Academic and Research Skills Report: Marketing Project Analysis

This report delves into the essential academic and research skills required for personal and professional development, particularly within a business context. It begins with an introduction to the importance of a personal development plan, emphasizing the use of SWOT analysis to identify strengths and weaknesses. The report then explores the significance of note-taking skills, providing various methods such as the Cornell method, split-page method, and visual aids, along with the importance of active listening and reading skills. Furthermore, the report discusses the role of academic research projects, differentiating between primary and secondary research and highlighting the importance of a well-structured research plan. Finally, the report culminates in the creation of a personal development plan, outlining short and long-term goals, strategies for achieving them, and timelines for review and progress tracking. The report provides a comprehensive guide for enhancing skills in business development.

Academic and Research
skills

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
Assessing Strengths and Weaknesses.........................................................................................1
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................2
Note Taking Skill........................................................................................................................2
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................4
Academic research project..........................................................................................................4
TASK 5............................................................................................................................................6
Personal Development Plan........................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Personal development plan is prepared with an objective of identifying skills and
knowledge of an individual due to which it can be improved so as to achieve growth and success
in personal as well as professional career. SWOT Analysis is an option which help an individual
to identify their own strengths and weaknesses. Research is also required to be conducted in
order to target the market in order to market and sell their products and services. The importance
of note taking skills are also discussed under this report (AlHassan and Wood, 2015).
TASK 1
Assessing Strengths and Weaknesses
In order to market product and services of an organisation in which I working, it is more
important for me to know my actual strengths and weaknesses so that I can able to identify that
whether I am more capable to perform specific task or not. And if not then what are the areas I
need to worked on that will help in increasing my capability (Sekaran and Bougie, 2016). To
improve identified weak areas, Personal and professional development (PDP) is essential to
prepare which make me more capable in making an effective marketing decisions so that it can
be easy for me in order to achieve success in my marketing project activities.
Such plan can be prepared with the help of information collected by research due to
which the necessary aspects are easily identified on which I need to focused on. Along with the
gathering information, it is also required to analyse such data in proper manner which further
help in identifying the issues and problems that restrict them to achieve better possible result.
Here are the SWOT Analysis which is essential to conduct if I want to achieve maximum
possible result (Bozeman, Fay and Slade, 2013).
Strengths
 I am good in dealing with complex
situation through making an effective
decisions.
 I am comfortable to work in a team as I
have a skills to bear responsibilities and
perform under pressure.
Weaknesses
 Due to lack of knowledge about
multiple languages, I am unable to
communicate with customers having
different cultures and backgrounds.
 Research skills are also not good due to
poor skills of understanding body
1

 I have good learning skills due to which
I can easily adopt marketing methods
and techniques changes by an
organisation according to the situations.
language of respondents.
 Not having time management skills due
to taking more time to select best
decision among various marketing
plans.
Opportunities
 Need to learn multiple languages in
order to deal with customers having
different cultures and backgrounds. Need to focus on conducting research
so as to identify that at present times
which features are more required by
customers.
Threats
 More competitive and qualified
competitors brings lots of challenges.
SMART Objectives:
In order to make ensure that target goals are clear and reachable, I required to set
SMART which includes:
Specific: Targeting youths for the purpose of influencing their buying behaviour towards
company's products.
Measurable: I will connect with 4 social media so as to influence youths in favour of
purchasing company's products.
Achievable: Attracting and influencing the interest and buying behaviour of youths are
achievable using my work experience (Bryman and Bell, 2015).
Relevant: Such goals help company in achieving goals of increasing sales figure through
adopting marketing techniques.
Time bound: I will achieved targeted goals within 3 months in order to bring out
maximum positive result.
2

TASK 2
Note Taking Skill
Note taking is another such skills which need to be acquired by me so that I can able to
conduct research and collecting information from other sources. Such skill required specific
knowledge of statistics and multiple languages so that a proper note is prepared which contains
all relevant information about the content of research. Therefore, note making skill is must
required which facilitate me to record work along with their outcomes (Rardin and Rardin,
2016).
Therefore, such skill is also more helpful in summarising the information in
understanding manner so that it make easy for interpreting them in an effective manner.
Information collected in accurate manner can be possible through having good listening skills.
The acronym of Listening consists of L-Lead, I-Ideas, S-Summarize, T-Talk, E-Ends, N-Notes.
It is essential to have such skill without which I am unable to perform allotted project activities
in desired manner. In addition with this, such skills make me more capable to find out new ways
to completed task through listening feedbacks and views of customers (Chawner and
Oliver,2013). Moreover, there are some other methods available such are as:
 Cornell method: It refers to such notes which includes crucial information mentioned in
sections in order to make mote more understandable.
 Split page method: Such notes splits into sections i.e. main idea and secondary ideas. The
main idea has given more priority than the secondary idea (Gunn and Miree, 2012).
 Visual aids: It includes information collected from pictures, graphs, diagrams etc. in
order to understand them in meaningful manner.
In addition with such skills, reading skill is also important which help me to read and
understand the important matters from different sources such as books, journals, magazines etc.
Both such skills combined uses in note making in an understandable manner. These skills help in
paraphrasing an summarising relevant and crucial information related with taste and preferences
of customers which help me to make an effective decisions (Collins, 2017).
Skills need to
be acquired
Requirement
of learning
Sources of
listening skills
Sources of
Reading skills
Time taken Areas on
which such
skill is
3

applied.
Note taking It is helpful for
me to make
records of
each activity
performed by
me so that
while making
an effective
decision at
last, I can able
to consider
such
information.
It can be
acquired or
improved
through taking
participation
in seminars,
conferences,
interviews etc.
with
customers,
It can be
acquired
through
reading books,
journals,
magazines etc.
3 Months It is more
helpful for me
while
conducting
research in
which I need
to ask
questions to
customers in
order to collect
their views
and recording
them in an
understandable
manner which
further help
me in making
an effective
marketing
decisions.
TASK 3
Academic research project
Moreover, it is important for me to conduct research for company in order to identify the
needs and preferences of targeted customer i.e. young generation and on the basis of gathered
information I can able to inform to production department regarding making changes in their
clothing products and services accordingly (Zuber-Skerritt, 2013). The research can be of two
types which includes:
4

Primary research: This is the research in which first hand information are collected in
order to get accurate and reliable data. It can be done through conducting interviews,
questionnaire, feedback form etc. which consumes more time but gives more reliable and
accurate data. On the basis of information, the researcher can able to provide me relevant
information about the market needs so that I can able to make further decisions and actions
(Cormier and Hagman, 2014).
Secondary research: This is the research in which second-hand information are
considered due to saving time and funds. The information can be collected through various
sources such as magazines, books, Journals etc. thus less accurate and reliable. Therefore, the
chances of making an effective decision relating to identifying market needs and adopting an
effective marketing tools will be less. Although, it is not beneficial for company for longer
period of time (Dabbagh and Kitsantas,2012).
Before making a research, it is essential for me to make an effective research plan and
accordingly perform different activities in an well desired manner. Following are the some
essential which need to be compulsorily required to consider:
 Main aim and objectives of research
 Research strategy
 Resources
 Biographical Sketch
 Research support
 Preliminary studies in better manner.
All such things need to be considered while making an effective research plan which are
framed in following manner:
Research plan
Research plan along with its overview
Title and content of research
Identification of aims and objectives
Strategies for research
Advice for perfect research strategy
Required to have graphics and videos
5

Innovation and approach
Tracking budget
Have progress report
Referencing is required
Review the research work
Have narrative
TASK 5
Personal Development Plan
As it is essential for me to work on improving the academic and personal skills through
participating in different activities such as seminars, conferences, group discussion etc. Further, I
need to work on developing weak areas through preparing the Personal Development Plan (PDP)
for specific time period (DiPrete and Jennings, 2012). As through conducting SWOT Analysis, I
am able to identify my strengths and weaknesses thus I required to focus on improving and
converting my weaknesses into strengths. As identified earlier, I m not good in communication,
lack of time management skills as well as research skill thus I need to worked on such
weaknesses as quickly as possible. Through improving may weak areas, I can able to perform
allotted project activities i.e. marketing company's products and services (Dochartaigh, 2012).
Personal development plan is more helpful for me to improve my weak areas so that I can easily
achieve my desired professionals goals and objectives within limited period of time. Such plan is
prepared under the below:
My
personal
developmen
t
targets?
Short or
long term
target?
How will I
achieve my
targets?
What
activities do
I need to
undertake
Date of
review
Progress
made
towards
target
Further
action
required
Actual date
of
achieving
target
6

to achieve
my
objectives?
What
support do
I need?
Communic
ation skills
Long term Internet,
orientation
and training
programs,
coaching
classes etc.
are some
sources
through
which I can
learn
multiple
languages
and improve
communicat
ion skills.
15/06/18 Making
interaction
with
customers in
market
coming
from
different
culture and
backgrounds
.
Attending
training and
coaching
classes
conducted
by an
organisation
.
15/09/18
Research
skills
Short term
target.
Reading out
books,
journals,
attending
seminars
etc. help in
collecting
information
25/06/18 Attending
seminars
and
conferences
organised
by multiple
number of
companies
Searching
out the
books and
journals and
meeting
maximum
number of
respondents
25/11/18
7

abut the
content of
research.
in order to
get relevant
information
about
market
trends.
in order to
find out the
reliable and
accurate
data.
Time
manageme
nt skills
Long term
target.
Set time
table or
schedule
before
executing
any activity
which
brings
motivation
to work
hard and
complete on
time.
Training
programs
where the
importance
of
completing
task on time
will be
delivered to
an
individuals.
30/06/18 Setting time
frames and
schedules
for each
activity so
that
profitable
outcomes
can be
easily
achieved.
Attending
training
programs
which are
conducted
by company
in er future.
Such
programs
provides the
importance
and the
benefits of
completing
allotted task
on time.
30/08/18
8

Therefore, preparing such PDP plan makes me more capable of doing task allotted by
company with an objective of accomplish in an effective and profitable way (Echevarria, Vogt
and Short, 2016).
CONCLUSION
It has been concluded from the above project report that Personal Development Plan is
essential to prepare in order to develop skills and abilities so that an effective outcomes can be
received in near future. As it is also important for an individual to identify their own strengths
and weaknesses and accordingly focusing on improving in order to achieve growth and success
in professional career.
9

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
AlHassan, L. and Wood, D., 2015. The effectiveness of focused instruction of formulaic
sequences in augmenting L2 learners' academic writing skills: A quantitative research
study. Journal of English for Academic Purposes. 17. pp.51-62.
Bozeman, B., Fay, D. and Slade, C. P., 2013. Research collaboration in universities and
academic entrepreneurship: the-state-of-the-art. The Journal of Technology Transfer.
38(1). pp.1-67.
Bryman, A. and Bell, E., 2015. Business research methods. Oxford University Press, USA.
Chawner, B. and Oliver, G., 2013. A survey of New Zealand academic reference librarians:
Current and future skills and competencies. Australian Academic & Research Libraries.
44(1). pp.29-39.
Collins, H., 2017. Creative research: the theory and practice of research for the creative
industries. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Cormier, S. M. and Hagman, J. D. eds., 2014. Transfer of learning: Contemporary research and
applications. Academic Press.
Dabbagh, N. and Kitsantas, A., 2012. Personal Learning Environments, social media, and self-
regulated learning: A natural formula for connecting formal and informal learning. The
Internet and higher education, 15(1), pp.3-8.
DiPrete, T. A. and Jennings, J.L., 2012. Social and behavioral skills and the gender gap in early
educational achievement. Social Science Research, 41(1), pp.1-15.
Dochartaigh, N. Ó., 2012. Internet research skills. Sage.
Echevarria, J., Vogt, M. and Short, D., 2016. Making content comprehensible for English
learners: The SIOP model. Pearson.
Gunn, M. and Miree, C.E., 2012. Business information literacy teaching at different academic
levels: An exploration of skills and implications for instructional design. Journal of
information literacy, 6(1), pp.18-34.
Rardin, R. L. and Rardin, R.L., 2016. Optimization in operations research (p. 919). Prentice
Hall.
Sekaran, U. and Bougie, R., 2016. Research methods for business: A skill building approach.
John Wiley & Sons.
Zuber-Skerritt, O., 2013. Professional development in higher education: A theoretical
framework for action research. Routledge.
10