Reflective Journal On Undertaking Research On Newtown Green Grocer

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Discuss about the Reflective Journal Is Dairy Undertaking Research.

Reflective journal is the dairy in which I have reflected my journey while undertaking research and the things that I have learned until date. It has been seen that there are no current methods that exist while writing a dairy as it provides experiences of the individuals. IT consists of the learning style, experiences and the research centre that is undertaken by the researcher. In this particular research journal entry, I will provide my experiences while conducting research on Newtown Green Grocer situated in Wellington. The research helped me to develop various skills such as my sot skills and helped me to develop a sense of professionalism during the project.

In my early days, I had no idea about the ways by which I can collect data and the manner in which I can analyse the results. During this project, I was provided with an opportunity to conduct the research by myself and I had a healthy conversation with the customers. This helped me to overcome my shyness as well as hesitation and made me a professional researcher. My supervisors and tutors helped me while conducting the research so that I remain on the right path.

I was assisted by them to learn and understand about the problems that existed in Newtown Green Grocer so that I can formulate the correct and effective strategies for them. At the same time, I received support from Gagandeep Singh, the owner of the shop to help me understand the problems in detail. The owner liked my strategy and offered me with free groceries for the assistance that I had provided to him. In the diary, I have entered the methods that I had adopted while discovering the problems that existed in Newtown Green Grocer.

Newtown Green Grocer is a grocery store that is located in Wellington, New Zealand. The store is located at 23A Wilson Street, Newtown, Wellington. A small family that consists of two brothers runs the organisation. Therefore, the store have only two employees that run the place, one of them being a part-time employee while the other assists the store on a full-time basis. This is a type of motivation involved within the store that despite the low condition of the staffs, hard work is carried on to make the store a successful business in the market. The grocery store also has a website, which is used to update the information about any type of products and the offers that are new in the store. In the modern day, the store uses social media to remain in contact with the customers and prevent any expense regarding the promotion of the store and its products.

Situation Reflection

The storeowners aim to satisfy the needs of the customers and thereby, it is important to study the competitive market that exists. My duty to the store was to take the feedback from the customers and analyse the data collected so that I can assist Newtown Green Grocer to develop strategies for competitive business. The aim is to find the changing trends that can help in increasing the sales of the store. Therefore, the strengths and weakness of Newtown Green Grocer can be considered:

Table: Strength and Weakness of Newtown Green Grocer

(Source: Created by author)

The industry project on which my work was based on helped me to improve my practical experience regarding conducting projects. The challenges that I undertook in undergoing this research helped me to understand the subject in a clear manner and developed my interest towards the subject. The reason that I undertook this project on food and grocery stores is because I am an admirer of food and I love to cook my food. Resource needed for making food products can be obtained from grocery stores and thereby, to develop a grocery store nearby me location can help me to fulfil my aim of consuming good quality food. The assistance provided to the owner of the store had helped me to gain a token of appreciation from the two brothers.

They offered me free grocery items that can help me to cook for myself and share it with my friends and colleagues. At the same time, certain situations were faced during the research, which I solved after gaining help from the owner. The supporting nature of Gagandeep Singh and his brother provided me with the inspiration to continue with my work and ensure that I get the necessary materials required for my project. This helped me learn critical things that can be used in my future development. These situations are described one at a time so that I can understand the clarity of the research project and the manner in which I can use it for development in the future.

One of the experiences that I had while working at the store was the fact that the owner was busy with some chores that needed to be undertaken. Therefore, it was difficult to interact with him on a regular basis. This is understandable as the store is small and being the only one with a full-time commitment to the store majority of the responsibilities existed with him.

Critical Learning Experiences

One of the ways by which I managed to interact with him is by contacting him using phones. The timing of the phones calls needed to be perfect so that I could get him in his free time and ensure that I get the full assistance. During the communication, I sought advice about the manner about the manner in which I can continue with the project and the best time of the day in which I can get to interact with customers and gain their feedback. During the initial days, I had problems in understanding the concept of working in partnership and had problem in gaining the time of the owner.

However, with time I managed to understand the concept and gained enough support from Gagandeep Singh to understand the working of the store. I had difficulty to understand the strategy that can help Newtown Green Grocer to reach its objectives. Gagandeep Singh had helped me to link the strategies with the issues that are faced by the store. Another important aspect that helped me during the research was that I had to learn new languages. My communication in English had improved and at the same time, I could communicate in my native language, as the owner and I are both Indians. This helped me to gain extra support for the completion of my research.

The second critical learning experience that was important for my development was learning ways to manage time. One of the difficulties that I had to face during undertaking the project was to maintain and find time for its effective and proper completion. The biggest difficulty was that I had back-to-back assignments that needed to be submitted. Thus, my scheduling became hectic and I could not make proper plans for providing priorities to the projects undertaken.

During undertaking the project, I knew that I had to conduct survey and analyse the results of the survey. This was a time consuming process as the customers did not always respond to the questions or did not bother to take the survey. Therefore, delay in collecting the survey made me delay in other aspects of completing the project. This became difficult for me, as I needed time to compile the survey and ensure that proper results were reached. I had to collect information of about 100 customers so that I can get the necessary results for developing strategies for the store.  

However, one of the advantages that I faced with respect to time management is the fact that I did not have to travel much to remain in contact with the grocery store. This is mainly because I reside in the same street as the grocery store and it provided me with an advantage to visit the store any time during the day. However, even with limited time I had managed to complete the project with the assistance and support from the owner of Newtown Green Grocer. Planning of a schedule and proper management of staffs had helped me to continue with the aim at which I had wanted to undertake the project.

Undertaking the project has helped me to learn the practical aspects of completing a project. It has been seen that without proper practical practise it can be difficult to understand any project and gain success while undertaking the project. Gaining knowledge about the theoretical aspect can help in understanding the situations that may exist and its application.

However, the practical knowledge helps to apply every theory in the real world and ensure that no flaws exist that may hamper the completion of a project. In my opinion without practical experience, we become book readers with no practical knowledge of the outside world. In my opinion, it is considered as a waste of time and money if the people do not get to have a practical experience of the project. At the same time, it can be said that the learning based on the theoretical aspects can help in diversifying the project and ensure that every concept and models that are learned are applied in a proper manner.

After all, without the theoretical existence, the practical existence of business does not take place. In this case, various examples can be portrayed that highlights the importance of theoretical aspect of a company. For example, while undertaking the project in Newtown Green Grocer I had learned that customers’ service is important so that a proper business can be maintained. The owner of the store helped in gaining a better understanding of the surrounding environment so that I can plan my strategy in a proper manner and help in the development of the grocery store.

Undertaking the industrial project has helped me to develop professionally as well as accurately for the development of my future. My application of project concepts has helped me to accomplish my aim and fulfil my career goals. The course subject that I have undertaken is small business and it has helped me to understand the importance of formulating strategies that are useful for conducting a successful business. I have also learned about the CSR activities that exist in a business and the manner in which Newtown Green Grocer can contribute to the development of the society in which it conducts its business activities.

During the completion of the course, I had been obliged to attend lecture sessions imparted by reputed business people. The manner by which they have struggled to set up a business and the current success that has been undertaken by them is an inspirational story that can help in motivating any aspiring entrepreneur. Listening to the experience of the people has helped me to learn many things about management and the manner in which I can plan to implement the concepts in future.

I had learned about planning of events and taken a proper approach towards setting up a business with the implementation of strategies. Strategy management helped me to understand the strategies that are required to be adopted by Newtown Green Grocer so that the actions taken by the company can help it to become successful in the market. I have also learned a lot about service marketing as it helps me develop my knowledge about the theoretical as well as practical aspect of life. This can help me to develop my idea about effective application of professional aspects.

My supervisor of the project is Cyril Peter. Mr Peter is a senior lecturer and researcher at the university and he has vast experience in undertaking industry projects. He had assisted me a lot during the project by applying his experience and ensuring that I get the required resources that are necessary for the completion of the project. My communication with him was done via the exchange of email, as he always remains busy with his tight work schedule. In case of any doubt or confusion, I approached him and he provided me with the best solutions that can be used to make the project a success.

During the beginning of the project, I used to book his lectures so that I can understand the concept and theories that are involved in management. This had helped me to progress in the project and at the same time helped me to understand the implementation of the theories. With the guidance provided by Mr Peter, I had managed to complete my project in an effective manner.

The feedback that I received from Mr Peter is that my overall project was good but I needed to improve on my communication skills with the people. This is because some of the survey questions that were asked had been weak and a single response from the customers were not enough to understand the mentality of the people. I had showed my survey question to Mr Parker and had received assistance from Fahimi. Fahimi had helped to understand the ethical considerations that the New Zealand people undertake and the manner in which it can be used for conducting business in the market.

I had undergone a forecasting of my career and have seen that undertaking this particular project have helped me to progress in my career. I have managed to learn many things while undertaking the project and have involved myself in trying to examine the issues that had allured me over the years. I have seen that I used to struggle while interacting with people and therefore, my communication skills were under developed. However, after the completion of the project I managed to be good at communicating with the people and gain the necessary feedback required for the development of my career.

I have even set up a goal for myself in the future as a business expert so that I can advise aspiring businesspersons to invest and continue in the business. In this particular field, I can apply practical as well as theoretical aspects that can help me in the development of my professional life. Business experts need to arrange and observe business work so that I can apply my key learning theory and provide assistance by investigating the issues that exist in business. The research project has helped me to progress in my career and have given me with the opportunity to take bold career steps. Therefore, undertaking the project have been a blessing for me and I have managed to imply both theoretical as well practical aspect required for progressing in business.