MGT3120TAWIL

Executive Summary:

Our group’s topic was “The Changing Business World”. Dr. Abe Tawil constantly states that our global markets are continuously changing and that the world is becoming smaller and smaller everyday. Even when we go to sleep with a new idea, someone across the globe is already implementing it. Changes are rapid and hard to keep up with, making this topic seem very appealing to our group. Due to the fact that it was very broad, we had to find a focal point. Our initial idea was to find speakers who left large corporations to join or start their own smaller sized firms. They would speak about the changes, benefits and disadvantages of both business worlds and how the recession affected them. Unfortunately, we were unable to recruit an adequate number of speakers who could relate to this topic, so we collectively decided to change our focus. We agreed to broaden our topic, and bring in speakers from different industries and firms to discuss changes they had experienced in their respective fields. Our persistence, team work, and group dedication enabled us to recruit Dr. Kamal Zafar, Al Falack and Eduard Mikinberg as our panelists, and Professor Edward G. Rogoff as our moderator.
Often people experience many issues while working on group projects from leadership to decision making; fortunately, we were very compatible as a group and our group communication was excellent. We divided leadership amongst all of our members and we actively contributed during our meetings and outside of class. We consistently met before and after class to discuss whom we had contacted and what our goal for that week would be. We also had several official group meetings out of the classroom, and we constantly stayed in contact via email and text message for prompt responses. We created a group environment that allowed everyone to feel comfortable to provide feedback and support each other through the process. This experience definitely taught us how important it is to learn to work with one another and how valuable communication is. By communicating our goals and ideas, managing our time, actively contributing, and providing feedback on a consistent basis, we were able to succeed in putting together our panel.
We all contacted speakers from different sources. Unfortunately, we learned that rejection was very common. Many people didn’t respond or declined. However, we stayed committed to our goal and were more aggressive about contacting people. Due to our great efforts, we were able to recruit our panelists and have them participate in a very successful panel.
We learned from our panelists that it is important to find a passion and pursue it. Dr. Kamal Zafar eloquently stated, “You need to develop passion and passion will build your confidence. With your confidence you will be able to cause the snowball effect – which is to have people around you to join and support your cause or organization”. Confidence is vital to success and being able to inspire others around you to believe in what you are doing is essential. Another great point that all speakers touched upon was about being open-minded. Everyone must be open-minded in regards to approaching other people because one day that individual you met might help you succeed. Judging others based on biases is only limiting the opportunities you have to succeed.

Questions:
1.  Please tell us about your current occupation and business line.
2.  What effect did the recession have on your company and how has your company dealt with it?

3.  How has technology changed your business and how do you see its effect moving forward into the future?

4.  Have you witnessed changes in customer management styles in your company over the last several years?

5.  Does maintaining ethical standards have a larger impact in your industry as opposed to before the recession?

6.  Does environmental sustainability play a role in your company?

7.  How is your company dealing with the push towards globalization?

8.  Have management strategies changed within your company?

9.  What are new challenges that you face in your work environment today?

10. What skills do you believe people need today in order to be successful in the changing business world?

Quote: “You need to develop passion and passion will build your confidence. With your confidence you will be able to cause the snowball effect – which is to have people around you to join and support your cause or organization.” – Dr. Kamal Zafar

We thank our panelists, moderator, and audience for making this event so successful.