Business Research Haliza Baharon (09093159)

COVENTRY UNIVERSITY

BACHELOR OF ARTS (HONS)

IN
BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

A332 Reflective Journal

STUDENT NAME : Haliza Baharon

STUDENT ID NUMBER : 09093159
LECTURER : Lakshmi

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Declaration of originality

This is to certify that the work is entirely my own and not of any other person, unless
explicitly acknowledged (including citation of published and unpublished sources).
The work has not previously been submitted in any form to the University of
Coventry or to any other institution for assessment for any other purpose.

Signed _________________________________________________

Date ___________________________________________________

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Abstract

The journal will document the process of my learning experience while attempting to
finish my business research on the rising of retirement age in Singapore. We will
learn how these learning processes affect my academic, personal and professional
development.

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Table of Contents

1 Introduction of Reflective Journal ............................................................................6

2 Exploring a learning experience from Content, Process and Reasoning...................6
2.1 Exploring a learning experience from content perspective.................................6
2.2 Exploring a learning experience from process perspective................................7
2.3 Exploring a learning experience from reasoning perspective ............................7
3 Think of a learning experience in relation to Academic, Professional and Personal
Development ................................................................................................................8
3.1 Learning experience in relation to Academic development...............................8
3.2 Learning experience in relation to Professional development............................9
3.3 Learning experience in relation to Personal development................................11
4 Conclusion ..............................................................................................................12
5 References ...............................................................................................................14

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1 Introduction of Reflective Journal

Retirement, everyone will face this in one point of our lives. PM Lee mentioned in
his 2007 speech that Singaporeans are living longer and retirement age need to be
raise due to longer lifespan, shrinking workforce and higher cost of leaving. I choose
this topic because I would like to find out why there a need to raise the retirement
age, what options are available for those who will need to stay employed after they
hit 62 and how can we survive when we finally retired. I thought that there will be
many objections to the raising of retirement age to 65 in 2012, but many welcomed
the idea, like Mr Ang Lye Seng, 62 a driver said, ‘I want to continue working for as
long as I can so that I can contribute to society’

2 Exploring a learning experience from Content, Process and

Reasoning
Since reflective journal can be also called a learning journal, I will record my process
of my learning experience. This is my first time doing a literature review and there
will be many of my ‘first’ moments while attempting to do finish my literature
review as well as my reflective journal.

2.1 Exploring a learning experience from content perspective

After I was told that 80% of my supporting view must come from journals, I begin
to search for journals at the library and also online. Before this, I have never read a
journal or let alone see a journal. After looking through various journals and I
found that most of them do not have the points to support my topic. I keep on
searching for journals that I can use for my business research. Sometimes I found
that after reading the same journal three or four times, I realised that I can use some
points to support my topic. From here, I have learnt to read with more focus. I
realized that I was just scheming through it and I did not have a clear picture on
what I want to find. I begin to learn that reading a journal is not like reading a
newspaper or a book, I will need to concentrate more and keep the topic running in
my head so that I can pick up supporting points for my literature review.

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Looking and reading through the journals, make me realise that there are many
people that are not prepared to retire due to not enough money but they are holding
good, well paying jobs. So after searching for content for my literature review, I
wonder, so how about the people who are under low income category? How long
do they have to work to get enough for retirement? From the content perspective, it
made me realise that planning for retirement is essential.

2.2 Exploring a learning experience from process perspective

I have never thought that I will read journals and look at so many journals for my
research. However, it can be quite disappointing when there are not many journals
that write on the increase of retirement age. Most journals that I have found are
about financial planning and pension systems, which after much later, I find it
useful for my research too. After looking through many journals and found limited
information, I decided to change my search criteria. This time I searched keywords
like ‘old age’ and ‘retirement’. This time, I managed to find more relevant articles
for my research.

Besides having the exact keywords, I realize that I did not plan my search well. I
believe there must be a procedure, meaning I have to know which points I need to
look for first and when to look for subsequent points. I believe if I adopt this
strategy, the process of me acquiring the relevant information will be better and
will not consume too much time when time is really precious.
I believe that the process of my research is not effective as I want it to be. Maybe it
is due to time where I have to juggle to work and study or maybe I did not have a
proper procedure while looking for my information on my research topic.

2.3 Exploring a learning experience from reasoning perspective

There is a saying ‘you learn something new everyday’. I never read so many
journals in my life and from all the journals that I read, I finally knew how and
what I am supposed to write. It made me question myself, why did the author feel
this way and why it supported another writer instead of this one. From here, I learn

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to develop critical thinking in baby steps. From this experience, I have learnt not to
look at things at face value but to look at it more deeply, for example, now I know
why the retirement age needs to increase, before this, I would just thought, oh the
government would like us to work till we really old. From this, I have learned to
have a more inquiring mind and this is good because I believe it helped me in my
learning process and work.

3 Think of a learning experience in relation to Academic, Professional

and Personal Development
Writing this journal has made me realize that time management and prioritizing is
really important. Time management is a really important skill to grasp because we
need good time management when we study, while we work and also in our personal
life. Prioritizing is also important especially in working life because sometimes we
are faced with so much to and we are not sure how and when to start. Similarly,
while writing this paper, I am faced with duties at work, attending class and also
writing my business research.

3.1 Learning experience in relation to Academic development

Leonardo da Vinci once said, ‘Learning never exhausts the mind’. One of the
things that I have learnt and still learning is developing an inquiring mind and to be
able to give a critical analysis on the topic which I have chosen. It is quite difficult
for me to understand this concept but I know I have polish this skill because it is an
important part of being a student taking an Honours Degree where presenting my
own arguments on a certain subject is important. I will have to apply this for my
other modules which will require to me to do an analysis on the subject matter.

Besides being able to provide critical analysis, I have learnt to stay focus on the
topic of my research and to be selective of what I read. I also learned how to find
resources efficiently on the internet, books and the newspaper. From this, I have
learnt to be more resourceful and focus and I feel that these are good learning skills

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for future my modules or future courses that I will take to upgrade myself
academically.

Besides staying focus, I learned about Harvard Referencing Method. I found that
referencing is an important element of this course. There are so many different
types of referencing and when I looked through the referencing notes, I learnt there
was a way to make reference for television advertisement. That makes me think
that it is important to acknowledge someone else’s work and plagiarism is taken
really seriously. So with the referencing notes in hand, well I actually printed and
bind it, it will be handy for my future assignments.
Another thing that I learnt which will be useful for my future modules will be to
have a proper planning. I will have my to-do list for my studies, assignments and
research. This list will keep me focus and hopefully it can help me manage my time
to juggle work, study and play.

3.2 Learning experience in relation to Professional development

One thing I learned in this session that I may be able to use in my professional
development is planning. As someone who is in charge of daily operations in my
office, planning skills is one of the requirements. Sometimes I wish I can grow two
more hands so that I could cope with my work and sometimes I have the tendency
of wanting to do all my work at the same time. This result of me losing my focus
and then I realized that I did not accomplish anything when the day ended. What I
gained after this session is that planning is crucial. This is because besides writing a
business research paper, I have to do two other assignments whose datelines are
two days apart. I learnt to manage my time, a skill which I can adopt in my
professional development. With good planning skills and time management, I can
focus more in work and I can also prioritize my work. If I put these skills at a
professional level, I am sure that I boss will be satisfied. And with better planning
and time management, I believe that I can be more organized and manage stress
more effectively at work too.

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The subjects that I have studied this semester are Business Strategy and Strategic
Human Resource Management. Besides ensuring that operations are running
smoothly, I need to take care of some staff in the company and discuss strategies
with my boss on how to grow the business. These subjects have benefitted me so
much. I do not have a Human Resource background, but after attending the class, I
learnt more about diversity, human resource function, recruitment, retaining staff
and many more. This will be helpful to my professional development so that I talk
to my boss about retaining staff and also having a diversified workforce. Business
Strategy has made me understand more about business operations and strategies,
something which I can help my company generating more profit. After I have
learnt these two subjects, I should be able to implement new administrative systems
at work since that is also one of the requirements for the job. Here, like what I did
for my research, is to have a focus area on which processes that I would like to
implement and to do a critical analysis whether this process is feasible for the
company.

Another requirement that I need to have is communication and writing skills. When
writing my research paper or even my assignments, I have to communicate my
points to my lecturer through writing skills. I have learnt to put my points across in
a systematic manner and hopefully I have developed better writing skills. This will
help me at work, when I need to send emails to suppliers, customers and even
colleagues.

All the skills that I have learnt do not come from books. These are soft skills that I
have acquired while attending the lessons. All these skills which I have learnt will
definitely have an impact on my professional development because I know I can be
more organised, have good communication and writing skills and I can be more
focus in what I do.

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3.3 Learning experience in relation to Personal development

I was just into my second month at my new job when I started working. I do not have
the annual leave which I wish I have. I need to impress my new boss and stay focus
at my job. I have to try very hard to put aside the thoughts of ‘oh my god, my first
draft is due soon and I have not even started.’ Also, when I studied till late, I have to
make sure that I have to get up early and be on time for work. I can be really sleepy
so sometimes I will go to the toilet and rest my eyes for a while, then wash my face
and try my very best to concentrate. No matter how busy I am at work, I will go to
class but sometimes I have to give me a miss because of work commitment and yes, I
just started working and I have to show to my new boss that I am committed to my
job. Fasting month also started after a few months classes are commenced. I am used
to go home and enjoy home cooked meals for breaking fast and this is my first time
breaking fast while trying to concentrate in class. These are the hurdles that I
managed to overcome during my first semester at Auston.

I just tell myself that this difficulty, things will be better especially when I have the
degree at hand. One my lecturer, always remind the class ‘you do not want to just
pass, with all the time, effort and money that you have spent, you must pass with at
least second upper class’ I locked her words in my head so that every time I feel like
giving up, I will play the sentence in my head and re-group myself.
From this learning experience, I have learnt that I could sometimes lost focus of
myself maybe because I need to perform at work too and also study but I know I do
not give up easily. From the ‘obstacles’ which I have mentioned above, I must say
that I am fairly ambitious and I really want to do well in studies. My dragon boat
coach always tell my team ‘you have to focus when you are at the starting line, do
not care about the other boats beside you, you only have one thing to achieve, that is
to cross the finish line’ So I really learnt about focus especially when I do my
business research.

One element that I need to learn is to balance with work and play. I have missed
some outings with my friends, lost the festivity mood, well I need to study for my

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exams and even miss my dragon boat training. During the next semester, I will learn
how to balance work, study and play.

It matters greatly that I can succeed in my studies and my new job. I have this book
called ‘The Secret’. It teaches us to summon positive thoughts and in turn it is
believe that whatever good things we think can come true. So it is good be stay
positive and I believe that I am a positive person but sometimes when things get
tough, you will think of the worse and when happens I will always remember Miley
Cyrus’(2008) song ‘The Climb’,
The struggles I'm facing
The chances I'm taking
Sometimes might knock me down
But no, I'm not breaking

I may not know it

But these are the moments that
I'm gonna remember most, yeah
Just gotta keep going

And I, I got to be strong

Just keep pushing on

And yes I will push on until I have my degree at hand and it will be icing on the cake
if it is a First Class Honours.

4 Conclusion
To conclude, I have learn that this learning process has taught me 3 main things;
time management, focus and planning. However, these 3 factors are not the only
ones that can help me in achieving what I want; I am glad that I have a lecturer that
keep telling us not to give up. This is because even when I managed to stay focus, to

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have a good plan and managed my time well, but once I give, these skills are no use
to me or anyone that gives up.

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5 References
‘City of Possibilities; Home for All’ 2007, National Day Rally, Channel 5, 19 August
2007
Byrne 2006, The Secret, Atria Books, USA

Mondy 2009, Human Resource Management: International Edition, Prentice Hall, USA

Wheelen 2009, Strategic Management and Business Policy, Achieving Sustainability,

Prentice Hall

Cyrus 2009, The Climb, Soundtrack for Hannah Montana: The Movie

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