Personal Development Plan for a Marketing Manager

The assignment content is about non-verbal behavior in a job interview, verbal behavior during the interview, and personal development plan to improve marketing skills. The individual aims to become a Marketing Manager in a leading retail firm and has planned various development activities such as taking personal counseling, using online videos for presentation skills, taking professional training on latest tools, learning leadership theories, and studying case studies. The individual reflects critically on their own learning against the original aims and objectives set in the development plan.

UNIT 13
PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
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Introduction
Personal and professional development is considered as the most important element of individual learning in
which an individual learns new things with the help of external training along with personal experiences. All
these factors have significant impact on personal and professional development of individuals. The present
study determines several aspects of personal and professional development which also includes assessment
of present skills and knowledge of an individual related to marketing field (Cunningham, 2010). This essay
also determines various strategies and approaches through which an individual can improve effectiveness of
different personal traits or characteristic for attainment of different career objectives. It also identifies and
explores personal approaches that would assist an individual in improving skills and knowledge as per the
current standards in a particular industry.
Task 1: Understand how self-managed learning can improve lifelong development
1.1 Evaluate approaches to self-managed learning
Self-managed learning is process in which an individual considers different tools and tactics to enhance
personal skills and knowledge to attain career goals. As a student of marketing, I would like to become a
Marketing Manager in a reputable retail organisation such as Tesco, Wal-Mart etc. In this regard, I have to
learn several different concepts of marketing and need to acquire different skills to accomplish professional
goals. As a Marketing Manager, I have to gain knowledge of latest trends and tactics of marketing such as
social media, creative marketing etc. (Barrett, Todahl and Christensen, 2011).
On the basis of these objectives, I need to improve my communication, technical skills, presentation skills
etc. as per the requirement of the role of Marketing Manager in the retail sector of the economy. Therefore,
it can be stated that I have to consider different approaches and strategies in developing new skills and
acquire professional knowledge as per the requirement of job position of marketing so that I can confidently
manage activities in my post as a Marketing Manager in the retail organisation. In developing different skills
along with professional expertise, I have to consider different learning tools as per the requirements of my
personal and professional development, in order to adapt to the nature and pace of change in my role in a
dynamic environment. In this regard, Kolb's learning cycle (1984) has been considered as an important
approach which works on two levels and four stages cycle associated with self-managed learning.
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According to this approach, I can examine my behaviour and ability in different situations for handling
crucial tasks. This process plays important role in assessing my strengths and weaknesses as per the current
market conditions. (McLeod, 2013).
It highlights four elements such as concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization
and last active experimentation. The first stage of this approach is concrete experience in which an
individual develops experience from new situations that have been encountered by different factors in the
social environment such as education, employment, etc. With reference to this stage, I can enhance my
learning by applying different skills and knowledge as per the requirements in a given situation.
In the second stage of reflective observation, an individual interprets the situation as per the current personal
and professional skills as well as analysing several facts and elements. This stage enhances my knowledge
and understanding of a particular experience that would assist me in making further decisions as per the job
roles and responsibilities.
In the third stage, a learner carries out abstract conceptualization in which an individual determines new idea
and conclusion from a particular situation and experience. By considering the elements of this stage, I
develop diverse plans and new ideas in order to resolve the job issues associated with my performance along
with handling of difficult situations.
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The last stage of this theory is active experimentation in which a learner implements new learning in day to
day personal and professional task to attain career goals and objectives. As per the principles of this stage, I
can improve my personal traits by applying innovative ideas in different tasks and activities that would have
direct impact on my personal and professional advancement.
In a similar way, reflexive modernization theory mainly deals with different changes influenced by the
realisation of modernity's ideals such as change in education level and lifestyle of society which are creating
huge impact on the process of self-managed learning (Rose, 2008). With reference to both theories, I can
learn new things associated with marketing in retail organisation, through different situations and
implementation of several ideas which have been adopted to resolve personal and professional issues.
Therefore, self-managed learning is termed as the most effective tool to improve overall efficiency and
skills.
Table 1:Self-managed learning
Personal Goals Date of completion or
achievement
Self-Reflection
Leadership Skills
I will improve my leadership
skills within next 6 months. By
participating in various team
building event and carrying out
detail evaluation of different
leadership approaches, I will be
able to improve my leadership
skills.
I implemented new and creative approaches to
establish good relationship with my colleagues
in order to assess their support in achieving
different objectives.
Technology Skills
I will advance my knowledge on
the latest computer technology
in the next 4 months.
I am taking practical coaching from a leading
training institution to enhance my understanding
of latest computer technologies.
Problem Solving
It will be improved by the next 3
months.
I am carrying out detail assessment of different
case studies to improve my ability to resolve
different issues.
Presentation Skills
These skills will be enhanced in
the next 4 months.
I am studying new tactics of presentation with
the help of internet along with analyzing
presentation skills of top managers.
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1.2 Proposing the ways in which lifelong learning in personal and professional context
could be encouraged
There are several techniques available which can be used in lifelong learning for personal and professional
development. In this process, learning through coaching centres and educational institutions has been found
as the most common and effective medium in improving my technical education such as accounting,
management process and various approaches of marketing (Wilde-Larsson and Larsson, 2012). This process
also provides significant benefits in improving my skills; communication, time management, use of social
media and ICT in general, etc. which are essential in promoting products and services to target customers in
a competitive business environment. By mentoring, I can learn approaches in undertaking oral presentation;
improve my quality of job and leadership skills. This methods, potentially, will enable me broaden my
skills, particularly in the use of computers in undertaking internet research, word processing my assignments
and other relevant materials, effective use of power point slides, excel or spreadsheet and confidence in
integrating documents, accordingly.
In addition, attending managerial conferences plays vital role in my personal and professional development
process. Conference is defined as a prearranged meeting for consultation or exchange of information on
particular agenda or topic. By participating in different conferences, I can improve my communication skills
and increase my knowledge on different topics and management practices.
There are several conferences scheduled for applying latest technology in promoting different goods or
services and use of creativity in the workplace. These conferences are considered as great techniques to
assess the personal experience of top managers that would help me in achieving different personal and
professional goals.
Currently, internet is identified as vast source of information. It provides a range of valuable types of
information on latest marketing strategies, communication approaches and new techniques in presentation.
By conducting internet surfing, I can assess different kinds of news related to changes in political situations,
perception of top business men along with changes in organisational system (Rose, 2008). Internet also
facilitates the information on emergence of new companies, new products as well as creative marketing
approaches used to promote different products and services.
Apart from that, participation in different meetings and seminars provides an opportunity to an individual to
update themselves. Seminar is defined as formal presentation by one or more experts in which attendees are
encouraged to carry out a detail discussion on particular subject matter. These seminars are termed as gold
mine of information. It plays vital role in self-managed learning process. So every citizen either student or
employee has to take part in these meeting. An individual can assess views of experts on various topics and
current business scenario. This is a very important element of self-managed learning.
Observation is identified as an important and simple strategy to improve one’s knowledge. In this process,
an individual needs to observe changes in global market, political situation, latest technologies and new
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practices of management (Sullivan, 2012). It can be done by using books, newspaper, magazines and
electronic media that has the tendency to enable me to improve my overall personal and professional
development.
1.3 Evaluating the benefits of self-managed learning to the individual and organisation
Self-managed learning provides significant benefits to the individual and organisation. In this context, some
benefits are explained below:
 Assessment of personal traits and achieve career objectives: Self-managed learning has been
identified as a great tool to improve my personal traits such as communication and tactical skills etc.
which are playing important role in meeting different career objectives. This approach helps me to
attain my career objectives through continuous professional development. With reference to this
approach, I can also carry out personal assessment planning to identify different deviation in my
personal and professional skills as per the current business standard. By promoting self-managed
learning, I will be able to link my academic knowledge to the requirement of industry in becoming a
successful Marketing Manager in a leading retail company. On the basis of this assessment, I can
select different approaches and methods of learning through which I will learn different concepts of
marketing and can improve my professional expertise (Cassidy, 2006).
 Increase in individual's morale: By promoting learning through different situations, an organisation
can boost the morale of employees to accept the organisational changes based on the requirements of
current market trends. This is because learning to learn independently increases confidence, and
creates conditions where people are much more likely to engage in learning activities throughout
their lives. It fosters flexibility and resilience, which in turn leads to greater capacity to deal with
uncertainty and change.
 Improvement in efficiency and productivity: In addition to that self-managed is also beneficial for
organization. By promoting self-managed learning among staff members of different departments, a
business is able to improve efficiency and productivity of workers which would provide significant
benefit on overall effectiveness of the business. Apart from that, a business can also consider self-
managed learning as important elements in planning and promoting products and services. It plays
important role in order to reduce expenditures of company on training and development activities
that would save overall human resource management expenditures (Self-Directed Learning, 2015).
On the basis of above assessment, it can be stated that the Self-managed learning plays important
roles in personal and professional development of employees or individual. To become a Marketing
Manager in a leading retail organization, I need to improve my skills and knowledge as per the current
market trends. In this context, I have found Kolb's learning cycle and reflexive modernization as best self-
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managed learning tools through which I have managed my learning as per my career goals. In addition to
that I have significant improvement in my personal and professional skills by attending conference,
seminars and other events. Furthermore, education centers and personal counseling have identified as most
effective tools to improve my technical skills, level of confidence as well as communication.
Therefore, it can be concluded that self-managed learning is a broad concept that have a combination
of multiple sub-categories and skills development strategies as per the specific interest and personal goals of
an individual. In addition, I have applied different tools and strategies in my personal and professional
development and I have found that coaching institutions have played important roles enhancing my
understanding on the latest marketing strategies in the current market. Furthermore, improve in confidence
with the help of personal counselling which has equally have improved my communications skills. Thus, it
can be concluded that self-managed learning is crucial and very effective in personal and professional
development of an individual.
Task 2: Be able to responsibility for own personal and professional development
2.1 Evaluating own current skills and competencies against professional standards and
organisational objectives
The evaluation of my current skills and competencies against professional standards and organizational
objectives is playing important role for assessment of current proficiency level and improvement required to
attain particular career goal.
The communication skills are termed as most important element for the job in a marketing field. As per the
requirement of industry, I have good communication skills in both written and verbal so as I can easily
manage negotiation and sustain healthy conversation with clients, periodically in achieving set targets. The
interpersonal skills assist me in presenting a range of organization projects and objectives. On the contrary,
lack of confidence has negative impact on conversations with top managers and officials (Benefield and
Joseph, 2010). Therefore, it can be stated that my communication skills have attained the professional
standards and objectives of the organization.
As a Marketing Manager, I am expected to maintain efficient analytical skills at all times in order to ensure
appropriateness of data for different business situation. In this context, I have good knowledge on different
elements of financial planning and management so as I can keep systematic record of different job
operations and business expenditures with an appropriate manner. This knowledge provides me assistance in
developing small budgets as per the requirements of several management activities applied in marketing
planning process.
In marketing, analytical skills are important in determining the nature and scope of a range of data in
achieving business objectives. In this regard, I have relevant skills that are used in identifying customer’s
needs and wants and ultimately formulate appropriate strategies in ensuring that customers derive
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satisfaction in their relationship with our business organization and encouraging customers to buy our
products rather than that of our competitors. All these practices enable me to achieve different objectives
(Rose, 2008). But, lack of efficient knowledge on current promotional strategies leads to negative impact on
my overall efficiency.
In addition, leadership skills are significant for success of an individual and the organization in question. In
this regard, I have impressive knowledge of leadership which has been instrumental in motivating,
organizing, leading and coordinating others in completing set tasks to the require standard in achieving set
aims and objectives. This approach leads to positive impact on the productivity of others in minimizing or
perhaps overcoming work related stress which has the potential to impact on the their performance. My
leadership qualities are in line with professional norms of business through which I can easily handle
different tasks and management practices as per the business requirements. I can easily motivate my team
whilst performing different tasks and activities.
Furthermore, I am aware that other skills; time management, problem solving, etc. have significant impact
on my career development hence I remain committed in managing my activities in compliance with
predetermined schedule. Thereby, offers me the opportunity to allocate time to other tasks that needs to be
addressed within a specified time period. This feature helps me to meet all requirements which are
determined as per the current industrial norms.
CURRICULUM VITAE
Name IULIANA CERCHEZAN
Address:
Mobile: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
POSITION SOUGHT: DENTAL TECHNICIAN
PROFILE: I am dexterous and skilful dental laboratory technician with a 20+ years’ experience in
a comprehensive range of dental technology and services with a strong track record of satisfied
patients. I have created my own business in the field, Iuli...limited and I gained a great experience,
but at some point it seemed that the business was not great. I am willing to enrich my knowledge
and make my business a successful one.
PROFESSIONAL SKILLLS
-Profound Knowledge of dental technician processes
-Reliable dental technician who has developed 14+ years of experience in metal/gold crown and
bridge
-Great ability to work as part of a team or independently with negligible direction
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-Ability to follow production schedule and meet deadlines
-Ability to complete cases according to case production schedule and prescription
-Able to establish a strong rapport with patients
-Excellent customer service abilities
-Strong computer and computer-based equipment skills
PERSONAL ATRIBUTES
-mature and responsible attitude
-determined, punctual and reliable
-patience and calm personality
-quick and efficient, energetic and quick learner
-caring/sympathetic
QUALIFICATIONS
-2013 Ceramic course- London UK
-1998 Advanced Ceramic course Bucharest, Romania
-1997 Ceramic course Galati, Romania
-1994 - 1996 Medical College Tulcea, Romania
-1993 Cr/Co Denture Course Bucharest, Romania
-1993 Orthodontic Course Bucharest, Romania
-1992 Computer Course Tulcea, Romania
-1987 - 1991 Medical High School Galati, Romania
-2014 HNC in Business Management
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
-2003 to till date- Director, Iulicer Ltd, London UK
-2002 - 2003 Dental Technician, United Dental, Thornton Heath, London
-1999 - 2001 Manager CM FICA, Tulcea, Romania
-1998 - 1999 Assistant Manager, CM Fica, Tulcea, Romania
-1996 - 2001 Principal Dental Technician, Stomatology Policlinic no.2, Tulcea, Romania
-1991 - 1996 Dental Technician, Stomatology Policlinic no.2, Tulcea, Romania
INTERESTS
-traveling and decorating
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-music, dance and reading
-jewellery making and organising parties
REFEREES: available on request
2.2 Identify own development needs and the activities required to meet them &
2.3 Identify development opportunities to meet current and future defined need
With the help of SWOT analysis, we can conduct personal skills audit to identify importance of self-
managed leaning.
Table 2: SWOT analysis of skills
Strengths Weaknesses
~Highly efficient leadership and management skills
~By taking coaching from different educational
institutions, I have improved my technical knowledge
such as application of computer accounting and other
software to manage day to day business requirement.
~The proper budgeting of my monthly expenses
influences my analytical skills
~Regular participation in outdoor games and other
activities has influenced my skills related to team
work.
~I will need to refrain from being so direct in my
interaction with people because it’s subject to being
unnecessarily misinterpreted which is detrimental.
~I have attended a range of conferences and seminars
for improvement in listening skills but these tactics
have not provided efficient benefits.
Opportunities Threats
~I am taking personal counselling to increases my
confidence which will help me improving my
communication skills and other interpersonal skills as
per current industry trends
~I am analysing the usage of different time
management tactics to improve my time management
skills.
~I am also trying to assess new marketing concepts
and elements which influence my skills to market
analysis.
~I am facing issues due to frequent changes occurred
in technology that out-dates my technological
knowledge.
~New students have better presentation skills.
Evaluation of my professional and Personal Skills is done under the table:
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Table 3: Evaluation of professional and personal skills
Professional skills Current
level
Best current example Ways to improve
Communication
skills
4 Communication with consumers,
top managers and staff members of
the company
Personal counselling with expert
support to increase my self-
confidence
Leadership skills 3 Excellent ability in managing and
handling of different cultural and
sports events
Implementation of new and creative
approaches to increase coordination
among elements
Presentation skills 3 Prepare and present power point
presentation in company for new
product development as well as
application
Studying new tactics of presentation
with the help of internet along with
analysing presentation skills of top
managers
Problem solving 2 Excellent commendations from
managers and colleagues on my
ability in formulating strategies in
overcoming complex and
challenging situations,
independently
Case study
Team work 5 Participate in outdoor games like-
cricket and football along with
various other activities
Using team working approach to
achieve target of the company
Analytical skills 4 I can be confident in analysing
customer’s behaviour and respond
appropriately in promoting set
products and services, stimulate
market demand, resist competitors
dominant strategies, etc.
Different books are used to assess
relationship between demand and
supply and application of innovative
marketing tools
Technology skills 3 Learning of new computer software
at coaching centre in order to
mentor others
Put knowledge in practical job to
manage different job operations such
as project planning
*where 5=strong and 1=weak
Table 4: Personal development plan
What are my
development
objectives?
Pr
ior
ity
What activities do
I need to
undertake to
achieve my
objectives?
What
support/resourc
es do I need to
achieve my
objectives
Target
date for
achieving
my
objectives
Update the development
plan based on feedback and
evaluation (3.4)
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Communication
skills
4 Improvement in self-
confidence level.
Counsellor to
encourage my
personal
confidence
2 months Improvement in my listening
skills is essential.
Leadership skills 2 Participation in group
tasks, learning of
different leadership
theories.
Leadership and
management
related books
6 months I also need to generate the ability
to influence other individuals.
Presentation
skills
1 Preparation of power
points presentation
and application of
creativity
Online videos and
other sources
4 months Learning of latest tools for
development of an attractive
presentation is essential.
Problem solving 2 Understanding of
different work related
problems
Case studies, past
research
3 months Learning of different tools of
market research is essential to
resolve different work related
issues.
Analytical skills 3 Learning of different
calculation and data
analysis tools
Subject Tutor,
Data analysis
software
5 months Knowledge of Management
information system is required to
examine or analyses a wide
range of data.
Technology
skills
1 Application and
learning of latest
marketing tools and
tactics
Educational
institutions and
online sources
4 months Advance learning in digital
marketing practices is essential
to meet corporate objectives.
*where 1 being very urgent and 5 as least urgent
Task 3: Implementing and reviewing own personal and professional development plan
3.1Completing the observation record / witness statement attached
Table 5: Observation record/witness statement
Learner name
Qualification BTEC Level 5 HND in Business Programme
Unit number and title Unit 13: Personal and Professional Development
Description of activity undertaken (please be as specific as possible)
It has adopted various strategies in order to improve my self-confidence level that would help me for
improving communication skills. I am also actively participating in group tasks and learning of different
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leadership theories to enhance my leadership skills. Learning of different calculation and data analysis tools
helps me to enhance analytically skills. Preparation of sample power points presentation and application of
creativity is increasing my understanding about different approaches of presentation.
Assessment and grading criteria
(Grade 5 is for best and 1 is for poor)
 I like to attain the proficiency in leadership skills as per the grading criteria 4.
 I am going to improve my presentations skill from grading criteria 1 to 5.
 I want to achieve the grading of 4 in my problem solving skills from existing grading of 2.
 I make efforts to improve my knowledge of latest technology to attain the grade of 4 from 1.
How the activity meets the requirements of the assessment and grading criteria,
including how and where the activity took place
Learner’s Comments
 I am currently undertaking sessions in personal counseling in order to improve my self-confidence in
interacting with others, particularly with regard to use of words, tone of voice, the context in which I
express myself and to ensure that the message or information is understood in the intended manner.
 I am using online videos and taking suggestions from my superiors to improve my presentation skills.
 I am also taking professional training on application of latest tools in handling of different type of s
marketing activities as per the requirement of my job position.
 By learning from different theories on leadership development with the help of different books and
other sources, I am trying to improve my understanding of different leadership tools in order to
improve my leadership qualities.
 I am studying several case studies with the aim of improving my ability to resolve different problems.
Witness name Job role
Witness signature Date
Learner signature Date
Assessor name
Assessor signature Date
Table 6: Mock interview evaluation
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Rate the student interviewee on a scale of 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest) in the following areas of interviewing
skills.
Interviewer name Benson Osejindu
Student name
Date of interview
Non-verbal Behaviour
1. Dressed appropriately 1 2 3 4 5
2. Firmly shook hands of interviewer before and after 1 2 3 4 5
3. Maintained eye contact with interviewer 1 2 3 4 5
4. Maintained good posture 1 2 3 4 5
5. Did not fidget 1 2 3 4 5
6. Used hands for emphasis where appropriate 1 2 3 4 5
Verbal Behaviour
1. Listened closely to questions 1 2 3 4 5
2. Answered questions completely, yet briefly 1 2 3 4 5
3. Greeted interviewer by name 1 2 3 4 5
4. Thanked interviewer 1 2 3 4 5
5. Emphasized qualifications 1 2 3 4 5
6. Pointed out work-related skills 1 2 3 4 5
7. Displayed enthusiasm 1 2 3 4 5
8. Focused on strengths; avoided weaknesses 1 2 3 4 5
9. Acted in polite manner 1 2 3 4 5
10. Stayed calm 1 2 3 4 5
11. Responded to questions promptly, but not hurriedly 1 2 3 4 5
12. Knows when a decision will be made 1 2 3 4 5
13. Asked appropriate questions of the interviewer 1 2 3 4 5
14. Spoke clearly and at a reasonable volume 1 2 3 4 5
15. Demonstrated knowledge of the field/company 1 2 3 4 5
16. Avoided use of phrases such as “um” & “you know” 1 2 3 4 5
17. Stated career goal(s) and related it to position 1 2 3 4 5
3.2 State the development activities you have documented as planned
In rather becoming a Marketing Manager in a leading retail firm, I need to improve my skills and knowledge
of different aspects of marketing. In this regards, some important activities are explained below:
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1. I am taking personal counseling to improve my self-confidence which would impact on my
communication skills in sustaining conversation with clients and my colleagues.
2. I am using online videos and taking suggestions from my superiors to improve my presentation
skills.
3. I am also taking professional training on my application of latest tools in handling different types of
marketing activities as per the requirement of my job.
4. By learning different theories on leadership using different books and other sources, I am trying to
improve my understanding of different leadership styles and their application in my role at work.
5. I am studying several case studies to improve my ability to resolve different problems.
3.3 Reflect critically on own learning against original aims and objectives set in the
development plan
Therefore, I have developed a personal development plan to improve my personal traits and professional
expertise in the field of marketing. In this context, I am trying to increase effectiveness of communication. I
have considered the use of personal counselor to boost my confidence. However, the improvement in
communication skills is directly correlated with my listening so as I should have to improve my listening
skills. In marketing, presentation skills play an important role in my career development therefore I am
using different online videos to learn latest approach on presentation. However, consideration of expert
advice is essential to increase the attractiveness of my presentation. Furthermore, there has been significant
changes addressed in marketing and promotions process in retail organization. Therefore, I am trying to
improve my professional knowledge about current marketing trends. But, the basic learning of marketing
tools is not sufficient for the current job position hence I have to carry out advance learning on digital
marketing tools and their implications on business plan of an organization in promotion of different products
and services.
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References
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3. Cassidy, S., (2006).Learning style and student self-assessment skill.Education + Training. 48 (2/3).
pp.170 – 177.
4. Cunningham, I.,(2010). Learning to lead – self managed learning and how academics resist
understanding the process. Development and Learning in Organizations: An International Journal
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Bookboon.
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