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SKILLS AND LEARNING STATEMENT

Research And Analysis Project

Meetings with your project mentor and presentation:
Before starting my work, I laid a plan for better coordinated results.
My first step toward planning was to comprehend the Research and Analysis Project guidelines, which I gathered from ACCA official website. After going through the topic list, I narrowed my choice of topics to three. Then I laid down a schedule for my meetings and discussions that were to take place with my mentor.
I also studied some guidelines so that my meeting with my mentor would generate best results and would avoid any misunderstandings.
Some of these guidelines were: * To conduct successful meetings you need to be focused * productive meeting need to be very specific and clearly defined * Prepare meeting agenda to use as a roadmap (Sound Business Practices, n.d)42 Before the first meeting, I had an idea of topics that I wanted to pursue and the meeting helped me in making the right choice. I presented my choices to my mentor, who helped me in selection of the right topic that is analyzing business and financial performance of an organization over a three year period. I selected the organization for my research and my mentor briefed me about the details that I needed to study about my chosen organization. During the first meeting I became aware of the research methodology that I could follow for better results and defined research’s aims and objectives. My mentor warned me about mistakes that should be avoided and the overall structure that I should follow in order to complete my project. He also taught me about the information sources that should be referred for an effective research. By the end of the meeting I was prepared to start gathering my information and we planned for our next meeting.
My research work was in raw form before my second meeting. I had put in a lot of effort and time to gather relevant information and my research work was half way complete. During the meeting I discussed with my mentor some questions that needed to be answered and he reviewed my work and offered his suggestions. My research paper contained words more than the limit ordained in the guideline. My mentor helped me in understanding the technique to lower my word count in a smart way. He also briefed me about the formatting tools that would make my work more presentable. By the end of the meeting I was able to improve my research work through the use of graphs and charts. Overall the meeting was very effective, giving me a solid ground to finalize my project.
The last meeting was about the presentation I had to perform for my mentor and fellow students. It gave an overview of the work that I had done for my research and tried to conclude the performance of MTL over the three year period. I handed my finalized project to my mentor on the same day.

I gave a 15 minute presentation which focused on important areas of studies of MTL. Before I prepared my presentation I studied the ways to give an effective presentation. Some of the ways are mentioned below: * To communicate effectively, you must state your facts in a simple, concise and interesting manner. * It is proven that the people learn more readily and retain more information when learning is reinforced by visualization. * Simple, clear, concise visual images Simple, clear, concise visual images (Eggleston, 2011)43
My presentation delivery involved the use of tools like Microsoft power point, charts and graphs and multimedia projector. I gave a 15 minute presentation, where at the end I answered the few questions raised by the audience. The presentation not only improved my knowledge about MTL but also gave me the confidence of sharing my understanding with others. The questions raised were challenging but my findings were strong enough to satisfy my audience curiosity. Overall the presentation went well and my project was finalized by the end of it.

Answers to research questions
The research questions that were raised before the in depth analysis of MTL, helped me in following a coherent path. When gathering data about MTL, AGTL and tractor industry I made sure that the research questions were answered so as to meet the objective of my work.
The major question was always this that the gathered data was reliable to be used in my research. While studying MTL and its environment I obliged myself to use only those sources which were reliable and avoid using those which could be misrepresented. My data was collected from both direct sources, like meeting with production manager and from secondary sources, for instance newspapers and published financial statements. While gathering information from secondary sources, I paid attention to the sources that generated those data. I referred to only those newspapers which had a reputation of good journalism like dawn, daily times and journals like economic review and the economist. The internet information was used when I was aware of the organization owning the website has a respectable repute.
After gathering the relevant information I studied the affect of different events on MTL’s performance over the years. The government policies and how they affected MTL’s operations? I used business tools which helped in giving meaningful form to the data gathered. The tools selected were ratio analysis, porter’s model and SWOT analysis.
Ratio analysis helped me in understanding the various aspects of MTL financial data and also in forming an opinion on its non financial information. Porter’s model identified the factors present in the tractor industry and their effect on MTL’s competitiveness. The meeting with the production manager helped me inquire about MTL’s strengths and weaknesses. This was a very important meeting therefore I planned this meeting well in advance and ensured that I asked all the right questions. SWOT analysis gave a final form to the overall position of MTL, by identifying its current position and pointing to various opportunities that company should take advantage of and threats which should be avoided.
During my research the questions raised in the beginning were answered in an effective manner. The main reason of my success in answering the research questions was that I was aware of what I wanted to achieve and made sure that went in the right direction and collected the relevant information. By the end of my research work I was able to form a knowledgeable opinion on MTL’s performance over the last three years.

Interpersonal and communication skills
Effective interpersonal and communication skills are important when dealing with other people so that the information you require from others is extracted in an ethical manner and your impression does not say anything wrong.
Communication is an essential skill for successful business and personal relationships. Communication has an impact whenever it occurs (Effective Communication, 2011)44.
While in the meetings with my mentor and MTL’s production manager, I tried my best to fill the communication gap by listening attentively, raising the right questions and not digressing from the subject under discussion.
In dealing with my mentor, I listened attentively to the suggestions he proposed and the concepts he taught me. I raised questions after listening and tried to note the answers down. The first meeting with my mentor taught me about asking the right questions, as at that moment I was not very aware of MTL activities I asked questions which were not very relevant but my mentor suggested that I go through the information first and then I would be able to ask the relevant questions. This made me realize that preparation in advance could solve many unintended problems. During my research work I also remained in contact with my mentor via telephone and email. This was done in order to solve the problems I experienced during work.
Before going into any further meetings with my mentor and MTL production manager I prepared beforehand for the discussions. I made some key notes to follow so that nothing is left out when I leave the meeting room.
I learned a lot about communication skills during my research. My mentor and the production manager of MTL, were both highly professionals. Communicating with them made me realize about the importance of impression of a person’s non verbal language on others. Their behavior taught me about the correct use of language and maintaining an air of confidence when dealing with others.
Another area which improved my communication and interpersonal skills was during my presentation. I chose multimedia projector as my medium of presentation. The presentation delivery was a new form of communication for me. I tried my best to focus on my knowledge and hold on to my confidence. I made sure that I made eye contacts and not get confused by my fellow students’ expressions. The only time that I lapsed a little during my presentation was when my mentor asked a question I was not very confident about. I quickly went through my research paper and answered him without breaking the tempo. My communication skills were appreciated by the audience, I tried to avoid confusion by presenting only relevant information. I also learned about answering questions through this presentation
During interview with the production manager, I tried my best to follow professional behavior. I raised questions after studying them properly and made sure I did not violate any confidentiality codes.
RAP role in accountancy studies and/or current employment role
RAP has broadened my understanding about viewing information from different aspects. It helped me comprehend the bigger picture and how to relate data available from variable sources.
While working through this research work, I gained insight into different IT tools which improved my skills and competencies. I worked on Microsoft word, excel and power point applications and also understood about preparation of variable slides, tables and graphs. This helped me understand the overall IT environment working and gave me confidence.
My research and analysis greatly influenced my analytical skills. I understood the different forces present in the industry and how the situation prevailing in the country affects an organization activities. The gathered information about Government policies and industry growth, made me understand how these factors could affect business’s operations.
The research also helped me in understanding the makeover of competition in an industry and the way it can be strengthened and weakened by different factors, and also how the change in these factors affects the businesses dealing in that industry.
When working on this research I gained insight into effective decision making process and the practicability of solutions proposed. The SWOT analysis performed resulted in identification of MTL’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. I was then encouraged to give different strategies about how the strengths could be put to their best use, how weaknesses could be minimized, how opportunities should be exploited and how possible threats could be avoided?
RAP also taught me about the importance of the effective use of communication and interpersonal skills. I learned how to create a good impression on others and how to present information in an effective way. I also gained an understanding of how to make others understand a situation as during my presentation I helped my audience grasp an idea about the business and financial performance of MTL.
My research abilities also increased during RAP. I learned how to make use search tools like google for best results and how to extract relevant information from newspaper in minimum time. I learned about asking the relevant questions so as to avoid digressing from the topic and also to save time. I used notes while during my meetings and quickly skimmed through them before asking the questions.
While preparing my RAP I learned about the correct way of writing a report and the best way to express my opinions. I also understood the effective way of presenting data.
I learned a lot during this research work, with also an inspiration gained to broaden my technical knowledge and practical experience.