MBA600 Capstone Strategy Essay 3 Sample

Your task

Individually, you are required to reflect on the learnings gained from undertaking the capstone subject and assessments by writing a 2500 word reflective essay.

Assessment Description

The purpose of this assessment is to foster students ability to coherently reflect on their undertaking of the Capstone: Strategy subject together with a reflection on their entire MBA.

Assessment Instructions

You are required to look back at their MBA course as a whole and identify the specific skills developed that will assist them in becoming effective practitioners in the workplace. Learning is a persistent change in performance or potential that results from experience and interaction. Reflective learning is the process of stepping back from the experience and reflecting on how skills, attitudes, mindset and behaviours have evolved.

Your reflective essay must cover the following:

• Introduction.
• A brief discussion on the value of relective practice for managers and leaders
• A personal reflection on learnings from the capstone subject and consultancy research process.
• A personal reflection on skills developed over the MBA.
• A personal reflection on how these will assist in future career endeavours.
• Conclusions.
• References.

The reflective essay should include discussion of learnings from both a theoretical and practical perspective. Additionally, insights from undertaking assessments and research, capstone lessons as well as group activities from this and other subjects over the duration of the course. Specific examples should be cited to support and justify all points.

Solution

Introduction

In business communication, the MBA course stands forMasters of Business Administration, and it is a post-graduate degree. University Assignment Help, The MBA course is very beneficial for people who are in the business and administration sectors (Bakhtiarvand 2015). During my coursework in the MBA department, I have learned many things that can also help me in my future.Here, I have chosen Gibb’s reflective cycle theory to better explain my reflections on the present study. Based on Gibb’s reflective cycle, I will explain my personal experience on skills that I developed during my MBA course. These skills made me learn how to manage things according to the situation in the present context. Moreover, the MBA Course had made me learn how the course learning about various theories and practical perspectives of various authors will be helpful to manage things and will assist me in my future career. In this present paper, I will also explain my personal experience that I learned from the consultancy research process and capstone subject. Here, I must say that the research process has made me learn that how to follow up the research ethics in management can grow the business, and the same has been followed up by me to gain positive results.

The paper has aimed to understand the value of reflective practice for leaders and managers. The paper has also aimed to examine the personal experience of learning from the consultancy research process and capstone subject. Moreover, it has purposed to identify the skills that have been developed during my MBA course. Further, the paper has aimed to analyze how my learning in the course will assist me in my future career.

Discussion on the Value of Reflective Practice for Leaders and Managers

The present study has given the focus on the six aspects of Gibb's reflective cycle that includes descriptions, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion, and action plan see fig-1.Gibb's reflective cycle is considered to be the best teaching and learning method. The reflective study gives emphasis on our experiences that are helpful to improve or refine our performances in the future. If similar kinds of situations are coming in the future, we can easily combat that difficult situation. These reflective studies are helpful to analyze the reason behind the good and bad experiences and strengthen to do well in the future (Reflective Practice - University Study - Study Skills - 301 - SSiD - The University of Sheffield. Sheffield.ac.uk, 2021).

Fig. 1 Gibb’s reflective learning cycle

Source: (Reflective Practice - University Study - Study Skills - 301 - SSiD - The University of Sheffield. Sheffield.ac.uk, 2021)

The first step of Gibb's reflective cycle is a description of the activity or process where I am going to explain my personal experience with the MBA course. Basically, the MBA course is a two-year course, and I joined this course after finishing my graduation. I have interacted with my professors and my classmates, who are very enthusiastic about learning business analysis processes and methods. Joining the MBA course was my first aim during my graduations, and fulfilling that aim was a different feeling. When I joined the MBA program, my parents were very supportive. They suggested to me that this subject has good scope in the future so you must go for this. Even many types of research explain that reflective practices are more important in the business and leadership field. The reflective knowledge on the subject enhances self-awareness and develops critical skills. For leaders and managers, reflective practices are more valuable in making effective decision making (HR Magazine - The role of reflection in leadership success. HR Magazine, 2021). Moreover, the reflective practices are helpful in promoting role-modeling, goal settings, and clarifying the mission of the unit (Matsuo, 2012). Joining the MBA course was worthy for me as I learned how to do business analysis, also got to know various causes of failure in business research and projects. In this course, I learned the strategy planning process, appraise performance, and diagnose performance (Prevost et al. 2019). The MBA class has taught me various techniques to conduct business research. The qualitative and quantitative techniques learning was very effective for me to understand the business performance and business competitions in the global market. In the qualitative techniques, I have learned narrative analysis, content analysis, grounded theory, framework analysis, and discourse analysis. On the other hand, the quantitative technique has made me learn experimental or empirical analysis, descriptive analysis, quasi-experimental analysis, and comparative analysis. These techniques learning will help me in my job or career to analyzing the present market scenario and competition, and through these techniques, I can implement more marketing strategies (Prevost et al. 2019).

Discussion on The Personal Experience of Learning from the Consultancy Research Process and Capstone Subject

Here, I have evaluated my personal experience on learning from the consultancy research process and capstone subject. I had both good and bad experiences during my course In MBA. In the research process learning, I have learned measurement techniques with statistical methods and software, which has helped me a lot while doing the capstone project and during my internship. Another good experience is that I helped my father in his work with my learnings about the analysis of independent, antecedent, and dependent variables. This course has also helped me to understand the good and bad quality of data so that in the future, I can rectify my mistakes. Moreover, my learnings about collecting secondary data and finding out the research gap have made me learn that the business field has various loopholes and needs to develop various theories and strategies (Jin et al. 2018).

But I can say that during my MBA time, I felt that bad timing was the COVID-19 pandemic as nobody can go out of the houses. It has impacted my studies. Various types of data collections that I learned from the class were ineffective. I wanted to explore my primary research skill with understanding the ground problems in business research, which was postponed due to this lockdown. As of now, I am very much aware of the secondary research method of data collection, but I did not get a chance to explore the primary data collection. The primary sourceof data collection is a little expensive, but the current data can be gathered from that. Another bad experience is that at one point in time, I thought of quitting the course as I was unable to understand the basic things in my class. At the very beginning of class, the strategy concept has been taught where strategy theories, competitive advantages, strategic complexity, industry change, dynamic capabilities, and sustainable performances are covered. I took the help of the professor who helped me to understand the financial performance analysis, SWOT analysis, PESTEL analysis, and others to understand the marketing issues and problems (Jin et al. 2018)

The second step of Gibb's reflective learning cycle is thoughts and feelings about my experience during my coursework in MBA. When I joined the course, I felt it’s a very difficult job to understand all the concepts and perspectives in management. At that time, the class was thought about a various diverse range of theories, and that was not going inside my head. At some point in time, I was feeling that what I am doing in this subject it was very difficult for me. I felt I should not go continue with the subject. But I thought for giving a second chance to understand all the diverse range of theories and research methods. I took the help of my friends, and I told them that I am not getting subjective knowledge. They understood my situation and told me that I need the help of the professors. I went to my professors and clarified my difficulties in this MBA course. And it helped me a lot to understand, as the professor taught me from the beginning. I am very thankful to the professor that he understood my problem. While teaching, he told me to go through the basic books related to understanding the internal processes, financing, innovating and learning, and customers, etc.. (Prevost et al. 2019). This book suggestion had changed my thinking about the subject as I understood considering the strategy problems with understanding the design thinking process. The readings of basic books have made me understand why it is important to create positive employees and customers in the business work. Reading these books has made me interested in reading more books where I have learned about designing thinking models, which is very important learning in the course of MBA. The designing thinking model is telling about five important things in business such as Empathise, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test. I learned that in growing the business understanding the user's need, defining the user's problems, create ideas with challenging the assumptions, providing solutions to users, and testing the solutions (Prevost et al. 2019).

Identifying The Skills That have Been Developed During My MBA Course

The fourth step of Gibb’s reflective learning cycle is an analysis of the situation. In this paper, I will analyze how my learning in the course will assist me in my present and future career. The learnings of competition strategy and corporate strategy from my MBA course have made me understand the industrial and organizational environments and their financial stability, capital management, and cash flow (McGee &Sammut?Bonnici 2015). It is analyzed that the competition strategy is the process of earning average returns for stakeholders and developing a competitive advantage. In the future, I can imply these competitive strategies in my work to identify the opportunities and threats in the business sector. The same fig.2 is explaining that competitive strategy is helpful in understanding strategic management of resources, core competencies, and capabilities (McGee &Sammut?Bonnici 2015).

Fig.2 Influences on competitive strategy
Source: (McGee & Sammut?Bonnici 2015)

Moreover, the MBA course also taught me value propositions where I learned about various characteristics such as Customization; Newness; Performance; 'Getting the job done; Accessibility, usability, convenience; cost reduction or price differentiation; and Design, brand, status. It has analyzed that good or loyal customers are helpful to generate value to the global market, and improving the value proposition in marketing is essential (Hassan, 2012). The course learning has also taught me about the motivations for partnership, which is helpful to reduce the risk in the marketing field. It is analyzed that the MBA learnings about the motivations for partnership will help me in my future to build a good rapport with my coworkers and partners. The skills of better management made me learn how to manage things according to the situation in the present context. Moreover, the MBA Course had made me learn how the course learning about various theories and practical perspectives of various authors will be helpful to manage things and will assist me in my future career.

The fifth step of Gibb’s reflective learning cycle is the conclusion. Here I will explain what I have learned during my course work and what I could have improved in this marketing and business field of study. The course taught me that the lack of coordination and open communication in the marketing field is a large issue, and more focus should be given to this aspect. Along with that, I have learned about designing thinking models, which is very important learning in the course of MBA. The designing thinking model is telling about five important things in business such as empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test. I learned that in growing the business understanding the user's need, defining the user's problems, create ideas with challenging the assumptions, providing solutions to users, and testing the solutions. Moreover, the learnings in the coursework have helped me to understand the financial performance analysis, SWOT analysis, PESTEL analysis, and others to understand the marketing issues and problems. The SWOT analysis can help me to identify the external opportunities and threats and internal strengths and weaknesses in the business. Moreover, the PESTEL analysis will help me to understand the Political, Economic, Socio-cultural, Technological, Legal, and Environmental issue in the business sector. These analysis types will be helpful for me to grow in my career. However, I feel regret that COVID-19 has impacted my MBA studies. Various types of data collections that I learned from the class were very effective. But I wanted to explore my primary research skill with understanding the ground problems in business research, which was postponed due to this lockdown. As of now, I am very much aware of the secondary research method of data collection, but I did not get a chance to explore the primary data collection. The primary source of data collection is a little expensive, but the current data can be gathered from that.

Discussion on How the Course Learning will Assist Me in My Future Career

The last and sixth step of Gibb’s reflective learning cycle is the action plan, where I will explain that how my MBA course study will help me in handling similar situations in the future. The learnings of the research process have made me learn that how to follow up the research ethics in management can grow the business, and the same has been followed up by me to gain positive results. In this paper, I have understood how my learning in the course will assist me in my present and future career. The learnings of competition strategy and corporate strategy from my MBA course have made me understand the industrial and organizational environments and their financial stability, capital management, and cash flow. Through understanding the competitive strategy and corporate strategy in the coursework, I have developed my management skills, problem-solving skills, creative skills, and many others. If I am facing any issue in my future study, I can easily handle the situation with the knowledge of my developed skills. In my future studies, I will imply the learnings in the coursework that has helped me to understand the financial performance analysis, SWOT analysis, PESTEL analysis, and others to understand the marketing issues and problems (week-1). The solving strategies in the business always work to develop the business. The same I will try to imply in my work process. In the research process learning, I have learned measurement techniques with statistical methods and software, which has helped me a lot while doing the capstone project and during my internship. I can imply the same in my career to develop my work process.

Conclusion

Thus, it concludes that the skills that I learn in my course will help to understand critical business issues. The paper has aimed to understand the value of reflective practice for leaders and managers. It has been found that many researchers are supporting this and saying that for leaders and managers, reflective practices are more valuable in making effective decision making. Moreover, the reflective practices are helpful in promoting role-modeling, goal settings, and clarifying the mission of the unit. Moreover, the paper has also aimed to examine the personal experience of learning from the consultancy research process and capstone subject. The qualitative and quantitative techniques learning was very effective for me to understand the business performance and business competitions in the global market. Moreover, it has purposed to identify the skills that have been developed during my MBA course. I have learned financial performance analysis, SWOT analysis, PESTEL analysis, and others to understand the marketing issues and problems, which has developed my analytical skill. Along with that, I have developed my management skills, problem-solving skill, creative skills, and many others, which is going to help me in the future. Hence, the overall learning in the course will assist me in my future career.

References

Bakhtiarvand, M 2015, Master of Business Administration (MBA) And it's Specializations.(PDF) Master of Business Administration (MBA) And it's Specializations (researchgate.net)
Jin, L., Guo, B., Jiang, Y., Wang, F., Xie, X. and Gao, M., 2018, ‘Study on the impact degrees of several driving behaviors when driving while performing secondary tasks, IEEE Access, 6, pp.65772-65782.Study on the Impact Degrees of Several Driving Behaviors When Driving While Performing Secondary Tasks | IEEE Journals & Magazine | IEEE Xplore

HR Magazine - The role of reflection in leadership success. HR Magazine, 2021, Retrieved 7 June 2021, https://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/content/features/the-role-of-reflection-in-leadership-success.

Hassan, A., 2012, ‘The value proposition concept in marketing: How customers perceive the value delivered by firms-A study of customer perspectives on supermarkets in Southampton in the United Kingdom, International journal of marketing studies, 4(3), p.68.Microsoft Word - IJMS2012v4n3-neiye (researchgate.net)

Matsuo, M., 2012, ‘Leadership of learning and reflective practice: An exploratory study of nursing managers, Management Learning, 43(5), pp.609-623.Leadership of learning and reflective practice: An exploratory study of nursing managers - Makoto Matsuo, 2012 (sagepub.com)

McGee, J. and Sammut?Bonnici, T., 2015, ‘Competitive strategy’, Wiley encyclopedia of management, pp.1-4.(PDF) Competitive Strategy (researchgate.net)

Prevost, L., Sorensen, A.E., Doherty, J.H., Ebert-May, D. and Pohlad, B., 2019. ‘4DEE—What’s next? Designing instruction and assessing student learning’ Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America, 100(3), pp.1-6.https://www.jstor.org/stable/26739981

Reflective Practice - University Study - Study Skills - 301 - SSiD - The University of Sheffield. Sheffield.ac.uk. 2021, Retrieved 7 June 2021, https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/ssid/301/study-skills/university-study/reflective-practice.

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