Reflective Writing for Marketing Management in Practice (Company Project)

Semester 4

Academic Year 2014-15

Module Leader

Ms. Raunica AhluwaliaBy: Mahip Singh Pathania

ContentsINTRODUCTION3STEP 1: GROUP FORMATION4LEARNING OUTCOMES5STEP 2: ALLOCATION OF WORK6LEARNING OUTCOMES6STEP 3: CONDUCTING THE SURVEY7LEARNINGS OUTCOMES8STEP 4: DATA ENTRY9LEARNING OUTCOMES9STEP 5: ANALYSIS10LEARING OUTCOMES10STEP 6: MAKING A PRESENTATION10LEARNING OUTCOMES11STEP 7: PRESENTATION11LEARNING OUTCOMES11SELF DEVELOPMENT12What I learnt during my MBA?13TRANSITIONING FROM STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT TO EXECUTION13EXTRACTING VALUE13PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT14LESS IS MORE14ACTION PLAN:15Appendix I16

INTRODUCTIONThis reflective writing is for the module, Marketing Management in Practice (Company Project). For this module we had to make a presentation and a report on a topic which was decided by ourselves. We chose to work on Clean India Mission because it was one of the main points on which the current central government came into power. The project guide Ms. Raunica Ahluwalia guided us in a very methodical yet creative way. She took us through the project step by step and was always there for us. The Clean India Mission is a campaign re-launched by Prime Minister N.D. Modi (initially chalked out by the Indian National Congress) which aims to clean India by 2019. Proper sanitation facilities even in the furthest of villages, proper disposal of waste and being self-conscious about littering are the core basis of this campaign. This was our first project which we thought had some actual purpose because most of the other projects had a predefined topic and a concrete roadmap which we were required to follow. Within the first few weeks of the 4th semester we were informed that we would be making a project which would include both primary and secondary research data. After a brief discussion with our module leader the topic Clean India Mission was finalized. We decided to prepare a questionnaire which would help us to generate some primary data for our research. We targeted the four aspects which form the basis of any questionnaire. To evaluate the awareness of the public towards the mission To understand the behavior of a general citizen To see the attitude of the public towards the campaign To evaluate the level of implementation of the programs initiatedFor feasibility reasons and due to certain restrictions the respondents included a limited amount of students, working professionals, housewives and people who were running their own business.

STEP 1: GROUP FORMATIONOnce the topic was finalized, we divided ourselves into 2 groups of 3 each. My team mates were Kanika and Shantanu. This was due to the fact that we had previously worked together on other presentations as well and we had always performed well while working together. The reason behind this is that each of us has a different skill set. This enables us to bring something different to the table each time we work together. We were very eager to start work on this project as it would be our first project which would have some meaning to it and also contribute a little if not much towards the betterment of our society. We aimed to achieve this while conducting our primary research. Then we made an outline of the tasks that had to be completed in order to prepare a presentation. These tasks included; data collection, analysis of data, conducting primary & secondary research, etc. All the tasks were divided amongst us as per our skills and area of interest. Given below is a brief description about the perception I have about my team mates.Kanika Sharma: I believe that she has an analytical mind. This means that she is constantly analysing the work and the points which need to be worked on. What approach should she take towards the task or whether the task at hand is more important than the one which is already pending? She is also a peoples person. As in, she is friendly while interacting with others, this maybe for a survey or even otherwise. This helps in building a good rapport among clients and respondents. She remains committed to the tasks assigned to her and strives for excellence whenever she has to perform.Shantanu Nirwan: He is very hardworking and a kind hearted soul. He plays an important role in most of the presentations because he has good presentation skills. He is a quick learner and a quick thinker. He has good communication skills; this can be very helpful while reaching out to large audiences.

LEARNING OUTCOMESLearning is measurable and relatively permanentchangeinbehaviourthroughexperience, instruction, orstudy. Whereasindividuallearning is selective,grouplearning is essentially political; its outcomes depend largely onpowerplaying in the group. Learning itself cannot be measured, but itsresultscan be. Although many groups are called "teams", not every work group is a team. In a work group, performance is a function of what its members do as individuals. The focus in a work group is individual goals and accountabilities. A team's performance is measured primarily by the products produced collectively by the team. Teamwork is a shared commitment both to the teams process (how the team works together) and to its product (what work the team accomplishes). This commitment to team process is demonstrated through the development and use of team norms and ground rules, a willingness to pay attention to group process, and a sense of mutual accountability both to the members of the team as individuals and the team as a whole.

STEP 2: ALLOCATION OF WORKOnce the groups were finalized and the tasks outlined, we then prepared a roadmap for the project. The roadmap was prepared with advice and guidance from our module leader. A roadmap is basically a breakdown of the project ambitions and goals with a specific timeline to achieve these goals. We began the project by writing an introduction about the Clean India Mission. This introduction was written individually by each team member. This helped us in understanding the various aspects of the Clean India Mission as each of us had a different outlook towards it. Once this task was over, we began preparing a questionnaire. Initially we made a mock questionnaire in groups of two. Later the three of us made our own questionnaire by taking some points down from the mock questionnaire. Once the questionnaire was prepared our module leader told us to make certain changes in the questionnaire. These changes were specifically focused on the four basic points of any questionnaire i.e. Awareness, attitude, behaviour and implementation. We had kept our sample size to 100 respondents as we were conducting a research within the city of Gurgaon. We then divided the 100 questionnaires among ourselves to collect the primary data. Shantanu visited the malls to target working professionals and students whereas, Kanika targeted housewives. I set up the questionnaire online and targeted businessmen/women and mostly students along with working professionals as I have quite a bit of contacts on social media.LEARNING OUTCOMESOur module leader advised us to conduct team meetings every week in which we would share our contribution each week and sit together to analyse the tasks which were completed and to plan for the coming tasks. Working in a group can sometimes limit your work or depending upon the capability increases the workload for an individual. An effective team includes; creator, implementer, finisher, investigator, supporter, evaluating member, coordinator & shaper. We had assigned these roles to ourselves so that we could function as one. In a team all the roles are crucial and contribute in their own way for a basis of a successful team. Our module leader even handed us a guideline for the roadmap along with deadlines (Appendix I).

STEP 3: CONDUCTING THE SURVEY This was one of the major tasks which needed to be completed for data collection. Previously I have described how we divided the task of getting the questionnaires filled. My role was to target the people who mostly remain on social media throughout the day. These included all the categories which we were targeting hence I did not have much difficulty in conducting my part of the survey. The trick behind enticing people into taking the survey was to keep the survey short ad specific. There were no mind-boggling questions nor were any technical words used in the preparation of the questionnaire. This was done to target a wider base of respondents. The response of the public was very positive and they were eager to take part in our survey. Hence, I invited more people to take the survey which seemed very encouraging to me. However, for the project we kept the sample size to 100 respondents only.This process of conducting the survey and collecting data was not all that easy as it sounds. I faced many hurdles as well. Many of my contacts did not respond to my e-mails and messages to take up the survey. Eventually I started targeting them through Facebook, I realised that it was much more convenient and even the reaction of the respondents towards the survey on Facebook was commendable as I got all my responses through Facebook. This task took about 4 days. There were certain limitations to this survey as well. The bias of some respondents and some respondents were not reading the questions properly because they did not have enough time to give to the survey.

LEARNINGS OUTCOMESQuestionnaires are very cost effective when compared to face-to-face interviews. This is especially true for studies involving large sample sizes and large geographic areas. Written questionnaires become even more cost effective as the number of research questions increases. Questionnaires are easy to analyse. Data entry and tabulation for nearly all surveys can be easily done with many computer software packages. Questionnaires are familiar to most people. Nearly everyone has had some experience completing questionnaires and they generally do not make people apprehensive. Questionnaires reduce bias. There is uniform question presentation and no middle-man bias. The researcher's own opinions will not influence the respondent to answer questions in a certain manner. There are no verbal or visual clues to influence the respondent. Questionnaires are less intrusive than telephone or face-to-face surveys. When a respondent receives a questionnaire in the mail, he is free to complete the questionnaire on his own time-table. Unlike other research methods, the respondent is not interrupted by the research instrument.

STEP 4: DATA ENTRYIn this step we as a group sat down with all the accumulated data through primary and secondary research. The primary research included the survey results. The secondary data included pictures, posters, videos, reports, articles and other materials which we referred to while making our project.

LEARNING OUTCOMESIn this step I learnt how to organise the collected data and how to do coding of the questionnaire & use the data for further analysis. I also learnt how to make implement the binary coding system in some of the questions and learnt how to rank the options on the Likert Scale.Furthermore, I learnt how to make use of posters, pictures and videos in a presentation, this enabled us to reduce the written content in the slides and give a much more creative and a self-explanatory presentation.

STEP 5: ANALYSISIn this step we analysed the collected data and put it in the form of charts, graphs and other suitable forms of statistical representations to explain our findings. We systematically broke down each of our questions in the survey and thoroughly analysed them one by one. We also analysed the videos and pictures we would be using in the project.

LEARING OUTCOMESAnalysis is the detailed examination of the data collected through our primary and secondary research. Analysis of this data helped us to recognise the relevance of our collected data. It also helped in identifying the correct places where we needed to place our data in the project. Analysing the videos and pictures made us realize the difference between pictures and relevant pictures; videos and relevant videos. In one such video my module leader pointed out that the song which was in the video was irrelevant without the video. This audio advertisement can be heard on the radio and the radio is a wrong medium for this advertisement.

STEP 6: MAKING A PRESENTATIONAfter all the previous steps were completed, me and my teammates sat down together to make the presentation. We divided the work among ourselves and chose who would do which part of the assignment. I was assigned the task of making the introductory slides and providing my team mates with pictures and videos relevant for the presentation. Since I am a day scholar I have access to the internet. Hence, the reason I did most if not all of the secondary research. LEARNING OUTCOMESIn this step we learnt how to make an effective and an interesting presentation. We tried to make the presentation interesting by adding videos and pictures. We also depicted charts and graphs of the analysis and most of them were self-explanatory. We learnt how to use pictures rather than putting in loads of written data. This was done to keep the interest of the audience during the presentation. STEP 7: PRESENTATIONOnce all the data had been collected, analysed, evaluated and conclusions had been drawn, it was time for our group to showcase our project in the form of a presentation. The presentation included about 30 slides and we were given about 10-15 minutes to present it. This presentation was held in the conference room on 25th March and was attended by Mr. S. Munjal, the dean of our institute along with our module leader. We had divided the presentation among ourselves equally. Shantanu took the lead while giving the presentation as he has the best presentation skills amongst us. After that I took the audience through the analysis of the data collected through our survey. Finally, the presentation was concluded by Kanika.

LEARNING OUTCOMESI learnt that it is important to get your audience topay attentionto what you are saying. Retain their attentionthroughout the presentation. The longer the presentation, the tougher this becomes. It is also important for your audience torememberwhat you said. This is even tougher. Our module leader had taught us how to give an effective presentation and I feel that I implemented most of her teachings and gave quite an apt presentation.SELF DEVELOPMENT Self-reflection for me is all about introspecting yourself and coming to terms with your strengths and weaknesses. One must learn to not only further strengthen their good points but also to be able to confront their short-comings. This will be the initial step towards becoming a success in the future. We must learn to deal not only with internal factors like strengths and weaknesses but we should also focus on the external factors which are also equally important. For this one should be aware of the opportunities he or she can take advantage of. At the same time being wary of the threats and competition that you might face, so you can negate them. My major strengths are being able to remain patient, calm & focused even under pressure. I also consider myself to be a team player and never have any doubts over my ability. Moreover, I like to listen to what views other people have or how they might perceive things to be in a situation or in a defined surrounding. I usually like to sit in a place from where I can observe all those sitting in the room. Being a team player is one of my key strengths as I thrive on people backing me up and lending support. My self-confidence can easily give way to over-confidence which can result in failure of the task I am performing at hand. Other than my over-confidence I have weak presentation skills as well as poor concentration. I seem to get nervous and/or anxious while giving presentations or addressing a crowd in a public speaking event. I often am too relaxed and usually have a laid-back approach. I do not cross deadlines but I always leave my work until the very last minute. You can say that I am not easily self-motivated unless the work is based upon my area of interest.Life gives us an opportunity at every nook and corner along the way to achieve our goal. It is up to us that we remain aware of these opportunities and seize them as we come across them. These opportunities such as attending seminars, giving presentations and other such events will provide me with immense experience and encourage me to be pro-active. This will help me to control my confidence and be assured of my abilities. I also need to learn how to relax as that will also increase my concentration power. I will also ensure that I watch videos on presentation and presentation skills on a regular basis and practice them as well.My immediate threats are not just my colleagues in class but also those who are at the same stage in life as me. By that I mean are ready for their first job after this semester. Few of my colleagues who have prior work experience and have internships at bigger firms than me would be at a slight advantage as I had the profile of a content writer during my internship. I also need to be wary of any new threats that might develop in the future, for e.g. competing during campus placement to get the best offer.What I learnt during my MBA?TRANSITIONING FROM STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT TO EXECUTIONIn todays world, it is important to understand how you can help firms transition from strategy development to execution, set up KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) at each level, and better tackle specific issues. Most of our assignments and deliverables were built upon solving strategic or operational problems similar to those encountered in real life. EXTRACTING VALUEIt is up to us to extract value and what you get out is proportionate to what you put in. In context, being taught by a faculty that has significant experience and achievements in the corporate world, meeting business leaders over leadership forums and studying alongside a diverse pool of candidates with different professional backgrounds and a significant amount of work experience is very insightful. A good amount of time was spent in doing things the way they are done in the Corporate World and learning to address a wide range of issues. Nonetheless another part of the course helps you to analyse the relevance and shortcomings of current corporate practices and to build a broader perspective for the future and help corporate stakeholders get rid of short term views.PERSONAL DEVELOPMENTA good B-School will give you an opportunity to assess yourself in context of your objectives before the program and subsequently work towards your long term goals considering how the program fits in. Also, from a personal point of view, experts from the field give you tips on grounding the MBA and using it to add value to your future employers. One often gets advice on developing a personal strategy, improving ones own brand equity, developing leadership attributes, understanding what employers look for and additionally some cultural advice for the international environment.LESS IS MOREIn conclusion, one could describe the B-School experience by saying less is more. It is less because it does not give you all the answers, but it is more because it helps you organise what you know and identify what you dont know and further helps you analyse things from multiple perspectives.

ACTION PLAN:ObjectivesOpportunitiesResources AvailableMeasuring SuccessRelevantTime Bound

Over confidenceKnowing my limits, not getting ahead of myself. Respecting my opponents. Upcoming interviews for placement.Friends, teachers and seniors opinion about me. Guidance from mentor.Making friends with ease. Learning to accept a wider range of people.Make me a better person in life. Change others view about me. Positive impact on myself.Almost achieved

Presentation skills and Public speakingGiving presentations in college and practising with friendsAttending presentation & seminars, looking at videos on the internet, friends, mock presentationsRecording of previous presentations and comparison after rectifying my defectsIt will be very helpful as I am about to step into the corporate world, where giving presentation is second nature to all.

May 2015

Laid-back attitude & self-motivationTake initiative, pursue the path which leads to self-motivation (interests me)Remaining assignments and upcoming sports activitiesAvoid deadlines and finishing my work well in advanceIt will help me with my work because one needs to have a pro-active approach at workApril 2015

Appendix IRoadmap

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