Academic Research & Writing
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Table of Contents
Part 1: Critical research portfolio.......................................................................................3
Research item-1: Connecting with Your Reader (book chapter case study).................3
Research item-2: (Coffee 2016, Business case study)..................................................4
Research item-3: (Ant Financial, A business case study).............................................5
PART 2: Reflective Report................................................................................................7
Introduction.....................................................................................................................7
Analysis of development................................................................................................7
Conclusion......................................................................................................................8
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Part 1: Critical research portfolio
Research item-1: Connecting with Your Reader (book chapter case study)
The research item is extracted from the book of ‘The Craft of Research, 2 nd edition,
chapter two which shows various techniques to connect with readers while writing any
paper. Conversation is a simple social activity of understanding each other by playing
social role. A person reading in a library is not reading alone as he’s conversing with the
book and its characters created by the writer(BOOTH, COLOMB and WILLIAMS, 2003).
People judge other by how well they play the role of listening or answering other. Same
goes for a writer as thoughtful writer judge readers by imagining who they’ll be, what’ll
they like, their need and want and what they already know. Writing in complicated
method will not connect reader and for this writer must cast a role for the reader which
they can easily adopt.
To connect readers there are some techniques, such as saying something interesting or
a unique information presented in a curious way. Another can be finding solution to
writer’s problem that might be important to the readers through real life exemplification.
Finally, connecting readers through answering unsolved questions asked by great
amount of curious minds. These three roles create a specific reason to read and
readers of different needs are fulfilled. Writing in groups need to include some other
process to gain these three techniques which are, planning and organizing, talking a lot
with team members before writing, agree to disagree to find better solution, divide and
delegate responsibilities of planned parts, exchange parts and managing problem. This
way readers and writer can create an invisible conversation and relationship with each
other. This is useful to my study and development because while writing for any topic I
can now connect with readers using these techniques.
“Your research counts for little if no one reads it. Yet even
experienced researchers sometimes forget to keep their readers in
mind as they plan and draft.” (BOOTH, COLOMB and WILLIAMS,
2003) Connecting with readers is important as the writing a complicated
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part cannot express if it is unable to converse with readers or grab their
attention.
Other than that many people are still unknown to techniques of reversing
role of writer and reader which further creates a gap between reader and
writer.
The practice of group research seems easy but still following the process
advised in this chapter still remains difficult.
Research item-2: (Coffee 2016, Business case study)
Coffee 2016 is a business case study for the students which gives a clear
understanding about supply chain of coffee works around the world and how
stakeholders get their returns on investment. The case study gives a comparison
between wine and coffee market around the world. These two beverage are in the
leading position of world beverage market. But wine suppliers are more cautious about
their quality and uniqueness so they have to maintain specific quality standards. This
case also gives us idea about the history of coffee production and distribution (Cathy
Forman et al., 2016). The case mentioned a term ‘the third wave’ which describes that
coffee was mostly consumed by the developed country like UK, USA and many western
countries. Illy company plays a great role for the coffee growers to manufacture coffee
with a diversified category and ease the way of trade for them. This case study focused
on the supply chain management and marketing policy of the coffee entrepreneurs. It
also encouraged problem solving ability in the business.
It was an interesting part for me to research on a business case study like that. As I am
a student from business background so it was interesting to to know about the history of
coffee production and different phase of commercialization. Besides this the case study
provided a practical example of supply chain and marketing policy of entrepreneurs with
coffee. In supply chain, I have understood that how coffee distributed from business
people to the general consumer around the world as many differentiated products. As I
am a student of Business studies it will help me a lot to develop my knowledge and
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skills. The key understanding from the case study which can help me in the future are
given below:
Supply chain is considered as the key task of trade as it helps to distribute the
products around the world. Without organized supply chain management it is
impossible to reach the products to its consumers.
“Coffee represented a small sliver of the overall market and there were
other signs that it might not ever grow beyond a small circle (Cathy Forman
et al., 2016).” It gives a clear understanding about the distribution system of
developed countries that how they make a place for their products in all
countries.
How marketing practices works in organizations and how they develop new
policy to tackle the market. I can apply these knowledge in my future career and
self development.
Research item-3: (Ant Financial, A business case study)
This is a case study about the function of a Bank was discussed. The bank name was
Mybank which is a sister concern of Jack Ma’s Alibaba company. It was started with a
vision of rural development for providing small loans to the farmers in China. It became
hard for the bank to collect the money from door to door. Besides this it was costly too
as they needed more manpower to collect the money. So they came up with a plan to
reduce the cost and they planned to make the things online based. Though there were
enough risk regarding fraud and insecurity they wanted to introduce the online system
to reduce operating cost. Now the question is that, is it sustainable to develop this
credit-scorning system to reduce operating costs?
Because of globalization and technology use in banking sector most of the bank now
operates online in a wide range. To develop the rural areas many banks introduced the
idea of small loan or micro loan service to help the farmers (Jingyue Xu et al., 2017). I
personally support these type of loan facilities as they are helpful for development of
rural economy. As a student of business I have interest in this issue and I wanted to
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know how these actually works and wanted to know that how technology influence
these areas of business. How this case study is helpful to me is given below:
“Bank officials had designed the Flourishing Farmer Loan program to use
the internet to communicate with loan applicants in rural areas and judge
their credit-worthiness (Jingyue Xu et al., 2017).” Online based service will
increase the functional ability of these types of micro credit organizations.
Clear understanding about the impact of digital system on business management
and cost control.
Rsik factors of online based banking in micro credit organizations and time
management of the organization.
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PART 2: Reflective Report
Introduction
In this module, I have analyzed two case studies and one book chapter research. These
analysis gives a clear understanding about the core concept of the study. Among them
the first one is about connecting reader with any kind of writings. I have understood how
to attract readers and what the techniques to attract target readers are. The second one
is a business case study where I have learnt about supply chain and marketing of a
particular product and how products are distributed over the world. Third and the last
one is about a micro credit organization which wants to introduce online platform for
loan distribution and money collection. This case study helps me to understand the
function of micro credit organization and what is the impact of online banking in this
segmented area.
Analysis of development
In this module, two different types of case studies are discussed. Where one is based
on writing concept and another two are business case studies. But the learning
outcomes are similar as I learned how to analyze a situation and how to extract the key
findings. From the first case I have learned how to target potential reader for any kind of
writing because without reader there is no value of any writing. I have also learned
some techniques to attract readers and to make the contents interesting to readers. As
a student of business I can use these knowledge in my future studies and it will help me
to make my work more attractive and effective. Other two case studies are business
case studies. Some important business practices are discussed in those cases studies
such as supply chain, marketing practice and online use is banking sector. As a
business student I need to understand these business practices which are important for
my future career. Understanding of supply chain management can help me to
understand any business’s distribution channels (Ikhwana, 2018). It will help me to be
competitive in the job market. It will help me to achieve entrepreneurial quality.
Understanding of micro credit organization’s function can help to become a smart
decision makers both as a employee or as an entrepreneur (Chen and Paulraj, 2004).
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So, I can say that these studies will help me in my further study and in my career. It will
also help me to develop my analytical skill and to develop qualities as a business
student.
Conclusion
Academic research writing is a key component in the field of business and other
profession. It creates analytical power in a person which help him to understand any
situation more effectively and help him to make the most effective decision. So it
important to know about the basic techniques of writing and understanding any studies.
It will help students and business personal to analysis situations more critically and find
the best solution. It will help us to survive in the field of business and job market.
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Bibliography
BOOTH, W., COLOMB, G. and WILLIAMS, J., 2003. The Craft Of Research. 2nd
ed. [ebook] Chicago, London: THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS, pp.17-
30. Available at: <https://is.cuni.cz/studium/predmety/index.php?
do=download&did=53831&kod=JMM003> [Accessed 23 April 2020].
Cathy Forman, Jaan Elias, Todd Cort and Jean Rosenthal., (2016). “Coffee
2016,” Yale SOM Case 16-013.
Chen, I. and Paulraj, A., 2004. Understanding supply chain management: critical
research and a theoretical framework. International Journal of Production
Research, 42(1), pp.131-163.
Ikhwana, A., 2018. Supply chain management of coffee commodities. MATEC
Web of Conferences, 197, p.14003.
Jingyue Xu, Jean Rosenthal, K. Sudhir, Hua Song, Xia Zhang, Yuanfang Song,
Xiaoxi Liu, and Jaan Elias., (2017). “Ant Financial: Flourishing Farmer Loans at
MYbank” Global Network Case 102-16.
