Concepts Acquired from the Course of Business Environment - Assignment Example

Final Reflection Paper Overview of the The was well planned and executed according to the initial planning andtimeline. In addition to the efficient execution of the syllabus, most of the objectives set were met at the end of the course. That aside, the information provided during the course was equally relevant and complemented by the practical application assignments and group works incorporated during the coursework. As a result, I learned a lot during from the course. Not only did I get relevant information, but also acquired the practical skills to apply them in real life experiences. Of similar importance was the experience of working in groups and managing the diverse talents, abilities and weakness of the each group member. This is highly important when in the professional field full of diverse personalities and cultures as was reflected in the groups. In addition to all this, the class was also efficient in providing the students with a sneak peak of the various current events related to the course. As a result, the students acquired the knowledge and skills to analyze real life situations occurring all over the business world and brainstorm on ways of addressing them; both individually and as part of a team. This was a great addition to the course granted the increased awareness of the students to the occurrences around them, as opposed to just studying age-long concepts without linking them to the current world environment. Jointly with the practical assignments, students underwent an all-round development of their professional skills and abilities. There were six major topics covered during the course covering major concepts of creativity and innovation, marketing and advertising, and their application in the current business world. Concepts Acquired from the Course As already mentioned above, the major concepts of the course revolved around creativity, innovation, marketing, advertising and application of the above in real business environment. The first week of the course syllabus I was introduced to the concept of creativity; its definition and significance. As I learnt from the concept, it is not difficult to create content as I initially presumed. The major consideration in the process of creating content is the ability to evoke emotions in the readers using the content created. That is the major difference between content that goes viral and those that are easily sidelined by readers. There are several factors that determine the viral capacity of content created such as the attention getters and the ability to evoke primary emotions. The attention getter in most web content is the headline, and as I learned from the course, headlines should be precise, with enough context and not too general. The language used should also be relatively simple and specific to the target audience. The practical aspect used in the understanding of the above mentioned was achieved through examples of blogs and SEO writing which are among the major portals for content creation on the internet. The internet served as the best platform considering its accessibility, especially in comparison to other platforms through which creation of creative content is possible. Blogs and SEO writing were the best examples in introducing the topic. Following the introduction to creativity and concepts related to content recreation, the course took a deeper dive into idea development. From the course I learnt the two types of idea development, traditional and collaborative idea development and their application. In addition to this, several aspects of the idea development types such as their history, working mechanisms, advantages and disadvantages were also included in the course. In reference to the traditional idea development, the company was the sole participant in the introduction of new products into the market. They served the role of inventing a new product, developing it, manufacturing and distributing it. However, collaborative idea development used the concept of collaboration by utilizing both external ideas in addition to the company’s own ideas in product invention and development. A relevant example of such was crowdsourcing. The advantages and disadvantages of both types of idea development were similarly analyzed in the course. The comparison between the two reflected the merits and demerits of both methods enabling the students understand the application of either based on the context. While collaboration idea development provided a broader range of cheap diverse resources, it was faced with the risk of idea leaks, intellectual property rights and issues related to the motivation of staff. Traditional idea development on the other hand provided a better understanding of the industry and its customers, presented little-to-no-risk of idea leaks but had the problem of idea locks resulting is repetition of ideas. This is comparatively more costly as compared to the collaborative idea development method. The real life example used in complementing the ideas regarding idea development were Lucent Technologies and Cisco Systems. While the former holds a superior competitive advantage granted its inheritance of the lion’s shares of Bell Laboratories following the breakup of AT&T, Cisco Systems has managed to stay ahead of Lucent Technologies through outsourcing technology from promising startups. Other examples included IBM’s competition to Intel and Microsoft in the computer hardware and software business, Nokia and Apples rise to the front of the wireless telephone business at the expense of companies such as Motorola and Siemens, among other cases. The third concept learnt during the course was the ability of fostering creative environments. Creativity is best achieved in flexible environments lacking of tight boundaries that may limit brainstorming. The perfect creative environment is one that empowers others while getting them emotionally invested in the work. This, however, can only be achieved by persons with passion for what they are doing. Creative environment should also lack reprimands for failures, for it is through failures that success is achieved. By removing the fear for failure, the workers are left with more room for adventuring more hence being more creative. The four steps to creativity covered in the course include preparation, incubation, illumination and validation. Creativity is only attainable through brainstorming over possible solutions to current problems. Various brainstorming structures are applicable and include the Quick Wins, W5H and Post It Notes structures. These structures help in the analysis of various ideas and their success in respect to enhancing or solving an incumbent problem. For the practical brainstorming activity, we were instructed to caption a set of photos in teams and describe the captions. Other brainstorming activities included the “WTF IS THAT?” and “CASE STUDY” activities which provided the students with quality experience towards better understanding the concepts related to fostering creative environments and brainstorming. Other alternative brainstorming strategies including the Stepladder Technique, Brain-netting, Role-storming among other were also covered in the course. The last section of the concept mainly dealt with debunking various creativity myths and the ways of instigating creativity at both personal and team level as a way of fostering creativity. The concepts of creative thinking and communication were also covered in the course. Two commonly confused concepts; creative thinking and critical thinking were differentiated. While critical thinking is mainly characterized by judgment based on reflection of ideas, concepts and efforts, creative thinking deals with developing the ideas, concepts and efforts useful but unique in nature. With the current global population using social media as their preferred too of communication, both good and bad news travel very fast and therefore reputations may be built or destroyed through social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube among others. Various examples of when good new goes viral such as the Liberty Bottlewords and when bad news goes viral as was the situation in Amy’s Baking Company Bakery were included in the course. Regardless of the nature of the news that goes viral regarding a certain company, appropriate response is a necessity. I learnt the various response techniques required in both situations but mostly importantly was the lessons in responding to crises. Various techniques are applicable, such as avoiding to react immediately, owning the problem, directive, validation and communication among others. The use of the above techniques varies greatly with the nature of the problem but care should be taken in ensuring to avoid poor responses that could worsen the situation and increase the gravity of the issue. The fifth concept learnt in the course was related to advertising. Historical analysis of advertising was also covered with its development from the traditional ways to the current methods of advertising. While television, radio, billboards among other were mainly used in the past as the most preferred method of advertising, most of the current adverts are carried out through advertising agencies under the American Association of Advertising Agencies. Unsurprisingly, it costs more to advertise today that in the past with charges soaring up to even $7500 for thirty second commercials. Other forms of advertisement including online advertising, inbound marketing and research advertising were also covered. The underlying role of creativity in all the forms of advertisement remained the most prevalent factor in the success of adverts. Application of the Concepts in Professional Career and Recommendations The concepts acquired in the course were highly practical and relevant in the professional environment. The practical assignments and take-ways were key in enhancing our research skills as well understanding the concepts taught in class. Success in the current business world is highly dependent on creativity and the concepts learnt in the course not only provide me with the skills required to be creative, but also enables me understanding the various situations that may present themselves in the professional career. Knowledge on advertising, how to handle bad viral news and creative thinking as well as communication skills all come in handy in the professional field. The practical aspect and real life examples provided in the course are all significant in the full development of the student’s professional skills. The course was well presented and divided into the weekly topics that make it easier for the students to understand the concepts presented. The ascending order of the information in accordance to the complexity was also very important in building the knowledge among the students. In reference to the class objectives, the information and practical assignments as well as real life examples assisted in ensuring quality learning. However, more practical examples such as drafting of business plans would be necessary in meeting the last two objectives related to determining entrepreneurial ideas and developing brands not only in new marketplace but also in existing ones granted the role of competition in the current business environment. The rest of the class activities, lectures and assignments were relevant and highly effective in meeting the set class objectives and should remain largely unaltered. Read More