Reflection Report: MBA Major Project on Education Consulting

This reflection report details an MBA major project focused on international consulting in education, specifically targeting the French market. The student employed qualitative research methods, including secondary data analysis from academic journals, books, and websites, to assess market opportunities and develop a business plan. The report explores the importance of market research, the selection of a deductive research approach, and the use of interpretivism philosophy. Key areas of knowledge gained include entrepreneurship, marketing management, financial analysis, and strategic management. The project highlights the feasibility of establishing an international consulting firm in Thionville, France, with a focus on attracting French and Luxembourg students. The student emphasizes the importance of risk-taking, learning from the MBA program, and applying theoretical knowledge to practical business scenarios. The report analyzes market gaps, student needs, and potential for growth within the education sector, emphasizing the strategic importance of English language proficiency and the opportunities presented by student loan programs in France. The student expresses confidence in managing business development and highlights the project's contribution to their career aspirations.

Running head: REFLECTION REPORT
Reflection Report
International Consulting in Education based in France/Thionville
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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Student Name: Student ID Number:
Research Reflection Report
Research Methods and Processes
How and why you have you chosen or decided on
the research methods and processes which you are
using or have used for the development of your
Major Project
How would you describe these to
A reader of your Major Project
A future employer
For this Major Project, I have selected the research
methods as it is the only way where I can gain
proper information about future of my new-start-up
business plan. I have used qualitative research
method for collection of data and detailed
information about the market we are operating in.
The Qualitative and secondary data had been used
by me in this particular Major Project where I have
collected data and information from reliable
sources such as peer-reviewed journal articles,
academic books and websites. The information that
is collected is latest and reliable so that there is no
manipulative data as it will hamper the outcome of
the results as a whole. I did the research by using
exploratory design where the current market gap of
future business was found out through secondary
data. The collected data will be analyzed by use of
graphics, plots, charts and articles to portray it in
most feasible way.
I would like to describe about the research project
to the reader who are reading my Major Project that
the methods used by me properly aligns with the

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research objectives and framework. By reading my
Major Project, you will come to understand how
important is to gather information about the size of
the market, value of the market, customers present
in the market, customers who will show interest to
buy my future services, business that had already
completed the services in the market and how fast
the market is growing presently. This information
can be gained with the help of market research. I
would even want to state the fact that collecting
information from secondary sources was easier as
compared to primary data as it need lot of time.
But, here, I have gathered information using
secondary data from reliable sources. This means
the research approach used by me was deductive
approach where I collected reliable information
from valid sources and then analyzed the
information for drawing conclusions at the end. I
have selected the information that was published
after 2012 and ignored those data that was
published before 2012 as they are outdated and lack
recent data information that have no use in my
project and research activities.

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To my future employer, I would like to explain that
research methods are the best way to get
information about any particular market and
services. While working for this Major Project, I
was able to gain lot of information about the
market and it was easy for me connect it with the
research objectives and frameworks. I have
Interpretivism research philosophy for this Major
Project as it deals with emotional sides of human
beings and takes into account secondary and
qualitative data research. I had to understand
properly if there is a need for such International
Consulting in Education in France where the
business will be providing services to the
betterment of the students. It was interesting to
know that education sector is a business
opportunity and this is the reason we planned to
open a company in France, Thionville. The place
has big potential for our future company as it will
help in attractive all types of customers. I would
like to explain to my future employer that
education sector is growing and there is lot of
scope and opportunity in this sector and that made
me interested for researching in this sector and
come out with this Major Project. I have now

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gained confidence that I have the potential to
manage such a big business development proposal
with the help of my faculty members and will make
sure that in future, I will help out my employer in
best possible ways for sure.
Literature and Sources
What are the most important theories or literature
sources or evidence sources which you are using to
justify your research and your Major Project?
Why are these sources important and fundamental
to your work?
The literature sources used in the Major Project are
secondary by nature and explain the education
sector as a whole and its future opportunity and
prospect. The sources used by me in the Major
Project are Eurostat statistics (website sources),
Guardian (news article source), Localfr (website
sources) and World Post website. I have used
articles that explain about education sector that it is
becoming the most investment market based on
size of the market. Further, I found out that more
than $9.86 billion have been invested in the
education sector starting from the year 2015 and it
will still be more by the end of 2015. The reason
behind the growth is that student wants to get
higher diploma so that they can become
competitive in the job market. By proper education,
we can gain new knowledge about the world and
people, able to create the ability where we can
judge about what is right and wrong, able to
compete in the job market. My goal is to target

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French students and provide them education so that
they do not have to visit any other place. On
analysis, I found out that the French students have
interest to study and it can be big advantage for my
future business where I will be able to attract
French students for carrying out the study in UK.
According to Eurostat statistics, France has the
largest number of students who are studying abroad
for higher education. I have used reliable websites
for getting the information and found out that
France ranks last regarding proficiency in English.
French people are more inclined towards
preserving their own culture and they are still
struggling to integrate with other countries. The
French Students need to get admitted to English
courses as their level of English is too low for
getting MBA Degree program. My plan is to
implement company in Thionville that is close to
Luxembourg, Belgium and Germany.
In order to get access to reliable data, I have used
various sources such as recent articles, news and
websites that explain about education sector and
other attributes that are important and fundamental
for my Major Project. These sources helped me a

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lot to get access to reliable data and information
otherwise the study would be not be serving any
purpose if it had manipulative or wrong
information. According to me, attracting the
Luxembourg students will help us in getting the
best income in the job market as there is huge sale
potential. By using reliable sources, I came to know
that France grants student loans to French students
easily that have an interest to study higher
education abroad.
By making use of reliable data, articles and charts,
I found out that there is a real business opportunity
in this section and it was a wise decision to carry
out the Major Project at this point of time. By
segmenting the needs of current market, I would
like to differentiate the needs of the students and
make strategies that will help my business to grow
in the near future. My business would be targeting
Luxembourg customers because of the income as
well as also as they have higher GDP in and across
the world. By in-depth analysis, I found that there
is a big gap regarding English languages in France.
And the gap will be bridged by us as we are going
to offer services within a time span of 5 years.
Your Knowledge Undertaking this Major Project had made me

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What key areas of knowledge have you gained
from undertaking your research and the Major
Project?
Indicate why are these so important to you?
realize that I have gained lot of confidence that I
lacked before. Previously, I was scared to take any
challenge and think only about risk and failures. It
was this Major Project that helped me in boosting
the level of confidence that I have the ability and
potential to undertake such projects individually. If
we talk about initial time when the lecturer told us
about this Major Project, I was completely scared
and had no clue where to start the project with.
Slowly and gradually with the help of my lecturer, I
was able to plan the Major Project as per my
criteria. I am now proud to say that the entire
project was made by me and was able to gained
knowledge in several areas such as
Entrepreneurship, Marketing management,
Financial analysis, strategic management, research
methodologies, international marketing
management and international business. These are
my course subject that was taught in my lectures
but now I have proper understanding on how to
implement these tools, techniques and methods
practically. Major key areas in this project were
about Marketing, Feasibility of the study, technical
feasibility, Segmentation, Targeting and
Positioning. These are some of the key areas where

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I had to allocate most of the time for research
purpose. I had used secondary data for this Major
project and for this getting access to reliable
information was difficult but interesting. As I was
engaged in collecting information and data about
International consulting, I came to know several
facts about education sector and how it runs in
present years. It was quite interesting to get access
about this information and I have properly used
them in my Major Project with proper headings and
subheadings. I have used graphs, pie charts and
several other tools to make my project worth
reading and getting information for reference
purpose in the future.
The information about the areas that I have gained
is so important for me and for my future career. I
have undertaken MBA course as I have desire to
start up a new venture all by my own. This Major
Project had helped me too initially as now I have
understanding on how to deal with obstacles, how
to handle risk and many more attributes. The need
for international consulting in France had made me
curious and this is the reason I undertook the Major
Project where I developed a business proposal on
this research title. After proper analysis, I am proud

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that I have selected such an emerging topic on
education sector as the sector is promising and has
huge feasibility in the long run.
Your Learning
What are the most important aspects or examples of
learning and skills which you have gained from
Undertaking the MBA programme
Following through your research
Applying your knowledge on what you have
learned in your Major Project
The most important skill that I have learned after
undertaking MBA programme is the risk taking
abilities. In order to undertake any real-life
business or project, we were taught in MBA classes
that it is important for us to take risk and challenge
ourselves till we are not convinced about the plan.
For instance, this Major Project was a challenge
taken by me that I will do something better than
other and was equally competitive as it will help
me to get good marks and knowledge at the same
time. While attending classes of MBA programme,
i found out that our faculty members give so much
attention to make the classes interesting and full of
fun. They explain each of the theoretical concepts
with instances and real-life examples from
company, sector and country. We even attended
internship programs during the MBA degree and
that provided us the insights of information about
company and its structure overall. MBA is a degree
that helped me in every possible ways as I was able
to present myself in front of the class and explain
and give answers to the question asked during

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Personality Development classes.
The learning that I gained during the research
project was how to learn from the mistakes and
tackle the difficult situation with ease. For instance,
most of the time I found that I was not able to
concentrate on one aspect of research study and
was not able to decide where to start the research
with. This is the time when I understood that
planning played important role as it is a step wise
solution to major big problem. When we were
taught about planning in our Principles of
Management subject, we only had theoretical
knowledge but now I know practically that how
important planning actually is. Proper planning
helped me in sorting things in right way and getting
things done as and when needed. After guidance
from my lecture, I properly planned out how to
start with my research project in a synchronized
way so that I do not face any trouble in the near
future. Unforeseen circumstances cannot be
avoided but we can plan it in a way where we can
even be ready to face those situations with
confidence.
By undertaking the major project, I gained lot of
knowledge that I will be cherishing lifetime. The

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knowledge gained by me was risk taking abilities,
optimistic attitude, confidence, motivated than
before and many more attributes that in some way
will help me in my new business venture for sure.
Critical Thinking and your ideas
In carrying out your research, your analysis, your
evaluation of evidence, and identifying or
proposing conclusions, what has been the most
important discovery, or piece of evidence, or
theory, or viewpoint or critical idea or critical
addition to your knowledge, or other item of
importance and why?
When I carried out the research, I selected to use
secondary data for collection purpose because
primary data takes lot of time. For this Major
Project, I wanted information about the market
size, future scope of this business and I collected
this information from reliable news articles, journal
articles and websites that best describe about the
education sector. My purpose was to set up the
business idea of creating an International
Consulting in Education in France. I have decided
to accomplish Business Development Plan so that I
will be able to create a new start-up company as a
entrepreneur. Setting up this business development
plan will help me to create my company as well as
understand the market size and competitiveness in
the job market. I would like to spread the services
that are related to the current business opportunity.
I have analyzed that there are various factors that
made me clear about the need to create an
International Consulting in Education in France
because there is lack of these companies in Metz.

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According to evidences and my viewpoint,
education sector is a business opportunity and I was
interested to carry out the business venture after
completion of MBA degree program. I would like
to draw conclusion about the Major Project that
students are now interested to carry out their
studies abroad and they are getting loans from the
French Government and this altogether encouraged
the education systems. MBA program was
undertaken by me as I feel is the first step to enter
in the job market as an entrepreneur. During the
MBA program, it made us realizes that the program
provides an opportunity to the students to cover
modules that was explained in details about the
paths need to be taken in the competitive job
market. I always dreamt about creating an
International consulting in Education in France and
this is the only reason why I have selected to
complete a business development plan. My
viewpoint is that students should learn English as it
is essential to be a part of job market. It is
mandatory to know English if you want to do a job
and I was struggling to find an agency or company
that would give me the basic general information
on what to do next to be able to find job in the

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market. Personally, I faced this problem and this is
when I decided to open a company that would offer
services to students to remain competitive in the
job market.
Barriers met
What were the main difficulties and barriers you
were faced with in:
Undertaking your research
Completing your major project
There were many difficulties and barriers that I
faced while undertaking the research but I learning
was the same at every situation. I believe that any
situation or circumstances (irrespective of good or
bad), we learn something and that is where we are
able to understand and try not to repeat in next time
as far as possible. I took all the difficulties faced in
the project in a positive sense and make sure that I
will not repeat these mistakes again in my future
projects. It was quite difficult to collect reliable and
valid data or information about Education sector
and its market size. On comparison, it is easier
because if I would have collected primary data, it
would have been time consuming. We were given
limited time and it was not possible for us to collect
primary data and then evaluate it in the Major
Project. I faced difficulties that were handled by me
with the assistance from my lecturer who were
constantly present to guide us in every possible
ways. They were ready to help us in any topic and
any questions that we have in our mind and this