英國essay指導：personal skills development

 

Module Aims

 

• To develop students’ personal generic skills to enable them better to benefit from a Master’s programme in business and management.

• To enable students to identify needed personal development after completion of the programme in the light of career objectives.

 

Module Outcomes

 

By the end of this module participants will be able to:

 

• Develop research and generic study skills to enable them better to benefit from a Master’s programme in business and management

• Develop personal and management skills to enable them better to benefit from a Master’s programme in business and management

• Identify required personal development after completion of the programme in the light of their career objectives

• To construct a personal development plan linked to their career ambitions

 

These intended module learning outcomes contribute to the Masters of Management Knowledge and Understanding Programme Learning outcomes. 

•要培養學生的個人通用的技能，使他們更好地受益于業務和管理碩士課程。

為了讓學生識別職業生涯目標計劃完成后，需要個人發展。

 

模塊的成果

 

•開發研究和通用學習技能，以使他們更好地受益于業務和管理碩士課程

•開發個人和管理技能，以使他們更好地受益于業務和管理碩士課程

•確定所需的個人發展的計劃完成后，在自己的職業生涯目標

•要構造一個個人發展計劃與自己的職業野心

 

這些目標模塊的學習成果有助于向大師管理知識和理解課程的學習成果。

 

In addition, participants will also be able to:

 

• Plan, work and study independently, using relevant resources in a manner that reflects good practice

• Work with self direction and originality in identifying and addressing problems

• Be self aware, identify areas for self improvement and generate solutions#p#分頁標題#e#

• Present ideas, arguments and results in the form of a well-structure report

 

These intended generic learning outcomes contribute to the Masters of Management Programme Learning Skills outcomes.

 

Teaching and Learning Methods

 

The Core Skills element of the module will be taught formally (see Module Guide for CB951 Business Report), but the development and writing of the management skills report will be mentored throughout the year with group and individual work.  An essential contribution to the Management Skills Report is the Personal Development Plan workshops, designed and delivered by our dedicated careers consultant, Irena Jennings, during the Autumn term. Students are expected to research and write their Management Skills and Personal Development Report between mid-Summer term and the end of August, with submission on 16th September 2011.

 

You will not be allocated a supervisor for this report, as supervision is inappropriate for a self reflective piece of work.

 

Assessment

 

Assessment will be based entirely on the Management Skills Report which should be between 5000 and 7000 words in length. The report should demonstrate understanding of the relevant literature on the skills managers require in the 21st Century, and should be self reflective – which will then give you a better understanding of what you can offer in your future career.  You are recommended to keep a diary, and attend the Personal Development Plan Workshops; the follow links may help:

 

Marking Criteria

 

Can I please draw your attention to the marking template which is to be found on Moodle. This will give you important information about the way in which your reports will be marked and graded. 

 

Submission Dates

 

Please note that late submission is no submission, and no extensions will be granted. 

 

Guidance – Structure and Content of the Management Skills Report

 

Introduction

 

The Management Skills Report has been introduced into the MSc suite of programmes in support of your personal development and future career.  It should focus on the skills managers require for the 21st Century, and be a self reflective piece of work.  You will need to research the extensive literature on management skills, and then apply the literature to your own skills base, identifying your strengths and weaknesses using examples.  It is not appropriate to ask other people for their opinion of you, nor to use other managers or organisations as examples to illustrate your chosen managerial skills. You are the case study! This will give you a better understanding of what you can offer organisations in terms of managerial skills, both now and in the future. This report is a self reflective, individual piece of work, and so you will have to use the first person I/me when writing and referring to your own experiences.  管理技能報告已引入MSC支持你的個人發展和未來的職業生涯中的方案套件。應著眼于面向21世紀的管理需要的技能，工作是一種自我的反光片。您將需要研究大量文獻的管理技能，然后運用自己的技能基礎的文學，找出自己的長處和短處使用例子。你問其他人，也不使用其他經理或組織作為例子來說明你選擇了管理技能，這是不恰當的。您是案例研究！這會給你更好地了解你能提供什么組織在管理技能方面，無論是現在和將來。這份報告是一個自我反省，個人的工作，所以你將有我/我用第一人稱寫作時提到自己的經驗。#p#分頁標題#e#

 

You are strongly advised to keep a diary, or access the online facilities (see above links), and adopt the strategies recommended to you in the Personal Development Plan Workshops to help you record your audit of skills and experiences.

 

Report Format

 

Your report should follow the following format (subtitled and numbered):

 

Title page, author, addressee, date and word count

Contents list

Executive Summary

Introduction

Aim

Background

Main and subsidiary sections

Conclusions

Recommendations

Appendices

References

 

Guidance Notes

Contents list: You will only be able to put this together when you have completed the report, but it should accurately reflect the structure of the report and allow the reader to find their way around the report easily. 

 

Executive Summary: This is an important part of the Report. It must be no longer than one page in length and should summarise the whole report. A busy executive should be able to read the executive summary, and get an accurate picture of the contents and on that basis decide whether to read further. It should contain a brief statement of the original problem and then the key issues addressed followed by the conclusions.

 

Introduction: This sets the scene, outlines the problem and tells the reader how you plan to structure your report. It should state the resources you plan to use and where these will be coming from. It is an important part of the paper. As you write the report you should always be checking to make sure that you are adhering to the structure you set out in this introduction.

 

Aim: This is crucial. Get the aim of the report wrong and you will fail. The aim defines the problem/issue that the report is being written for and the rest of the report should be focused on achieving this. Common mistakes here are:

 

• Having an aim that is unachievable in the time and space you have

• Having an aim that is unclear

• Having more than one aim. Within the aim you can have a number of objectives, but you can have only one aim!

• Having an aim which the paper fails to address

 

Background:  This is helpful for the reader who is new to the topic. It provides the context in which the paper is being set and will also give the reader the necessary information on what has led to the present situation.#p#分頁標題#e#

 

Main Section: This is the main body of the report and should conform to the structure you set out in the introduction. You might want to use a Chapter for each of the areas that you will be looking at. Get the structure right; is it logical? does each section follow the next? Decide what information you want to use to support your arguments – this is a very personal and self reflective piece of work, and you need to use evidence from your own experiences to do this. You may have a chapter discussing the literature and then another where you apply the theory to your own experiences.  Alternatively, you may combine the literature and your experiences in one Chapter.  This is also where the bulk of your marks will be obtained. Remember that we are looking for:

 

• Analysis. We don’t just want a descriptive account of an issue or a set of data. We want you to look at the issues and really work out what it is saying – what it means. Always ask the question…SO WHAT?…. when you are presenting information. Good papers will always include your analysis of what is really behind the information you are presenting.

• Academic/Business Support. Support your arguments with the academic/business literature using appropriate tools techniques and frameworks that have been introduced throughout the programme. You need to make a judgement on which are the most appropriate. Don’t include an inappropriate model because you think it looks good…it won’t work.  If you fail to do this, you will not pass

• Always reference your work correctly both in the body of the report and in the References section at the end. You have had guidance on this. 

 

Conclusions: If you get the structure right then the conclusions will naturally fall out of the work you have done so far. This pulls the report together. Don’t introduce new material into this section and make sure that it does reflect what you have been saying so far. Be careful of writing conclusions that do not reflect the main body of the report!

 

Recommendations: In most cases your report will be very personal, and and you cannot complete the report without making recommendations for your own personal development. This is a key part of the report and many busy executives will look at the executive summary, conclusions and recommendations only. Again these need to stem from what you are saying. Don’t make a recommendation that would come as a complete surprise to the reader. Make sure that your recommendations are also realistic!

 

Appendices: These give you the opportunity to provide more detailed information for a reader if they wish to access it. #p#分頁標題#e#

 

References: This is where you record all the sources of data you have used. It is not difficult but is often done badly. Remember Kent Business School uses the Harvard referencing system and you should review your notes from the research methods classes if you have forgotten. In addition to the References section, ensure that you reference correctly in the report itself. You will be penalised if you do not use this system!

 

Conclusions

 

You should now have a clear idea of what is expected of you. The literature on management skills is extensive, and you may feel that you would benefit from selecting one area or a limited number.  However, you must justify such an approach. This is an important piece of work and will not only enhance your CV but also stand you in good stead under interview conditions.

 

Finally a word about plagiarism…The University now uses a software tool, TURNITIN that identifies material which has not been referenced correctly. Where there is evidence of plagiarism you will automatically be given a mark of zero and your work referred to the Kent Business School Disciplinary Committee. If you are unclear about what constitutes plagiarism please refer to the referencing guidance notes that you have already been given, or ask your project advisor.