Week 4

Lecture/Seminar reflections.

What we learnt during the lectures mostly revolved around "data". We learnt about "Big Data", which used to have 4V's, but has been updated to 6V's; Volume, Variety, Variability, Velocity, Veracity, and Value. We were also taught about "hard data" and "soft data", which are both required in management. And there was a part of the lecture that lingered in my brain because I could utilize that information for my coursework. The lecturer told us that before databases were used, businesses kept information in filing cabinets. With this fact, I could approach the company I chose for the coursework and ask them about where they keep their data. Whether they have a good database or they still use filing cabinets, their answers will be extremely useful in the work I was given.

During the seminar sessions, we were tasked to finish off the Excel exercises from last week; the ones on the handouts. Although the tasks were not too difficult to the point of getting stuck, but it was tricky enough to help me learn even more quick techniques and shortcuts to produce an income projection and an expenditure breakdown. This is beneficial as I struggled immensely in making these things before, and this opportunity potentially raises my employability due to the increase of my Excel proficiency.

Group Work.

This week, I arranged a meeting with the group mates to have a discussion on the company we picked. Me and another member had realized that we found a better candidate; Lebara. Unfortunately, a couple of our group members were unable to attend the meeting today, but we still told the members who were there about this and asked them if it was alright to change to that company instead of Gregg's. We spoke about what the pro's and cons are, and the whole group had no problem whatsoever to make the change. We then looked for our seminar teacher to let her know of the change, which was also accepted. I then volunteered to approach the company to interview them.

Week 3

Lecture/Seminar reflections.

During the lectures, the first topic that was talked about was the Internet. We spoke about the creation of it, the size of it, how it is used, and what it actually is. The lecturer then put up a video about what people thought the Internet was. It was an interesting video because the co-creator of the Internet spoke about it in detail, and it made me understand that the Internet was basically a web of networks. It was also mentioned that the Internet back then was a different version of some sort, and it was limited in terms of freedom and capacity. The version we use today is sort of an updated one, where much more space was added for millions of websites and so on. This made me think about how beneficial it is for companies, as they now have plenty of space to create websites for their businesses. By the end of the lecture, it gave me more insight on what to look for in a business, and to see if the technology used in that firm is efficient and up to date. Noticing these things may help in determining how well they operate, and how they communicate within the business.

During the seminars, we were tasked to create and work on worksheets from the exercises given in the previous week. We did Exercise 2 and 3. During the 2 tasks, the first one was somewhat basic, and I had no problem in finishing it. The second task however, was a little more tricky. The formulas that had to be used were more complex, as well as the general format. Although I struggled a bit, I felt glad that we were given this task. It helped a lot because it really tests your Excel skills, and it taught me a few functions and shortcuts I have never heard of before. This made me more confident in using Excel regularly in the future, be it for assignments/coursework or even for work purposes.

These are what we produced in class:

Group Work.

This week, the group members were in the process of being finalized. There were a few late comers to the semester, and because they did not have a group they had to join existing ones. We had 2 more people come into our group this week. So we introduced ourselves and talked them through what has happened so far, which company we picked, and what our next step was.

Week 2

Lecture/Seminar reflections.

On Monday, the lecture held was about reflections. We were taught about what exactly reflections are, and what makes a good or bad reflection. More specifically, we learnt about "Description, Analysis, and Evaluation". The lecture helped a lot because I wasn't all to sure what a reflection was, and thought it was just writing down what had happened in the past days. But now I can actually write proper reflections as I have learnt that reflections require you to reflect on how you can incorporate what you have learnt into future practices. Seeing some examples bad reflections also allowed me to see the issues more clearly, which would aid me in avoiding making common mistakes.

During the seminar, we were put into groups and given a sheet of paper with 4 questions. Our task was to answer each question as a group, and to present it to the front of the class. We also had a short session on Excel to see how proficient we are with the program. The problem with the first task was the way I handled it. I wasn't paying full attention and it resulted in poorly written answers. All the answers our group had written were all too vague, and too general. We did not manage to further elaborate on our answers very well. In the future, I should focus and discuss with my group more to come up with a detailed, and well structured answer, so as to not let my teammates down.

Week 1

Reflection for lecture/seminar.

As soon as the lecture began, we were handed out the Module Guides by the lecturer. He explained the contents of it, and went into further detail about what will be assessed this semester. We were told that this module was 100% coursework, and that 50% goes into a 20 minute group presentation, and the remaining 50% is allocated in an individual reflective report.

He then told us to think of a company we would like to use in the first coursework assignment and to come up with a suitable name for the group you will be put into in the seminars. He told us to confirm on the group members soon as we would need to work in groups as soon as the coming seminar.

The lecturer then briefly explained what exactly Management and Information Systems are about, and how it relates to companies everywhere. An example given was about how some companies face issues with the technology in their firm.

On Friday, we had our first Management and Information Systems seminars. During the start of the seminar session, we were immediately told to finalize the selection process of the group members and to sit in the respective groups. We then needed to discuss to decide which company we will be using in our case. We were deciding between Pines and Needles, and Greggs. The unanimous decision we came to was to choose Greggs. 

Then we decided on a name for our group, which was "Spring Consultancy Service LTD". We later exchanged numbers to ensure we could keep in contact throughout the assignment. After that was done, we were instructed to finally create the blog for our individual coursework, and to write our first post; this being it.