Reflection

The VARK places special emphasis on learning from visual materials, and this module has all together added to my learning of the visual representation of comprehensive information very briefly and in an aesthetically pleasing manner (Othman and Amituddin, 2010). During week 7, I learned about CV and portfolio making, which was made using advanced ICT tools such as Microsoft Word, which provides well-structured themes to make the respective documents. Throughout the module, the instructor asked to make it concise and creative rather than wordy, due to which I learned the significance of adding visuals to the CV and portfolio. In the assignment, this learning was applied as figures and graphs were massively included.

The next component of this model is aural, which includes experience or auditory instances. Throughout the module, the instructors tried to maintain the interaction level of the class very high, due to which I did not keep a lot of lecture notes and all of the concepts enriched into my mind automatically, which shows the power of verbal communication, especially in lecture delivery and class discussions. The instructor promoted group discussions in which I learned about communication among group members or team mates; participating in the seminar was the icing on the cake. For example, in week 6, I had the chance to discuss HR and strategies in detail with my classmates, in which we all discussed how the reward system could be developed in order to inform the employees and improve the efficiency of the HRM strategies. We also discussed the key issues of supply and demand for businesses in post-COVID-19 times, which added to our better understanding of the forecasting concepts.

The next principle of this model is read/write, and it forms part of not only this material but also the assignment as well (deHart, 2020). Especially in weeks 8 and 9, many intricate concepts were learned, for example, international businesses, their roadmap, globalisation, the digital revolution, ERP systems, and International Systems (IS). I just required a lot of reading from the online resources that included journal papers as well as block posts, which not only increased my reading speed but also broadened my knowledge to a great extent. Now I can use all of this knowledge to make the most of my professional experience, as I will be able to properly integrate technical instruments (e.g. PM softwares) into my work flow to make it more efficient and increase my productivity. In week 8, I learned some new concepts that I had never heard of, such as disintermediation and reintermediation. Initially, finding relevant material was very difficult, but I asked my classmates for resources, after which I acquired a few useful ones. This required a lot of time, as I had to understand these concepts from the start. However, by continuously reading PowerPoint slides provided by our instructor and the notes made throughout, I was able to master new dimensions. The most difficult of them for me to learn was IS, as I first acquired theoretical knowledge about them, which took almost 2 weeks. In parallel, I started practically using these systems, which cost me another week.

During week 9, while reading a journal article about international business and its modes, I learned of some useful techniques that I believe would help me enable my future company to internationalise its business by using cost-efficient strategies. While going through each reading resource, I was making notes, which indicates another major habit that I have learned from this module, i.e., notetaking. I also shared these notes with my class fellows and discussed the future and isuues that organisation is facing, so together we could create some solutions for these organisations and assess our ability to solve real-life business problems. Over the course of this module, the previously indicated exercises helped me develop a very useful skill for my personal as well as professional life, i.e., problem-solving. Experts say that these exercises also enhance cognitive capacities such as logic, creative thinking, resilience, and innovation, followed by lateral thinking (YEC, 2021). Likewise, the development of all of these capabilities is also created with leadership, which I believed was also a merit of this module as I often led the class discussions by proposing the most practical solutions to the business problems (Laker, 2022).

The last component of this model is kinesthetic, which incorporates practical experiences. The last week was all about entrepreneurship, which helped me get insight the real-world problems that entrepreneurs face. I utilised the role-play techniques and imagined myself as an entrepreneur. However, to know the exhausting details about entrepreneurs, I read articles about the tasks of entrepreneurs, their objectives, the difference between innovation and creation, and the ways in which people feel innovated to solve consumers problems like no other. Then I also invested significant time in reading about the market push and pull, which was primary learning through the group discussions directed to identifying the changes and causes of the demand and supply in the markets. Likewise, it also enlightened me on the significance of the micro and macroeconomic factors that help business owners leverage market conditions in their favour (Kienast, 2019). While acting as an entrepreneur, I employed this knowledge, and my classmates played the role of company directors; we then discussed the external factors of the organisation, e.g., changes in customer demand, to formulate a customer-centric strategy. In this way, we conducted live market validation sessions for a supposed firm. It also incorporated numeracy skill enhancement as we read market statistics and reports, which added to our ability to comprehend numerical information better. Powers (2017) explains how critical this skill set development is for entrepreneurs and every professional, as it is a basic component of financial management. Likewise, financial management enables them to look at their economic infrastructure and make critical decisions related to the production, sales, or marketing of the firm. Also, it forms the foundation of the pricing strategy of the firm; I have gained hands-on experience by formulating dummy financial, sales, and marketing strategies.