This document is an internship report submitted by Gabrielle Gray about her internship with the SDSU Aztec Athletics Marketing Department. The report discusses 5 key learning activities Gray completed during the internship. For each activity, Gray outlines the learning objectives, how she planned and executed the tasks, and how she demonstrated accomplishing the objectives. She also analyzes how concepts from her management courses, such as performance management and teamwork, applied to her experiences. Overall, the internship provided Gray with valuable real-world experience in sports marketing, event operations, and leadership skills.

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MGT 401.01 Business Internship
Integrative Analysis Report:
SDSU Aztec Athletics Marketing Department
Submitted By:
Gabrielle S. Gray
San Diego State University
November 23rd
, 2015
Professor:
Michael L. Sloan

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Integrative Analysis Report: SDSU Athletics Marketing Department
Purpose
In my learning activity contract, I set out five learning objectives where I wanted
to excel as a leader and understand the game operations of what the sports marketing
internship entailed. After acquiring the position for the semester, I met with my
supervisor one-on-one where we established the objectives and lessons that I wanted to
receive out of the internship. In addition, we scheduled regular office hours in which I
would work athletic events, meetings with department staff, and campus activities.
Throughout the progression of my internship, I learned so much on how to prepare for the
major events such as the division one sports programs. This internship was one of the
most valuable learning experiences in my collegiate career because of the network,
memories, and experience I had as an intern. I set out to achieve my learning activity
contract by working with my supervisor prior to each athletic event by understanding my
tasks and operations for the event. Whether it was setting up one-on-ones with him, or
arriving early prior to our call time to make sure I understood what I was supposed to be
doing during the game. In addition, it was not just me that worked alone on many of the
tasks and projects that needed to be fulfilled. I learned the importance of teamwork in a
professional environment, which I will discuss later in this report. Specific activities will
be described in my course contract along with evidence within my appendices. I will then
analyze a few academic related topics that the athletics department influenced my
learning and work environment. Thirdly, I will reflect on my experience and offer a few
recommendations, and final comments about my internship experience. Lastly, I will
conclude my report with a summary and generalizations of the internship program and an
attached bibliography for reference.

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Learning Experience Discussion
My learning activities involved 5 key learning outcomes. I will now discuss each
activity and present how I planned to accomplish the activity, how well I executed this
plan, how well I accomplished the activity, and what proof supports that I in fact
completed the activity. In addition, I will describe how my project added value to my
organization.
Learning Activity 1
My first learning activity of the internship was the second Aztec football game of
the 2015 season. After missing the home opener due to an illness, this was my first order
of duty while serving as a marketing intern with the athletic department. As stated in my
learning contract, I would be learning how to operate in-game production for second
game of the Aztec football season. I will become familiar with on field camera activities,
student spirit initiatives such as spirit competitions, and assisting groups in their on-field
experience. These tasks are pivotal in the game operations of the marketing department
because it involves the leadership skill of teamwork amongst my co-workers and
supervisors. The coordination of the football game will teach me the importance of active
listening, quick problem solver, and customer service orientation. The day before, we as
interns meet to review the game-script and duties of each one of our tasks. Each event
requires multiple tasks from us interns; therefore, it’s pivotal that everyone understands
what their tasks entails. As a student, I see the importance of leading and managing a
group of students in order to accomplish one common goal. I truly appreciate the way my
supervisor and manager took the time to fully engage us and prepare us for a huge
athletic event. This was one of the intrinsic lessons I observed from watching my
supervisor in which I will discuss in more detail later on in my report. It’s the Saturday of
the 2nd
football game of the season and I had nothing but thrill, excitement, and an
apprehensiveness to perform really well to my first job. My job assigned for the evening
was to be an assistant to the field camera. In my role, I am responsible for being aware of
all commercial breaks in order to promote our game sponsors on the jumbo-torn along
with working with other interns in selecting the participants in our sponsor-recognition
activities. To say the least, this is one of the hardest duties throughout the night because
of how much you need to be attentive of game breaks and commercial breaks. We arrive
3 hours prior to the game to debrief the game script with other employees of other
departments to make sure we all coordinate and understanding our duties for the game. A
normal shift for working a football game that has a start time of 5:00 pm required us to be
there at 2:00 pm until the end of the 4th
quarter. This totaled to an amount of
approximately six and a half hours of working the football game. Given that we do not
have to do the student tunnel this game, I am also responsible in helping inflate the team
helmet a few minutes prior to kick-off. This is a team effort because the enormous size of
the helmet requires all hands and availability from us interns prior to kick-off. It’s
important for us to manage our time wisely according to our tasks, because one valuable
lesson learned while working in sports is never to show up late. As the field camera
intern, my job is comprised of twelve commercial breaks. These commercial breaks range
from student fan cam, kiss camera, dance team performance, and most importantly, the

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half-time festivities. It is vital that the camera must display each and every one of our
game breaks in order to fulfill the duties of the sponsorship contracts. The job taught me
how to be punctual and attentive to the game script at all times. In all, the first learning
objective for my internship was a success. All the preparation definitely made me feel
more comfortable when it came to performing on the job. Our objectives established
between my supervisor and I were meet beyond our belief when I addressed to him how
much I learned about my leadership style and work ethic. I believe I meet the objectives I
stated in the learning activity such as active listening, critical thinking, and customer
service. All these skills are of high importance in operating a division one sports event. In
my appendences, I have enclosed a game script that all of the athletic department,
especially us interns, follow during the game as a guideline. In addition, there are some
game photos I have attached to show some of our tasks. Our success was measured on
how effectively we completed our task such as timing, quality, and metrics of how we did
it.
Learning Activity 2:
The next learning activity was the Aztec Volleyball game on November 5th
. When
it comes to volleyball, it’s a matter of working with our Public Announcer on the game
sponsorship announcements, selecting participants, and enhancing the Aztec game
experience for the fans. As stated in the activity contract, in this task I will learn how to
facilitate and operate the video and music productions of the women’s volleyball game.
My responsibilities as an intern included operating the pre-game music, time-outs, and
halftime. In addition, one of the unique aspects of a volleyball game is a selecting student
and guests to participate in some of the in-game/halftime sponsored promotional
activities. This is when I learned the importance of learning how to talk with individuals
in order for them to participate in something as well as developing relationships with
people in order to have consistency in attendance. For example, one of the games played
with our participants at half time is “spike-to-win”. When explaining the game, usually to
younger children, I learned that you must develop trust with people and be very articulate
when giving instructions. It’s obviously that the participants maybe nervous and shy, but
it was up to me to make sure they felt absolutely comfortable and excited at the same
time. Moreover, as part of the internship, we generally boost our attendance by having
selected local high school and club volleyball teams attend our games. For this particular
game, we had the Junior Varsity Chula Vista High School Volleyball Team attend our
game and support our Aztecs. On my behalf as an intern, it’s my duty to make sure I
introduce myself to the group and accommodate them with a special shootout for their
attendance, pre-game warm-up, group photo, and special giveaways. This volleyball
game was one to remember because even though it is a job, I was still having a lot of fun
along the way. My plan for this learning activity was to enrich the students and fans of
having the ultimate Aztec experience. Generally, Thursday night volleyball tends to bring
out low attendance for our volleyball games, so our plan, as an intern and with my
supervisor was having a high school in attendance to support the volleyball team. We
offer a special group rate of $4 per ticket for groups $10 or more. Our target deadline was
to have the local Chula Vista High School confirmed a week ahead in order to prepare for
their visit. Even though we were a little behind in closing the deal, our success was

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measured by their amount of attendees and comments. I have included pictures of the
group, music tablet, and game script we work on in the Aztec marketing department.
Learning Activity 3:
The next learning activity I had the opportunity to learn from was the marketing
and advertising strategies to promote the 2015 SDSU Homecoming Football Game. This
football game is different that the other games because of partnership with have with the
Associated Students Homecoming Committee/Organization. Our part as the athletic
department is to boost overall attendance by reaching out to local communities and
schools to attend our game, along with our primary tasks. One of the strategies we did as
the Athletics Department is “March To The Arch”. For every home game of the week, on
Thursday’s we have the cheerleaders, dance team, SDSU Diamonds, and the marching
band chant the SDSU Fight Song starting from Hepner Hall to the steps of the Aztec
Student Union. This was new this year in order to create Aztec pride leading up to the
game. In this game, I was able to learn the strategies needed to promote student
attendance and develop recruitment of student organizations to support our annual
homecoming event. Prior to the game, during the week of homecoming posting of the
event happened at minimum two to three times a week to ensure students come out and
support the football team. This plan was executed by having the time to attend
homecoming festivities such as the Talent Show, chalk painting, can food drive, and
more. One of my main action steps was to have the specific organizations that I am
involved in attend the game. These organizations included the Black Business Society,
African Student Union, Student African American Sisterhood, and the Student African
American Brotherhood. Our success was measured when we had an overall attendance of
36,688 attend the 2015 Homecoming Football Game.
Learning Activity 4:
By our target deadline, I learned the importance of collecting information and
creating a database for youth basketball leagues and club teams around the region to
come and support our team. Developing keen relationships with the community is one of
the values of the SDSU athletics department. By doing so, we as interns must provide a
sense of enthusiasm when it comes to experience and selling. In this activity, learning the
art of selling was one of the most valuable I could have learned in this internship
program. Learning how to have personable skills when going into sales or any other
venture in life is vital. Our plan was to create a shareable database between the marketing
department to target local high schools and basketball leagues to purchase our group
tickets for a special rate. This plan would be executed by having me reach out to
constituents around the SDSU community; similar to the way we encourage youth groups
to support the women’s volleyball team. In our findings, our objective was to reach a goal
30 groups and 400 paid season ticket holders prior to season beginning. As of right now,
we are confirmed at 363 season ticket holders and 14 youth-groups.
Learning Activity 5:
The last activity I will be doing before the end of the semester is assisting in the
production of Senior Day at the last home football game. My role for this game is to help
in the logistics with the players, coaches, and families to create a memorable experience

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for the seniors. In the past, this has been one of the complicated tasks in the production of
the football game because there is a certain time frame and location that the seniors of the
Aztec Football team must follow. It is up to us marketing interns to execute the game
plan to have a successful event.

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Concept Integration and Application
Throughout my internship experience, I noticed three important management
theories and practices that I learned in my classroom that applied to my internship.
Performance Management Theory
The first concept was performance management. According to 12Manage,
performance management is defined as “a strategic management approach for monitoring
how a business is performing. It describes the process by which managers and employees
work together to plan, monitor, and review an employee’s work objectives and overall
contribution to the organization.” (http://www.12manage.com/). There is a linkage
between job performance and organizational performance, and as a consequence good
managers invest resources collecting information about employee performance so that it
can be managed in a way that helps us achieve our mission. In my internship, developing
a substantial relationship with them was key in my success as an intern. Each learning
activity, us interns and the staff of the athletic department would meet to discuss our
duties and obligations for an upcoming event such as football or men’s basketball. These
meetings helped me understand and apply the theory of performance management for the
essence of our performance goals and objectives. This theory was exemplified prior to
my learning activities and after events. For instance, my supervisor and I would evaluate
the pros and cons of my work during an athletic event to discuss areas of improvement
and effective habits.
Performance management has several key benefits that I recognized in my
internship. For instance, performance management comes with delegating responsibilities
and being accountable towards your actions and teamwork. Being new the internship, my
supervisors effectively delegated tasks and responsibilities to us in order to have
autonomy in our role. I enjoyed having this responsibility because it gave me the
confidence for me to believe that I was capable of handling a task while having others
relied on my efforts. In addition, performance management increases motivation amongst
the employees. I felt encouraged and motivated to do my job because not only did I love
what I was doing, but I also felt proud to be apart of something that was bigger than
myself. The process of performance management is widely used amongst many
organizations. This is includes preparing, observing, cultivating, assessing, and
recognizing good performance (Corporate Performance Management). In my internship
we effectively went through the process of these steps in our learning activity. In an
academic journal titled, The Journal of Management, author R. Holmes emphasized,
“employees become accustomed to the financial and other benefits the organization
provides resulting in increased motivation” (1084). Although things may not go
according when working in the sports industry, it’s important to learn how to stay under
control. I’ve concluded that performance management taught me how to be professional
at all times and be accountable for my actions and objectives.
Teamwork Processes
Another management concept that applied to my learning experience was the
process of teamwork. Team processes included other components such as transition,

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action, and interpersonal processes. In addition, one of the most important concepts in
management is communication. In the book, Organizational Behavior: Improving
Performance and Commitment in the Workplace”, the author Colquitt states that
teamwork processes is defined as “the interpersonal activities that facilitate the
accomplishment of the team’s work but do not directly involve task accomplishment
itself.” (163) By this meaning, it includes the behaviors and attitudes of when working on
a team to accomplish a common goal. In my internship, there were many returners and
first-timers with different types of personalities and work ethics. In the beginning, it was
a process of getting to know each other or as they say in management, the “norming
stage”. As the months went on, we as interns, became a close unit because of the matter
of trust and dependency we had upon each other to achieve our goal. Some of the team
structure characteristics include size, norms, roles, statues, and cohesiveness. With many
different personalities, as a manager it’s important to find ways to create sense of culture
or have team chemistry in order to perform well. The marketing department did a great
job by having team meetings prior to the beginning of the year in order for us to learn
more about each other. Me personally, being new to internship, I had a difficult time in
adapting to a new work environment and understanding the norms of the work place.
However, I saw the significance of being comfortable in your work environment with
time.
The next component of teamwork processes is the action process. This step is
important for the task to be accomplished. The Aztec marketing department plays a big
role in the action process because our performance is being evaluated on a grand scale
between the entire athletic department and the San Diego community. According to the
text, successful organizations will “pay attention to goal-related information-perhaps by
charting the team’s performance relative to team goals-are typically in a good position to
realize when they are “off-track” and need to make changes.” Although sometimes I felt
the marketing department had a difficult time in monitoring our process, but it’s difficult
when there is several things occurring at once. The last component of teamwork process
is interpersonal processes, which is defined by “the manner in which team members
manage their relationships.” This involves relationship conflict and task conflict. I’ve
learning in this internship that you may not agree or like everyone that you may work
with, but you must find a common ground in order to accomplish your goal. The Aztec
athletic department exemplified this concept by managing our behaviors and actions in
order to be professional at all times.
Motivation
The last theory I will discuss is the concept of motivation. Motivation is a big
component of being an employee or intern with the Aztec athletic department. Many
management expertises may define the concept of motivation differently, but in the book
Organizational Behavior, Colquitt defined motivation as “a set of energetic forces that
originate both within the organization and outside an employee, initiates work-related
effort, and determines its direction, intensity, and persistence” (Organizational Behavior,
168). Motivation encompasses several key aspects but some of the key ones includes
intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, job performance, psychological empowerment, and
self-determination. I will discuss how each of these values applied to my learning
experience with the athletic department.

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Before beginning the internship, I meet with other students that previously worked as
interns and asked about their experience and perspective of what it means to work in the
athletic department. One common thing discussed was how motivated they felt to begin
their careers in the sports industry because of the network and connections they made and
the overall experience they had with the athletic department. In management, motivation
has a strong positive relationship with job performance and a moderate positive
relationship with organizational commitment. For example, in the academic journal title
Relationship between Leader-Member Exchange and Organizational Citizenship
Behaviors, author Jian An Zhong stated, “this stream of research addresses how
subordinates reciprocate to their supervisors or organizations in response to the benefits
their supervisors offer them” (610). This quote exemplifies exactly what my supervisor
and I did regarding my job performance. The athletic department demonstrated this
practice of motivation by providing us with intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. For
instance, our extrinsic outcomes were things such as perks of athletic gear, praise, and
promotions. On the other hand, intrinsic awards for me personally included enjoyment,
skill development, and accomplishment.
The athletic department has motivated me to reach new heights in my young
professional career because it has given me the confidence to handle complex situations
and job responsibilities. In addition, the encouragement and support around me as an
intern made me see the importance of finding organizations or companies that believe in
fostering their employees and motivating them to excel in their job performance. All the
informational interviews and connections I have made in the past semester with the
athletic department, the San Diego padres, Fox Sports, and the Los Angeles Lakers have
been instrumental in my development as leader in my endeavors. I cannot thank them
more enough for the opportunities that had been presented to me. Based on this concept
of motivation, I concluded that it is important for managers and directors to make sure
their employees are motivated and inspired in their job responsibilities in order to have
great retention and less employee turnover. I recommend that the athletic department
instill motivation exercises or management experts visit each department.

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Personal Reflection:
To say the least, my internship experience the past couple of months have been
phenomenal and life changing. Working with the SDSU athletic department has broaden
my horizon of working in the sports industry and developed me into the professional,
young leader I am today.
Eager to find an internship that goes along with my passion of sports, I was
determined to find more information on how I could gain hands-on experience on campus
that was convenient enough for me along with completing my academic requirement.
This internship has exposed me to countless opportunities and lessons that I would not
have gained if I did not take advantage of the resources around me. From the people, the
network, the players and coaches, and ultimately the memories are some of the vital
takeaways I will always have with me from this internship.
One of the key lessons learned in my internship was the importance of
networking. As a student, we often discuss how important is in to make the connections
with those who will open doors for you and that statement always completely went over
my head. After a couple months into the internship, I was able to meet so many different
individuals within the San Diego community that have a career in sports. For instance,
one of the many perks of my internship was having informational interviews provided to
us from our supervisors. Whether it was the San Diego Padres, Fox Sports San Diego, the
Los Angeles Lakers, and even our athletic department, the individuals I got to meet
offered great advice and wisdom that will go a long ways in the future. In my opinion,
working in sports is a very tough and competitive business to break into; therefore it is all
about whom you know, rather than what you know. I made the most of my internship by
building relationships with people that could potentially offer letters of recommendations
or references down the road.
Another key lesson learned in my internship was the skill of time management
and goal setting. This internship was definitely not a routine, traditional style internship.
The program was so unique because each and every day, something was new. In sports, I
learned that anything can happen and your business is a reflection of how your sports
programs perform. The hours that I had put in for my learning objectives had made me
realize the importance of staying on top of my academics and extra-curricular. We often
have busy schedules, but I was fortunate to have supervisors that understood that
academics came first. In addition, as a management major, we always discuss how
organizations must practice goal setting in order to create a vision for their future. This
internship was the first time I was able to apply what I have been learning in the
classroom to real world experiences. For example, my supervisor and I created a goal
setting sheet to prepare for the upcoming Aztec women’s basketball season. By having
this list, it made me realize that hard work and accountability that goes into establishing
goals for the betterment of the success to the athletic department.
The last lesson that I truly valued the most understood the type of organizational
culture you will thrive in. This internship made me observe the significance of working in
a culture that is catered to your success and will help you along the way. It was one of the
unseen lessons that I did not think about prior to beginning. Working in sports in unique
because the people that I was around motivated me to be a better person each day and

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strive for success. The competitive and supportive environment was something that I was
not sure I was comfortable with, but with time, I saw that having passion in doing the
things you love would make your life a lot easier. I truly believe that this internship
ultimately did not make me feel as it was just work, but rather a fun, enthusiastic way of
an investment towards my future.
Some of the business knowledge that was helpful in this program was taking the
Marketing 370 introductory course. Having this background information helped me relate
to certain strategies and tactics we has interns were creating and assisting with in the
program. For example, understanding the marketing mix or the four p’s of price, product,
place, and promotion were instrumental. For every event/game, the use of the four p’s
came into affect. For instance, each football game we determined the price of tickets and
a promotion to give away from our sponsors. The main product we were selling is the
“Aztec game experience” and the place happens to be at a stadium that brings together
sports fans. Moreover, the next business information I recognized was the use of digital
marketing and social media. In marketing, we discuss the different channels of promoting
your product and social media and advertising is a key factor. In this internship, although
we did plenty of social media to reach our target market, but it also understood how reach
different areas of your market through television, radio, cellular devices, and more.
Management theories and operations management were some of the other things that I
have learned in this internship and have completed a course on, but marketing was the
main business information that I was accustomed to.
Of the many things that I enjoyed in this internship, there are a few
recommendations that I have. One I would suggest creating more a school tradition
amongst the teams and other departments in order to establish a unique culture amongst
the employees, staff, and players. That way it does not feel as if the entire department in
divided amongst one another. By instilling an organization culture, all stakeholders from
all levels will feel apart of the mission that we are demonstrating. In addition, I would
suggest a student competition for other schools to compete in to create a mock case
competition for a division one sports program. I have noticed that many students like
myself are eager and keen to getting involved in sports but need the experience and skills
to do so. Therefore, why not create a competition amongst the students to practice the
lessons that are given in the classroom to solve real-world problems that businesses and
organizations continually face. That way, I believe students would be getting the hands-
on experience needed to excel in their endeavors.
To sum up my overall experience this semester in the program would be a
disservice to my supervisors because I wouldn’t be the leader and ambitious student I am
today. I am so honored to have been apart of the production and promotional activities of
some of the division one men's and women's sports programs because there is so much
pride and joy that comes with the opportunity to help with something you continuously
work hard on. Working in sports showed me that I could be working and loving it,
simultaneously. Also, I’ve learned not to be afraid in trying new things and not holding
back when taking the next step because you never know wants on the other side of the
door unless you open it yourself. Taking the initiative and courage to be bold and be
different is important in the sports industry as well. Having this internship will definitely
be one of the highlights of my undergraduate experience with priceless memories.

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Conclusion
In this report I have discussed each learning objective established by my
supervisor and I, the learning outcomes, management concepts, and my personal
reflection from the internship. All of these areas thoroughly summarize my internship
experience with the SDSU athletic department. Having this experience in my
undergraduate career will be instrumental to my journey in the sports industry.
The Aztec Marketing Department was a great learning experience that gave me an
open mind of the career possibilities. They pride themselves on creating a sense of
culture and ultimate Aztec experience not only to their student athletes, but also their
employees and stakeholders to their organization. Working here made my dream become
a reality by getting the most out of my undergraduate experience.
In this report I have effectively explained in full detail all my learning objectives
on mainly how to operate a division sports program. I learned how to meet deadlines, the
importance of sales and membership development, create a database, and become a brand
ambassador for the department. There were a lot of sacrifices that came with my
internship, but it taught me how to have time management, working on a team with my
coworkers, and made me recognize my passion of working in sports. This internship
provided me with skills I can take with me in my career and have an understanding of my
future career goals upon gradation.

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References
Bikshorn, M., Natalie, S., & Newman, S. (n.d.). Corporate Performance Management.
Retrieved November 18, 2015, from
http://www.12manage.com/methods_performance_management.html
COLQUITT, J. (). Organizational behavior: Improving performance and commitment
in the workplace. , 978-970.
Holmes, R., Bromiley, P., Devers, C., Holcomb, T., & McGuire, J. (2011).
Management theory applications of prospect theory: Accomplishments,
challenges, and opportunities. Journal of Management, 37(4), 1069-1107.
Zhong, J., Lam, W., & Chen, Z. (2011). Relationship between leader–member
exchange and organizational citizenship behaviors: Examining the
moderating role of empowerment. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 28(3),
609-626.