Learning Statement

Learning Statement

Introduction

This learning statement is based on the research project that I have done, and in it I am going to cover and discuss all that I acquired during the entire research process. These include: What I learnt and gained from completing my project, the soft skills and knowledge that I developed from the process, areas and ways on how I will put into practice the soft skills and knowledge that I learnt in completing the project, and the conclusion.

Gains from completing my project

Nature of the Research

The nature of the research is based on examining how small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can rely on strategic alliances to enhance and improve their competitiveness based on the case of electrical and electronic engineering industry. This nature of study gave me a better understanding on the various strategic alliances used in the industry, how the SMEs perceive the alliances, how they implement them, and the impacts they have caused on the enterprises that have adopted them in their overall performance in the global market in regard to competitiveness.

Research Ideas

The project enabled me to pay strict observance to my interests as it would not allow me to stick to easy research approaches that would only enable me to complete the project fast. Choosing the research topic on my own gave me an opportunity to create something that is unique. It also gave me an opportunity to list down my interests and break down all the ideas I had into small sub-topics.

Research Philosophies

The different research philosophies made me understand on how data is gathered, analyzed, and used. These philosophies include: Pragmatism, Positivism, Realism, and Interpretivism. The rule of philosophies state that what is known to be true (epistemology) as opposed to what is believed to be true (doxology) covers the various philosophies of research approach.

Research Design

A research study design creates an all-encompassing approach for a systematic evaluation and description of a phenomenon which in this case is phenomenon of strategic alliances and competitiveness within a real-life dimension. The descriptive case study method which was selected enabled me to acquire all the data I intended to in my project. The method provided a framework for empirically gathering, collecting, analyzing, and triangulating sources from multiple channels such as observations, surveys, interviews and documents and online sources.

Writing the report

Writing the report after my research project process gave me good report planning skills, good report structural format, good report writing style and language use, good report design and layout, and the ability to include persuasiveness and effective influence to my readers. All these enabled me to write a successful report.

Soft Skills and Knowledge

Commitment

Creating successful habits- I learnt to achieve a lot in my project by concentrating, creating daily habits that drew me near to achieving my goal, replacing negative habits with affirmative ones and in a sure way knew all I wanted and pursued it.

Accountability- Through the project I learnt to focus on my goals and not my fears. Being accountable to oneself, my supervisor, and mentors helped me to stay focused, I gained a valuable insight into my project by ensuring I achieve the set goals, and by having someone else who would critique me and give me creative suggestions on the areas of improvement.

Focusing on the small victories- A project is a big goal one can achieve after a while and after a process of events, I learnt to focus on the smaller victories that I achieved on the way, these gave me hope and drew me closer to the finishing point of my project.

Developing an insatiable hunger- I learnt to pursue my purpose and achieve it by longing to finish the project successfully and timely. This gave me the energy to press on despite the challenges and difficulties encountered while doing a research project.

Flexibility and Time Management

I learnt to be flexible to all situations during my project as things would change unexpectedly and take place in different ways rather than the intended ones. The project had a time frame, and I had to prepare a term calendar, prepare a daily and weekly schedule, priotize the project, find a dedicated study space, and create blocks of the study and field work time.