Comparison of Organisations in the Media and Communication Industry - Essay Example

ASSESSMENT NAME TUTOR COURSE INSTITUTION STATE DATE PART 1: WHO AM I? – SELF-ASSESSMENT The numerical and verbal reasoning tests provided an opportunity to assess my skills and competencies that would make me an ideal candidate for a certain position. I completed three verbal reasoning tests, in which I scored in the 38th percentile, 20th percentile, and 63rd percentile respectively. In addition, I completed numerical reasoning tests with a score of 45th percentile, 26th percentile, and 37th percentile as well as logical reasoning tests with 57th percentile, 48th percentile, and 25th percentile. The combination of the three tests is as follows: Psychometric Test Results Test Numerical reasoning test Verbal reasoning test Logical reasoning test Test 1 45% 38% 57% Test 2 26% 20% 48% Test 3 37% 63% 35% An employer considering the results individually may consider 63% for verbal reasoning in the third test, the 45% for numerical reasoning test in the first test, and 57% for logical reasoning in the first test. However, cumulatively the first test shows better performance in comparison to the cohort that took the same tests. These scores nonetheless do not provide an encouraging outlook for employers in comparison with other candidates that took the same tests based on our experiences, level of education, and job level.Nonetheless, like other tests it is possible to improve my outcome on the tests; for instance, by working on both oral and written verbal communication skills and learning and practicing verbal reasoning tests strategies. The reasons for the test scores may vary based on the individual circumstances, such as stress factors or the language used. The following SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis provide direction on how I can improve my test scores ensuring I perform better thus increasing my chances for obtaining a position applied for. The importance of the SWOT analysis is to obtain a clear understanding of the skills I can offer the company, and then those areas that need improvement. SWOT Analysis Strengths Methodical and well organized Transferable skills Creative and imaginative Seek out opportunities Technical expertise Education Ability to identify potential networks Strong work ethics and self-discipline Ability to work under pressure High level of energy Weaknesses Weak interpersonal skills Lack of job knowledge Lack of work experience Unassertive in social situations Opportunities Reading papers and books Practice with various tests found online Attribute assignments Seek out experiences Reading strategies on taking tests Improve on analysing arguments Threats Evolving technical expertise Competitiveness in the industry Based on my SWOT analysis, I under that I will need to work on my interpersonal communication skills and verbal reasoning, which is possible by engaging in a wide range of literature as identified under the opportunities. The main threat identified is that the industry shows how competitiveness and my ability to enter successfully may be compromised by lack of technical expertise. Nonetheless, I have the capacity to obtain the skills and competencies needed based on the identified strengths, which improves the opportunities for employment. The verbal, numerical, and logical reasoning tests scores provide insight into my current position and shows the importance of working on my weaknesses and seizing the identified opportunities to increase my score and thus my competitiveness. My personal brand statement comes from the SWOT analysis that “I am a focused and methodical individual, and offer an enterprise the creativity to develop and drive innovative products and services that inspire consumer loyalty and cultivate a profitable business relationship. My strong work ethics, self-discipline, high energy, and ability to work under pressure ensure that I will be able to bring out the best in mobilization of resources both human and capital to make the company prosper in the industry.” PART 2: WHERE DO I WANT TO GO? – COMPARATIVE INDUSTRY ANALYSIS My plan for the future is to work within the media and communication industry for six years and then from there venture out to starting a business using the lessons learnt from industry. I believe that in six years I will be able to ensure return on investment for the training that the company will have invested in my entry into their work force and actualize my personal brand statement. My mentor, who keeps on stating the importance of working in a place or a position for five years to ensure that as a person you have given your all, also influences the decision. He advises that one can work in the same company for a long period, but should at least grow very five years to another more challenging level. Otherwise, an individual becomes redundant as he or she grows comfortable with their position and acceptability of the mild challenges presented. Growth is therefore essential for remaining valuable to the company as well as for individual motivation and achievement of individual needs. I provide an insight into two selected industries providing their future trends and recent changes that gives an outlook of my expectations in the job market, followed by a comparison of three organizations including my own business that would align to my expectations in the media and communication. Comparative Industry Analysis The selected industries are the media and communication sector and insurance sector. The reasons for choosing the two sectors are that they represents some of the fastest growing industries facilitated by technological development, and because they align to my interest of working in an environment where I will constantly need to train on upcoming technology and professional experiences. I value continued professional training as a part of retaining my strengths especially having transferable skills, ensuring relevance in creativity and innovation, and being able to suggest new opportunities for the company. The media and communications industry present one of the fastest growing being at the epicentre of growth, innovation, and disruption across other industries, and will continue to grow as technology continues to develop (Wigginton 2016). The author notes that on aggregate people look at their devices at least 8 billion times per day, and this will increase as mobile and smart device utilisation and connectivity continues. Therefore, media and communication companies face unprecedented opportunities for growth as they tap into the growing use of technology. The insurance sector resents another highly growing industry. For instance, between 2013 and 2014 the industry experienced about 5% growth cumulatively but some sections performed better such as health care at 8% and life insurance at 6.4% (Jorna, Jutte, &Gerssen 2015). Part of the industry growth has been attributable to changes in technology, and the authors indicate that technology will continue to create new products as traditional forms of insurance become obsolete. For instance, Jutta and colleagues noted that the introduction of automatic braking systems, lane-change assistance, and ultimately self-driving cars means insurance companies have to review their accident and life insurance covers to factor in the role of technology. Therefore, current trend in both media and communication, and insurance industry is driven by technology as explored subsequently. An element to note in both media and insurance industries is the critical presence of technology, which makes the two sectors highly attractive to my goals. As noted by Capgemini(2016) most of the trends in the insurance industry are now an attribute of technology, such as being driven by technology or being required because of technology. For instance, insurance companies have had to reinvent themselves to provide non-traditional services that respond to continued reliance on technology among users. An example is the development of health apps that allow clients to access their insurance details and services through apps. Such mobile applications allow clients to observe and analyse their health outcomes using disease prevention, health monitoring, treatment support, and chronic disease management services. Another example is the increased use of Internet of Things that allows companies to ensure greater connectivity for various electronic devices with the goal of increasing safety and reducing liability in insurance. Through Internet of Things, insurers can closely monitor customer data thus create a profile of needs and risks including health risks, which can be useful in reducing turn-around time for initiation of claims by tracing the exact location and circumstances leading to the claim. In a similar fashion, media and communications industry continues to adopt technology to promote quicker delivery of services. An occasional paper by the Australian Communication and Media Authority (ACMA) (2014) outlines current trends in the industry, identifying the use of over-the-top communications, personal communication links, wearable devices, online flexible television, and multi-screening. These different approaches mean that individuals are increasingly responsible for content transfer and reception, and have developed an increased use of mobile and smaller devices to communicate. Similar to the insurance industry, companies in the media and communication industry are using mobile devices to easily and quickly reach consumers, and are expanding their business options to include these devices. For example, companies have come up with applications that allow viewers to view content at any location, such as SHOWMAX an online app with movies and televisions series. Additionally, news platforms such as CNN, BBC, SkyNews, and Aljazeera are available as mobile apps. These different platforms ensure that viewers also have the option of commenting in real-time to any broadcasts. While recognising that technology is changing the way media and communication, and the insurance industries function, I noted that traditional and mainstream services continue to have a noteworthy position in the industries. For example, in the media aspect, television remains as the main source of news despite the presence of other platforms including social media. The reason is that mainstream television presents accuracy in measurement of news and content, and thus despite the need for televisions to provide their service online, they remain as credible voices in the industry (ACMA 2014). Recognizably as the number of embedded devices using mobile connectivity grows, companies in insurance and media and communication will be having additional opportunities to increase revenue. These will be through increased network connectivity, sale of equipment and devices that support connective, merging their ecosystem to cater to traditional and emerging markets, and development of products and services that enable the use of these devices (Wigginton 2016). For instance, Internet of Things comprise of wearables, smartphones, connected cars, and smart homes that means insurance companies can monitor their clients, and that communication companies can deliver various media. Part of the use of technology as noted by Wigginton (2016) and Capgemini(2016) is the formation of alliances and partnerships with other industries including retail, automotive and health care to expand business opportunities and ensures quicker assessment of risks and response. Partnerships are essential as non-traditional firms especially e-commerce-based companies become part of the chain making it possible to process exponential amounts of data, retain customer base, create brand presence, and develop a large capital base. The success of the industries will thus require considerable cooperation across sectors. The communication industry also needs such partnerships to continue to evolve and adopt into technology that responds to various clients including generation Z and the Millennial. Within the changing ecosystem in insurance and media, is a growing need for technical expertise from graduates that have knowledge on how to integrate the new developments into company processes and activities. Leveraging on graduates creates a platform for bringing employees able to recognise the new opportunities and the unorthodox way of doing business. Companies in the media and insurance industries need to recognise that familiarity will not insulate them from competition, and cannot count on their extensive knowledge in conducting business to lock out innovative entrants (Friedman & Shaw 2016). Therefore, bringing in graduates will serve to bring in fresh perspective into the business, create a group of people that recognise the changing business environment and capable to leverage on the changes, and create a chance for reinvention. Among available positions for graduates in insurance are change and technology programme, business transformation programme, customer solution programme, network and support roles, software development, and research and development / innovation programme. The programmes align with the skills identified in the SWOT analysis, in which graduates entering the marketplace will need technical knowledge, ability to identify potential networks, strong work ethics, ability to seek out opportunities, organization skills, creativity and innovation. These skills will be underscored in the numerical, logical, and verbal reasoning competencies that can provide an employer with an outlook of the candidate. Comparison of Organisations in the Media and Communication Industry The choice of organisations to work for are my own start up, Hitachi Consulting, and McKinley and Company. The reason for choosing the three comes from recognising the potential to meet my values and goals. As expressed in my personal brand statement and in the SWOT analysis, I am creatively driven, and value strong work ethics; therefore, I would choose to work within an organization that clearly embodies creativity and integrity as part of their organizational culture. My start-up would be built around these values, to ensure that the employees are encouraged to embrace integrity in how they conduct their company business and process. My gaol is to work in any of the two target companies for a period of six years in which I will endeavour to apply my technical expertise to promote business growth and profitability. The first choice is McKinley and Company specifically the McKinley United Kingdom, in the telecommunications, media, and high tech department situated in London whose role is to work with leading companies in the sector toward creating rich data in connectivity, cloud computing, and mobile Internet as well as in recognition of upcoming practices in media and high technology (McKinsey & Company 2016). The company encourages its employees to bring in the latest thinking toward advancing its goals. McKinley United Kingdom will provide an opportunity to experience first hand how the industry is changing locally and internationally and provide networking opportunities that will be useful in understanding how to create my networks in the start-up. The company further embodies the use of creativity, innovativeness, and integrity to defining operating models and strategies within a uniquely changing environment. At the company I will be able to harness values of partnership, industry consolidation, and development of innovative business models. The work will also have opportunities for interacting with different sectors, thus understanding the application of telecommunications, media and high tech across sectors locally and internationally as McKinley is a global partnership company dedicated to research and development. Asanother choice, Hitachi Consulting is a business concerned with helping businesses identify issues and causes of industry expertise and knowledge dedicated at improving processes and systems (Hitachi Consulting 2016). The company uses its knowledge in technology innovations in the communications, media, and entertainment sector to develop business systems, communication systems, and on-demand entertainment systems. The company offers different opportunities from those of McKinley on that it expands to the entertainment sector, and incorporates models of telecommunication carriers, cable providers, wireless services, satellite television, and global media and entertainment companies. Hitachi Consulting further values quality in part of its innovation; therefore, it aligns to my values. Both McKinley United Kingdom and Hitachi Consulting provide an opportunity to work with local and international clients thus building a considerable network, and they align to values of integrity and creativity. Each has unique opportunities based on the type of business, but essentially will be ideal for learning the processes involved in innovativeness in the media and communications industry. The lessons gained in the first six years will be essential in the development of the start-up including identification of company values and key activities. The identified organisation deal in research, and development of systems, which will be adopted into the start-up, but in a way that will not create undue competition for the starting company. The focus will also continue to be innovation and integrity as core values. In conclusion, the choice of company highly reflects the importance of pursuing work that aligns to my personal brand, and my values. REFERENCES Hitachi Consulting (2016).Industry Overview: Communications, media, and Entertainment. (Accessed 4/1/2017) http://www.hitachiconsulting.com/sites/catalog/Lists/Collateral/Communications%20Media%20Entertainment_SO.pdf McKinsey United Kingdom (2016).Telecommunications, Media and High Tech, McKinsey & Company. (Accessed 4/1/2017) http://www.mckinsey.com/global-locations/europe-and-middleeast/united-kingdom/en/our-work/telecommunications-media-and-high-tech Capgemini (2016).Top 10 Trends in Insurance in 2016, Capgemini. (Accessed 4/1/2017) https://www.nl.capgemini.com/resource-file-access/resource/pdf/insurance_trends_2016_0_0.pdf Jorna, R, Jutte, M &Gerssen, S (2015). ‘Global Insurance Insights: A Detailed Analysis of Trends that Shape the Industry’, McKinsey Global Insurance Pools (5thed). McKinsey & Company. Australian Communications and Media Authority (2014). ‘Six Emerging Trends in Media and Communications’, Occasional Paper, Commonwealth of Australia, Melbourne VIC. Wigginton, C (2016). Telecommunications Industry Outlook, Deloitte. (Accessed 4/1/2017) https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/technology-media-and-telecommunications/articles/telecommunications-industry-outlook.html# Friedman, S & Shaw, G (2016). Insurance Industry Outlook: Insurers on the Brink – Disrupt or Disrupted. Deloitte. (Accessed 4/1/2017) https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/financial-services/articles/insurance-industry-outlook.html Read More