BMO6630 Business Research Methods : Using Social Networks in Business

Reflective Journal

While doing the research on ‘Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Social networks in Business’, I came through many learning which actually makes sense in my future life. Doing this research provided me with great benefits and it helped me in analysing about my field and what I have to do further in my career. I was challenged to put myself out and interact with different people in the real world and industry. Making these interactions and connections helped me in gaining deep knowledge and opened many ways for the future of my career. It helped me in gaining social skills too which helped me in developing the comfort zone and gave me confidence to look out in the job market (Giulioni, 2013).

I have gone through many events from the beginning which developed learning in me for lifetime. The topic has a wide scope and that is why there is so much to learn and experience in this field. I read many books which explained the concept of social networking. Also, I enhanced my knowledge by reading online available material which contains views of different people about the use of social media and networking for the use in business. I took the lectures which taught me to handle and manage the research projects. The research projects have a procedure to follow. This procedure and the importance of carrying on the research projects cannot be learned until and unless it is practiced properly. It makes us learn many qualities like communication skills, time management skills, management and leadership skills, organising and other interpersonal skills (Everett, 2013).

I learned how to coordinate the efforts and make them suitable for achieving the main objective of the project. I learned planning the activities and how to execute those plans as per the schedules made. It develops skills of planning, scheduling and managing the activities (Wynee, 2010). These activities will help me in completing my course on time and will also help me in future for achieving success in my career. These qualities when developed, improves the life of an individual personally and professionally. For e.g.  Planning the activities will help in accessing success or position in the career and it also helps in the personal life activities

I got to see many examples because of which my learning was made strong. It is confirmed by the psychologists that once we see something or experience by our own, the chances of retaining that knowledge or information increases. To learn properly and to use it for future reference, one should understand their learning goals and should try to give best all the time. I used to believe that attending the lectures are enough for learning but in the real world the things are entirely different. I made observations that practical learning is more important for a learner because it helps n retaining the things learned. I observed that understanding people and working with the efforts of people is very important for a manager to achieve the ultimate objectives. A team is made with the efforts of all the team members and this is what I learnt from team work in the organisations (Ortlipp, 2008).

Process of learning ends when the learning are transferred and applied. Learning is important because no one is born with the things required to work and to function in the society. But learning has become challenging due to the hyper busy schedule of people. I realised that providing training at the workplace is fruitful for bringing the positive change in them. When a person joins training, some questions should be asked to derive better results out of it.  Like I analysed my process of self-discovery. I understood what strengths, weaknesses I possess and what preferences I have. This is required for building a strong foundation of growth and performance. I analysed that what I found most challenging and easiest. It will analyse my capacity and the areas of improvement in me. I asked myself those five areas where I need to enhance my performance. It will help me in future when I will enter the corporate field and will require showing off my skills and talent. Insights will be applied in future by teaching and transferring the knowledge to others and by applying them practically for achieving the targets (Bennett, 2016).

Business research was important for my learning process because it helped me in understanding various issues and provided a way to prove if there are any misconceptions. Business research process helped me in identifying different sources of data collection and also gave me knowledge regarding the suitable data collection source. It also helped me in making the decision processes strong and reliable. For e.g.  I learned that a company was trying to promote its new product among youth. The research on the advantages and disadvantages of social networking in business will let me know how that company could use social networking effectively to reach their target customers (Al- Rawahi, 2015).

I did some particular activities in the research like research through secondary data sources. Going through the available data in articles, journals and internet sources developed so much of knowledge and provide new insights about the use of social networking in the business. The study has been done so that detailed investigation can be done on the topic of the research. I did research on the views of different businesses men on the use of social media in business activities and marketing. I did this to improve my communication skills and confidence in developing communication with others. I used various methodologies to conduct the research and prepared the research schedule which developed a time management quality in me (Creswell, 2013). The research was meant to be completed on time so that more efforts and money is not spent on conducting the research.  I checked the reliability and validity of the research to ensure that the research is done ethically and no one is sidelined during the process of research. This will enhance the quality of the research and improve the trust of people on the research done. This will also inspire me to work within the limits and with ethics in future. I learned many other things like different methods and techniques of research, managing the activities in a systematic way and learning from my own mistakes (Shum and Ferguson, 2012).

This learning will be applied in future profession and life as well. First of all, I will identify my qualities and my roles which I can play well in my career. Like if I am a good communicator, I can handle the customer service roles or front desk roles in a business. If I am a good decision maker then I can handle managerial positions appropriately. If I can delegate roles properly, then I can be a leader in future. This learning can be applied once the strengths and weaknesses of own are identified. I will apply my learning in my career through a systematic approach so that I can achieve the set objectives (Moon, 2013).

During the whole process of research, I discovered many qualities in myself from which I was unaware before.  I realised that I have good intellectual when it comes to researching the data and identifying the suitable data out of the huge chunk of available data. I also identified that I am good in communicating with various people and influencing them. That I why I was able to influence various business officials to present their views on the usage of social networking in their business (Boud, 2012).

This is clear that the learning, if applied properly can make you achieve success in the course and in the career too. Having this accomplished, I would be able to make my future bright in my field of career. It would also be helpful for my personal life along with my professional life.

References:

Al- Rawahi, N M 2015, ‘The Effect of Reflective Science Journal Writing on Students’ Self-Regulated Learning Strategies’, International Journal of Environmental & Science Education, 10(3), 367-379.

Bennett, D, Power, A, Thomson, C, Mason, B & Bartleet, B 2016, ‘Reflection for learning, learning for reflection: Developing Indigenous competencies in higher education’, Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 13(2), 2016.

Boud, D. ed. 2012, Developing student autonomy in learning, Routledge.

Creswell, J W 2013, Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches, Sage publications.

Everett, M C 2013, ‘Reflective Journal Writing and the First-Year Experience’, International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, Volume 25, Number 2.

Giulioni, J W 2013, ‘Putting Knowledge into Practice: From Knowing to Growing’, Talent Space.

Moon, J A 2013, Reflection in learning and professional development: Theory and practice, Routledge.

Ortlipp, M 2008, Keeping and using reflective journals in the qualitative research process, The qualitative report, 13(4), pp.695-705.

Shum, S B and Ferguson, R 2012, Social learning analytics, Educational technology & society, 15(3), pp.3-26.

Wynee, R 2010, ‘Student Perceptions of Reflective Learning Activities’, Fall?2010?MidAtlantic?ASEE?Conference.