One of the goals of taking a principles of management course is to provide you with the opportunity to learn about the fundamentals of management theory and practice. Unless you've been in the workforce for a period of time, some concepts might be hard to relate to or understand.

The following "Journal Entries" will help you apply what you are learning in the text to real-life situations. There are one to two Journal Entries related to each text chapter for you to answer based on experiences you may have had or are having in your life. You can use a notebook to answer these questions to make up these Journal Entries for each chapter, or you can use these fill-in templates and email them to yourself to keep a running record of your experiences with management. You should be able to cut & paste the questions and your answers from your email into whatever word-processing program you use. Remember that your responses to the questions are based on your experiences, so there are no one correct or incorrect answers.

Your professor might choose to assign these as homework. Maintaining these Journal Entries after you study each chapter is also a good way to check your progress after completing a chapter.

1		Journal Entry 21: Describe a problem that developed due to your poor communication. How did you fix it? When there is a discrepancy between someone's verbal and non-verbal communications, which do you "believe"? Why? How have your perceptions impacted your ability to communicate effectively? Where does it impact you most--as the receiver or sender of the message? Do you require a paper trail? Or do you rely on computers and electronic data? How do you communicate with your friends and family while at school? Do you use the same method for everybody? Why or why not? How can organizations ensure the ethical use of computer communications without eavesdropping on their employees' emails? In practice, how effective is your boss, teacher, or parent in their communications? What could he or she do to improve their communications? Describe a cultural or gender communication problem you have encountered.
2		Journal Entry 22: Do you tend to believe conflict is good or bad? Do you confront or avoid it? What is the biggest source of conflict in your family? At school? At work? Describe a situation you were in recently where you were a successful (or unsuccessful) negotiator. What type of conflict handling behaviour do you use most? Describe a situation where you used a compromise or collaborative approach.