Reasons for Applying for Specialized Master Degree in Strategic Business Unit Management - Assignment Example

1. a). Reasons for applying for Specialized Master Degree in Strategic Business Unit Management and Its contribution to the achievement of my professional objectives Any reputable organization needs to have competent executives running and managing it. For one to gain recognition among leadership circles, and get selected for an executive position, it is vital for him/her to ground himself/herself in theory, with an executive degree programme. One of my career objectives is to become a corporate leader, and that is why I intend to pursue an executive degree programme. The degree programme will enable me to ground myself in theory and gain invaluable leadership skills, which will come in handy in my corporate leadership positions. As previously mentioned, the main aim of an executive degree programme is to develop leadership skills. This implies that after the programme, I will be able to take large leadership positions in a myriad of business contexts. One of the advantages that the executive degree programme offers is the fact that it does not matter the students’ background. Students and professionals from various backgrounds meet and share the same programme easily because it is mainly about leadership. I am therefore convinced that I will have an easy time during the programme because my background does not matter much in the courses that will be offered during the programme. The programme will therefore act as a career boost for me because the leadership skills that I will learn during the course of the programme will complement my professional competencies. Lastly, the executive degree programme comes with an icing on its cake. After completion of the programme, I will increase my chances of getting a better job. I will also be able to negotiate better remuneration packages with my current employer and future employers. 2. The professional achievements that I am most proud of I have always been proud of what I have managed to accomplish down from my childhood up to this far in my life. Throughout my career I have always strived to give the best output of my work. At one time while working for an England based company as a Quantitative Analyst I managed to develop an internal risk management system. Since the company specialized in the insurance of goods and people against catastrophes, this system came in handy. As a matter of fact, it was the first of its kind in the company thus making the management very impressed of my work. A month later I was promoted and became the company’s first ever strategic analyst, a position that was created after my innovation. I felt that this was indeed a professional achievement that I would be proud of throughout my career. Just recently, I was appointed the vice-chairperson of the association of strategic business analysts in our State. This came as a big surprise in my professional career given the fact that there were other candidates vying for the same post yet possessed higher academic qualifications than mine. This indicated that people had confidence in my work thus giving me the zeal to pursue my education further in order to up my game. It is for this reason that I intend to enroll for the master program in Strategic Business Unit Management in your institution which is one the top in the world to sharpen my academic skills. All the aforementioned professional achievements are no doubt a stepping stone to my future in the world of business. 3. a). Description of a situation where I failed to reach a professional objective or goal One of my greatest goals in my profession has been to posses good public relations since business entails dealing with people in this case the customers of a good or service. Therefore, just after graduating from Graduate school I accepted the responsibility of launching a new product in the company that I was working for. This was such a big challenge given the fact that I lacked public relations experience. Through the guidance of some my superiors I was able to have a partial idea regarding product launch since the management had bestowed all the responsibility on me. I was up to the challenge but was devastated when the product launch failed and the product performed poorly in the market when rated with its competitors. b). Lessons learnt After the failure, I learnt several lessons on professional success. It is important for one to handle matters that they are capable of. I knew very well that I had not acquired adequate public relations experience to take up the task of product launching yet went ahead and took it. My instincts were very clear to me that I was bound to make a mistake that could affect the company performance. I ought to have had the courage to prevent it by either asking for help from my seniors or consultants in the industry. “The inability to admit failure and "own" our mistakes robs us of the chance to learn”. As such, I learnt to admit my own failure and probably prevent mistakes from happening even if it means asking for help. Nevertheless, this is a very difficult for people of my kind who struggle to be perfect at all times. 4. How do you think you are perceived by colleagues? You can mention 3 strengths and 3 areas for improvement.  To most of my colleagues, I am a role model. This can be attributed to the fact that I manage to perform extremely well in my endeavors. Unlike most of them, I posses excellent organizational skills that help me plan my work well hence able to balance between job duties, academics and social life. I am highly disciplined especially with academic work which is prone to typical interferences. Secondly, I am normally hyper-enthusiastic, a character that has helped me a great deal in life. This is because I posses this self-drive feeling which gives me high energy levels to face anything that seems to obstruct me in my endeavors. My colleagues have accepted the fact that I am quite a perfect time keeper. I am neither late nor early in anything. I have learnt to manage my time efficiently thus this is in-fact my greatest strength because life is purely based on time management. I would however wish to improve on the area of shyness which has been a significant drawback in my career. I normally get nervous when the number of people I am to address gets bigger despite the fact that I have an awesome command of the content. Self-criticism is my other area of improvement that has been with me since my childhood. Since I always want the best outcome in everything I do, I tend to worry about negative issues that could pull me back. Lastly, I am so much emotionally engrossed in anything that I do making me at times forget other important undertakings. As I progress in my career, I am determined to improve on this weakness by learning how to strike a healthy balance between emotions and needs. 5. The most exciting experience I have ever had in the field of the Arts and why? It is no doubt that through art, one is able to refresh and relax from the tight schedule especially in the world of business. During my undergraduate years I was privileged to participate in the university’s culture week. This was an event that brought all types of artistic genres right from clothing, food and music just to mention a few from all over the globe. The university administration had invited participants from all parts of the world to perform during the culture week. This was one way of making the students learn and appreciate the different cultures of the world. It was of great significance since it prepared us to work in any part of the globe and mingle with people of all walks of life. It was during this event that I had the opportunity to witness the first Dance Africa Philadelphia performing right in front of me. I was so overwhelmed since this had been one of my biggest dreams in music. The group whose origin is Africa entails drumming the whole night with dancers dancing in their African made costumes. Although I could not understand the languages they sang in, I was deeply attracted by their artistic styles of dancing as well as their wonderful rhythm and melody. During their performances I found myself joining their dance group and danced to their tunes despite the different cultural backgrounds. I must say the cultural event was such a great opportunity for me to know several traditional instruments from different parts of the world. Indeed, this was an experience that I will always live to remember in all my life. 6. My main area of extra-professional interest and how this experience enriches me Music has always been my true passion hence my main area of extra-professional interest. By the time I was six years old, I had already known how to play the piano and violin. This interest began in church that my parents and I went to each Sunday. After discovering my talent in music, I performed and competed in various music concerts in our country which I won despite competing with people older than I was then. This made me proud of myself, an experience that has significantly played a key role in molding my personality. Today, I work hard to ensure that I am the best in all I do because it gives me a sense of satisfaction. In addition to this, being successful in music improved my character and self-awareness. This was achieved after several attempts of success but deeply failing in the early instances. I was forced to aim higher than the goals I had set in order to make sure that I succeeded. As such, the experience has enriched and uplifted my morale in academics as well as other areas of life. I know what it means to sacrifice and persevere in order to achieve successful outcomes. More so, success to me cannot be defined in monetary terms but rather a sense of feeling that is derived from a fulfilling activity. For instance, the feeling of satisfaction that I am normally left with after a music performance cannot be compared to the money I get afterwards. In the same way, I have learnt to appreciate the curriculums of the academic courses I have managed to do without necessarily comparing with the cost of education or even the increase in remuneration that comes along with academic upgrade. Read More