Scott McKnight

68080720
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OFE Essay Exam

12/4/2017
Business Administration 2500
A. Organizational Field Experience
a. What is the organization and what is its mission?
i. This fall, my organizational field experience took me to the Food Bank for
Central and Northeast Missouri, whose mission is to acquire and distribute
food to partner agencies in order to alleviate the effects of disaster and
hunger on the region.
b. What job, responsibility, or task did you participate in during your time there?
i. My job at the Food Bank was primarily to repackage food products. By
doing this, I made it easier to distribute to individuals when the food reaches
the partner agencies that issue the goods. Secondarily, I provided assistance
with creating boxes to ease the process of transporting the food, as well as
set products in locations to streamline the process of repackaging.
c. List at least three types of stakeholders in the organization, and describe their
interest in the organization and its decisions.
i. In a not for profit such as the Food Bank, the three types of stakeholders
most present are suppliers, government, and the community. Suppliers
provide food and money for the organization to purchase, package, and
donate to those in need, while government provides the Food Bank with tax
breaks to increase the purchasing power of the Food Bank, and the
community provides volunteers and support for the mission to help their
fellow citizens.

B. Professional Competencies
a. List the five professional competencies.
i. Establish Relationships
1. Definition: Creating bonds with others to improve work place
environment and effectiveness.
2. How I developed this: At the Food Bank, meeting and talking with
people improved morale, which correlated to an increased
effectiveness of repackaging food products.
ii. Teamwork
1. Definition: Working together to achieve a common goal.
2. How I developed this: Most of the work done at the Food Bank
required teams of four to achieve a result, so the competency of
teamwork was improved through exposure to that system.
iii. Valuing Differences
1. Definition: People recognizing and appreciating others differences,
and using that to collaborate in an advantageous way.
iv. Empathy
1. Definition: The ability to understand another’s feelings and
emotions.
2. How I developed this at the Food Bank: As a not for profit
organization focused on feeding those that can’t provide for
 themselves, empathy is key for those involved. Empathy is what
drives volunteers to help in the efforts of the organization, so I
developed empathy through working here towards those benefiting
from my help.
v. Managing Conflict
1. Definition: The ability to handle a conflict effectively and
efficiently with minimal negative side effects.
2. How I developed this at the Food Bank: Conflict was not very
present at the actual site, as everyone seemed to be on the same
page, however managing my schedule to allot for the 2 hours a
week I volunteered proved to be a conflict that I handled
effectively.

C. Organizational Field Experience (Section 2)

a. How did your Organizational Field Experience meet your expectations?
i. My Organizational Field Experience met many of my expectations, as I,
primarily, expected to help the Food Bank’s processes to get food to those in
need, which I fulfilled by repackaging food. Secondly, an expectation of
meeting new people (establishing relationships) and developing teamwork
with such people was fulfilled, as I work efficiently with those that I have
met through this experience.
b. How did your Organizational Field Experience not meet your expectations?
i. Coming into this, I expected to do more specialized jobs, such as taking
inventory or handling organizational elements, but instead I was put with the
rest of the volunteers. However, I learned quickly to appreciate this, as
working with different people from many different backgrounds gave me
different perspectives on what my work there actually did, and made me
appreciate the work I was doing to improve my community even more.
c. How did you see professionalism demonstrated by other people in the
organization, and what impact did that behavior have on others or the
organization?
i. Professionalism was demonstrated by everyone’s willingness to abide by the
laws set in place to keep the work floor sanitary. Everyone wore their
hairnets, washed their hands, and wore gloves, as well as closed toed shoes.
This was aided by the supervisor’s willingness to follow the rules, which
created a ripple effect in the work community. By following these rules, the
food was protected from potential contamination, which would have a
negative effect on those receiving the food.
d. How did you see a lack of professionalism demonstrated by other people in the
organization, and what impact did that behavior have on others or the
organization?
i. A lack of professionalism was demonstrated by a few individuals breaking
the rules and using their cell phones on the work floor. Due to this, those
 individuals were distracted, and their performance hindered, which, due to
the dependability on one another to get a common goal done, slowed the
process, and ultimately resulted in a decrease in work done.
e. In general, what have you learned about workplace behaviors and
professionalism?
i. I’ve learned that by bringing professionalism to the workplace, the
efficiency of the workplace improves greatly, which ultimately leads to an
increase in production. The behavior you bring into the workplace is often
contagious as well, so by bringing an ineffective behavior can lead to an
overall decrease in productivity.

D. Updated Résumé Section

Food Bank of Central and Northeast Missouri Columbia, MO

Volunteer (Sept. 2017-Present)

 Repackaged food into smaller quantities for ease of distribution.

 Worked alongside others in a fast-paced work environment.
 Created boxes to improve ease of transportation of food.