Personal Portfolio: Strategic Management Module Reflection Report

This report provides a comprehensive reflection on a strategic management module, exploring its impact on personal and professional development. The student analyzes key concepts such as organizational structure, leadership styles, and the importance of communication skills. The report delves into the significance of strategic actions for developing a competitive advantage, the role of leadership in employee motivation, and the need for organizational restructuring to adapt to a changing business environment. Furthermore, the student outlines a personal action plan, focusing on improving public speaking skills and confidence through various activities like joining learning centers, reading newspapers, participating in extracurricular activities, and practicing with peers. The report emphasizes the crucial role of leadership in gaining trust and motivating followers, highlighting the importance of continuous learning and personal growth for future success.

Personal Portfolio
Dr Tay Chor Ter, Sept 2015 Page 1

Introduction
In the present, the management of the organization has a very crucial role in the
success and the operations of the organization. The present module content of the strategic
management discusses various management techniques and methods through which an
organization can run its operations successfully. In the present competitive era, it is important
that the organization adopts diversified strategies and tactics to compete in the marketplace.
There are several reasons such as globalization, advent of multinational corporations and the
technology development which has made it mandatory for the organizational to adopt
strategic management methods. The present module of the strategic management throws light
on various methods which can be used for fostering growth of the organization. Different
scholars have discussed several strategies and techniques which can be used for the
management the business organizations. The companies can use different methods such as
SWOT analysis, Porter’s five force and PESTLE analysis to analyze the contemporary
business environment. There are also different growth and expansion strategies which are
discussed in the module in detail (Beausaert, Segers, Fouarge and Gijselaers, 2013).
Other sections of the module have thrown light on the role if leadership in the
management of the organization. It has been discussed that the leadership has a significant
role in the employee motivation and performance. In the present times, when the competition
among the business organizations in the same industry is immense, it is important to take
some strategic actions for developing the competitive advantage of the company. These
strategic actions could only be taken by the leadership or the management of the company;
therefore, leadership is important for the success of the organization. The module has also
discussed that no leadership style is superior and efficacy of each leadership style is
dependent upon the situation (Jong, 2016).
The content of the module will be beneficial in the personal and professional lives. I realized
that human relationships and networking is essential in the personal and the professional
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growth of a person. I realized the connection and corporate relations are important in the
professional lives. If not much but they are equally important in riding up the corporate
ladder. Other than that, I realized that no person can work solely and he needs the help of
other people.
I realized that the leadership is the capability of gaining trust of other people. I realized that a
leader should be able to gain trust and show a vision to his followers. He should be able to
motivate the followers to pursue a vision and work hard towards it. It is very important that
leader asks for the viewpoints of the followers and integrate them in the operations as they
are aware of various key points of the organization. In this regard, the present essay will
reflect on the impact on module in the personal growth of an individual.
Critical Reflection
The organization design and structure is very important in the operations of an
organization. The organization design demonstrates the hierarchal level in the organization
and also reflects the decision-making process. Several organizations are flexible in nature and
have made independent subsidiaries and departments. It has increased the flexibility in the
operations and the local directors have attained more power. In the present era of
globalization, it is important that the local directors have enough power on the local
subsidiaries and units. It is important as the foreign nationals are not aware of the local
culture and are unfamiliar with the working and the operations in the foreign land (Daft,
2015). Moreover, when the organization has a long length of directors from whom every
decision has to be approved, the time consumed for the approval of each decision becomes
very high. It can be critiqued that small and independent subsidiaries are the need of the hour
in the present business environment.
Establishing a small chain of hierarchy is also significant in increasing the innovation
capability of the organization. The innovation is important part of the organization growth. In
the present times, innovation and research or development is essential for the growth of the
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organization. There has been drastic change in the marketplace and the customers are
expecting products with new features and capabilities. The attention of the customers is also
fluctuating and they easily get deviated with products of accessories with new features.
Therefore, it is important that the organization constantly experiment with its products to bind
the attention of the customers. As such, it is important that the organization has the resources
and the employees who can innovate and increase the core competency of the organization.
According to the professional experience, it has been found that the organization with a small
chain of hierarchy can increase its efficiency (Antonakis, 2017). A small management chain
is essential in fostering innovation in the organizations working in the private sector. It is due
to the reason that the competition in these organizations is very high.
However, in certain organizations working in public sector or the areas of public
interest, stringent management is essential. The actions and the decisions of these
organizations can have a long-term and drastic impact on the public health and well-being.
Therefore, the actions and the decisions of these organizations must be minutely scrutinized.
The examples of these companies include the organizations working in the industry of public
health, food item manufacturing and drinking water supply.
In the module, there was a detailed description regarding the organization restructuring. It is
the process of restructuring the management of the organization so that it can accommodate
according to the changes in the external environment. The external business environment is
changing constantly and it can impact on the business process of organization. One of the
most significant impact of organization restructuring is downsizing. It can create a negative
image of the organization and can decline the motivation of the employees towards their
work. Therefore, it is important that the organization communicate with its employees and
other stakeholders sincerely about the change process (Fairhurst and Connaughton, 2014).
Whenever a change is implemented, the biggest challenge is the employees of the
organization. It is the human tendency to resist change or any new progress in the work. The
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best method to successfully implement the change process is to communicate with different
stakeholders. The organization should give a clear and concise message to different
stakeholders regarding the need of change and how it will contribute to the mission of the
organization. The business organization should also clearly communicate the range of
changes that the new process or the system will bring in the organization, so that the
employees remain ready for embracing the change. They should also make provision to
conduct employee training and development so that the gap in the skills should be filled. The
employees should be provided adequate support so that they can learn new techniques and
skills. Constant support should be provided during and after the training for the employees.
The employees should be given classroom training and brochures so that they can learn new
techniques.
However, as discussed, different organizations have different organization structure. A
business organization develops or creates its business structure according to its individual
requirement. Every business organization should conduct design fit test for evaluating the
efficacy of organization design in the business operations. Several organizations have
different missions and they require stringent policies and disciplined work. Other than that,
there are other organizations which require that high flexibility. Several times, it happens that
the business organization’s needs changes with time. In this case, the organization
restructuring is a viable option. Although it is a challenging task for the managers as it invites
resistance from the employees and includes high financial costs, its monetary benefits are
huge.
Personal Action Plan
The personal development plan is essential for the growth of an individual. It identifies the
weaknesses and the issues in the personality of an individual and finds solutions to eradicate
them. The goal of the personal development plan is to grow an individual as a professional. In
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the personal analysis, it has been identified that the communication skills in front of public is
not appropriate. A leader should have the confidence and capability to strongly present
himself in front of a large crowd. Moreover, he should be able to bind the attention of the
audience and his followers with his speech. However, I feel unconfident in front of large
public. In different sessions of group discussions and public speaking in our school, I have
struggled to present myself as a potential candidate. Therefore, in this section, I will present a
personal development plan which can assist me to address the issues. Public speaking is an
important skill which is essential for the managerial skills. In order to influence the followers
and share a vision with them, the presence of interpersonal skills are important.
The timeline for the self-growth plan is six months. During this tenure, several actions will be
taken to improvise the public speaking.
 I will join tuitions and learning centers to practice communicating with a large
number of people. Practicing with different people with similar skills will boost my
communication skills (Beausaert, Segers and Gijselaers, 2011).
 I will also try to remain aware with the current affairs and the world news. Reading
and remaining attentive will increase my vision. I will also develop capability of
speaking in diverse topics. It is due to the reason that reading about different topics
will increase my subject knowledge to a great extent. It will be a challenging task as I
have to take out time from the busy schedule to read newspapers. Reading newspaper
will be difficult; however, I can take time to read the e-newspapers.
 I will also try to participate in the institute’s extra-curricular activities which can
refine my communication skills. I will also participate in the different programs so
that I can enhance my confidence. Participating in different programs will also
increase my networking within the college and outside. It will make meet different
people which will also boost my confidence level. Other than that, I will also meet
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people from different cultural and professional backgrounds which will enhance my
communication skills. It will also develop my vision and outlook towards life.
 I will also watch videos and books related to public speaking. This exercise will assist
me in learning public speaking in a natural way.
 I will form a group of friends with similar interest and communicate practice with
them. We can regularly engage in healthy debates on different topics which will
increase my communication skills strongly.
 I will also try to be punctual with my schedule and regularly take out time for
different activities mentioned above. I will monitor the progress with different
personality test and if I find that these activities are inefficient for the skill
development, I will seek professional advice.
. It can be summarized that the present module has been crucial in the development of
skills. It was a significant experience of life and will improve my future skills
drastically.
SMART Action Plan Table
Goal Timeline Actions
Developing Communication
skills
Six months  Joining learning
centers
 Reading newspaper
to remain aware of
the current events
Increasing confidence Six months Participating in extra-
curricular activities
Developing public speaking
skills
Six months I will practice with my
friends and colleagues
Anger management Two months Will enroll in anger
management course
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References
Antonakis, J., 2017. The nature of leadership. Sage publications.
Beausaert, S., Segers, M., Fouarge, D. and Gijselaers, W., 2013. Effect of using a personal
development plan on learning and development. Journal of Workplace Learning, 25(3),
pp.145-158.
Beausaert, S.A., Segers, M.S. and Gijselaers, W.H., 2011. Using a personal development plan
for different purposes: Its influence on undertaking learning activities and job
performance. Vocations and Learning, 4(3), pp.231-252.
Daft, R.L., 2015. Organization theory and design. Cengage learning.
Fairhurst, G.T. and Connaughton, S.L., 2014. Leadership: A communicative
perspective. Leadership, 10(1), pp.7-35.
Jong, T., Wiezer, N., de Weerd, M., Nielsen, K., Mattila-Holappa, P. and Mockałło, Z., 2016.
The impact of restructuring on employee well-being: a systematic review of longitudinal
studies. Work & Stress, 30(1), pp.91-114.
Dr Tay Chor Ter, Sept 2015 Page 8