fears, etc., related to your internship work. As you work and during the nonworking hours continue to ask yourself questions such as (A) "How does my internship experience compare with what I have learned in class—how does it confirm, contradict, or add to what I have learned in my classes? (B) "What am I learning in this organization (including through both good and bad experience) that I will put to use in future organizations where I work to improve organizational productivity?" (C) "What am I learning that is useful in guiding my future personal career decisions?" and (D) "What more do I need to learn about work in organizations and about myself to better prepare for my professional career?"
As you get insights to these questions, jot them down before you lose them, then enter them in a thoughtful manner into a special section of the Blackboard website. Include your personal reflections on your experiences—the insights and meaning that you gain—not just descriptions of what you do. Your entries will be regularly monitored by the instructor, both in terms of entry frequency and quality, however, your entries will be treated completely confidential.
In addition to the above questions, as you work and during the nonworking hours continue to ask yourself, think, and write about such questions as these, where applicable:
1. What kind of business/organization is this? Profit, Non-Profit? How much competition is there? Who are the competitors? What are the biggest challenges that this business/organization faces for survival?
2. Who are the customers? Are they all the same, or how do they differ? Are there new customer market development opportunities?
3. How is the organization managing to survive and prosper, or how and why is it not prospering?
4. Who is in charge of management? How do they manage, work, make decisions, delegate, use their time, etc.? How could they be more effective in ways that would enhance organizational performance, and achieve both short and long term goals? How would you do things differently if you were in charge?
5. What are the organization’s short and long-term goals or strategic plans? Does anyone really know? Are they reexamined on a regular basis? Why or why not? Are these goals and strategic directions clearly communicated to you and the other employees? What is the level of employee understanding of and commitment to these goals and strategic directions?
6. How many employees are there? Are they all the same (except you perhaps?). How do they interact? Any cross-cultural differences? Any employee morale problems? Are employees treated effectively by management? What do they like about their job? Dislike? How could management remove obstacles that would help unleash employee motivation, energy, commitment, innovation, etc., more effectively?
7. What is the state of the technology that your organization uses? How could the technology be improved to help you and the organization improve performance effectiveness?
8. Does your organization have a strong customer orientation? How could customer responsiveness be improved? What are other markets and market segments that perhaps are being ignored or inadequately addressed? What are other methods that could be used to generate new business? Why are other potentially productive customer development methods not being used? What would it take to begin using them?
9. What are overall recommendations that you have for improving this organization where you are working?
10. In general, what are you learning about yourself from this work experience (including the good, the bad, and the ugly) that is profitable learning for your future? What more do you need to learn about work in organizations and about yourself to better prepare for your future career?"
Note: These are only examples of possible questions to think about--some of these may not be appropriate for your particular internship organization, and others not listed here might also be very important. The main thing is that you are actively reflecting upon and writing in your journal about your experience!
Your regular journal entries should not just briefly describe what you are doing, but especially should include your personal reactions and reflections about what you are doing--the personal meaning that you are gaining from the work experience.
You hold the primary responsibility for learning in your internship experience. For you to answer the above questions (and others that will often pop into your mind at any time, day or night), your active observation and question asking of your supervisor, other managers and employees, and possibly current customers if you can get to them, are essential. This internship represents an important learning experience for you, and you have the perfect right to ask all the dumb, sensitive, and forbidden questions that you want to help you answer the above and other questions, which you will also include in in-depth discussion and analysis in your Internship Final Report.
On the date specified in your course schedule you will hand in a summary progress report of your learning so far from your internship (approximately 5-10 pages, typed, page numbers, 1-inch margins, 12 pt. type, double-spaced). I will return your internship summary progress report with feedback, particularly regarding the professional nature of your written report. Be sure to consider this feedback and the instructions for section two of your final report to help you complete this internship summary progress report. You should subsequently build upon your work with this internship summary progress report in completing the corresponding section two of your final paper. Although it will not be graded, the internship summary progress report must be handed in by the class deadline to avoid a 10-point grading penalty.
Career SelfAssessment
Throughout the class you will be required to regularly take at your own pace a total of 10 different career selfassessment measures. Of these ten you must take five particular self-assessments: (1) the Strong Career Interests and the (2) Myers-Briggs Personality Inventories (both administered at LMU Career Development Services in University Hall 1322), (3) a measure related to emotional intelligence which will be provided to you in class, (4) a values identification self-assessment that will be provided to you in class, and (5) the Flower Exercise in Appendix A of the Bolles text. You must also complete at least five additional self-assessment measures of your choice from the Supplemental Self-Assessment Tools packet handed out in class, or from other reputable self-assessment tools you can find on your own. You can use the results that you already may have for the Strong or Myers-Briggs tests if you have completed them recently. You will carefully analyze the results of each of your self-assessment measures in completing section three of your final paper. Feel free to do additional self-assessments if you like. The more measures you have, the clearer and more reliable picture you can obtain of yourself for accurate future career planning.
Networking Business Card Assignment
On the date indicated in the course schedule you will hand in a brief (e.g., one-to-three pages) report of an off-campus professional association/group meeting (with multiple companies represented at the event) that you attend during the semester. I will provide you with a list of current professional organizations that you might consider contacting. You will begin this report with a brief description of the meeting (e.g., when, where, nature of the group/association, and why you chose this meeting to attend--not just to complete this assignment!). Then include a photocopy of at least five business cards of professionals that you met at the meeting, with a brief description of what you learned about each of these professionals and his/her organization. Feel free to attend the professional meeting with others in the class (strength lies in numbers!), but you may share only two of your business contacts/cards from the same person. This assignment is required but will not be graded. You will lose 10 points if this assignment is handed in late.
Class Contribution
The class sessions will include presentations of useful tips and ideas for job hunting and preparation, networking, interviewing, developing and using mentors, managing career politics and survival, and planning for longerterm (e.g., middle and late career) success. The class sessions also will include your voluntary sharing of personal meaningful learning experiences from your internship/work experience activity for the benefit of the entire class. Your attendance is mandatory, and any more than two absences can greatly affect your final grade. Please avoid tardiness. You will receive a possible 50 points based on your attendance and quality of participation in these class sessions, as well as your regular Blackboard journal entries (you should have around 20-30 postings if you are being truly reflective about your wor-learning experience).
Testing
On the dates indicated on the course schedule you will receive an 80-point exam (with multiple choice, true-false, short-answer essay questions) covering all previous class discussions and specified readings. You will need a Scantron form (1-50 on the first side) and a #2 pencil for each of the two exams.
Final Professional Development Paper
Due on the date indicated in the course schedule is a 20 page+ (approximate length, excluding Appendix) Professional Development Paper. This paper should be of a professional nature (e.g., well proofed, typed, doublespaced, paginated, 1-inch margins, 12 pt. type, with effective use of headings). This paper will focus on what you have learned from your internship experience, your career selfassessment, and the class sessions in terms of your specific immediate, shortterm, and longerterm plans for managing your career. Your final paper must include the following major sections:
1. A brief description of the personal and professional life goals that you have near the end of the class as you begin to put this final paper together.
2. Based on your personal journal, a brief summary of your internship experience(s) (including a brief but clear description of your organization and your duties there) and an analysis (well beyond mere description!) of the most important things you learned about yourself, your future career, and about work in organizations. Be sure to use and build upon your internship summary progress report that you hand in earlier in the semester.