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Course RESE1058: Foundations of Scholarsh & Res Course School/Level BU/PG

Coursework Learning Journal Assessment Weight 10.00%
Tutor A Saint Hilaire Submission Deadline 07/12/2009

Coursework is receipted on the understanding that it is the student's own work and that it has not,
in whole or part, been presented elsewhere for assessment. Where material has been used from
other sources it has been properly acknowledged in accordance with the University's Regulations
regarding Cheating and Plagiarism.

000469445 Zafar Iqbal

Tutor's comments

Grade Awarded___________ For Office Use Only__________ Final Grade_________

Moderation required: yes/no Tutor______________________ Date _______________

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS

DESCRIPTION PAGE NO.

05th October 2009

Reading Academic Material 3

12th of October 2009

Identifying cross cultural Issues 4

10th of November 2009

Leading Individuals, Groups and Teams 4

19th October 2009

Referencing Your Work 5

Conclusion 6

References 7

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FOREWORDS

I have selected four entries two from FoS one from International Context Of HRM
and 4th from OB and Leadership. In the coming details a brief introduction about the
lecture that what was discussed what was my reaction and what improvement I felt
in myself to get maximum out of the lecture.

05th October 2009

Reading Academic Material

What was the Agenda?

The course leader discussed lot of techniques for reading. Because reading is the first
and important form of obtaining knowledge. But the interesting thing I realized was
the SMART technique which is considered to be the best way to read academic
material. S means to select or scan the material. M for moving key areas of the
document and chart the main heading and ideas, A for actively interaction, R for
reducing speed to improve comprehension and finally T stands for taking notes and
referencing details.

My Approach

Before having no know how of this effective way of reading, my reading skills were
poor because I don’t know exactly that how to read? To get more on this I visited the
liabrary and consulted some books which are given under:

Social Research Methods by Williams Nicholas

Beginning research by Lowe Michelle

After consulting these books and some online material I was able to realize the woth
of reading. Scanning the piece of writing is quite difficult task but after practicing,
more and more reading I am now in a better position to scan the things quite
promptly.

12th of October 2009

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Identifying cross cultural Issues

Exactly after on week I was taught by Dr. Ulke about Cross Cultural Issues, which is
relatively a vast field to cover, Comparing cultures of modern Europe with Asia and
Americas. I was suggested a lot of books to consult to have knowledge of this topic.
And on the same date we assigned a group presentation on the same topic.

My Approach

A lot of reading was required to overcome this topic but the Antoinette lecture on
reading skills really made sense to cover it effectively. I went through following
material for this purpose:

 The meaning of culture

 Aspects of national cultures

 Hofstede: the dimensions of culture

 Trompenaars: another major framework for explaining the cultures of

different societies

 Discuss the importance of culture for understanding organisational behaviour

(J.P SINHA, SLOMONE, SCHELL)

I read these topics at different mediums like books, journals and web. So these all
above topics are wider enough in their scope and require lot of reading which was
only possible by following the instruction by the Dr. Antoinette.

10th of November 2009

Leading Individuals, Groups and Teams

Great leaders plant trees whose shade they know they will never sit in– (Translated
Greek proverb)

From my early education I am very interested in leadership theories. There are about
8000 studies on leadership. There of plenty of definitions and explanations. In early
80’s leaders were considered by born but now the main focus is that they are made.
And I strongly believe that leaders are made not born, for which we have so many
examples. In the OB 3 hours class ample stuff was discussed about leadership
theories, styles, difference among diverse cultures etc.

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What was my Approach

From the importance of the topic I selected it to write an essay for Foundation of
Scholarship and Research. The question raised in the essay was “leadership styles in
diverse cultures. I tried to prove this particular content by going through a lot of
reading suggested. I consulted many books and journals to find out that what type of
culture accepts which style of leadership? And the conclusion drawn was that it is
quite difficult especially for MNC’s to formulate strategies which are directly related
to their decision making process.

19th October 2009

Referencing Your Work

Though this lecture was delivered before the 3rd entry but I am willingly include it
here because referencing are the final stage of any writing. Whatever we write is
definitely coming from any source. If we don’t mention the source from where the
data was taken it is academic dishonesty comes under plagiarism. To know more
about plagiarism I gone through Mr. Smith model of Plagiarism.

He presents a model of plagiarism, called the plagiarism continuum, which usefully

informs discussion and direction of plagiarism management in most educational
settings. The model was developed from a cross-disciplinary examination of
plagiarism with a particular focus on understanding how educators and students
perceive and respond to issues of plagiarism. The evolution of plagiarism, from its
birth in Law, to a global issue, poses challenges to international educators in diverse
cultural settings.

What I Learned?

Harvard referencing system was very useful piece of information which I got in the
class. Now I am well aware of how to cite reference of books, journals/articles and
unpublished material. And from then onward I used to have using Harvard
referencing in my every writing.

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 CONCLUSION

The reason of selecting these four entries from different courses is quite logical for me.
These wide spread topics are not even coverable in million of words but summing them in
one thousand words was challenging for me as well. Firstly I took the reading skill as it is
considered to the foundation of any knowledge hub. Secondly I discussed the various cross
cultural issues for them a lot of reading is required, which is only possible through SMART
technique of reading. Thirdly Dr. Johnson class was rather informative and productive in
rational that it still requires a lot of reading activity. From second and third entry I also
realized the importance of writing skill, because I have to submit the written reports for both
of them. Finally I selected the referencing and academic honesty again from FoS that what is
plagiarism and why it is unacceptable. Focusing lastly upon the Harvard system of
referencing really helped me to cite the references through out the academic term and even it
will be a useful toll in future.

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 References

Lowe, Michelle ,(2006) Beginning Research: A Guide for Foundation Degree

Students, Published By: Taylor & Francis, Florida, Oxford.

Walliman, Nicholas (2006) Social Research Methods, Publisher: SAGE, London.

Sutherland-Smith, Wendy, (2008), Plagiarism, the Internet and Student Learning:

Improving Academic Integrity Published By: Taylor & Francis, Florida, Oxford.

Charlene M. Slomone, Michael s. Schell,(2009) Manafing across cultures, Mcgraw

hill, Berkshire, UK.

Above all the class notes from all lectures really helped me out to write this learning
log.