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Assignment is about microeconomics. How the uk and the world economics function...

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On the 13th of April, we took part in the Digital Assessment Centre(DAC). The DAC was an engaging and helpful exercise to help us recognize and get ready for relevant job placements in companies. The activity was grouped into two parts.

The first part was when the tutors told us to get into groups of five. Each group was given a short time and tasked to present about fundraising for the Liverpool Cancer Foundation. After an intensive discussion, my group has decided that we will organize an online music concert. We chose it is because we believe that music has become one of the mainstream entertainments of modern consumers. And with the proper advertisement and the fame of the celebrities. The concert will garner many audiences, even if it means online participation. The benefit of hosting an online event is less human-human contact; this will dramatically maximize the spread of the COVID-19. We have decided that we will advertise the activity through various social platforms. It will be on YouTube, Twitch, TV, and radio, etc. My group members also have agreed that we might design flyers or posters and put them on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. For this event, the tutors gave us a specific budget. My group has decided that we will spend most of the money on inviting artists and doing advertisements. We will buy advertisements from Google so that our concert link will be on the top of search results. We will tell the artists to put their concert information on their stories and social media. More fans will know about the concert and the Liverpool Cancer Foundation. They will understand that their money is going to charity, therefore more likely to purchase the ticket. My group made both regular and premium tickets for the event. The standard ticket will cost 6 pounds while the premium ticket will cost 30 pounds. We will host the activity on Twitch Live from 10 am to 11 am (GMT). We believe this is the best time for worldwide audiences. For the premium ticket buyers, there will be a special video session with their celebrities.

Throughout the whole activity, I have learned a lot as a team member. First, teamwork is the key to success. We must divide the works to maintain the productivity of the event. It is also crucial to identify each of our strengths and later divide us into different roles. For example, I am good at photoshop. Therefore, I will do the posters. This division of labor enormously speeds up our process while ensuring everyone stays happy, as we are doing what we like and are good at.

The other thing that I learned was effective communication. It is easy to communicate in a room of two people. In contrast, it is challenging to communicate in a room of five people. Your ideas could easily get ignored due to the intensive and messy discussion. Therefore, my team finds it vitally important to let one person speak at once. Every group member will take notes before a team meeting and present their ideas one by one. We find this method very helpful because every person's idea gets on the plan. It is key to harmony in the team as everyone is happy. Therefore, this leads to better work performance and more efficient planning.

The final thing that we learn was to have a creative mindset. We all know that the COVID19 pandemic is an exceptional situation. Therefore it requires unique techniques. We have to think of new ways of hosting the event while not worsening the spread of the virus. This arrangement is a massive challenge as there are few examples from the past that we can follow. We could not learn from past hosting experiences but develop new and innovative ways of organizing the event.

Another part of the Digital Assessment Centre(DAC) was an individual presentation. Each student from the group selects a placement program where they desire to work in the company. Every student was tasked to create a CV and cover letter for Assessment 2 in ECON 170. Later, we were given a chance to do a presentation about our chosen company and position. The company and job that I decided on was Finance assistant in the International Business Machines(IBM).

The first part of my presentation was my research into the background and history of the IBM company. Founded in 1911, IBM was initially called the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company(CTR). Herman Hollerith found the company in the late 1800s. The company's first colossal deal was to manufacture tabulating equipment for the tabulation and analysis of the 1890 census. The CTR company gained popularity and business over time, and by the early 1920s. It became the leading company to provide computer systems for both scientific and business applications. Then, the company name was changed to the International Business Machines Cooperation, often known as IBM. Later in 1964 was a massive year for IBM. The company made a revolutionary invention, and it was the first comprehensive family of computers( the System/360). This huge invention pushed IBM to a dominant place in the Tech industry. While making the rest of its competitors bankrupt, some companies were forced to merge with others. These result in weaker competitors and therefore consolidating IBM's top position in the industry. However, years later, the arrival of smaller computers and IBM's nonperformance to compete in the field caused IBM to have several financial issues. Nonetheless, even with few failures, IBM is still one of the tech industry's leading companies.

The second part of the presentation was about how IBM can stay relevant in the current market. My point of perspective is IBM should focus more on innovation than revenue. I understand that the most successful innovative companies purchase rich startups and private companies to enhance themselves. This investment is undoubtedly a great idea. But I believe IBM should also look at some money-losing startups with an excellent intellectual property (IP) as it has a better longterm view. Seen from its rivals, Google and Facebook, they all have IP-driven investments in Artificial Intelligence, Green Energy, and Virtual Reality. Therefore, in the long run, to succeed with IBM's Watson and Watson Health. IBM must find the correct balance between buying

successful big companies with more revenue and buying more new startups with more IP. In this way, IBM will be more future-proof and therefore stays relevant in our current society.

The third part of the presentation is still about how IBM can stay relevant in society. IBM should focus on fewer pursuits and with more conviction to the rest. Understandably, successful big companies like IBM would often explore one or more ideas and make many large bets. They usually do it because they are rich in resources and money. Therefore, it makes sense that most huge companies tend not to focus on less than one or two targets. IBM could put more money into its targeted project with a more precise goal rather than spreading it around in many projects.

Consequently, with more money, there will be more resources for essential tasks. One prominent example would be Apple. The company makes some of the most popular hardware and software of the 21st century. But when we think about Apple, we often remember its excellent packaging and premium user experience. Apple could have made many products in the past, but these pursuits have never changed. These traits have almost become a signature of Apple, and Apple spends a lot of money and dedication on it. Thus, I believe it is vital to find the proper pursuits for IBM and later maintain them with consistency and conviction.

During my presentation planning, I learned online that I could write my ideas into short sentences and read them during the presentation. I find this very helpful, so I put each of my paragraphs in point forms. The presentation is five minutes, so I believe it will be a short presentation. Therefore I find it essential to only talk about critical factors. I have always been a fan of the value." Quality over Quantity," thus focusing my presentation only on three parts. I do this because I believe that fewer constructive points will become more memorable for the audience, especially during a short presentation. They tend to spend more time understanding my ideas, and therefore, I create an unforgettable impression on them. This impression is significant during any interviews, as they will think of me during the selection. Meanwhile, there were several challenges during my presentation. Firstly, I find it very difficult not to look at the script. Whenever I am speaking about a point, I tend to glance at my paper under my desk. I think this is something that I need to improve. Because I believe looking at the notes during a presentation does not look good to any interviewers. They might think that I was not well-prepared or I am just unconfident. This action is a deplorable situation for any candidate. Therefore, I tried correcting my habit of looking at the paper by memorizing all the points. Nonetheless, I could have still done better.

The second challenge was my confidence. For a long time, I have had stage frights. I have a fear of public speaking. However, I understand that this presentation is conducted online. I still felt the pressure and embarrassment that many people would see my video, some of it been my classmates. Therefore, I mumbled a lot during the presentation and did not look directly at the

camera. I also made many-body gestures that might not be appropriate and formal during an actual important presentation. I did many practices to improve my discomfort for presentations. I tried speaking English with my foreign friends in China. And other times, I even rehearse my presentation to the mirror. These actions helped my confidence. However, I firmly believe I could improve my presentation if I did more of these practices.

In conclusion, the Digital Assessment Centre (DAC) helps us develop the relevant skill sets to adapt to extreme learning conditions. It also taught us how to use digital tools for school and work. This is crucial because all these digital skills will become good years after graduating and joining the workforce. The activity also significantly boosted my public speaking and researching skills.

Online learning Reflective Log Throughout the lessons this semester, I had discovered that Online Teaching would become a humungous genre in years to come. I believe that more and more classes will be moved to the internet, even after the COVID19 pandemic. This is because online teaching is just more accessible to everyone. Ten years ago, we might have needed a classroom, a teacher, and a school to educate students. We only need a teacher and a strong internet— this is great for students who cannot afford education or people in rural places who do not have a school or teacher. With a few clicks on a smartphone, a student can access the best knowledge in the world. One teacher can conduct a lesson, and thousands could be watching it. That is a very efficient learning technique. Another beauty of online learning is students can save up a lot of time before going to lessons. During my high school days, I took no less than an hour to go to school. I had to board a bus before switching on to the underground. These transports are time-consuming, and I had to wake up 2 hours before my morning lesson. Perhaps this was why I had sleep deprivation during those days. Therefore, it is no doubt that online learning enormously reduces traveling time. Students will become more awake and pay attention during the lessons. Finally, the online activities taught me how to work with others over the internet. Before the DAC, I would call my partner on the phone in most of my group works. This way is no longer efficient, especially when there are many members in the group. Now, whenever there is group work. We will immediately open up Google Docs and share the group link. Technology has dramatically improved users' convenience. In the online lessons, we have discussions and seminars with other classmates. When we have problems, we email the professors and tutors. These procedures, over time, make us more expressive and able to think of concise and constructive arguments. We learn to become good thinkers. Students from all parts of the world attend online lessons. Therefore, when we are in the class, we can hear different voices from different backgrounds. This is highly great because it can broaden every student's horizons and cultural understandings in the classroom. It is especially great for students who never left their country. They can hear about the experiences of native people from other places and continents. Some of these experiences in foreign countries can be vital for job applicants. This is because although they have never had global exposure. It

is always helpful to know even a little about other countries. The knowledge and universal friendships might make a person a hedge over the other person....