Professional Practicum & Graduate Seminar
Angie Hoi-Chu
Chan (Student ID# 48760)
Date: 21st
June, 2005
Upon reflection, I
realize the kind of commentary I have in my mind for the selected assignments
derived from the Professors.
A mentor can make a significant difference in the way
students see themselves, their world, and learning in general. I would like to
use this chance to thank all professors, especially Professor Peter Hsu,
Professor Richard Birkenbeuel and Professor CC Huang.
The followings are four parts of reflective commentary I
covet to express:
1. Observing
In the world of business, it is more than natural that people care
primarily about their own interests, and social values are always of secondary
consideration. As ethics is supposed to provide us with a guide for moral
living, and to do so it must be rational, and to be rational, it must be free
of contradictions.
Through the studying of “Professional Skills Practicum”, I learnt how to look into my own worldview from
different aspects by using the ethical reasoning frameworks, like Consequentialist, Deontologist, Virtue
Theory, and Christian Biblical.
After appraised the analysis of the business ethics
case, I had an in-depth knowledge of how essential that ethical decision-making
could affect our behaviour. Just like those executives of listed companies
mentioned in the case, they all tried to make use of the grey area in the
futures and security. Of course, I know that always happened in other fields as
well.
Whereupon I would like to express my deep gratitude to
Professor Peter Hsu for his enthusiasm and extra helpful works are greatly
appreciated. I also want to thank him for his website that includes all lecture
materials and specific MP3 lecture notes. That is really helpful, especially
for students using English as a second language.
Meanwhile, one of the
UD goals bears in my mind: We have to steward human resources ethically” and
that is why I chose another piece of work, “Human Capital Management”. It
reflected the problems of human resources among workplace that contributed a
significantly negative morale and subsequent high labour turnover. That
appeared quite common among working environment although a lot of employers and
business leaders had often overlooked. Hence the report writing at least helped
me to avoid those mistakes and be a sensitive manager to handle human resource
issue ethically.
In addition, one of the key
challenges to hand in assignments is time. Time constraints often affect the
quality of the work. Conversely, for the time being, I can expand my strength
in workload as well. I also benefit from learning to frame problematic
situation, increasing effectiveness on reading and searching materials from
websites efficiently.
During the two weeks’ lessons of
“Business Strategy”, our team mates worked so hard in order to finish every
piece of work on time. I remember one Friday’s night, after attended the
lesson, we had to hand in an assignment on the next day. Since I was
responsible for those parts of work, I finished at nearly 4 in the
morning. Frankly, the assignments and
the presentations requested by Professor Richard Birkenbeuel were so
intense. With the tight schedule among the hectic weeks, I strongly believed I
did learn what most Hong Kong employees often say: work under pressure!
Two heads are supposed better than one. For
assignments to work in team, it is more difficult to triumph over than in
workplace as not all team mates are so cooperative. Fortunately, I have overcome collaborating with them at any events,
since in my theory, “Anything could be
possible with positive attitude”.
In order to deliver effective presentations, preparation is essential.
For example, data research and arrangement, utilize of power point, and even the
communication skills during the presentation cannot be ignored.
Moreover, learning attitude is
significant in all aspects. When I review the unstructured notes I had made at
the early time of the MBA programme, they just appeared as my personal journal.
However, I regarded those as untutored form of reflection. The work also gave me fresh
insights, knowledge and understanding. On a way of running, these contribute
effectively to my unsystematic thoughts so that I can think about, mull over
and evaluate.
Furthermore, my greatest strength
is to plan things ahead. Consequently,
good writing is edited writing. Letting my first draft "rest," always
helps me to edit it more effectively. Moreover, I now learn to see things from different angles. I
think deeply and critically before making any final decisions.
Frankly, though I did not receive a laundry list of praise from all
professors, I do believe I am one of the outstanding students among the class.
I am just proud of myself. On the other hand, it is also great to see
other classmates’ improvement.
The reflection on the phenomenon: I take nothing for granted. Every
effort you devote, every reward you gain. The successful businessperson in the era of globalisation has to be a lifelong
learner with right and positive attitude.
The UDMBA course can promote my
capacity to work on core notion as an
effective team member, to lead others, and to be effective in interpersonal
relationships through enhanced self-confidence, communication and presentation
skills.
By studying this MBA Program, I have enhanced my analytical ability and
equipped myself with a strong foundation, incorporating the required tools and
techniques to meet the challenge of the profession.
It also provides me with both practical and theoretical those create a richer understanding.
As learning-by-doing, we can learn
from mistakes. Thus, if the Professors could provide more detailed formative
feedback to students, either orally or in written comments, then students might
know how to overcome problems identified by assessment. Or why not create a
better assessment structure and criteria to encourage deep learning from essay
work in the coming programmes?
It would be great if UD could add
on some extra services in the future in order to provide Hong Kong students, if
any, more business information. For examples, online intranet services, library
access in Hong Kong, DVD recordings of sessions, or like Professor Peter Hsu to
provide MP3 lecture notes would surely help students a lot.
In my point of view, the completing of this MBA course is by no means a
full stop, but it is only a comma. It provides a driving force for
further learning and will
foster my life-long learning to enrich more meaningful life.
I would re-examine the experience in the light of my existing knowledge,
then integrate the new knowledge into my conceptual framework. I think courage may demonstrate strong and
praiseworthy character in my near future.
END