Marjon Business – Week 2: Porter and his 5 forces
The first content lecture landed. A review of the course content took place and then we moved on to talking about all things business. First stop, the business environment.
I’m still on the initial wave of this is brilliant, this is terrifying and everything in between. Laura had set us a pre-course writing task which we got feedback on. I’m pleased to say that I received positive feedback and I get the clear ‘vibe’ that feedback and conversations are a spinal point to the course. That being said, clear expectations on how work can be reviewed have been set out – one of the main differences seems to be that you are a little more ‘on your own’ with the big stuff compared to undergrad – no less supported though, but that’s the academics at Marjon. I’ve always had as much help as possible from all of the touch points to my courses both at UG and so far, PG.
It was useful to have used Canvas (our virtual learning platform) before as none of this was foreign but I definitely think that being a bit older and wiser, it makes sense and it’s there to be used. I was a bit like a rabbit in headlights when I started my undergrad after 12 years out of education so I didn’t utilise everything properly and often different modules had slightly nuanced ways of uploading content. Again, Laura has mapped out how the pages will look so really, there is no way for any of us to come back and say we didn’t know where to look. You can’t miss it!
One of the best things so far for my studying is in fact writing up these blogs. I review my notes and recall what we looked at in my session. I only do one of the sessions compared to my peers as I am a part-time student, so it’s helpful sitting down and going over my notes. I’ve gone away and used my notes this evening to read up on a guy who seems pretty relevant to the course so far, something I didn’t start to do until later in my undergrad. We got given a case study during the lecture and I’m taking the time to review, piece together and think of how this could be relevant to my first piece of work, an industry report.
It’s been really interesting already looking at how the topics land within my current job. The world of business crosses all sectors and it’s going to be interesting to try to apply my learning to benefit my Monday-Friday.
Porter and his 5 forces, out.
Ella O’Neill