MBA Research Reflection Assignment: Learning, Skills, and Objectives

This MBA research reflection assignment delves into the student's learning journey, highlighting key areas of learning in corporate finance, consulting strategy, human resources, investment banking, marketing, and operations. It reflects on the enriching learning experience, emphasizing the development of employability skills such as teamwork, problem-solving, and adaptability. The essay also addresses barriers to learning, specifically travel challenges, and the methodologies employed to overcome them. Furthermore, it analyzes major lessons in professional development, including business communication, team building, and strategic management, and explores the potential application of these skills. Finally, it outlines personal career objectives and a personal development plan aimed at enhancing knowledge and skills for organizational growth. This document is available for students looking for examples and study resources on Desklib.

Student name: ............WRITE YOUR NAMES HERE AS THEY ARE IN YOUR PASSPORT ............
Student ID number: ...... WRITE YOUR SCHOOL ID NUMBER HERE..................
RESEARCH
REFLECTION
ASSIGNMENT
(should contain the
details given below) Please type your responses in the spaces below:
Marks
available
Learning
experience
 Key areas of
learning gained
in the final
project and the
MBA as a
whole.
 Reflection and
justification of
the learning
experience.
 Employability
skills developed.
(max. 600 words)
Key Areas of Learning During MBA
Corporate Finance
Corporate Finance is a field whereby the different facets of finance and the ways in
which money is managed. The MBA program helps an individual to learn
quantitative skills, basic understanding of accounts and finance along with ability to
handle different tasks.
Consulting Strategy
The strategic aspect of the MBA program goes a long way in teaching an individual
to have strong listening skills, project management skills, creative way of thinking,
communicating at all levels of the business and being able to synthesize the
information into a cohesive story so as to achieve the organizational mission ( Blatt
and Bless 2013).
Human resource and Organizational Performance
The given learning gives rise to general business skills, It also goes a long way in
developing analytical skills, ability to understand the role of humans in an
organization and techniques that assist in measuring organizational management.
Investment Banking
The investment banking as a subject can provide the ability to act as a team player
and understand different tasks in one go. It helps an individual to take criticism
lightly and tends to provide aggressiveness, strong internal ambition and motivation
to the different employees.
Marketing
Marketing goes a long way to support those customers and help those aspects that
lie beyond the domain of the business and which tends to support the organization
in the long run ( Goodwin and Wright 2014).
It helps the different members to work under pressure, to take criticism lightly and
to have strong motivation and ambition in the given segment. It gives way for
passion, enhances creativity and provides knowledge about basic marketing
principles.
Operations
It enhances the ability of the individual to work with a wide variety of people
It helps the individual to apply supply chain management knowledge and make use
of it in a productive manner ( Jung 2014). Furthermore, it also goes a long way in
making an individual able to coordinate with different departments and help them to
implement major projects.
30

Reflection and justification of the learning experience.
The learning experience as attained by me can be described as a very enriching one. I
came to understand various concepts with regard to the business domain and the
accumulation of the given knowledge went a long way in assisting me to become
ready for the business career which I will aim to pursue in the future. While I was
preparing for the final project then I revised various topics and was able to gain
knowledge about different topics easily.
I was not that strong in academics and faced difficulties while studying and thus
could not understand several concepts well. However, after I undertook the course I
was able to clarify the given set of components and was able to gain extensive
knowledge which can be used in the future.
Employability skills developed
The following employability skills have been developed after I undertook the
course:
 Teamwork
 Initiative
 Problem solving and analytical skills
 Adaptability to change
 Interpersonal and communication skills
 Global orientation
 Leadership (Christopher 2016)
 Ability to leverage technology
 Strategic thinking and planning abilities
 Time management and project management skills
The MBA Program is very comprehensive in nature and goes a long way in helping
any individual to develop certain criteria based on the requirements of the external
environment. The MBA goes a long way in helping an individual to understand the
different requirements required in the real world and will help an individual to gain
the above stated skills.
Barriers to
learning
 Explanation of
barriers
encountered and
methodologies
to overcome.
(max. 400 words)
Barriers to the learning
Learning is not an easy procedure. Different organizations very often tend to face
different issues with respect the learning procedures. These issues may range to a
wide variety of issues which may range from issues like inability to learn, inability to
attend the classes or may also include the inability to be able to ensure that adequate
learning material is developed in order to understand the theory and practical
examples.
The barriers which were faced by me were the travel barriers. I took up the weekend
classes of Mba and the classes were held in Sri Lanka. Being a resident of Maldives I
20

found it very difficult to travel to the given place every weekend and to be able to
look out for an option. Attendance plays a crucial role in the MBA program and
hence, I had to travel to the given place which utilized much of my resources.
Furthermore, I had to look out for staying there and spending money on hotel rooms
as well.
It is advisable that for any other individual who plans to take up the given coursework
they need to ensure that they have proper facilities associated for this purpose in order
to be able to engage in the given experience comfortably.
Methodology developed to overcome the barriers
Hence, in order to be able to compete with the barriers, the methodology which I
adopted was seeing to it that I planned my schedule accordingly and made prior
travelling arrangements for the same.
As travelling over the weekends is not always an easy procedure and an individual
needs to see to it that they take up additional arrangements, I decided to make prior
arrangements for the same in the given regard. I used to book the tickets in advance
and sometimes took a ferry to Sri lanka for the same.
Air travel was a faster method which was adopted by me in case of an urgent
examination or a submission, otherwise I preferred to travel using a ferry. The ferry
was a time consuming method but assisted me in saving costs for the travelling
purpose ( Foster 2014).
Furthermore my teachers were aware that I had to travel all the way and hence, for
that purpose when nothing relevant was on schedule or the number of classes in the
particular we were too low, then I used to miss that week`s classes in order to save the
efforts and costs of travelling to the given plc in order to be able to gain adequate
knowledge about the given procedure
Professional
and
employability
development
skills
 Analysis of
major lessons
relating to
professional
development.
 Potential
application of
said
Employability
skills developed.
(max. 600
words)
Analysis of major lessons relating to professional development
Professional development means making an individual fully prepared for the different
professional responsibilities that the given individual might have in the future with
respect to the corporate world. Like stated earlier, MBA is a professional course
which not only assists an individual to go ahead and to ensure that the person is able
to cope up with the different needs and demands of the business environment.
Business communication
MBA provided various business communication lessons and skills which went a long
way in helping me to prepare and become ready for the different types of
communication and related aspects which tend to take place in the business.
Communication is very important to deal with the different kinds of clients who are
present in the domain of the business. Hence, with various seminars and training
lessons which tend to take place, I was able to ace in different communication
dimensions.
Team building
30

An organization mostly comprises of different teams who function together in order
to achieve the organizational objectives. Therefore, team building is an important
lesson which helps the different people present in the business domain to be able to
easily ensure that they can work well in teams and can work efficiently together.
Hence, team building skills which are acquired during MBA tend to play a crucial
role in the domain of the business and assist in goal achievements.
Personality Development
The personality of an individual also tends to be strong enough. This is because
personality goes a long way in assisting an individual to achieve their different goals
and objectives. For this purpose, MBA provided different opportunities to the student
to gain extensive knowledge about the development of one`s personality and to be
able to ensure that the person can do well.
General management
MBA also provides various lessons relating to the general management of the
organization. Theoretical as well as practical knowledge pertaining to the domain of
business is generally provided to the different MBA students. A manager needs to
ensure that the management of an organization is appropriate in nature and hence, for
that purpose, lessons on general management are also provided to the given
individual.
Strategic Management
Lastly, the manager is required to take strategic decisions and for that purpose,
lessons on the different strategies are provided to the different students so that they
are easily able to see to it that the different managers are able to take effective
decisions on behalf of the management and the stakeholders as well.
Potential application of said Employability skills developed.
 Teamwork- Team work will go a long way in assisting an individual who is
present in an organization to be able to achieve all the goals. This way the
person will be achieve the designated duties successful.
 Initiative- MBA teaches an individual to take initiative and to ensure that the
person is able to successfully take different initiatives for the particular
organization and work towards its long term success.
 Problem solving and analytical skills- Problem solving and analytical skills
play a major role in an organization as they help the firm in critical decision
making and assist them in making the organization achieve its long term
goals and objectives ( Bohlander, Snell and Sherman 2007).
 Adaptability to change- With its changing schedule and nature, MBA course
allows an individual to adapt to change. Adapting to change forms a crucial
aspect of the organization and enables the company to achieve success.
 Interpersonal and communication skills- Help in team building and goal
achievement.
 Leadership- Helps to lead the different organizational members.

 Ability to leverage technology- In order to be creative and assist innovation.
 Strategic thinking and planning abilities-For the long term of the
organization, the given strategic knowledge is crucial.
 Time management and project management skills- To be able to make quick
decisions.
Personal
objectives
 Personal career
objectives
Personal
Development
Plan.
(max. 400 words)
Personal career objective
My career objective is to pursue a career which is challenging and become a part of
an organization which is progressive in nature. This will provide me a scope to
enhance my knowledge and utilize my skills effectively towards the growth of the
organization.
I aim to gain knowledge with respect to the different economies and it is my primary
goal to be able to assist different individuals to achieve their objectives and help
organizations to prosper in different economies.
Along with theoretical knowledge, I would like to gain practical knowledge with
respect to the different theories and related concepts which would then assist me to
ensure that I can grow comfortably and prosper in the long run.
Personal Development Plan
A personality development plan is generally used to ensure that the individual has a
given set of goals and objectives which will go a long way in assisting the individual
to achieve their goals and prosper in their career domain. Given below are certain
objectives and plans which I have for myself with respect to different time frames in
the work domain. They also go a long way in assisting the individual to have good
career prospects and to see to it that the given person is able to do well in future.
Goal Area 1 YEAR 3 YEAR 5 YEAR 10 YEARS
Career To get a good
job in my
chosen field
so as to ensure
that I am able
to take good
care of my
family along
with meeting
my personal
needs.
To get
promoted to a
higher post so
that I am able
to achieve my
career
objectives and
am also able
to see to it that
I can earn
more.
To start an
own business
of mine.
Although I
have hoped to
gain a high
post in the
business
domain, I have
also aimed to
start my own
business and
see to it that I
am able to
achieve my
career goals of
opening some
unique venture
of mine.
I aim to take
the chosen
venture to new
heights so that
am able to
ensure that I
have
successfully
applied the
knowledge I
have gained in
the business
domain.
Finances I want to earn
around
50000$
I want to earn
around
150000$
I want to earn
around
250000$
I want to earn
around
500000$
20

annually and
invest them
soundly.
annually and
invest them
soundly.
annually and
invest them
soundly.
annually and
invest them
soundly.
Physical I want to
remain fit and
be able to
actively carry
out my work.
I want to
remain fit and
be able to
actively carry
out my work.
I want to
remain fit and
be able to
actively carry
out my work.
I want to
remain fit and
be able to
actively carry
out my work.
Social I would like to
increase my
contacts
I would like to
I crease my
contacts
I would like to
use these
contacts for
the benefit of
the business.
I would like to
use these
contacts for
the benefit of
the business.
Personal I would not
like to think
about my
personal life at
present.
I would like to
get married
and have
children
I would like
my family to
become
prosperous.
I would like
my family to
become
prosperous.
TOTAL 100

References
Blatt, S.J. and Bless, R.B., 2013. A Dialectic Model of Personality
Development. Development and vulnerability in close relationships.
Bohlander, G., Snell, S. and Sherman, A.W., 2007. Human resource
management. USA: South–Esetern College Publishing Thompson Learning,
pp.27-54.
Christopher, M., 2016. Logistics & supply chain management. Pearson UK.
Foster, E.C., 2014. Human resource management. In Software Engineering
(pp. 253-269). Apress, Berkeley, CA.
Goodwin, P. and Wright, G., 2014. Decision Analysis for Management
Judgment 5th ed. John Wiley and sons.
Jung, C.G., 2014. Collected Works of CG Jung, Volume 17: Development of
Personality: Development of Personality (Vol. 17). Princeton University
Press.
Mroczek, D.K. and Little, T.D. eds., 2014. Handbook of personality
development. Psychology Press.

Bibliography
Specht, J., Bleidorn, W., Denissen, J.J., Hennecke, M., Hutteman, R., Kandler,
C., Luhmann, M., Orth, U., Reitz, A.K. and Zimmermann, J., 2014. What
drives adult personality development? A comparison of theoretical
perspectives and empirical evidence. European Journal of Personality, 28(3),
pp.216-230.
Westenberg, P.M., Blasi, A. and Cohn, L.D. eds., 2013. Personality
development: Theoretical, empirical, and clinical investigations of Loevinger's
conception of ego development. Psychology Press.
Zimmermann, J. and Neyer, F.J., 2013. Do we become a different person
when hitting the road? Personality development of sojourners. Journal of
personality and social psychology, 105(3), p.515.