ICL Business: Communication, Performance, and Biculturalism

This report presents an evaluation of communication and performance within ICL Graduate Business School (ICL-GBS), focusing on a student's experience with Professional Practice and Communication in Business. The assessment involved a group project researching internal and external factors influencing ICL's operations, with an emphasis on work-based learning and the impact of biculturalism in the New Zealand business environment. The student, along with teammates, conducted research, held meetings, and analyzed communication strategies, including stakeholder relations and team dynamics. Key findings highlight the importance of clear communication, understanding diverse cultural perspectives, and the significance of work-based learning. The report includes recommendations for ICL to enhance its services and address challenges, particularly concerning communication gaps, competitor analysis, and the integration of bicultural practices. The student's reflections on team collaboration, professional communication ethics, and the insights gained from interacting with ICL management are also detailed. Furthermore, the report references relevant academic literature to support the analysis.

Evaluation of own and others learning and performance
From the research, I discovered several new things which were unknown to me earlier. This task
immensely helped me in getting precise knowledge about the internal and external factors which
hugely contributed to bringing ICL to the position which it currently holds. The learning that I
derived from task 1 was that regular and clear communication between staff of ICL and its
students are crucial for the future growth of both the students as well as the organization. I
realized that students, if satisfied with the services of ICL, will refer it to other newcomers as
well and this will help in mouth publicity of the entity. Moreover, I realized that ICL should also
keep an eye over its competitors and their policies about how they benefit students in gaining a
new job or an admission in the next university. The biggest learning that I developed from is
about biculturalism and how it works in businesses operating in New Zealand. This module
immensely helped me in gaining detailed knowledge about the Treaty of Waitangi and its
importance in a business scenario. However, we were also asked to conduct a meeting within the
team to discuss and identify the issues and also to discuss the same with ICL manager so that
he/she can help in resolving our queries. Thus this assessment helped me learning professional
communication ethics and team working. This task also helped me in gaining insights into the
varied ideologies of people belonging to different cultures and understanding their perspectives
more widely.
I am associated with ICL pathway services which are a business unit of ICL Graduate Business
School (ICL-BGS). I study professional practices and communication in business for which a
group of four students among which I was one of the members, were, asked to create a work
portfolio and an assessment task to develop a better understanding and knowledge of
communication with stakeholders and relationship building with them. Thus the four of us
(Guirong Lin, Ziqiu Zheng, Yuqing Hu, and Amandeep Singh made a team and were asked to
research. The task involved in-depth research along three crucial topics that are Internal
Environment of the organization, external factors and the impact of the bicultural partnership in
New Zealand. The assessment helped us in gaining knowledge about how ICL works and what
more could be done or recommended to the management to improvise its services.
1

From the research conducted in task 1, we recognized that internal and external factors play a
crucial role in the growth of the organization and thus entity should pay equal attention to every
factor. I and my team members realized that communication is the key to success. Thus ICL
should implement channels which could help in enhancing clear communication between its staff
members and students. Also, the service providers must pay high attention towards students’
needs and should provide them with resources for gaining a better understanding of the subject
they are learning. Any communication gap may lead to resentment among pupils and this might
result in increased turnover from the institution or they may also recommend others not to join
the ICL pathways. Moreover, we also understood that the firm must have complete awareness
about external factors as well such as competitor’s policies, government norms etc. Many other
similar institutions provide work-based learning programs and often they conduct highly
effective workshops for students. Thus ICL should embark on promoting work-based learning so
that students can get “hands-on” knowledge and skills before they join any company or
organization.
Within the assessment, we were required to conduct a meeting with internal team members to
discuss issues that we and other students are facing. This task helped all of us in learning how to
undertake group discussion and what do’s and don’ts to be followed. Since all the group
members belonged to diverse cultures and social backgrounds, this meeting helped in gaining a
sheer understanding of ideologies of different people and also supported in bringing a large
number of innovative ideas. Since every team members were assigned a particular task for the
accomplishment of a common purpose, we learned team managing skills. During this project, we
learned to utilize the knowledge and abilities of different persons which will certainly support all
of us in our careers growth and future. The communication with the stakeholders and internal
members of ICL helped me in understanding the significance of both verbal and written
communication. We realized that one to one communication is crucial to clear all the doubts. We
were asked to provide evidence of the communication such as email screenshots, chat
conversations, video and audio recordings of meetings and minutes of the meetings. These all
provided authentic evidence of the efforts made by us and helped us in finding loopholes in the
whole communication process. Not only this, we learned the conventions of professional
communication with colleagues and superiors.
2

Mr Brent Hawkins who is one of the managers of the ICL helped us in resolving and finding
answers to our questions. From the meeting with Brent, we realized that though work-based
learning is not directly related to biculturalism but it is crucial for the students of ICL since they
come from different countries and different cultural backgrounds, and since they want to study or
work in New Zealand they must possess thorough practical knowledge about practices and
beliefs followed in New Zealand. The discussion also helped team members to understand how
work-based learning not only to help students but also the stakeholders of ICL. We get to know
that ICL itself having troubles while establishing good relations with its alumni, thus through this
assessment, we as students of ICL suggested several recommendations with which performance
and operations of ICL-PS can be improvised. Furthermore, we identified that Maori people are
indigenous to New Zealand and it is crucial for every other non-Maori individual or business to
respect and understand their values and norms if they want to grow and flourish in New Zealand.
Not only one should respect the native culture of the land but also every culture on the globe.
3

References
Bell, A. (2017). Working from where we are: a response from Aotearoa New Zealand. Higher
Education Research & Development, 36(1), 16-20.
Larner, W. (2016). Brokering citizenship claims: neo-liberalism, biculturalism and
multiculturalism in Aotearoa New Zealand. In Women, Migration and Citizenship (pp.
145-162). Routledge.
Schuh, G., Gartzen, T., Rodenhauser, T., & Marks, A. (2015). Promoting work-based learning
through industry 4.0. Procedia CIRP, 32, 82-87.
Smith, A. (2016). Experiential learning. Edward Elgar Publishing Limited.
4