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Lauren KurtzProfessor J. ArmstrongBMGT360 - Sec 0105September 14, 2012Interview of a ManagerPersonal IntroductionAs a double major in Supply Chain Management and Business Management, I am very open-minded about where I would like to go with my future career path. While I study these subjects in school, I cannot avoid my deep-rooted passion for philanthropy, sustainability, and all aspects of Corporate Social Responsibility. With experience in Human Resources, Supply Chain, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Event Planning, I hope to be able to use one of these skill sets in my future endeavors.Upon receiving this assignment, I knew that I wanted to interview one of my managers from thissummer. Greg Evelhoch was my Supply Chain manager until he moved into a new position. Although hewas in a new role, he continued to mentor me in different Supply Chain lessons about the business. As agreat leader and manager in the time I spent there, I knew he would have very valuable advice to offer for this assignment. InterviewName: Greg EvelhochCompany: Mars, Inc.Position: Value Stream Manager – Hackettstown Plant, Mars Chocolate North AmericaBeginning Date: August 2012Previous Position: Order Fulfillment Manager – Customer Care, Mars Chocolate North AmericaPlease explain your day-to-day responsibilities.On a daily basis I am responsible for the scheduling of 21 production lines, scheduling of raw materials and packaging of production, receiving of materials, staging materials for production, chocolate making for M&Ms and Peanut M&Ms, and shipping to warehouses and customers.What has been the biggest adjustment going from your last position into your new one?Learning the skill levels of the 14 direct reports and 30 indirect reports. It is a challenge to have 34 new people reporting to me that I need to thoroughly understand what their skill sets are.What are your busy seasons?Our busiest time of the year is from June-September. Halloween and Christmas are specifically busy holidays.As a seasonal company with Halloween and Christmas being your major “seasons,” how does your role as a manager change based on the season?I would say we are a seasonal business but not a seasonal company. We have seasons that are busier butwe are not necessarily a seasonal company. For my job in particular, during these seasons I’m putting in a ton of overtime and hiring more temporarylabor. Bringing in people to do temporary labor can be difficult; the temps do not feel total loyalty to the company that full-time Associates feel. On the other hand, our full-time Associates need to be balanced so as not to burn them out by working too much during these busy times.What is Mars’ attitude towards becoming an environmentally sustainable business? How does this affect your role as a manager?Our manufacturing plants are moving towards 0% landfill. We currently strive to reduce, reuse, and recycle everything. Our main goal right now is to eliminate all landfill. We monitor and try to reduce energy consumption. An example of this is the field of solar panels next to our Hackettstown plant; we are trying to use as much solar energy as possible.As a company value, Mars encourages their Associates to change positions every two years. This enables Associates to learn several parts of the business as well as remain engaged rather than bored with their job. Ideally, where do you see yourself five years from now? Will you still be working with Mars? Will you be in a new management position? What is your goal?In five years I would ideally like to be at a director level, hopefully at Mars. If it does not work out that I can move into this position at Mars, I would stay open minded about other opportunities. My goal is to stay with Mars because they are a great company and I feel very loyal to the; but I have developed diverse supply chain knowledge that should be effectively utilized in a director position. What preparations would you recommend I make for entry into this field as a profession?To come into this field, being a supply chain major with a business background helps. My biggest piece of advice is to capitalize on your communication skills and being able to talk to people and maximize other peoples’ potential. Push people to do as well as they can without driving them nuts. Going into a manager position, you should have people who report to you want to come to work the next day and enjoy their job. People should understand that work can be fun as well, but it’s still a business. Like, howdo you manage people older than you? You introduce “change management” and how you make things better, not just keep things the way they have been done in the past. Older people do not like to change as much and do not deserve to be fired because they do not like change; it is based on whether you are able to adapt to change or not.Most importantly, get comfortable with being uncomfortable. This is a new expectation of people entering the workforce. For instance, after school I was rejected 45 times but walked away with 5 offers!Be able to handle rejection because you cannot pinpoint 2 or 3 companies and assume you’ll get a job. Summary of the InterviewUpon receiving this assignment, I knew that Greg Evelhoch would be a perfect candidate to present about. Not only has he had numerous manager roles, but he has also worked with a variety of employees. He is a hard-working, dedicated Associate of Mars, Inc. and has rightfully earned every position he has fallen into.As my own personal manager, he took it upon himself to teach me as much as possible in the short period of time we had together. During this time, he set me up in networking positions. Hescheduled weekly meetings for me with different people in the Supply Chain field at Mars. He covered so many areas of Supply Chain including Customer Care, Replenishment, Plant Tour, Warehouse Tour, Flex, Commercial, and Demand Planning. As a Supply Chain intern, there is nothing more I could have asked for. As a manager, he exceeded all of my expectations. I had an incredible experience at the company this summer and a lot of it was due to his positive attitude and welcoming approach. Catching up with him over the course of this interview was delightful. Although I believed I would know some of the answers ahead of time, he always seemed to surprise me with new material. Some of the advice he provided me with was extremely memorable.For


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UMD BMGT 360 - Interview of a Manager

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