Supply Chain Management Careers

One benefit of majoring in Supply Chain Management(SCM) is the variety of career opportunities that are presented. I was able to learn a lot about the different careers that a person with a SPM degree can get from a website that I found. A Supply Chain Management degree opens the door to so many different careers because all businesses, whether large or small, rely on getting supplies in order to get their product or service to customers. In this blog post, I will be explaining three different job titles that a person with a SCM degree can get according to Rasmussen College.

The first job that a person with a SCM degree can get is an Industrial Production Manager. An Industrial Production Manager basically finds ways to make manufacturing plants better. They can do this by doing some of the basic things like figuring out how to hire and train plant workers, decide when new machinery is necessary, make sure products are quality products, and making sure that production stays on schedule. They can also do more complex tasks such as analyzing data or planning ways to make the plant more efficient. Industrial Production Managers' average starting salary is $89,190.00 per year. This salary can vary based on the company, location, and other factors.

Photo Credit: careercast.com

Another job that a person with a SCM degree can get is a Logistician. A logistician is likely the career that most people think of when they hear about SCM. Logisticians are important for every part of the supply chain. They think about, analyze, and plan every step needed in order to make a product. From ordering the supplies for a product, minimizing costs, suggesting improvements, developing relationships, and understanding customer wants and needs, logisticians are a part of every step. The average starting salary of a Logistician is approximately $72,780.00 per year (Xu). Once again, this salary likely varies based on the company, location, and other factors.

Photo Credit: bls.gov

The last job category that I will be describing is Purchasing Managers, Buyers, and Purchasing Agents. The jobs of these types of people are to “find and evaluate suppliers, determine the price and quality of goods, negotiate contracts with suppliers, and determine when products should be delivered”. Basically they decide where it is best to buy supplies from for the cheapest price and a high quality. The average starting salary for people with these types of job titles is about $65,550.00 per year. Similar to the above two careers, this salary varies based on the company, location, and other factors.

Photo Credit: careerrelay.com

These are just three different job categories that a person with a Supply Chain Management degree can get. Like many business degrees, SCM opens the door for many possible jobs within the business field. I think that getting a degree that makes it possible to have different job titles is important because it probably makes it easier to get a job, as well as find something that you enjoy doing. Learning about these three careers have made me interested to learn about more career options and it has made me excited to learn more about Supply Chain Management.
 -Brianna

Interviews and Impaired Intrepidity

It's the night before your big interview for that job you have worked so vigorously to have. You get the jitters just thinking about all the ifs and ands, and the whats and buts. What do I wear? What will they ask me? What if I'm not good enough? How do I calm myself down and get this over with already?! We've all been there. And if you haven't, you will be eventually. I'm here to give some tips on how to nail that Public Relations interview with a video I found on Howcast. You will be destined to get the role on the PR team, working to promote positivity and popularity to the public in no time. Enjoy!

-Grace

Careers in Sports Marketing

Sports Marketers are the driving force of a multi-billion dollar industry. When a majority of the population is interested in the sports industry, there is no room to not take advantage of the large market. 

Marketing in the sports industry has increased immensely over the past 30 years. Therefore, there has been creations of new degrees, and potential careers. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 71% of employees in the sports marketing industry have a bachelor's degree, while only about 25% hold a master's degree. Companies also prefer marketers that have gotten their MBA at some point in their career. 

Source: Scribblelive.com 

Due to the rapid increase of the industry, there are plenty of degrees that go under the sports marketing category. The degrees spread all the way from the school of science and kinesiology, to business administration and sales, and even to philosophy. No matter which field of study you are engaged in, the traditional sports marketer must be familiar with basics in sales, manage marketing and ethics, and also should have knowledge in human resources. 

Sports Marketing is a broad industry. Graduates with degrees in these fields have freedom and room to choose which part of the industry they are interested in. Some of these jobs may include public relations, club and event management or promotions. However, there is a different side to sports marketing. People with knowledge in sports can be placed in a more important, behind the scenes job. These jobs include, athletic director, sports agent, sports administrator, and possibly director of operations for a certain sport. During the sports season, these types of jobs require much creativity and adaptability. It is also the most busy time for the industry, which also brings hard work and travel. The Bureau of Labor statistics suggest that marketing specialists are expected to grow by around 29% from 2010 to 2020.

Source: blogmediainc.com 

Salaries

In the entry level positions for younger graduates, the pay is nothing too special. However, experienced marketing specialists traditionally make around six-figures, around $120,000 annually. A survey conducted by the American Marketing Association in 2010 found that salaries also vary in the marketing industry depend on location. For example, a marketer in New York City will have a salary upwards $100,000, compared to a marketer from Houston who would make less than $85,000. 

Although there is little marketing specialist  positions open, there is still plenty of room for anyone in the marketing world. 

-Jackson

works cited

State, By. "What Is Sports Marketing?" Marketing Career Information. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2016.

 "Career and Professional Development." Sports Marketing. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2016. 

Prompt #2: Ethics... We All Have Them

As people, we have our moral principles that guide our actions. These are what as known as ethics. Businesses all have their own code of ethics as well. These codes of ethics are moral guidelines for the workers and management of the company. In terms of Public Relations, their code of ethics documented by PRSA consists of six moral pillars which include:

1. Advocacy
2. Honesty
3. Expertise
4. Independence
5. Loyalty
6. Fairness

Source: bcista.ca

1. Advocacy is the responsibility of promoting the highest standards for which the firm represents by serving ideas, facts, and viewpoints

2. Honesty is promoting the truth of accurate information.

3. Expertise is presenting reliable knowledge to the public through professional development and research

4. Independence is the virtue in which all actions are alleged for and taken responsibility of.

5. Loyalty is meeting the obligations of the public's interest while simultaneously being dependable. 

6. Fairness is the effort to respect all employers, clients, peers, vendors, the media, and publics and reach out to them in the same manner. Expression and opinion are recognized, not frowned upon.

Some of these career ethics can be found similarly in my life. Honesty, independence, loyalty, and fairness are the four I live by.

• Honesty: I believe in order to earn respect and trust, honesty must be present. Lying about minute details or grand notions does nothing but come back and haunt you. 

Source: mitraindia.org

• Independence: I always take accountability for my work regardless of the consequence. Owning up to your actions despite the aftermath is a large portion of who you are as a person.

• Loyalty: I have always believed in being loyal. Staying faithful to those who matter and your work is vital.

• Fairness: If you want people to be fair to you, you must be fair to them; and for that, I have idolized fairness since I learned what it was.

Source: linkedin.com

I find that people are consciously aware of the ethics set in stone for PR because the public still reacts to their work. If the people weren't aware of their ethics, why would they show interest?

If the ethical reputation were to become corrupt, it would not only impact the business, but the professional as well. For example, let's say the reputation was poor. The firm would go out of business for one because nobody would believe their work. Then, the professional goes out and looks for another job. It may become difficult to find another job at a different PR firm because the employers would view the individual professional as unethical for working for that specific business.

I hope I helped provide some knowledge on ethics and how impactful it can be for a business and an individual. Join me again next week as I provide tips for crushing that Public Relations interview!

-Grace

What is Supply Chain Management?

Supply Chain Management is an extremely important part of running any kind of business. Supply Chain Managers do not only work for stores and companies responsible for making goods, but Supply Chain Managers can work almost anywhere, including hospitals, banks, auto dealers, hotels, and airlines. That is why it is important to understand what Supply Chain Management is; however, many people are unfamiliar with it. Most people assume that Supply Chain Managers are simply responsible for buying the right amount of a good, but there is much more to Supply Chain Management than that. According to Lynda, the job of a Supply Chain Manager is to make sure that the customer has access to a product when and how they want it. That sounds very simple, but there's actually a lot that goes into making simple products.

Photo Credit: linkedin.com

For example, in order to produce a simple good like a water bottle, there are many processes and resources needed. First, you need the empty bottles and caps. In order to ship those, you will need boxes, pallets to put the boxes on, a fork lift to move the pallets, a fork lift driver, a truck, a truck driver, fuel, and insurance. Then, you need the label. This means you need the resources to design, print, and ship the labels to the plant (another truck, truck driver, fuel, and insurance). Next, you will need a bottling plant. In that bottling plant you need employees, lightbulbs, garbage bags, machine parts, janitorial supplies, toilet paper, and all other supplies that would be used at the plant by employees. You also need access to water, machines to purify the water, and machines to put the labels on the bottles. Then, once again, you need more supplies to transport the bottles. That does not even cover everything needed for producing water bottles. As you can see, many resources go toward creating a simple product. Supply Chain Managers are responsible for making sure that all of this happens successfully at minimal costs, making a high quality product.

Photo Credit: linkedin.com

One key component of successful Supply Chain Management is team work. Often times, in order to have good Supply Chain Management, many people work together on a team. In order for the team to be successful, the teams must trust each other, accept individual goals, understand the group goals, and be committed to improving. Another key component of Supply Chain Management is understanding trade-offs. In Supply Chain Management, most of the time, the trade-offs may include money, quality, time, and/or flexibility. Supply Chain Managers need to know which of these is most important and which can be of lower prioritization. Last, Supply Chain Managers need to understand the importance of quality. The product can only be as good as the items used to make it. Also quality is what encourages consumers to buy the product. Therefore, Supply Chain Managers should be sure that they are buying high quality resources. These are just a few of the basic concepts of Supply Chain Management.
-Brianna

Prompt #1: Asking Questions and Breaking Assumptions About Business

Across the United States, many people have preconceptions and stereotypes that they believe to be true about those working in the business field. Personally, when I hear someone works in the business field, there are immediately several stereotypes that pop into my head about the average work day in a business. I picture well-dressed people going to their boring nine to five job doing the same thing each day. They usually strut in with their computer bag or briefcase and a cup of coffee rushing to be on time, only to sit in their cubicle crunching numbers for eight hours. They usually like math, have good communication skills, and are very motivated to make money by putting in hours and hours of work.

Photo Credit: thekeyclass.com

In order to put these preconceptions to the test, I set out to find a business related textbook to learn more about the business field. One textbook that I was able to get my hands on is about finance. Finance is a major in the business field. Many people with a finance major often find jobs in the financial services industry, or “companies that provide monetary asset management and other services” (142, Garman, Forgue). People with a finance major can acquire jobs as financial analysts, financial planners, risk managers, applications developers, and quantitative analysts.

This textbook provided some information about the skills, traits, interests, and characteristics needed for this major that correlate with my preconceptions. For example, most people with this major do need a lot of math skills and communication skills; however, there are other valuable skills that a person working in this field might need. They must have exceptional analytical skills in order to gather and analyze information. Also, they must be good leaders, even if working an entry level job, in order to have effective communication and teamwork. Some other traits that are helpful for the job include confidence, the ability to work technology with ease, professionalism, and the ability to build relationships.

In addition to some of the traits needed, the textbook also provided insight into some of the types of tasks these professions may need to complete on a daily basis. They may need to interpret and analyze the finances of a business or person, monitor cash flows and predict future trends, form long-term plans for businesses and clients, manage budgets, build relationships with other people such as auditors, bankers, and solicitors, produce financial reports, and much more (104, Garman, Forgue). As you can see, there is more to the job than my preconception which was simply crunching numbers all day in a cubicle. There is actually a lot of time spent with groups of people and communicating with people outside of the office.

Photo Credit: www.bullhorn.com

As you can see, this textbook provided a lot of information about finance careers and proved to be of tremendous help to me. While it did not provide a lot of information about the daily lives of people with financial careers, it provided a lot of information about the traits, characteristics, and tasks of those with a finance career. I also learned a lot of vocabulary about finance itself. It helped me realize the amount of depth involved with finance. There are so many concepts and hundreds of vocabulary terms that I have never heard before, which opened my eyes to how much there is to learn about this field. I realize that I did have a couple of preconceptions that were true, but so much more to learn. This textbook was extremely effective and I am amazed at the amount I could learn.
-Brianna

 Works Cited

 Garman, Thomas E., and Raymond Forgue E. Personal Finance. 11th ed. N.p.: Cengage Learning, 2012. Print.





















 

Sports Marketing: How Does it Work?

In 2011, The National Football Foundation reported that over 49,000,000 people attended at least NCAA Football game, and that over 110,000,000 people were tuned in for Super Bowl XLV. Sports captures the attention of millions of fans, die-hard or casual. Due to this, marketing in this business is surely worth it. 

Marketing is simply the business of promoting and selling products and services, including market research and advertising. It is the production of getting your brand out into the public so consumers can see what you are selling. 

Sports Marketing

Sports Marketing uses sports in any way, shape, or form to help sell a product. Sports Marketing can include a commercial during your favorite teams game, or an advertisement on a professional teams' jersey. This isn't only limited for professional sports, and may include NCAA and other college events, minor league events, and world games.    

Because of the variety of platforms sports can be seen on, sports marketing can also take many forms.

Sports programs and organizations will sell space throughout their stadium for advertisements going to the highest bidder. This is a very effective way for companies to get positive recognition from the teams and the fans. Another way is from TV networks selling advertisements during the games. More people will be watching the game at home rather than in person, so this strategy reaches out to a larger audience, but it might not be as effective. 

The biggest advantage for sports marketers is piggybacking on the love the fans feel for their beloved teams or players. If a fan has been a fan for a specific team since birth, then the company that is associated with that team will gain instant credibility from the consumer. The biggest disadvantage for sports marketers is that the industry is so massive, it may be hard to stick out and create an impression. Fans are exposed to so many ads and other forms of sports marketing that it may be hard to stand out at the end of the day. 

Sports marketing is a broad industry. There are many forms and different types of ways for the information to get to the consumer. Stay tuned to find out more ways and strategies to make an impact on the sports marketing world. 

- Jackson

works cited

"Sports Marketing." Marketing-schools.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 

Public Relations: What Even Is It?

We've all heard of doctors and lawyers, and you have your mix of teachers and engineers, but where do the rest of us come in?  If you're like me, you realize none of those careers are really for you. That's not to get discouraged though, because Public Relations could be for you.

Source: guariscogroup.com

Public Relations? What’s that? Public Relations is work of professionals to promote a superb image of a company for the publics and media according to HowStuffWorks. Publics are anyone who has made or will make an opinion about the business, product, etc. The media is any form of mass communication such as newspapers, television, radio, or the Internet. These consumers can range from foreign citizens to members of the media press. 


Now in order to maintain the image of the company, it’s not just sitting behind a desk and faxing information over. PR representatives reach out to the community and media through a vast number of programs that include:

• challenging questionings
• organizing events
• building relationships

The purpose of this is so the firm can interact with the public while producing the company's image. This results in better reviews from the publics and media as well as a sharper outlook of the business or product to others.

Source: mediashift.org

So how do they do it? Public Relations experts compose press releases to positively reflect the company. An example of this would be a satisfactory advertisement about a local restaurant's delicious food. Even though the restaurant faced lawsuits and multiple customer complaints in the past, it still has a positive image because the Public Relations experts promoted the quality of their food in a convincing manner. 

I hope I taught you a little bit regarding the field of Public Relations. Come back next week for information regarding the code of ethics behind PR!




-Grace