Reflection

Individual reflective journal

International Business & Culture

Contents

1. Working in groups……………… 3

2. What I achieved working on the international business group presentation… 4

3. Strengths and weaknesses…………….. 5

4. Future plans……………. 5

5. SMART targets…………… 6

In our presentation we were asked to adopt the role of a team of international business consultants and present our findings to an international trade expert within the UK government. Making sure he understands the implications of our findings and to consider the impact of the investigations carried out by our team. The main purpose of the presentation is to apply course theory to practice.

Our group had to make a presentation about the rise of Bangladesh in its textile industry; my assigned job was to speak about the comparative advantage theory and show how it was relevant in the case study. I could have made a more valuable contribution if I researched into more depth and find resources that could give me actual figures to add to the theory better but I still think I did a substantial job.

What was good about working in a group was that:

* More ideas can be generated.

* Greater diversity of ideas and opinions.

* More people available to get a task completed.

* Great networking and socialising opportunity.

* Great opportunity for sharing skills and knowledge.

* Learners get to know each other better.

* ‘Soft’ skills such as negotiation, leadership, conflict resolution can be demonstrated and practice more.

* Less confident learners may feel ‘safe’ in a group.

* Decisions made collaborative builds ownership of issues and solutions.

* Groups can be fun to work with and be part of.

What not went well was that in our presentation we were nervous which didn’t make our speaking skills so smooth at first. Another point was to interact more with the audience such as look at them instead down at the paper as if reading a...