La Trobe University CPD1102: Personal Learning and Development Plan

This assignment is a comprehensive learning and development plan created by a student pursuing a Master's in Project Management at La Trobe University, with a background in Mechanical Engineering. The plan begins with a self-introduction, outlining career aspirations to become a project developer in the mechanical engineering field, specifically within the car engine manufacturing sector. It analyzes industry megatrends and challenges, acknowledging high competition and the need for experience. The plan sets both personal and organizational goals, emphasizing the importance of completing the master's program, acquiring relevant skills, and improving communication. Ethical and professional values, including honesty, respect, leadership, and law-abiding behavior, are highlighted as crucial. The plan includes a competency assessment using a five-stage model, identifying current skill levels and areas for improvement in managerial and leadership competencies. The student aims to improve these competencies, including skills and knowledge for the future career.

Leaning and Development Plan
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Contents
Section 1- Self-Introduction.......................................................................................................3
Section 2- Megatrend and challenges........................................................................................4
Section 3- Goals.........................................................................................................................6
Section 4- Ethics and professional values..................................................................................8
Section 5- Competency assessment.........................................................................................10
Section 6- Competencies improvement/ professional development summary........................12
References................................................................................................................................14
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Section 1- Self-Introduction
The primary objective of this planning and development program is to identify the skills that
are required to achieve the overall career goals. This planning and development program will
definitely help in identifying the deficiencies that are currently possessed by me in order to
identify strategies that can be used to improve these deficiencies. I have completed bachelors
in mechanical engineering and currently pursuing Masters in project management from La
Trobe-University. According to my education qualifications, I want to pursue a career as a
Project developer in mechanical engineering. There are various organizations in the market
that are focused on the development of machines and other equipment that requires project
developers with effective knowledge and skills. In the past I have worked as a business
development manager participated in various voluntary programs (Sharf, 2016). Working as a
business development manager and participating in the various voluntary program has
provided me with the experience of working with an actual business organization. It is
expected that this experience will be helpful in initiating my career as well as getting familiar
with business organizations more quickly.
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Section 2- Megatrend and challenges
The main focus in this section of the report would be on the analysis of the industry in which
I want to develop my career. It is very important for the candidate or a student to identify the
industry in which they want to work in order to identify future perspective. I want to work
with a mechanical engineering organization that is indulged in the manufacturing of
equipment and machines. These machines and equipment can be developed for any kind of
purpose as there is a different type of Machines and equipment available in the market. For
example, manufacturing cards also considered as machine manufacturing whereas
manufacturing of simple home treatment is also considered as machine manufacturing. I want
to work with an organization that is indulged in the manufacturing of the car engine (Yu and
Hou, 2016). This is due to the factor that mechanical engineering will be very helpful in the
manufacturing of car engines and it will help in using my skills that have been acquired
during my graduation and post-graduation. In addition to that, it is also my area of interest
which will definitely help in career development over the period of time.
There is various car engine manufacturing organization that is currently been operating in this
industry. It is common in this Industry that car engines are produced by business
organizations under the name of which car has been sold in the market. Therefore engine for
Honda is generally developed and manufactured by Honda as opposed to other parts been
manufactured by some other organization and assembled at Honda. This is due to the fact that
the car engine is considered as one of the most two essential factors in the development
process and business organizations do not want to outsource this function (Law, 2017).
Currently, some of the most popular car manufacturers in this industry are Honda, Toyota
Volkswagen, Hyundai, and General Motors.
Challenges- Some of the very common challenges that will be faced while finding work in
this industry are as follows-
 First of all, it will be very difficult to find jobs in this industry as the level of competition
in this industry is very high.
 Car manufacturing is a very complicated process and generally, these large scale
organizations tend to give jobs experienced candidate that has experienced in
manufacturing or assembly of the car.
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 Scope of error in working with these organizations is very limited as they are very
concerned about the product and services that are coming out of their manufacturing units
(Nallusamy et.al, 2016).
 Currently, I am not apt for these organizations as overall skills and knowledge required
for working in such organizations are not possessed by me.
After assessing the challenges it can be said that there is a requirement of self -improvement
which will be brought in through Planning and development program.
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Section 3- Goals
The main focus in the section of the report would be to identify personal goals as well as
goals of the organizations that I am pursuing. This will help in identifying the gap between
these two sets of goals and objectives. This section will help in developing strategies that will
help in bridging the identified gap.
Personal goals and expectations
 First and foremost it will be very important to complete my Masters in project
management. Therefore the primary focus in next 1 year would be to complete this post-
graduation with good grades. Completion of post-graduation in project management will
help in identifying the manner in which actual work is done in the assembly line of car
manufacturing organizations. Only knowledge about mechanical engineering is not
enough to developer career in mechanical engineering organizations as they want
candidates that can manage manufacturing assembly line in an effective manner
(Midgley, 2014).
 Another goal for carrier development would be to acquire training and development in the
field of car engine manufacturing. Every large scale business organization tends to initiate
training and development programs as they can acquire skilled employees at lower cost
through these programs. In addition to that these programs help new candidates to get
familiar with the business industry in which there entering.
 Acquisition of an appropriate set of skills and knowledge to work in a large scale car
manufacturing unit is also one of the primary goals that will be helpful in achieving
overall career goals. This type of goals will be achieved by working with small scale
manufacturing organizations that are manufacturing car engines (Heckhausen et.al, 2013).
 It is important to have a command over vocabulary and communication to operate in a
large scale car manufacturing organization such as Honda and Toyota. Therefore another
important goal in this career Development Plan would be to improve vocabulary and
communication skills (Creed and Hood, 2014). These communication skills will help in
effective presentation of ideas and knowledge to employees working at a leadership
position in the organization.
Goals of employer/ client
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 The primary goal of any employee in this industry would be to acquire a person or
candidate that have sufficient knowledge about to project management as well as
mechanical engineering. This goal of the employer is in direct relationship with the
personal goal to complete rust graduation in project management as graduation in
mechanical engineering has been already completed.
 Another goal of the employer is to acquire a candidate that as experience with car
manufacturing organization as the scope of error in such organizations is very limited. It
can be said that this objective of employers will be achieved if I am able to get myself
enrolled in training and development programs initiated by large-scale car manufacturers
such as Honda and Toyota.
On an overall analysis, it can be said that my personal goals are in line with the expected
goals and objectives of a business organization operating in this industry. Therefore effective
and efficient achievement of personal goals will definitely help in satisfying the needs and
requirements of business organizations in this industry (Galankashi, Helmi and Hashemzahi,
2016). This will definitely help in the development of my career over a period of time.
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Section 4- Ethics and professional values
Ethics and professional values are one of the primary requirements of any business
organization operating in this industry or any other kind of industry. This is due to the fact
that to management frauds have been increasing significantly over the period of time and
business organizations want to illuminate these management frauds with the help of ethical
and professional values. It is very important for a candidate that is seeking a career in the car
manufacturing industry to adhere with the general professional and ethical values established
by such organizations. Come of the basic ethical and professional values which I will follow
in my career and profession would be as follows-
Honesty- honesty is one of the most primary and basic ethical value that will be followed by
me while working for an organization as a trainee or an employee (Iacobucci et.al, 2013).
This is one of the primary factors that every business organization wants to develop in its
workforce. Ethical value of honesty will help in developing effective and efficient corporate
culture and not deliberately misleading or deceiving any other person in the organization
including customers and other stakeholders.
Concern and respect for others- Another important factor that helps in the development of
effective organizational culture is concern and respect for others. Any person working in a
particular organization should not be considered inferior or less valued. This will help in the
development of fairness and provide equal opportunities for every person working in the
company. It can be said that this will help in using perspective and knowledge of every
employee in an effective manner as they will feel like part of the organization and motivated.
Leadership- Another important quality that is essential in the current business environment is
leadership. Leadership qualities are very important for gaining an effective position in the
organization in a short period of time. I am working on gaining skills of leadership by getting
my post-graduation in project management (Ferrell and Fraedrich, 2015). Principles of
project management will definitely help me to develop leadership qualities as it will help in
identifying and understanding different from the module that operates in the production of
particular business activity.
Law-abiding- following rules and regulations in any industry is very important especially in
the car manufacturing industry as an additional set of rules and regulations are required to be
followed for improving the safety of customers. It is important for me to follow the ethical
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principle of law-abiding in order to remain in this industry for a long period of time.
Repercussions of violating these laws and regulations are undertaken very seriously by large
scale manufacturers of Honda and Toyota (Bowie, 2017). In addition to legislative rules and
regulations, internal rules and regulations of the organization are also required to be followed.
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Section 5- Competency assessment
The primary objective of this section in the report is to conduct a self-analysis of the
competencies that are required for developing a career in the intended industry. This section
of the report will use 5 stages of competencies in order to conduct a self-analysis. 5 stages of
competencies are as follows-
Stage I – Unconscious incompetence- the person is unaware of their own shortages and
ignorance
Stage 2- Conscious incompetence- Particular person is aware of their own shortages
regarding their skills and knowledge.
Stage 3- Conscious competence- the person is able to provide evidence of their competence
with the help of their skills and focus on a particular matter.
Stage 4- Unconscious competence- employee or a person is able to provide evidence of his or
her competence but with the low level of focus.
Stage 5- Shared competence- Person is skilled and knowledgeable and such a person is also
aware of such competence (Huda et.al, 2017).
Managerial and leadership competencies- Managerial and leadership competencies very
important to for any person that is seeking career development in leadership positions. I have
completed my graduation and currently pursuing my post-graduation in project management.
With this education background, I definitely want to achieve a leadership position in large
scale car manufacturing organizations such as Honda, Volkswagen, and Toyota. After
conducting a self-analysis it can be said that I am at stage 4 of 5 stages discussed in the above
section with regards to the managerial and leadership competencies. This is due to the fact
that I am currently pursuing my education and have not worked with any large scale
organization in the car manufacturing industry. I have worked as a business development
manager but it was not specific to the car manufacturing industry which will be a new
experience. This is not an inherent skill and can be achieved over a period of time with the
help of training and development in the field of leadership and management (Lind and
Wakenhut, 2017).
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Social-culture and personal competencies- Personal and social competencies are also very
important as the success of an organization is not dependent on a particular person rather than
it is dependent on the level of communication between different employees in the
organization. Therefore for the purpose of developing an effective and efficient
organizational culture, it is important that every employee has personal and social culture
competencies. With the help of self -analysis I can say that I am currently at stage 2 of the 5
stages discussed in this section. It means that I am aware of my own shortages and limitations
in social and personal competencies. This is due to the fact that my primary focus in post-
graduation in graduation was on acquiring the skills and knowledge that are theoretical rather
than practical (Mariappanadar and Kramar, 2019). I have strong communication and verbal
skills but I have to learn the manner in which such skills can be used in a business
environment. Therefore it can be said that this deficiency is limited and can be easily
overcome with the help of working in business organizations over the period of time.
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Section 6- Competencies improvement/ professional development summary
The main focus of this section would be to identify primary factors that require improvement
in current training and development program. This will be based upon the self-analysis
conducted in the above section. In addition to that to SWOT analysis will also be conducted
in order to identify positive factors as well as factors that are creating hindrance in the
development of effective and efficient career.
Strengths
 Strong verbal communication.
 Ability to work under pressure.
 Excellent store managing skills.
 Have a zeal to learn new things.
 Ability to work in a team and flexible in time.
 Ability to learn new skill very quickly which is very important in the manufacturing
industry (Davis et.al, 2016).
Weaknesses
 Currently pursuing my post-graduation, therefore currently my primary focus is on
completing my post-graduation which will restrict me to get an internship in a car
manufacturing organization.
 Lack of experience with respect to working in a large scale organization is also a
weakness.
Opportunity
 The car manufacturing industry is developing at a rapid rate as demand for cars is
increasing and it is expected to increase over the period of time.
 The population of the world is also increasing which will increase the demand for product
and services offered by such organizations.
Both the above-mentioned factors will create opportunities for growth and development in
the future (Margerison, 2017).
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Threats
 Basis of the self-analysis conducted in the above section, it can be said that my primary
threat would be that I am not aware of the manner in which verbal and communication
skills are to be used in the actual business environment.
On the basis of above SWOT analysis, it can be said that weaknesses and threats are required
to be managed over a period of time for an effective and efficient career in the manufacturing
industry. It can also be said that all of the threats and weaknesses identified in the swot
analysis can easily be managed with the help of training and development to over the period
of time. Lack of experience inability to use verbal and communication skills can easily be
managed by gaining work experience in this industry. Therefore it can be said that effective
and efficient management of these weaknesses and Threads will result in a fruitful career in
the desired industry.
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References
Bowie, N.E., 2017. Business ethics: A Kantian perspective. Cambridge University Press.
Creed, P.A. and Hood, M., 2014. Disengaging from unattainable career goals and reengaging
in more achievable ones. Journal of Career Development, 41(1), pp.24-42.
Davis, T., Cutt, M., Flynn, N. and Mowl, P., 2016. Talent assessment: A new strategy for
talent management. Routledge.
Ferrell, O.C. and Fraedrich, J., 2015. Business ethics: Ethical decision making & cases.
Nelson Education.
Galankashi, M.R., Helmi, S.A. and Hashemzahi, P., 2016. Supplier selection in automobile
industry: A mixed balanced scorecard–fuzzy AHP approach. Alexandria Engineering
Journal, 55(1), pp.93-100.
Heckhausen, J., Chang, E.S., Greenberger, E. and Chen, C., 2013. Striving for educational
and career goals during the transition after high school: What is beneficial? Journal of Youth
and Adolescence, 42(9), pp.1385-1398.
Huda, M., Maseleno, A., Shahrill, M., Jasmi, K.A., Mustari, I. and Basiron, B., 2017.
Exploring Adaptive Teaching Competencies in Big Data Era. International Journal of
Emerging Technologies in Learning, 12(3).
Iacobucci, T.A., Daly, B.J., Lindell, D. and Griffin, M.Q., 2013. Professional values, self-
esteem, and ethical confidence of baccalaureate nursing students. Nursing ethics, 20(4),
pp.479-490.
Law, C.M., 2017. Restructuring the global automobile industry. Routledge.
Lind, G. and Wakenhut, R., 2017. Testing for moral judgment competence. In Moral
judgments and social education (pp. 25-48). Routledge.
Margerison, C.J., 2017. Managerial Consulting Skills: A Practical Guide: A Practical Guide.
Routledge.
Mariappanadar, S. and Kramar, R., 2019. Sustainable HRM roles and competencies.
Sustainable Human Resource Management, p.275.
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Midgley, C., 2014. Goals, goal structures, and patterns of adaptive learning. Routledge.
Nallusamy, S., Ganesan, M., Balakannan, K. and Shankar, C., 2016. Environmental
sustainability evaluation for an automobile manufacturing industry using multi-grade fuzzy
approach. In International Journal of Engineering Research in Africa (Vol. 19, pp. 123-129).
Trans Tech Publications.
Sharf, R.S., 2016. Applying career development theory to counseling. Nelson Education.
Yu, Q. and Hou, F., 2016. An approach for green supplier selection in the automobile
manufacturing industry. Kybernetes, 45(4), pp.571-588.
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