University: California State University Los Angeles
City: Los Angeles
Country: United States
Continent: North America
Field of study: Business Administration, International Business Administration
Study type: semester abroad
University selection
My biggest intention in going to the USA as a freemover was the prospect of facing the challenge of America independently of fellow students and familiar faces. I chose the USA because I wanted to go to English-speaking countries to learn the language without the influence of another language. What attracted me to Los Angeles, as the second largest city in the United States and the hotspot on the American west coast, were the many sights, cityscapes and landscapes that were previously only known from television. Check educationvv.com to see California State University San Marcos Exchange Program.
For my application to Cal State LA I needed a valid language certificate, for which the DAAD was sufficient, which the university could issue to me. In addition, an overview of grades in English from the home university and a copy of the passport valid for the duration of the stay abroad were required. I was then able to send the documents to the office of “MicroEdu” and they then forwarded them after a few suggestions for improvement.
Accommodation
I chose to live in the “dorms” at the university. The apartment was equipped with a large kitchen, living room, balcony and spacious bedrooms, which I shared with a Korean woman. The positive thing about living in the dorms was that they are already fully furnished and I was also able to share kitchen utensils with my flatmates. There were four of us in total – in addition to me, two American girls and my roommate. The dorms were right at the foot of the university, which enabled me to walk to all university facilities.
Course choice
For my learning agreement, I had to find out in advance about the courses I wanted to take, so that when the lectures started I already had a rough plan of which courses I would like to take. However, you cannot register for the courses from the outset, this is reserved for American students. The final registration and mandatory participation in courses for international students only takes place on site, during the ” class crashing” instead of. In “class crashing” you sit down in the desired courses, take part in the first lecture and ask the professor after the lecture to be accepted. Most lectures still have vacancies as many students sign up for courses but ultimately do not take the space. In two of my courses this was not a problem, in the third I had luck on my side and was drawn into the course.
Courses taken
MGMT 306: Production and Operations Management
“Management of the operations function of manufacturing and service firms including operations strategy, forecasting, process design and improvement, production and inventory management, supply chain management, capacity planning and management, and quality assurance.”
The lecture was divided into the following topics:
- Operations and Productivity
- Organization of the production of goods and services
- Operations management trends
- Lighting of the service sector
- productivity
- “Aggregate Planning”
- planning processes
- Aggregated planning strategies
- Methods for aggregated planning
- Aggregate planning in the service sector
- “Forecasting”
- types of forecasting
- strategic importance
- forecasting approaches
- time series and forecasts
- Review and controlling of forecasts
- “Short-term termination”
- strategic importance
- termination issue
- Job sequencing
- Gantt chart
The grading consisted of a midterm, a final exam and four weekly homework, which were worked out in the group.
MGMT 307: Management and Organizational Behavior
“Analysis of management process with emphasis on business environment; interpersonal and intergroup processes and relationships in organizations”
The lecture was divided into the following topics:
- “The Environment of Management”
- Change in the working environment of a manager
- Ethical accountability to society
- Global management and managerial tasks beyond the borders of one’s own country
- out
- Planning
- Planning as the basis of successful management
- Strategic management
- Individual and group decision
- “Organize”
- Organizational culture, structure and design
- human resources management
- Organizational change and innovation
- “Leading”
- Managing individual differences and behavior
- motivate employees
- groups and teams
- Power, Influence and Leadership
- Interpersonal and organizational communication
- Controlling
- control systems and quality management
The best, but at the same time most complex course I have attended. The final grade was composed of the quizzes that were written each week, a 20-page essay about a company, which included its management and corporate culture (in team work), a presentation (also in a team), the weekly homework, the assignments in the course itself, a midterm and a final exam.
ENGR 383: Ancient and Modern Technology
“Systematic analysis of ancient technology and technological thought and its relationship to modern science and technological thought”
In contrast to my other courses, the course was not clearly structured. There was a lot of interaction with the professor within the course, through articles that were read as homework. A quiz was written each week on the topic dealt with during the week. The articles covered topics such as the development of technical devices, the impact and influence of technology on today’s society, women in technical professions, the impact of technology on the environment and the responsibility that comes with constant innovation. A very interesting course that allowed a look behind technology as such and broadened the view of the technical work environment. The final grade consisted of the weekly quizzes and an essay and final presentation on a topic that included technical development.
