Reflective Journal For Professional Field Experience (PFE) At Oracle India

On completion of this module you should understand the complexity of writing a reflective journal for a situation of Professional Field Experience (PFE) and appreciate key terms and concepts associated with reflective thinking and learning in a practical/commercial/business context.  This module provides the transition for students to progress from a purely experiential work to a working experience that provides lessons, guidance, and direction for future activities.

1. A systematic understanding of knowledge required for different work practices.
   
   
2. Critically analyse processes, tools and methods that are used in different cultural and organisational work settings, and demonstrate self-direction and originality in tackling and solving problems.
   
   
3. Development of conceptual and critical thinking, analysis, synthesis and evaluation of work-based practices.
   
   
4. Understand and reflect on the issues that arise in organisations and the means by which these are addressed in a professional setting.
   
   
5. To critically assess and analyse information as a core management skill in the compilation of a reflective journal.
   
   
6. To synthesise the work experiences and critically assess learning points in the form of a presentation.

About the company

Engaging in a professional field experience can help an individual to develop character as well as provide them with an opportunity to understand the manner in which real life situations can be dealt with. According to Collings, Wood and Szamosi (2018), professional field experience is an opportunity to develop practical knowledge and gain skills that are required for success in competitive business world. The reflective report provides an analysis of a real life situation that occurred to me during my internship days at Oracle. Oracle is a well-known American software company (Oracle.com 2018).

My internship was done in India and the experience that I gained while working in the country provided me with proper practical knowledge about real life organisational situation. My situation focused on my experiences that I encountered while working with a team trying to design innovative software like an application that can perform complex mathematical calculations with ease. My experiences as a member of the team and the manner in which I dealt with the situation are provided in the reflective report. My decision to become more effective is also provided in the reflective report. A brief description of the company and its services are provided for better assessment of the situation.

Oracle is an American company that deals with computer technology and other software that are helpful for the survival of the people in the modern world. The original headquarters of the company is in Redwood Shores, California. The company came into existence in 1977 and since then have been a leader in developing as well as marketing database software, technology, cloud engineered systems and enterprise software products (Oracle.com 2018). It is best known for designing an own brand of database management system and in 2015, Oracle became the second largest software market, only after Microsoft.

Apart from the modern technologies, Oracle is also known for developing and building tools for database development, systems of middle-tier software, enterprise resource planning software and many more. Currently the company own over 138.000 employees and earns revenue of $39.83 billion (Oracle.com 2018). Apart from America, branches of Oracle also exist in other countries surrounding Asia, Europe, South America and Australia. In India, Oracle first came into existence in the year 1993 in Haryana. The company exists all around the country particularly in the metro regions like Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi and Chennai. The following reflective report focuses on my time while working at the India branch of Oracle (Oracle.com.in 2018).

The situation that is going to be described involves an analysis of my working experience in Oracle, India. As stated earlier, Oracle is a huge company with its branches spread across different countries all over the world. As stated by Bailey et al. (2018) one of the important aspects that Oracle promotes is the working with a diverse set of people. This can help the company to continue its development in the international market, as Oracle can gain the support of the local employees as well as the experiences of the employees that worked with the company in its American branch. Due to this aspect, the diversity in the company is high and people belonging to different backgrounds and cultures form a team at the organisation.

Situation

The situation that I faced while working in Oracle, India is related to the type of leadership and the composition of team members. I am a citizen of the United Kingdom and thereby my life style and way of thinking is different from the people in India. I had been taught to carry on my own chores from an early childhood and the culture of the country pays little regard to the power distance between two individuals. At the same time, I tend to take on uncertain events that may or may not be fruitful for my experience. Hence, such characteristics about my personal beliefs had an adverse effect on my time at Oracle, India. As stated by Chelladurai and Kerwin (2017) the comparison between the work culture in India and that of the UK can be done using a cultural analysis model developed by Hofstede.

The application of Hofstede’s cultural dimension provides a proper analysis of the type of differences that exist between the cultures in India and in the UK. In my case, after taking up an internship opportunity in India, I was placed in a team so that the members can work together and try to develop software that is unique and can help individuals in an effective manner. As stated earlier, the cultural dimension of UK and India are different. Therefore, I found it difficult to adjust to the timing of the working hours, the temperature and the manner in which people behaved at the workplace. The team leader was autocratic and compelled the members to undertake the works that was provided to them without understanding the strengths and weakness of the members. Hence, I faced a great deal of problem in dealing with this situation and formulated strategic plans for combating the situation.

I was accustomed to remain in a working environment that had no power distance between individuals. However, in this case, the leader needed to be provided with the ultimate respect and every decision made by the leader needed to be respected. As stated earlier, the team that I was assigned in had been working to develop software that can help in conducting complex calculation. This particular task was assigned to us without our proper consent and the leader had no idea about the strengths and weakness that the team members possess. Moreover, being a foreign person I was not introduced to the team members and this caused a lack of trust among the members. Therefore, I needed time to adjust to the life style and the work culture that is followed in the company.

As stated by Marchington et al. (2016) it is considered as the duty of the leaders to support the team and assist them in situations that demand critical work. At the same time, leaders need to take into consideration the issues faced by the employees and ensure that proper mitigation techniques are adopted to solve the problem. For a new person like me in the organisation coming from a different background and culture, the leader of my team needed to introduce me to the other team members. However, this was not done and I had to suffer due to the negligence of the leader.

Affect

The situation that I had been faced had a negative impact on my mentality. According to Brewster et al. (2016), the behaviour of the leaders has an impact on the performance of the team or any one of the individual members. Positive leadership can help in an inspiring performance in which every team member can provide support to one another and ensure that these performances help the organisation to attain its objectives as well. At the same time, negative attitude of the leaders provides a sense of distrust among the team members and install a sense of de-motivating factor. Therefore, it is important that the leaders play a pivotal role in the development of a team.

At the same time, the collaboration and trust of the co-workers are also an important factor. As stated by Reiche et al. (2016) the collaboration of the team members is necessary so that backup and support can be provided particularly while conducting critical tasks. The trust of the team members can help in building a positive attitude among the members and ensure that the team continues to progress. In this regard, it can be said that in the team that I was involved with, I lacked the support and trust of the members and due to this I had not been able to concentrate on the work that I was supposed to do. My efficiency decreased and I had made myself disappointed while working in the company.

The lack of support from the leader as well as the team members had a negative impact on my professional career. I was unable to display my talents and it forced me to be depressed after joining the company. The leader had adopted an autocratic style and it was a pivotal point as the leader controlled the topic and every activity that was undertaken by me. The fact that I was not properly introduced to the team members also had a psychological impact on me. I was a foreign person in the company for an internship and it was the duty of the leader and other senior people to conduct an induction session so that I can be well acquitted with the organisation.

The lack of trust shown upon me prevented me from interacting with the team members. This led to extreme chaos, particularly during the team formation stage. Turner (2014) is of the opinion that every stage at the team development stage is crucial and need to appear in a sequential manner for success. At the initial formation stage, it is necessary that the team members get to know one another so that collaboration and mutual assistance be prevailed. However, in my case, I did not have the privilege to be introduced to the members and therefore, it was difficult to adjust to the team. At the same time, being from the UK, I follow a more individualistic culture and thus, I was more into my own work that was delegated to me. I did not take into consideration the possible assistance required by team members. This was another drawback for me as I had not been aware of the fact that the work culture in India adopts a collective approach.

Therefore, my mentality and my psychological state were improper and I had failed to help the organisation with my skills. At the same time, the purpose of the internship was to ensure that I learn professional and personal skills so that I can implement it in the future. The manner in which the team had been lead or the co-workers had reacted disabled my progress. However, slowly I had learnt about the working culture in India and had tried to synchronise my mentality state with that of the work culture in the country. It took me a long time but I had managed to bring about a change in my attitude and experience by the application of strategic decisions.

The experience at Oracle, India had been a learning curve for me. Although I did not make acquaintances, I managed to gain experiences based on the working style of the people residing in India. I managed to understand the application of the Hofstede model while conducting the internship as it provided me with the major differences that exist between the cultures of the two countries. I had gained a professional experience about the culture of India and the manner in which people to react to the implementation of new ideas. Furthermore, I learned the effectiveness of the adoption of autocratic leadership. This helped me to understand the effectiveness of the leadership style and helped me in making comparison between the different leadership styles that can be adopted by an individual.

I managed to understand the differences that exist in the leadership styles of two individuals. As stated by Albrecht et al. (2015) leaders need to ensure that every team member understands the capabilities and provide them with the task that they can be capable of doing. It is also necessary to judge the talents of the individuals and employ the leadership method that is suitable for gaining success. In this case, the adoption of the autocratic leadership cannot be understood as I had only joined the company as an intern. The adoption may be due to the collectivism work culture that exists in the company. After the interaction with the team members, I had understood that the members are very much dependent on one another and it is necessary that a leader always remains to guide the members.

I learned the value of teamwork and the collectivism work culture. As stated earlier, I belong from a country that believes in individualism approach rather than a collectivist approach. Hence, my selfishness in approaching a task had been different from that of the other members of the team. With my internship at the Indian branch of Oracle, I managed to understand the importance of collectivism culture and the manner in which teamwork can help in bringing out the best possible outcome of the organisation. I learned the method by which teams can be formed and the manner in which I can implement my talents for the success of a team. Despite the disagreement between the team members at the initial stage, the support provided had helped me understand and learn the importance of teamwork and the importance of support and trust.

I had learned about the manner in which I can design and develop new and innovative software that can help in the everyday lives of the individuals. This experience is useful for my career as a software engineer. Thereby, it can be said that enrolling for an internship in Oracle India, have provided me with two career options. I have gained the necessary knowledge required to be a successful managers and at the same time, I had learned the basics skills required for developing software and implementing it for the needs of the common people. Hence, I tried to implement innovative and strategic processes that can be used by me to become more effective in the future.

After analysing the things that I have learned, I can say that I had made several mistakes that needed to be solved. As observed by Brewster et al. (2016) the decision for implementing a proper strategy needs to be made so that every flaw in an individual or organisation can be identified. At the same time, decision regarding the application of knowledge and skill required for conducting a successful professional experience can be applied so that people can implement the learned knowledge in a professional career. In my case, I have been able to identify my flaws and at the same time apply it in the course of my professional career.

I had managed to implement my theoretical knowledge so that I can understand the concept of the work. However, I had failed to understand the cultural difference that exists between the two countries. This can be considered as one of the parts that I need to improve upon during my career. It is clear that most of the multinational companies have branches all around the world. The work culture and the culture of the people in each of these areas are different and hence, it is required that I understand the differences. I need to be able to point out the differences and prepare myself in a manner so that I do not suffer the fate that I had in India. At the same time, I need to interact with people quickly so that I can gain their trust and proper collaboration.

I also need to improve my communication skill. According to Purce (2014), the secret to built trust among the people is to be able to communicate with one another properly. It was not possible for me to learn the local language of India and make communication using the language with the people. However, in the future I can ensure that I develop skills so that I can portray my thoughts so that people can understand it in a proper manner. I also want to ensure that I learn a few words so that I can impress the local people residing in the area. This can help me in gaining the trust of the team members and at the same time, in the future, if I go on to become a manager I can recruit local people easily in my organisation. The effective manner of communication can help me to solve the issue that I faced in India.

At the same time, I can provide more support to my team members. This can be considered as another aspect that I need to learn after a proper cultural analysis. The cultural difference that exists between the people need to be analysed so that the difference between the collectivism culture and individualist culture can be identified. I need to ensure that I manage to apply the concept clearly, so that I can contribute towards the success of the team. Therefore, with the application of these strategies I can ensure that in the future I do not repeat the mistakes that I have made during my time in India. Hence, a proper conclusion can be drawn about my internship time in India and the success that I gained.

Conclusion

Therefore, it can be concluded that leadership and team building are an important part for the success of an organisation. My experience working at Oracle in India had provided me with perspective about the importance of team members and the reason behind having a proper leader. Support of all the team members is important particularly if the team undertakes challenging tasks that need to be completed with precise quality. The adoption of proper leadership style can play a huge role in the success of an organisation as well as its downfall. I had been unable to adjust to the work culture followed in the country and likewise had failed to implement the cultural change that is required for success.

Despite this, I had learned many things about leadership, teamwork and the manners in which effective software can be made that is unique and at the same time help in solving the matter of the people. I even learned the differences of culture between the two countries and ways to remain compatible with the change. Hence, my time as an intern at Oracle was successful, as I had gained the professional knowledge and developed the professional skill required for success in the future.

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