Business creativity reflection PDF

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this assignment is critical self-reflection while doing Business Creativity module. It presents the skills and lessons gained while reading this module. It discusses what did I learn from group projects. What I didn't like and What areas do I still need to improve. it also reflects on the creativity...

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Reflective Essay 201 6

Reflection on My Learning In

Business Creativity

Reflective Essay 201 6

Written By: Siddra Nazar Banner Id: B00302915

Doing MBA at British State University requires to reflect overall individual experience that I went through while studying Business Creativity module. At the beginning, I was unsure what reflection is all about but with the explanation of Teacher I clearly got what exactly is required by being personally reflective. Reflection is a critical part of British Educational System. According to Plymouth University, Reflection is about focused attention and thoughts regarding experience and feeling and their assimilation for learning. In this essay I will critically evaluate myself in terms of my learning about the module, skills gained, and feelings as well as personal and professional improvement. As an International student, I was not fully aware of UK’s academic curriculum. At first, I thought getting MBA from the University of the West of Scotland would not be that much difficult but when I practically went through the whole semester, I clearly got an idea what it takes to get the best out of 3 years program which is squeezed into one year in the UK. In fact, business creativity module completely transformed my life and thinking.

Reflective Essay 201 6 “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For while knowledge defines all we currently know and understand, imagination points to all we might yet discover and create.” (Einstein). I found Business Creativity highly engaging, interesting and demanding module which expanded my knowledge base and introduced me to the concept of lateral thinking (Edward de Bono, 1997) which not only helped me during course assignments and projects but also outside my academic life. I got to know there is not much space for traditional approaches in business because of technological advances which have transformed every aspect of business life. Now with digitalization creativity sustains and survives and one has to have creative sense in business. In addition, sharing class with incredible minds from different nationalities under the coaching of the exceptional instructor was an additional benefit. The importance of creativity was regularly emphasized in classes as the most important and critical factor for breakthrough success in current business environment. Creative ideas from students on various topics discussed in the class were worth experimenting and implementing. Lessons and Skills gained:

The first lesson for me at UWS was “Learning by Doing”. We were given an overview of the subject in the class parallel to explaining important concepts whereas an in-depth and broad understanding of subject involved extensive research, book reading beyond core modules and case studies. This practice improved my research skills and made me more accountable for learning. MBA Online World was exceptional opportunity to learn from classmates from across the globe. This opportunity led me to think

Reflective Essay 201 6 critically, concentrate and reflect more deeply than ever. It expanded by knowledge base because the diverse community of international students had different views on various aspects. It provided real-time interaction and collaboration with fellow students, thus giving a real international taste of learning. As there were also other modules due to which I was presented with a workload which was much higher than my expectations. After two weeks, I thought things are going to be comfortable but suddenly, I realized that many assignments and projects were due on the same date and I was unable to handle all those at the same time. Having said that, by no means I intend to say that MBA only offered me the burden of assignments, but In fact, it enhanced my time management skills and I learnt to organize task based on their priority level. I particularly learnt how to manage stress and realized well balanced advanced planning, commitment and dedication are crucial to meet deadlines. While Studying Business Creativity, we were presented with short assignments in the class which required us to talk to the students sitting next to us and come up with creative ideas (lateral Thinking by Edward de Bono). At first, I was hesitated to talk to someone from entirely different cultural and social background but after some time I felt relaxed and I noticed after participating in such assignments in few classes, my communication, interpersonal, and argumentative skills have dramatically changed. Imposed word limits on the assignments enabled me to give to the point answer. I learnt how to manage and organize ideas concisely and precisely by staying within the limits. Being MBA student means one must have engaging and effective communication skills. My continuous

Reflective Essay 201 6 involvement in weekly presentations enhanced my public speaking skills and gave me the confidence to face the audience. Learning from Group Tasks: Group tasks always remind me “Team Work Makes Dream Work”. Being part of international MBA program, we were required to make a group of 5 to 6 students for our project on TESCO. Being one of the leading members of this group I developed leadership skills. We divided tasks amongst the group members based on their better understanding. While working in the group, I became self-disciplined and punctual without any supervision as we had to arrange meetings to check our ongoing progress on time. It changed my behavior and gave me a sense of responsibility. Before participating in the group, I had no idea regarding the importance of cultural differences. I learnt how to adapt and respond to the changing situations. I also realized the lack of cultural awareness can be very threatening for the success of business. There had been a time when group faced certain conflicts where some members were not willing to consider alternatives instead they just wanted to implement their own ideas and solutions. However, I managed to solve the conflict when I requested members to explain their reasons for advocating certain ideas. At the time of this conflict I not only learnt about conflict management but also about how to be humble and tactful while disagreeing with others’ from diverse backgrounds rather than being sarcastic. I learnt in today’s working environment one must be collaborative rather than being imperative. In addition, in ongoing discussion during the project, creative solutions and recommendations from group members were worth learning and interesting which proved to be very fruitful in terms of personal

Reflective Essay 201 6 improvement like respecting others’ opinion, building argumentative skills and constructive criticism. In short, apart from little conflict, we had collaborative approach throughout out project which kept us engaged, dedicated and motivated. What I did not like: At the start of the program I was not comfortable with the case studies because they were too long to read and black and white appearance was irritating. In the very first lecture, we were given Airbnb case study which was lengthy and very small letters were contributing to the distraction. However when Professor Paul explained that case studies mainly reflect real life business situations which we may face in our professional life I started to approach case studies seriously and ended up building my analytical, decision-making and problem-solving skills at the end of the trimester. If I did not have changed my attitude how else would I have learnt and acquired skills? What I still need to improve: Although up to this point I learnt many skills and I am ecstatic about that but I feel I still lack in certain skills where I need a lot of improvements. I need to do a lot of work on my presentation skills although in weekly presentations I learnt to face the audience with confidence but my conscience is not fully satisfied. I can exactly recall the very first moment when I approached stage with trembling legs and faster heat beat than usual I got nervous and lost concentration because I had memorized but I managed to control. I made subconscious mistakes like touching nose and not maintaining the eye

Reflective Essay 201 6 contact which was noticed by my teacher and some of the peers. Further using small font was irritating for back sitters. Professor’s feedback to me was extremely important he pointed out my subconscious mistakes in very friendly and constructive way and advised to present in a natural way rather than memorizing. His remarks “10,000 hours of practice will make anyone an expert” captured my attention. However, I clearly got a reflection of my weaknesses and I am ready to strive for perfect presentation skills. Apart from this, I am struggling to improve my business and academic writing skills. Last but not least I am focusing on my analytical skills as at MBA level I must be analytical rather than being descriptive. Reflection on Creativity and Innovation Skills: Before taking Business Creativity module, I was confined in traditions but this module encouraged me to think out of the box in order to give creativity solutions to the complex problems (Edward de Bono, 1997). Case studies done in the class played a major role in breaking mind barrier and introduced to the businesses which are successful because of creative thinking like Disney World, Apple Inc etc. Business Model Canvas (Osterwalder and Pigneur, 2010) was very thrilling and unique experience for me. We used this tool in our project for brainstorming ideas. It transformed my way of looking at the business. At first, I thought I am unable to answer questions as I was looking at the whole model rather than looking at the individual components. After understanding Business Model Canvas I got a better understanding how business looks at 9 basic components like customer segments, channels, customer relationships, key resources, key

Reflective Essay 201 6 activities, and cost structure to create value for themselves and customers.

(Osterwalder and Pigneur, 2010) Balanced Scorecard (Robert Kaplan and David Norton, 2001), Blue Ocean (Kim, Mauborgne and Chan, 2005) and Red ocean strategies were also new to me which I learnt in this module. I learnt about increased importance of balanced scorecard in today’s business world. I realized how reliance only on financial indicator could result in catastrophe for business and why balanced approach including financial, customers’, internal business process and learning and growth perspectives are required for sustaining in today’s competitive business world.

Reflective Essay 201 6

I got to know why companies should struggle to be in Blue Ocean rather than being in Red Ocean. How companies make their competition irrelevant by creating new demands? How is Blue Ocean different from Red Ocean? How Blue Ocean builds companies reputation by building brands that last for several decades etc? and what it takes for companies to create their own market (Kim, Mauborgne and Chan, 2005).

Reflective Essay 201 6

Apart from this, I learnt about various models like unbundling, peer to peer, open source model, free model, and licensing and long tail business model (Osterwalder and Pigneur, 2010). Longtail model was a bit tricky to understand but after explanation got it cleared. I learned about six hats and their functions (Osterwalder and Pigneur, 2010). Apart from this, in very first lecture I learnt about Johari window from where I developed my soft skills (Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham, 1955). Focused attention on this model led me to self-discovery apart from self-awareness.

Reflective Essay 201 6

How this will help me in Professional Life: I strongly feel that knowledge and skills that I gained in Business Creativity class will be contributing factors in the development of my career. Being an MBA requires having effective communication skills. My group discussions and participation in presentations gave me skills to have engaging and effective communication. Due to lateral thinking concept now I do not know any limits on imagination. Apart from this, I met incredibly exceptional peers and established very strong networking connections with them. If I start a business at some point in future, having London Alumni as contacts would be a great advantage. My interaction with students from diverse background has prepared for real life situation. It got a clear idea how important is the awareness of cultural difference and this will help in a career while having interaction with workforce and clients from the different socio-cultural background.

Reflective Essay 201 6 Conclusion: To recapitulate, I really enjoyed challenging myself and Business Creativity course stretched my mind to its limits. It gave me an opportunity to discover hidden potential and broadened my knowledge base with the help of incredibly intelligent students from different backgrounds having the diverse knowledge base. It took me beyond textbooks thus giving a real taste of international Learning.

References: Plymouth (no date) Available at: https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/uploads/production/document/path/1/1717/Reflection. pdf (Accessed: 20 August 2016). de Bono, E. (1997) Serious creativity. United States: Audio Literature. Available at: http://www.myilemedia.co.uk/docstore/uws/uwsbc/pdf/Debono_serious%20creativity.pdf (Accessed: 20 August 2016). Osterwalder, A., Pigneur, Y., Smith, A., Clark, T., van der Pijl, P., Alex, O., er, P.Y., Alexander, O. and Yves, P. (2010) Business model generation: A handbook for visionaries, game Changers, and challengers (portable version). Amsterdam: Alexander Osterwalder & Yves Pigneur. David P. Norton, R.S.K. (1992) The balanced Scorecard—Measures that drive performance. Available at: https://hbr.org/1992/01/the-balanced-scorecardmeasures-that-drive-performance-2 (Accessed: 3 August 2016). Kim, C.W., Mauborgne, R. and Chan, K.W. (2005) Blue ocean strategy: How to create uncontested market space and make the competition irrelevant. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Available at: http://www.motahar.ac.ir/Files/CourseFiles/89.pdf (Accessed: 20 August 2016)....