MGT605 Business Capstone Project Report

Context:

Reflection provides the opportunity to detail what learning has occurred and the meaning you have gathered from various learning experiences. This practice helps to solidify new knowledge and prepare the brain for similar experiences in the future. Given you will be part of many projects in your career, this assessment provides an opportunity to reflect on the process and experiences you have encountered throughout your capstone project so you can consolidate your ‘lessons learnt’ to apply to future projects.

Instructions:

Throughout your capstone experience, you will have developed a substantial project that assimilates the learning from your MBA subjects. In addition, over the course of your MBA you have recorded your journey in the form of activity journal entries. This final report is about reflecting on the process and experiences of putting your business capstone project together and how you have drawn from the learning from your MBA.

Before you can attempt this assessment, it is essential that you understand clearly what reflective writing/thinking is. To help you with that, please read your learning resources in Module 6 in Blackboard. Present a reflection, using one of the more widely accepted reflective writing models as a guide, on changes to your understanding as you applied theory to practice from your MBA journey and the process of producing your project.

It is advisable to do more research about reflective writing models and questions before you attempt this assessment. Present the reflection in any way you wish – could be poetry, a video, or a more traditional written format - as your way of demonstrating the wider implications of your learning. That means your reflection should also look at how your learning has impacted your future. Though reflective and presented in the first person you must still meet the requirements of an academic assessment.

All references should be noted in APA 7th edition format.                                    

Introduction 

Reflection refers to personal responses on the personalized response on experiences, events, or situations. Thus, the processing phase includes thinking and learning from the events. Reflection starts with justification actions, solving problems, seeking deeper meaning, and suggesting changes (Moffatt, 2019). MBA Assignment Experts, It progresses with examining assumptions, attitudes, values, and beliefs. In the end, a person will be revisiting the experiences and acquiring meaningful insights from the experiences, which could be used for future purposes. 

This reflective report will encompass experiences gathered through the modules and assignments. Reflection will be done on a model named Gibbs reflective writing. 

Gibbs Reflective writing 

Gibbs's Reflective models indicate the importance of learning. Hence, through the model, one can reflect on feelings and thoughts that emerge from generalizing concepts. To assist the person in learning from experiences, the models' subcategories each aspect (Moffatt, 2019). This includes description, feeling, evaluation, analysis, conclusion, and action plan. 
 

Gibbs Reflective models
(Source: Moffatt, 2019).

Description

In this aspect, experience is described in scenes and events (Horton-Deutsch et al., 2017). Thus, my description of learning would include all aspects covered in MBA. As my degree requirements, there were assignments, group activities, and workshops done in this subject. This introduced me to studying real-time companies' scenarios and analysing them using theoretical models. Thereby, I learned about Porter's Generic Model, Porter's Five forces, PESTLE analysis, and other models that help companies to analyse different factors that impact sustenance. It also helps in developing strategies to mitigate risks in business. The assessments required us to conduct business research for which a real-time company was chosen; the issue was analysed, and methods were proposed to dig deep into issues to propose solutions with evidence. Discussion forums and brainstorming within classrooms helped to acquire more information beyond the lectures. 

Feelings

In these aspects, thinking and feeling during the experiences are discussed. This will briefly describe all feelings before, during, and after the experiences (Horton-Deutsch et al., 2017). 

Before enrolling, I was in-confident about the subjects and modules that would be covered within the subject. I was always curious to learn new things, although I needed more in-depth information about what specific subjects would include and my capabilities to overcome all assessment requirements. Thus, before studying the subject, I was nervous and in-confident, although I was excited to acquire knowledge and work hard. In all modules covered in this subject, I started feeling confident when various group projects, discussions, and workshops took place. Our assignments were also designed in a way that promoted in- dept research and analysing business issues like conducting PESTLE analysis, using Porter's Five forces models that helped to evaluate real-time business problems faced. Assessment 2 was the most challenging for me, as I needed more knowledge of research and study. I was anxious and thought I might fail as I encountered issues while developing different project parts. Although, after completing all assessments, and related activities, I started feeling more confident as I acquired meaningful insights and was able to confront all challenges. 

From starting this semester to this stage, I feel more confident and dedicated toward my goals. I have learned to devise solutions with theoretical and non-theoretical knowledge. The MBA course and this subject have helped me understand that continuous self-development is important to solve issues efficiently. 

Evaluation 

In this step, the evaluation will include positive and negative experiences. Hence, it will include things that work well or not (Horton-Deutsch et al., 2017). 
MBA has been thought of as a difficult degree as it involves many aspects. Thus, I was anxious about the challenges I might face while completing the project. This might have affected my experiences which turned negative. From the start of this subject course, I faced the issue of managing both time and work commitments, due to which I needed help to develop a project that successfully aligned with the brief. Others could manage time and develop projects within the timeline more effectively. What could have gone better was the time management issues I faced several times. However, my efforts helped me gauge academic issues, which now makes me confident for my future life. 

Analysis 

This aspect deals with explaining why an experience was good or bad. In the previous aspect, it was discussed only objectively. 

Owing to my work and study commitments, I needed help actively participating in all activities conducted at the start of the semester. This could have gone better. That impacted my focus on acquiring knowledge beyond lectures and academic boundaries. What went well was taking guidelines from tutors and observing seniors & batchmates. Slowly, I experienced an improvement in time management, and I was able to participate actively in all activities. Although, I still faced an issue when I had to develop Part A of Assignment 2, which required us to conduct in-depth research for which I chose a topic on reverse logistics. I conducted research through the internet but needed help analysing data collected through different sources. What went well was my efforts and dedication to improving. Hence, I saw my batchmates were ahead of time, so I asked them and learned about their tactics. I also arranged meetings with tutors to guide me on the correct approaches and tactics. 

I saw others; who would seek help from academic coordinators, tutors, and some seniors that helped to understand strategies for dealing with the issues. Thus, I started speaking about my problems and discussed them with my peers. This helped to understand contexts like searching through the internet effectively by using keywords (I had wasted much time searching and needed to get the required materials when I was conducting PESTLE analysis). Lack of knowledge in many aspects impacted my work quality while starting the project. Although what went well was that I had honed my writing, problem-solving, and collaborative competencies by Assessment 3 (this project). 

Conclusion

The conclusion helps to focus on learnings that could be applied in futuristic situations. At this phase, a person can effectively (Hall & Simeral, 2017).

From starting of the course, I have learned many aspects. This includes both soft and technical skills. I was anxious, which impacted my experiences during the course. Thus, the challenges I faced made me realize that I should not develop any prior judgments; having a positive mindset helps solve issues more easily. Also, I had time management issues, which I handled by planning the day before. For instance, I had a deadline on the professional front that clashed with academic submissions. Hence, after learning from the challenges in the first assessment, I sought help from tutors and mentors and started planning for upcoming projects. By focusing on time management, I could detect knowledge gaps (like searching using keywords, using Google scholar to get peer-reviewed journals, and using the library effectively). This further helped in improving my knowledge and efficiency as well. Through this, I have honed my problem-solving skills and acquired domain knowledge on MBA, which will be helpful in futuristic job profiles. As a manager, I will face multifaceted issues that could impact the organisational success. In Assessment Part A, I faced many issues when developing a research proposal requires technical skills. I did hone my skills by adopting self-learning approaches and seeking guidance. This helped hone my technical skills in conducting research projects and gave me insights on how reverse logistics (topic for assessment 3) could impact the business. The assessments overall gave me insights into what problems businesses could face and how theoretical models could help to gain insights for solving them. This prepared me for futuristic jobs, as customer experiences and stakeholder satisfaction are important. Thus, managing reverse logistics and research processes will help solve many complex issues. Also, my learning attitude, collaborative skills, and technical knowledge were acquired, strengthening my confidence and motivation. 

Since businesses and organisations involve complex activities, thus I must develop skills like collaboration, team player, leadership skills, and using the software effectively. I want to expand my research skills as continuous innovation has become a way for organisations to sustain a competitive edge and changes in customer experiences. I will not take a negative mindset based on people's opinions and judgment in the future. Also, I will indulge in planning the activities at every step. Besides, noting the observations and learnings could also help me retain the knowledge for a long. 

Action Plan 

An action Plan indicates actions that would be taken to expand the knowledge and skills that have been honed (Hall & Simeral, 2017). I would first indulge in self-reflective practices that could vary from personal diaries, journals, and others. This will help me indulge in continuous development activities that will enlighten me about my gaps and knowledge. In addition, I want to improve my collaborative and team-leading skills, for which I would actively participate in various engagement activities. I will also improve my skills in using different software for which I would enroll myself in short-term courses. 

Conclusion 

This is a reflective essay on the learnings obtained from the course. I have learned that self-development is important and all the soft and technical skills acquired have made me confident to enter the professional world. 

References 

Hall, P. A., & Simeral, A. (2017). Creating a culture of reflective practice: capacity-building for schoolwide success. ASCD. https://lesa.on.worldcat.org/oclc/990778396 (Retrieved November 21, 2022)

Horton-Deutsch, S., Sherwood, G., & Sigma Theta Tau International. (2017). Reflective practice: transforming education and improving outcomes (Second). Sigma Theta Tau International. https://lesa.on.worldcat.org/oclc/983786695 (Retrieved November 21, 2022) 

Moffatt, K. J. (2019). Postmodern social work; reflective practice and education. Columbia University Press. https://lesa.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1084621479 (Retrieved November 21, 2022)