Reflective Report – International Business

Running head: REFLECTIVE REPORT – INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Reflective Report – International Business
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1REFLECTIVE REPORT – INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
Part 1 – Reflections on Individual Group Work
Positive Aspects of Group Activity
The individual group work that we were assigned entailed us first forming a group of
six or seven members, based on aptitude and skills. None of us group members were familiar
with each other at the time of forming the group, and I personally was quite excited at the
prospect of getting to know them and work with all of them collectively as a group. Although
we are all a part of the same class and same course, none of my group members were known
to me at the time of group formation, making me quite eager to interact with them and get to
know them better. We were to work on assignments pertaining to international business
studies, some of the topics which were not too well known to me and which I needed help to
understand better. I decided to be open and transparent in my communication style with all
my group members. The first activity that we decided to partake in as a group was an ice
breaker round where we were all to introduce ourselves formally. Each person introduced
himself or herself for two minutes, and when my turn came to speak about myself, I provided
them with some information about my cultural background, and proceeded to let them know
that while I was happy to be working with them as a group on an international business
studies assignment, some core concepts pertaining to the subject were those that I found to be
difficult and would need help in understanding. My honesty and transparency about my lack
of confidence regarding certain aspects of international business studies is something that was
well received by my group members, with two of them letting me know immediately that
they would be happy to help me out with any difficulties that I experienced.
Ours was quite a culturally diverse group with most of us belonging to different ethnic
and religious backgrounds. It was therefore a whole lot of fun getting to know one another’s
cultural backgrounds, food habits, choice of religion and religious practice and even political

2REFLECTIVE REPORT – INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS
and social views, when interacting with each other to work on our assignment. I was as
forthcoming as possible in my communication with my group members, and apart from
taking help with topics that I did not understand, I also readily provided help and assistance
as and when it was needed. As a result, the work culture that developed in our group became
quite a harmonious work culture, with each and every one of us accepting the fact that we
were culturally and religiously different and that we had been united for achieving the
common goal of completing an international business studies assignment. We worked
proactively and constructively and did a fabulous job as a team, primarily because we were
also accepting of each other\s differences, culturally and academically, and were willing to
cooperate and collaborate in a way that we could work past these differences.
If I had to work with this group again for an assignment again, the one thing I would
do differently is avoid being too inquisitive about other people’s cultural backgrounds. While
the questions that I posed in trying ad getting to know the cultural habits of some of my group
members were not badly received, I will avoid being too inquisitive in this respect again, as
there is every possibility of too much curiosity not being taken well.
Part 2 – Assessment of Strengths and Weaknesses in Relation to Skills Needed in order
to develop personally as an Effective International Business Manager
Two skills which I do possess and which I believe will go a long way in helping me to
be an effective business leader are the ability to be a transformational leader and the ability to
carry out effective management of a multicultural team. I know I can be a good
transformational leader because I have the patience to listen to what other people have to say
instead of imposing my own views on people all of the time. I can listen with great
concentration to what another person might have to say to be, without interrupting this person
or making my own thoughts and views on the matter known, as this might not be needed at