Contemporary Issues in Business Environment: Reflective Report MGT4223

This report presents a reflective analysis of a student's learning experience in a contemporary business issues module, utilizing the Gibbs reflective model to structure the reflection. The first part of the report describes the student's understanding of various contemporary business topics, including or...Read More

Contemporary Issues In business environment
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Contents
Part 1: Reflection using the Gibb’s reflective model on the process and value of learning in the
Module.............................................................................................................................................3
Gibbs Reflective Model...............................................................................................................3
Description...............................................................................................................................4
Feelings....................................................................................................................................4
Evaluation.................................................................................................................................5
Analysis....................................................................................................................................5
Conclusion................................................................................................................................6
Action Plan...............................................................................................................................6
Part 2: Reflective Report on the Feedback Process.........................................................................7
Introduction..................................................................................................................................7
Process of Each Feedback & Improvements Required in the Write Up......................................7
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................10
References......................................................................................................................................11
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Part 1: Reflection using the Gibb’s reflective model on the process and value of learning in
the Module
Gibbs Reflective Model
Gibb’s model of reflection is developed by Graham Gibbs in the year 1988 to provide
structure to the learning from experiences of an individual. The reflective cycle is being
developed by Gibbs in order to provide encouragement to people about thinking in a systematic
manner about the learning that they have derived with the use of past experiences such as from
an event or activity. The reflection circle provided by the Gibbs is used for structuring the
learning experiences that is divided into different stages that are, description, feelings,
evaluation, analysis, and conclusion and action plan. These stages enable people to reflect on the
past experiences in a detailed manner and making them aware of the learning that they have
derived with the past experiences and thus improving their behavior in the future towards a
specific situation (Hoult, 2006). The different stages in the reflective cycle provided by Gibbs
can be illustrated as follows:
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(Source: https://www.toolshero.com/management/gibbs-reflective-cycle-graham-gibbs/)
Application of the Gibbs Model to the Learning Module of Contemporary Issues in Business
Environment
Description
In this learning module, I have gained an understanding about the various issues related
with contemporary business world that are crucial for sustaining and progressing by the
organizations in the present competitive scenario. I have learned about the various topics related
with the contemporary business world in this module. These include understanding the elements
of the external organizational environment, importance of organizational change and innovation
process, ethical and unethical organizational behavior, types of organizational structure, financial
and non-financial planning and controlling techniques used by the management, type of skills
and competencies required by business managers to drive business innovation, workplace
diversity and importance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) within an organization.
Feelings
In the days of attending the lectures about the subject of contemporary issues in business
world I was very excited to come across the various topics that the organizations are placing
importance in the modern business world. This is because I was eager to learn about these issues
so that I can develop an insight into the various factors that an organization needs to place
importance for succeeding in the highly competitive business world of today. However, the
lectures were lengthy a bit and thus I began to feel tired during the lecture session. Despite of
this, the excitement that I have in my mind to learn about these issues enabled me to stay focused
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and active during the lecture session and thus gaining an adequate understanding of all the
contemporary business issues discussed during the lecture session (Essuman, 2015).
Evaluation
My interest and excitement to learn about the subject proved to be positive point for me
to understand about the various issues discussed within the learning module. The in-depth
knowledge of my professor regarding the subject area and clarity of explanation ahs further
boosted up my enthusiasm to attend the lecture session. I have learned about the various
contemporary business topics from the learning module that will help me to progress in the
corporate business world during my career.
Analysis
I have also encountered several problems during this learning process as every concept
related to the subject of contemporary business is new for me. As such, I have to increase my
study hours to gain an adequate understanding of all the topics that I have learned during the
course. This also raised my anxiety and stress level as I have to learn several new things in this
learning module which is very important for my present as well as future knowledge growth.
However, the support given by my lecturer and the teaching pedagogy helped me lot to enhance
my understanding of the various topics that are discussed within the lecture session. I used my
academic course to identify and learn with people who have faced similar situations for widening
my understanding of how they had tacked the challenges that were presented before them, and
the feeling and the significant concerns that they had come across during the learning module. I
had created a support group that consists of my colleagues, experienced students and the lecturer
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to gather appropriate support for understanding the learning modules of this subject (Bhowmik,
Banerjee and Banerjee, 2013).
Conclusion
The discussions held with the lecturer and the previous students has provided me enough
support for coping up with my stress and anxiety level that can negatively impact my academic
performance during their module. However, my willingness and enthusiasm to learn adequately
about the various topics of the subject has helped me to a large extent to perform academically
well in this subject. I recognized that I need to build up my skills and capabilities for studying to
long hours as that can have a negative effect on my future studies as well. I had learnt to study
for long hour and stay focused during lengthy lectures that would help me to perform
academically well in the future context.
Action Plan
In the light of the overall experience that I had held during the learning module, I was able to
develop an action plan for addressing the issues identified and its key elements are as follows:
 I will try to study in a group so that it would help me to gain adequate support from the
community to enhance my learning process
 I need to develop stamina for studying to longer hours of time for staying attentive and
focused during my future academic lectures (Jarvis, 2012)
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Part 2: Reflective Report on the Feedback Process
Introduction
This section presents a report regarding the feedback process provided by the lecturer in
the given assessment and the methods that can be adopted for improving the write up in the
future assessments. As such, it analyses the feedback provided in each section that includes its
presentation and structure, critical analysis and sources of references. In addition to this, the
improvements that need to be made while writing such assessments in the future also aims to be
illustrated within the report.
Process of Each Feedback & Improvements Required in the Write Up
Presentation and Structure
As stated by the feedback of the lecturer, the assessment provided has not followed a
proper report structure. There is no logical flow of information as the information provided is not
written in a clear format and the paragraphs are not properly structured. There are numerous
grammatical and spelling mistakes which have further degraded the presentation of the
information provided within the report. The formatting requirements are also not met adequately
and the overall report fails to provide integrated information throughout the report developed
(Williams, Woolliams and Spiro, 2011).
The feedback provided regarding the presentation and structure area of the report has
helped me to a large extent to identify the improvements that are required while writing my
future assessments. As such, I have understood that I need to improve my fluency in academic
writing by developing proper understanding of the grammar and spelling mistakes that I have
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committed in this assessment so that they does not occur in the future. I need to adopt a logical
structure while creating paragraphs so that they are able to depict clear information to the
readers. These all improvements are required to improve the quality of my future assessments
(Kolb, 2014).
Critical Analysis
It has been required in the analysis requirements to conduct in-depth research into the
problem area and providing background evidence of research and findings and demonstrating
competence and knowledge of the key issues. The feedback regarding the content that includes
lack of clarity, incompleteness and insufficient research into the literatures to support the
analysis done has been pointed out. The discussion conducted in the analysis part is not complete
and adequate to meet the assessment requirements as stated by the lecturer within the feedback.
The in-depth and detailed information is required to be added within the analysis in each section
of the report. There has been limited content and understanding of the research topic as pointed
out during the feedback process. There has been discussion of certain areas that are not relevant
to the research topic and thus has been regarded as irrelevant during the feedback process
(Stefani, 2010).
The feedback provided within the content section of the report has helped me to
understand that it is highly essential for conducting proper research before writing the
assessments. This is because it helps in identification of the proper information that needs to be
presented within the assessment. The relevant information should be separated out from the
irrelevant by analyzing the significance of the information gathered in relation to the research
issue. Also, while writing the critical analysis part of a report is highly essential to support the
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points raised with proper literature sources to enhance the credibility of the information
presented within the overall section. The points that are discussed should be clearly linked to the
research topic in context for further improving the quality and reliability of the information
provided within the section. The more emphasis needs to be placed for discussing the key
concepts and issues of the topic as these are important points that need to be explained in a
detailed manner (Darwin, 2016).
Sources of References
The feedback regarding the inconsistent use of Harvard referencing style has also been
provided within the assessment. It includes illustration of the inadequate literature sources to
conduct the analysis part and this has limited its credibility and validity to be used in future work
carried out in this context (Tuck, 2017). There is lack of sources within the content and this has
negatively impacted its quality and usage in the future context. The use of limited references
within the overall text written in the assessment has an impact on the accuracy and quality of the
research work. Also, the referencing style is not proper and the sources used have not been cited
as per the given style of reference to be used, that is, Harvard Referencing System.
The overall feedback provided within the assessment regarding the referencing has
enabled me to develop an insight into the importance of meeting the referencing requirements as
stated within the assessments. I have learnt the use of Harvard referencing style as stated within
the requirement to be followed for the purpose of writing the assessment. Also, I have
understood the importance of enriching the quality of an assessment by adding suitable
references and thereby improving the quality of the academic writing style. The consistent use of
references within the overall report leads in improving the quality of the research work provided
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in the overall report. I will make note of the importance of referencing to be used within the
report while conducting the future assessments. This would help me in improving the grades of
my future assessments and leading to improvement in the academic results (Chen and Tate,
2018).
Conclusion
The overall feedback process discussed within the report has enabled me to gain an
understanding of the improvements required in my academic skills and competencies to realize
good academic grades in the future context. I have learned the improvements that I required to be
made while writing my future assessments that would enable me in obtaining good quality
grades.
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References
Bhowmik, M., Banerjee, B. and Banerjee, J. 2013. Role of Pedagogy in Effective Teaching.
Basic Research Journal of Education Research and Review, 2(1), pp. 01-05.
Chen, M. and Tate, D. 2018. Evaluation of Learning and Teaching Practice for Design-oriented
Engineering Modules. Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research 2(13),
pp. 763-768.
Darwin, S. 2016. Student Evaluation in Higher Education: Reconceptualising the Student Voice.
Australia: Springer.
Essuman, S.O. 2015. Exploring the Reflective Learning Experiences of Primary School Teachers
during the use of Open Educational Resources. Journal of Education and Training 2(2), pp. 163-
179.
Hoult, E. 2006. Learning Support: a guide for mature students. London: Sage Publications Ltd.
Jarvis, P. 2012. Towards a Comprehensive Theory of Human Learning. Abingdon: Routledge.
Kolb, D. 2014. Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development.
New Jersey: FT Press.
Stefani, L. 2010. Evaluating the Effectiveness of Academic Development: Principles and
Practice. US: Routledge.
Tuck, J. 2017. Academics Engaging with Student Writing: Working at the Higher Education
Textface. Oxon: Routledge.
Williams, K., Woolliams, M. and Spiro, J. 2011. Reflective Writing. China: Macmillan
International Higher Education.
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