Many undergraduate business degrees will contain, or even begin with, a course on the business environment.
Businesses and other organisations are affected by a wide variety of external factors. Things that are outside of the business, such as other organisations, the physical environment, government and even specific events can have a significant impact on that business.
Consider, for example if you owned a small cafe. Your immediate physical environment will be made up of things like neighbouring buildings and businesses, roads, utilities and the general public passing by. Your business would rely on having power and light, running water and being accessible by would-be customers.
Local authorities would take an interest in your business, making sure you have the right usage permissions for the building, that your premises and practices were clean and hygienic for serving food to the public and that you paid local taxes like business rates.
Other businesses would want to supply you with ingredients, equipment and other goods and services. Competing businesses would want to try to divert customers away from your cafe. The government want you to pay tax on any profits you make and will try to ensure that you comply with a range of different laws such as employment law.
How might the weather effect your business? What about if a large business park was planned nearby? What if a McDonalds restaurant opened on the next block?
In your business assignments you should consider the IMPACT of external factors on businesses. Consider all of the different stakeholders and events and the degree to which they can provide opportunities or threats to the organisation.
Thursday 9 July 2015
Tuesday 9 June 2015
Why Do I Have to Use Academic Journals?
As an undergraduate you will be encouraged to read and cite academic journals in your business assignments.
"Why are journals so important?"
Well, your university is an academic institution. As well as providing you with your business education, your tutors and professors also write the books that you learn from. They conduct research into aspects of business and management and quite often seek to have their research presented to other academics or published in respected referees academic journals. Your university may also provide research for specific industries or companies.
Just as you would want to have the latest edition of a textbook on a subject you are studying you also ought to be aware of recent developments and research findings in a particular area you are studying. Your university library service will likely provide you with access to hundreds of journals both hardcopy and online, just for this purpose.
Even if you are not looking at the latest work, familiarizing yourself with groundbreaking or significant research on the topic can help to enhance your understanding.
"But, they are so boring!!!!!"
Well, it depends. Some of the research-focused articles in refereed academic journals can be pretty impenetrable to an undergraduate and hard-going to read. You may want to use these when researching for your dissertation or thesis.
What you may find more helpful for increasing your subject knowledge or to reference in your business assignments are trade journals or professional journals. You should find both the subject matter and the language more accessible but you can have confidence that you are using a reliable source of information.
The Harvard Business Review for example is written by some of the greatest business minds but for the use of managers rather than fellow academics. Start by reading the Harvard Business Review, McKinsey Quarterly, Sloan Management Review to broaden your knowledge and vocabulary, then maybe move on to some of the hard stuff!
"Why are journals so important?"
Well, your university is an academic institution. As well as providing you with your business education, your tutors and professors also write the books that you learn from. They conduct research into aspects of business and management and quite often seek to have their research presented to other academics or published in respected referees academic journals. Your university may also provide research for specific industries or companies.
Just as you would want to have the latest edition of a textbook on a subject you are studying you also ought to be aware of recent developments and research findings in a particular area you are studying. Your university library service will likely provide you with access to hundreds of journals both hardcopy and online, just for this purpose.
Even if you are not looking at the latest work, familiarizing yourself with groundbreaking or significant research on the topic can help to enhance your understanding.
"But, they are so boring!!!!!"
Well, it depends. Some of the research-focused articles in refereed academic journals can be pretty impenetrable to an undergraduate and hard-going to read. You may want to use these when researching for your dissertation or thesis.
What you may find more helpful for increasing your subject knowledge or to reference in your business assignments are trade journals or professional journals. You should find both the subject matter and the language more accessible but you can have confidence that you are using a reliable source of information.
The Harvard Business Review for example is written by some of the greatest business minds but for the use of managers rather than fellow academics. Start by reading the Harvard Business Review, McKinsey Quarterly, Sloan Management Review to broaden your knowledge and vocabulary, then maybe move on to some of the hard stuff!
Sunday 7 June 2015
Be Yourself
In recent years there has been a considerable focus in education on Learning Styles. The idea that learners have different ways of learning and that education should cater for a range of styles is increasingly important in schools and colleges.
As well as informing educators on what they ought to do, this can be an important concept for the student to consider.
If you can get to know and become comfortable with the type of learner you are, you can set about working to your strengths, mitigating your weaknesses and succeeding in your studies.
Are you the type who always asks lots of questions?
Are you the type who takes reams of notes?
Are you the type who talks at length in tutorials?
Are you the type who sits back and takes it all in?
If you are none-of-the-above, do you recognise these types? Is one better than another? Of course not. What matters is the knowledge you acquire, the skills you develop and your performance in assessments such as business assignments.
Don't try to copy the person you think is doing better than you. Don't try to do your assignments like somebody else. Do your own assignments using your knowledge and your unique thoughts and ideas.
Often I think that poor performance in business assignments is caused by lack of confidence in your own abilities. Similarly plagiarism, copying and paying for assignments to be written come from the same place.
Learn in your own way. Write your own work. Be yourself.
As well as informing educators on what they ought to do, this can be an important concept for the student to consider.
If you can get to know and become comfortable with the type of learner you are, you can set about working to your strengths, mitigating your weaknesses and succeeding in your studies.
Are you the type who always asks lots of questions?
Are you the type who takes reams of notes?
Are you the type who talks at length in tutorials?
Are you the type who sits back and takes it all in?
If you are none-of-the-above, do you recognise these types? Is one better than another? Of course not. What matters is the knowledge you acquire, the skills you develop and your performance in assessments such as business assignments.
Don't try to copy the person you think is doing better than you. Don't try to do your assignments like somebody else. Do your own assignments using your knowledge and your unique thoughts and ideas.
Often I think that poor performance in business assignments is caused by lack of confidence in your own abilities. Similarly plagiarism, copying and paying for assignments to be written come from the same place.
Learn in your own way. Write your own work. Be yourself.
Thursday 4 June 2015
Hedging - Get on the Fence!
An important feature of academic writing is the use of cautious language when making a claim - known as hedging. As well as being important in terms of logical reasoning and all that clever philosophical stuff that underpins academic work, it also helps to give your writing the right tone.
One of the things I have noticed in many students who are new to academic writing is a need to write in first person when undertaking evaluations or making recommendations.
"I think that......"
STOP!
Your tutor won't like that. Even though you are brimming with knowledge and brain power and entrepreneurial spirit that you are eager to show-off, for some reason they prefer you to be....a bit vague. It's not that your opinion isn't valuable, you just need to express it tentatively.
The use of cautious, hedged language written in the third person allows the writer to make claims that sound objective and authoritative but allow for alternative views.
"It is possible that..."
"It appears..."
"It might be suggested that..."
The key is that if something is not 100% factual, it should not be stated with 100% certainty. Also, it mustn't sound like something that just popped into your head without careful reasoning and evidence.
So, you can make your points based on your knowledge and the evidence in front of you, but not sound like a know-it-all who has the answer for everything.
In your head you may think: 'The culture of the NHS needs to change.'
Better: 'The NHS might need a change of culture.'
Even Better: 'The NHS may benefit from changes to aspects of it's organisational culture.'
Is that sufficiently on the fence? Even though it has become more vague, it is still a very big claim about a very large and complex organisation.
I hope this has been helpful albeit short and sweet. Send me a comment or an e-mail with any questions.
Key learning points:
- Use cautious, tentative language when stating something that is not a fact.
- Write in the third person (unless your assignment requires otherwise!)
One of the things I have noticed in many students who are new to academic writing is a need to write in first person when undertaking evaluations or making recommendations.
"I think that......"
STOP!
Your tutor won't like that. Even though you are brimming with knowledge and brain power and entrepreneurial spirit that you are eager to show-off, for some reason they prefer you to be....a bit vague. It's not that your opinion isn't valuable, you just need to express it tentatively.
The use of cautious, hedged language written in the third person allows the writer to make claims that sound objective and authoritative but allow for alternative views.
"It is possible that..."
"It appears..."
"It might be suggested that..."
The key is that if something is not 100% factual, it should not be stated with 100% certainty. Also, it mustn't sound like something that just popped into your head without careful reasoning and evidence.
So, you can make your points based on your knowledge and the evidence in front of you, but not sound like a know-it-all who has the answer for everything.
In your head you may think: 'The culture of the NHS needs to change.'
Better: 'The NHS might need a change of culture.'
Even Better: 'The NHS may benefit from changes to aspects of it's organisational culture.'
Is that sufficiently on the fence? Even though it has become more vague, it is still a very big claim about a very large and complex organisation.
I hope this has been helpful albeit short and sweet. Send me a comment or an e-mail with any questions.
Key learning points:
- Use cautious, tentative language when stating something that is not a fact.
- Write in the third person (unless your assignment requires otherwise!)
Wednesday 3 June 2015
A Quick Overview of Harvard Referencing
Just to kick us off I thought I would share this video on Harvard Referencing from the University of Derby. It's clearly explained, nicely presented and gives you the main things you need to know.
A key piece of information in Harvard Referencing is the author surname. In the in-text citation you give the author's surname and the year of publication and the list of references should be arranged alphabetically by author surname. It doesn't matter if the source is a book, a magazine, an academic journal article or a speech, it is the author surname that comes first.
The use of the author surname is the beauty of the Harvard Style over things like footnotes because it's not necessary to put anything else on the page (other than name and year) or to list references in the order that they appear in the work.
So next time you feel like you want to complain about having to do Harvard Referencing, remember you are using a simple and elegant system.
Welcome To My Blog. How Can I Help?
Thank you for visiting my brand new blog for students of business.
As an experienced lecturer and tutor in business and related subjects I have always taken an interest in helping students to develop their academic skills as well as their subject knowledge and business management skills.
The purpose of this blog is to provide information and guidance to help those undertaking a business degree or similar course of study. I will aim to provide some clear, no-nonsense help in completing your assignments and improving the quality of your work.
Likely topics to be covered:
- Finding Quality Information
- Harvard Referencing
- Avoiding Plagiarism
- Understanding Assignment Questions
- Constructing an Argument
- How to Critically Evaluate
If you are interested in a particular topic or have any questions, please comment on this post.
Good luck!
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