REFLECTION ON CONTEMPORARY MANAGEMENT ISSUES (Other (Not Listed) Sample)

REFLECTION ON CONTEMPORARY MANAGEMENT ISSUES Student Professor Date City Introduction Before commencing the contemporary management issues class, I never thought of the exercise to be complex yet interesting and enlightening. However, throughout the course, I have come to appreciate that managing in the modern context encompasses far more than I thought especially as regards emotional intelligence, team dynamics, and communication skills. Through theory lessons and practical interactions with colleagues and business leaders, I have realized that management requires constant reflection and the need to improve. In this paper I reflect about areas for improvement and development in my future professional practice as well as explore my capabilities for management skills, emotional intelligence, and working in syndicate teams in the context of business sustainability. Reflection Even as I have maintained a fundamental interest in business management, I have never thought of emotional intelligence and self-awareness as important areas where one ought to dedicate time and effort to improve. Instead, I have extolled intelligence quotient as an important determinant to success in business and management. Looking at successful people and their impeccable academic credentials, I always thought that one only needed good brains and papers to ascend to the highest echelons of management. I took an online emotional test to determine my own emotional intelligence. I realized that my communications skills were not good enough. The below par ability to communicate undermined the ability to show empathy and work with teams. For instance, I was very poor at reading body language. Therefore, I came across as insensitive and detached and thus incapable of being a team player. The fact that I could not speak well in public meant I could not rally people to support a cause or line of action regardless of how strongly I felt about certain things. It also implied that I could not participate in solving problems as much as I hoped I would. After the fourth week, I found myself reflecting more about my emotional intelligence and how best to use it to change my perspective as well as that of other people. Moreover, I became more empathetic and this enabled me to build stronger relationships with colleagues. I learned to be my worst critic by constantly reflecting on daily activities as well as soliciting feedback from colleagues. Through the crucial tenets of purpose, participants, planning, and process, I was able to understand my roles in a team. For instance, I discovered that I am an analytical problem solver as I prefer to tackled problems from the roots and dispose them off completely. These valuable skills I intend to add into my repertoire in management. On the fifth week, I interacted with guest speakers from the NSW Business Chamber where I learnt about programs designed to assist young apprentices in maximizing their potential perspectives in the work place. Looking at myself, I realized how far I was from the practical skills that make a difference in a practical business environment. Like most young students, I was immersed in the theoretical aspect of management that is so often detached from real life experiences. Interestingly, there was the Australian Apprenticeship Program which ironically, many youths did not pursue to completion. As confounding as it was, I noted that employers are hesitant to hire new apprentices hence possibly the low uptake. Personally, I experience an internal tussle between taking an apprenticeship program that would not lead to employment and ignoring it and remaining with a wide theoretical knowledge with little practical skills. I surmised that I would be better off with the skills and knowledge developed through apprenticeship as I would transfer the skills to my business. With the theory classes almost coming to an end, it was a time to reflect on how to bring the wide gap between class notes and practical application. Aware of the criticism leveled against students and new graduates, I was eager to start my research and contribute to the contemporary management body of knowledge. To crown a good week, we were assigned our final group assessment to research on retail apprenticeship. Our assigned area, Liverpool, offered an interesting specimen because of the proliferation of small business that was being experienced there. Through weekly meetings, we hoped to cover as much ground as possible and meet our deadlines. Going forward into the future, I am enthusiastic about the retail apprenticeship research that we are to undertake because the future of our economy lies in small businesses and the ability to progressively transform them into national and regional companies. The tenth week was another significant watershed in the course as ushered in the most challenging aspect of the course. I had hoped that since retail apprenticeship was among the least explored areas of contemporary management, my group would have plenty of data and literature to work with. However, that was not to be the case. Despite finishing benchmarking report early than required and covering all the other assignments, we found ourselves stuck because of the unavailability of data and relevant information about our area of research. For instance, despite committing our collective energy in data collection, we did not have much to show for it after the first few weeks. In retrospect, I feel that retail and wholesale shops are undervalued here in Australia. Most people wrongly perceive retail apprenticeship as a needless waste of time. Most of the retail shops we interviewed did not view apprenticeship as remotely important to them. Moreover, most downplayed the skills needed in retail and argued that the ability to communicate with clients was the only necessary skill. More simplistic is the fact that many retailers viewed body language as the most valuable element of customer service. Personally, I agree that retail apprenticeship does not require as complex a repertoire of skills as corporate apprenticeship. I felt that before the course and I did not experience much to change that. However, I felt immediately during the course of the research that there was more to retail apprenticeship than communicating with customers. I felt that for instance retail and wholesale can expand their apprenticeship to include research and development and value addition. Apprenticeships are mutually beneficial and the more retailers tap into them the more beneficial it would be for all stakeholders. In the final analysis, economies grow when small businesses thrive and grow to become multinationals. Reflective Denouement Throughout the approximately ten weeks of studies, I can reflect b...