BA Business Studies Reflective Journal on Personal Development

This reflective journal analyzes a student's experience in developing a Power Point presentation on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), utilizing Gibbs' reflective cycle to assess personal and professional growth. The journal details the student's journey through the six stages of the cycle: Description, Feelings, Evaluation, Analysis, Conclusion, and Action Plan. The student reflects on improved research, teamwork, and presentation skills, while also acknowledging areas for development such as time management and communication technology proficiency. The journal highlights the student's evolving understanding of CSR, improved communication, and the importance of remaining calm under pressure. The conclusion emphasizes the value of the Gibbs model in identifying strengths and weaknesses, leading to a comprehensive action plan for future skill enhancement through seminars and regular practice. The student reflects on the development of employability skills and how they can be improved through the application of the Gibbs reflective model.

Reflective Journal

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Gibbs reflective cycle..................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7
Books & Journals .......................................................................................................................7
Online: ........................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Employability skills define as the set of different skills as well as behaviours which are
very essential for every job. Therefore, are those skills which are transferable in nature required
by every individual person so that they will be able to get job at the competitive marketplace
(Jackling and Natoli, 2015). In the present reflective report, own reflection is going to be defined
by using Gibbs model of reflection. With the help of internal capabilities and skills can easily be
identified which is improved by preparing a presentation on CSR.
MAIN BODY
Corporate Social Responsibility refers to the business activity where companies are
required to manage their business process so that they can develop positive and favourable
impact on the overall society. In today's competitive world, large number of business entity
adopt CSR activities so that they gain effective results by contributing some funds or resources
for the growth and development of the society. In the first part of this report, I have develop a
Power Point Presentation on the topic of Corporate Social Responsibility (Suleman, 2018).
While creating presentation on CSR, it has been identified that there are different types of skills
and capabilities which has been improved by me. With the help of Gibbs reflective cycle, my
overall journey can easily be understood which includes different stages showing my whole
experience.
Gibbs reflective cycle
It is a model which was developed in the year 1988 by Graham Gibbs in order to give a
format to learnings which is gained by experience. Gibbs reflective cycle provides a framework
for identifying the experiences and motivates individual to think in a systematic way they have
while doing some project or work. With the help of developing a presentation on CSR, ample
number of skills and experiences has been gained by me which assist me in identifying my
strengths (Gibbs' reflective cycle, 2020). All the skills which is identified by me while doing the
project assist me in gaining opportunities in both personal & professional life. Gibbs reflective
cycle consist of six main stages which aid individuals in order to express their whole experience.
All these stages are going to be discussed as follows:
Description: It refers to the foremost stage in Gibbs reflective cycle which consist of the
detailed data and information about the actual event. In the present context, it has been said that a

presentation is developed by me which help me collecting different informations related to the
topic. For developing an attractive presentation I have conducted an effective research so that I
have enough information and knowledge about the topic. With the help of this stage, my research
skill has been improved and help in both personal as well as professional life in grabbing
different types of opportunities (O’Connor and Bodicoat, 2017). Along with this, a team have
been developed by my teacher with the help of which whole topic is divided into various
elements which assist in conducting the whole project in an effective and timely manner. I was
the team leader in this whole presentation and at the end of this project I have observed that my
team work skill is quite effective and help me in grabbing ample number of growth and
development opportunities.
Feelings: Second stage of this model includes thinking, feeling as well as observation of
a person which assist me in various ways. While creating a presentation I was feeling excited,
nervous as well as energetic at the initial stage but there are some issues arise at the time of
execution. I am an introvert person and take some time in order to open up with other people.
Therefore, it has been concluded that due to my this nature I am not enough capable to mix up
with my team mates which produces negative impact on the overall presentation. But on the
other hand, it has also been observed that my team mates are quite cooperative as well as helping
in nature. At the end, completion of this project bring the feeling of joy. Along with this, it has
also been observed that various skills has been improved at the completion of this project which
generate opportunities in both educational and employability phase of my life (Belwal,
Priyadarshi and Al Fazari, 2017). The whole experience helped me in learning new skills and
improving my old skills in a positive manner.
Evaluation: It is the the third phase of this cycle that involves the actual experience
faced by me in preparing the presentation. It involves both the good as well as bad experience
faced by me. For me, some of the phase of presentation is good while some phase realise me that
I need to improve my skills such as time management, problem solving skills and so on. The
thins that get well in presentation is coordination among the team members as a leader I motivate
them to work properly and effectively so that they can gain good marks. The bad phase is I am
not able to manage the time according to the activities as it affect on all my team members due to
which one of my presentation part is not prepared properly (O’Connor and Bodicoat, 2017). The
other good thing happened is my teachers appreciating me which affect positively on my

gradings and ranks. On the other side, I evaluate that I have no proper knowledge about
information and communication technology which make me feel embarrassed in front of all my
team members. Moreover, while presentation I did not deal with problems that is occurred so I
evaluate that I need to focus more on my problem solving skills.
Analysis: After the presentation, I analyse that I need to learn more about information
and communication technology as it is important for gibing effective presentation in future. In
addition to this, it has been analysed by me that I solve the issues of my team members
effectively due to which they give good presentation (Belwal, Priyadarshi and Al Fazari, 2017). I
assigned the responsibilities to all my team members in a proper manner. Moreover, it is
determined by me that I need to learn more about time management so that in future I implement
work on time and in proper manner.
Conclusion: After examining the whole experience as well as identifying both positive as
well as negative impact or phase of the overall journey, the next phase is to know the actual
conclusion. It has been observed by me that at first I do not have enough amount of knowledge
and experience about how to prepare a presentation and present it in front of everyone. But after
doing research and gathering information about the topic, my knowledge about the topic has
been improved in a positive manner and leads towards the success of whole project (Clokie and
Fourie, 2016). Along with this, it has been observed by me that when I was presenting my
presentation in from of my team mates, I feel nervous which affects my communication skill in a
negative manner. But on the other hand, it has been concluded by me that I need to remain calm
in every negative or adverse situation so that my team members feel motivated and encouraged
by looking at me (Suleman, 2018). With the help of an evaluation, it is observed by me that I
have to focus on enhancing my presentation and problem solving skill so that I can handle all the
negative situation in an effective manner.
Action Plan: Last stage of this model is action plan which have been designed by the
people in order to improve themselves as well as working in an appropriate and effective way.
In the present context, it has been analysed that while doing presentation my commutation skill
has been improved along with team working as well as presentation skill. In addition to this, it is
required by me to improve all these skills in a standard manner, I have to attend more events,
seminars so that I can gain future opportunities which help me in my overall growth at both
personal as well as professional life (Jackling and Natoli, 2015). Apart from this, I have to

interact with my team members and other people on a regular basis so that my communication
skill will be enhanced and will be able to beat the competition. It is also very essential for me to
do presentation on a regular basis so that my presentation skills will be improved and help me in
grabbing ample number of opportunities.
CONCLUSION
With the help of above stated reflective journal, it has been identified that in order to
examine the whole experience which I have gained by developing Power Point Presentation on
the topic of CSR. With the aid of using this model I will be able to identify all my strength and
weaknesses related to my skills and capabilities which will provide me ample number of growth
opportunities at both personal and professional life. Therefore, by using Gibbs reflective model
all the learnings of individual will be discussed in an effective manner.

REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Jackling, B. and Natoli, R., 2015. Employability skills of international accounting
graduates. Education+ Training.
Suleman, F., 2018. The employability skills of higher education graduates: insights into
conceptual frameworks and methodological options. Higher Education, 76(2), pp.263-
278.
O’Connor, H. and Bodicoat, M., 2017. Exploitation or opportunity? Student perceptions of
internships in enhancing employability skills. British Journal of Sociology of
Education, 38(4), pp.435-449.
Belwal, R., Priyadarshi, P. and Al Fazari, M. H., 2017. Graduate attributes and employability
skills. International Journal of Educational Management.
Clokie, T. L. and Fourie, E., 2016. Graduate employability and communication competence: Are
undergraduates taught relevant skills?. Business and Professional Communication
Quarterly, 79(4), pp.442-463.
Online:
Gibbs' reflective cycle, 2020 Available through: <https://www.ed.ac.uk/reflection/reflectors-
toolkit/reflecting-on-experience/gibbs-reflective-cycle>