Self Reflection Strategic Management Capstone Assignment

Question

Task: How to design a self-reflection using Strategic Management Capstone Assignment research techniques?

Answer

Introduction
This Strategic Management Capstone Assignmentaims to reflect on my participation in the capstone project alongside the entire MBA course.Reflection helps in developing critical and analytical capabilities of students in the 21st century. It enables students to engage in analytical thinking procedure, thereby helping them to adjust in difficult situations (Sharif and Zainuddin, 2017). In this regard, reflective individuals are more likely to incline towards life-long learning that improve both their personal and professional development. This has made reflective writing an important practice in universities, which helps in reinforcing and concretizing the process of reflection. Undertaking this reflective writing has enabled me to gain more insightful feedback on my own learning outcomes.

Value ofStrategic Management Capstone Assignment Reflective Practice
With the increasing complexity and multicultural issues at the global workplace, effective leadership and management have become essential in the firms.Strategic Management Capstone AssignmentReflection has often been identified as one of the essential elements of any learning process associated with leadership development and improvement of managers (Horton-Deutsch and Sherwood, 2017). This is because this process enables both managers and leaders to critically think and evaluate about their own attitudes, behaviours, values and beliefs in the organization. Such reflective observation is an integral part of the learning cycle of managers and leaders, which enhances their self-awareness, self-confidence, feeling of empowerment and experience (Benade, 2015). These further help in enhancing self-concept of managers and leaders, thereby improving their professional skills in an organizational context. Individuals are able to gain detailed insights about themselves developed from the reflection process. These include additional perspectives, beliefs, values and experiences of the leaders and managers (Göker and Bozku?, 2017). Reflective practice is essential for these individuals as they can engage in a deliberate and cognitive process that would be activated by doubts, hesitations and mental difficulties. This would further encourage both managers and leaders to involve in researching, clarifying and identifying ways for eliminating those doubts and difficulties, thereby improving their personal development (Göker and Bozku?, 2017). Thus, Strategic Management Capstone Assignmentreflective practice helps these individuals in learning about themselves and improving their qualities for better performing in the organizations. Moreover, reflective practice enhances mindfulness and self-disclosure that are essential for both managers and leaders for dealing with the challenges in the business environment. This helps them to explore their skills, understand their behaviour and gain knowledge required for leadership development in individuals (McCauley-Smith, et al., 2015). Reflective practice also helps in solving issues of basic reasoning, vital dynamics, intellectual adaptability and attention to details. Thus, these are important for resolving issues in the organization.

Learnings from Capstone Subject and Consultancy Research Process
Throughout the entire participation in capstone subject and consultancy research process, I came across various theoretical knowledge related to management. These subjects enabled me to gain widespread knowledge about different business and organizational aspects. For example, the module about various aspects related to HRMhas enabled me to learn key concepts related to managing of human resources. In this regard, I realized the importance of employees being treated as human capital and assets in the organizations. This makes it essential to use various human resource strategies for managing them effectively in reaching organizational goals (Snell, Morrisand Bohlander, 2015). The Strategic Management Capstone Assignmentmodule also helped to learn about the importance of effective leadership in changing organizational culture in the workplace. Efficient leaders help in executing the company’s vision, providing future direction and shaping the culture in the organization through creating and planning, securing resources and improving errors (Black, 2015). Here, I also explored different types of change models, such as, Kotter’s 8 Step framework, Kubler-Ross change curve and others. This module has also been beneficial in understanding how fostering a positive workplace culture alongside effective leadership strategies and bringing transformational change is essential for improved organizational performance and employee commitment (Day and Marles, 2015). Thus, it helped me to learn about various aspects of human resources, leadership and people management in organizations.

Furthermore, both the course concepts of Internal Sources of Competitive Advantage and Strategy Concepts have been beneficial for me in gaining widespread knowledge about strategic management. In strategy concepts, I learnt on this Strategic Management Capstone Assignmentabout industry change, dynamic capabilities, sustainable performance, strategy theories, competitive advantage and strategic complexity. This module helped in forming the basis of my knowledge about strategic management. Here, I learnt about using various strategic models like SWOT and PESTLE for analysing internal and external environment, VRIO model for evaluating resources and capabilities, business model canvas for identifying distinctive capabilities and balanced scorecard for evaluating strategy performance (Henry, 2021). From the Internal Sources of Competitive Advantage module, one model that has been of significant importance to me are McKinsey 7S model. This model helps in evaluating the internal organizational environment by focusing on seven internal factors, namely, style, strategy, skills, systems, staff, shared values and structure (Nejad, Behbodiand Ravanfar, 2015). I came to realize how these factors are essential for the organization to become successful in the competitive business environment. Besides, I also gained knowledge about how to formulate competition strategies in firms by analysing the competitive intensity with the help of Porter’s Five Forces. This framework focuses on five elements in the industry in which any firm operates, including, bargaining power of suppliers, bargaining power of buyers, threat of new entrants, threat of substitution and competitive rivalry (Yunnaand Yisheng, 2014). Thus, I gained widespread knowledge about these strategic frameworks.

From the module of Appraising Performance and Strategy, I gained knowledge about evaluating performance of firms. This has enabled me to grasp various concepts related to the performance of companies. In this regard, I have learnt about evaluating the liquidity, financial and economic performance and position of the firms by undertaking quantitative and statistical analysis. These methods include carrying out ratio analysis, break-even analysis and others by reviewing and analysing the financial statements of the companies (Palepu, et al., 2020). Here, I have also come to learn about the importance of not only assessing the financial position of the company but also communicating it to the different stakeholder groups in a responsible manner. Moreover, another capstone subject that gained my attention was secondary and primary research. This subject helped me to understand the how to carry out research study by collecting data from different primary and secondary sources. Here, I have learnt about concepts of analysing those collected data. These are key skills required in students for conducting dissertation studies. It is also beneficial in gaining information about companies and analysing their performance in the business environment. This has helped me to understand the benefits of developing skills of problem solving and analytical thinking. Thus, I have gained knowledge from this Strategic Management Capstone Assignmentabout how primary and secondary research can be performed in the business studies.

Reflection on Skills
Over the entire course of MBA and participating in capstone projects, I have been able to identify key skills present and improved in my personality. For example, my communication, interpersonal and teamworking skills have developed significantly during the course. This is because I had to participate in various group and individual projects that required me to communicate, listen and respond effectively to my team members. Presenting individual projects in front of my classmates through the help of MS PowerPoint has also improved my communication skills. Previously, I used to shy away from any form of public speaking because of lack of confidence. However, I have now developed self-confidence and can communicate effectively with team members or to my classmates. Here, working in group projects has also improved by interpersonal skills as I have become more patient and tolerant towards listening and understanding contradictory opinions. I have also learnt about negotiation and conflict resolution skills during these projects for avoiding and resolving potential conflicts. Thus, these have helped me to develop teamworking abilities. Alongside this, I have also developed leadership abilities during the MBA course. This has been possible because the different activities, tasks and projects have enhanced my communication, interpersonal, teamworking and decision-making skills, which are essential for leadership development.

Furthermore, the MBA Strategic Management Capstone Assignmentcourse has helped me to build critical thinking skills and analytical abilities. This has been possible because we were required to participate in various projects consisting of real-life business scenarios and providing solutions for such problems. Besides, participating in role playing sessions of practical scenarios were also beneficial in developing these skills. Such interactive and conceptual activities and tasks encouraged me to think of alternative solutions from different perspectives. It further made me analyse the scenarios critically for arriving at various different solutions. Thus, this was helpful in enhancing my analytical, problem-solving and critical thinking abilities by encouraging me to think outside the box. In this regard, I also learnt to undertake quick and effective decisions by evaluating such alternative options from both positive and negative perspectives. Here, I also got the chance of improving decision-making skills by taking short-term decisions in group projects that would help in improving the outcomes and reaching desired objectives. In this regard, I also came to know about differences between routine decisions and significant ones. While it was easier for me to undertake such routine decisions, I gradually learnt from the Strategic Management Capstone Assignment how to make vital decisions based on the situation and crisis. Time management, stressful situations and adaptability are other skills that I have developed with the help of the MBA course. During this course, I had to attend regular classes, prepare individual projects and presentations, appear for exams and participate in various other group activities. Handling all these tasks made me value the importance of time and managing it effectively. I came to understand how prioritizing the tasks based on their urgency and carrying them out would help to complete them within the given time. Furthermore, this increasing pressure of classes, exams, projects and activities also created stressful situations, where I learnt to keep my calm. While initially, such stress generated negative impact on my mental and physical health, gradually I realized to stay calm in such stressful situations by managing time effectively. I am now more confident in handling these difficult situations having experienced them significantly during my MBA course. Apart from this, I have also been able to improve my adaptability by adjusting myself to different scenarios. The adaptability skill was developed because often I came across situations where changes had to be made quickly to the routine tasks and decisions. Such experiences have helped me to realize the need for accommodating sudden changes in the work plan and structure for catering to the present demands or factors in the environment. Thus, learning from the Strategic Management Capstone Assignment to be adaptablehas become beneficial for me for professional and personal development.

Future Career Endeavours
I have gained widespread theoretical knowledge about various management concepts like human resources management, people management, leadership, marketing and finance, business economics, cultural intelligence and workplace diversity, business ethics, corporate governance, sustainability and others. Along with acquiring theoretical knowledge, the MBA course and capstone subjects have enabled me to develop soft skills like communication, interpersonal, teamworking, problem-solving, critical thinking, analytical skills, negotiation and conflict resolution, time management and adaptability. These have helped to contribute positively towards my professional and personal growth. I will be able to perform better in my future workplace by applying these soft skills alongside using the theoretical knowledge in practical areas. The Strategic Management Capstone Assignment course has also helped me to learn various key aspects that have become essential in the business world in the recent years. Having knowledge about these subjects will help me to handle difficult situations in my professional life. I will be able to manage stressful situations by remaining calm and carrying out my responsibilities in an efficient manner. Besides, the communication and interpersonal skills would be of utmost importance for building and growing my career in the future in any professional field. This is because I will be able to enhance my networking with various professionals in the job market.

Conclusion
The essay aimed at providing a reflection about my participation in the capstone project alongside the entire MBA course. It started with providing a brief overview about what reflective writing and practice is to provide readers with an initial understanding about reflection. The first section of the main body provided a brief discussion about the value of reflective practice for both managers and leaders. The following two sections focused on reflecting about various theoretical learnings from capstone project and the skills developed during the MBA course. The last section of the Strategic Management Capstone Assignmenthelped in pointing out how both these skills and theoretical knowledge would be beneficial for future career endeavours.?

Reference List
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Black, S.A., 2015. Qualities of effective leadership in higher education. Open Journal of Leadership, 4(02), p.54. Day, G.E. and Marles, K., 2015. Building positive workplace cultures. Leading and managing health services: An Australian perspective, pp.283-294.
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