ASSIGNMENT 3: BRAND YOU NETWORKING

BUS10012 – Innovative Business Practice

HE Semester (May), 2023

Full Name: Nguyen Thi Ngoc Linh

Student Number: 104178710
Date submitted: 15 August 2023
Introduction
I'm Ngoc Linh, currently a student at Swinburne University enrolled in the
Innovative Business Practice course in this semester. In this presentation, I'm
outlining my 10-year life vision. This prospective future will act as a guiding
beacon to shape and polish my aspirations, providing strategic coherence and
effective arrangement. In the next 10 years, I will be an experienced marketing
specialist skilled in strategic thinking and effective communication, with a
passion for innovation. While in school, I actively pursued and successfully
obtained internships at Shopee and Schannel, aimed at gaining hands-on
experience. Building on this knowledge, I decided to venture into the position of
a business analyst at Vincom. This career choice serves as a platform for me to
seamlessly apply the wealth of knowledge and experience I've acquired along
my journey.
What have you learnt about your strengths and how are these important
for your future Self?
The quality that gives anything worth and distinguishes it from similar things is strength.
Strength indicates that something is superior to something else in terms of benefits, referring
to an advantageous, favourable, and creative quality (Gurel & Tat, 2017).
While strength, a combination of Talent, Knowledge, and Skills, refers to the capacity to
consistently offer near-perfect performance in a specific task, talent refers to naturally
repeating patterns of thinking, emotion, or behaviour that may be usefully utilised (Romero,
2012).
Spotting-strength is the process of identifying your own and others' strengths that have yet
to be explored for further usage and development (Ridder, 2021).
As you can see on the chart, Ability and Application are my highest indexes.
People who make more use of their strengths also tend to have better levels of self-esteem,
self-efficacy, vitality, and well-being, and are more successful in their growth over time
(Linley et al., 2010). Studies have demonstrated that using strength produces a variety of
favourable effects, including pleasure and subjective well-being (Guney, 2011).

What are methodologies to spot strength?

● The “Top-down” approach: According to the VIA strength survey, the results found
that my top three strengths include spirituality, love of learning and appreciation of
beauty and excellence and my top three weaknesses are …
● The “Bottom-up” approach: In the video uploaded in w2, I shared about a challenge
that I had endured when I worked at an English centre. After that I received several
feedback from my friends on the Canvas system expressing their empathy and
inspiration given for further improvement. They all recognize my problem-solving
skills, and a sense of high responsibility at work. I am so glad that the story can partly
inspire others.

Strengths spotting results

The strength spotting scale revealed five dimensions including Ability (how skilled you are at
strength spotting), Emotional (how you react to strength spotting), Frequency (how
frequently you get to practise your strength spotting), Motivation (how motivated you are to
be a strength spotter), and Application (how successfully you apply your strengths spotting to
make a difference) are the four factors (Linley, Willars, et al., 2010).

My strength spotting scale generally reveals quite a variety of figures, with Ability and
Application ranking highest and Emotional lowest. Emotional, with a score of 15, is the index
that falls to the bottom and requires the most work. By recognizing and appreciating others'
strengths, people can enhance interpersonal interactions, resulting in more lasting friendships
and social ties (Seligman, 2011).

Essence Map
According to the Essence Map, it is evident that I possess a strong interest in the field of
business and have aspirations to get employment within a conducive setting that fosters my
development. In addition, I get pleasure from engaging with creativity, aesthetics, and the
field of marketing. I am not fond of living in an unfavourable atmosphere characterised by
individuals who lack energy and motivation.
What have you learnt about your networking skills and social capital, how
have these developed? How are these important for your future Self?
Theoretical background and the Purpose of Networking
Networking refers to proactively seeking out and maintaining meaningful personal and
professional relationships with people for the aim of mutual benefit in one's job or career
(Forret & Dougherty, 2001).
There are three types of networking including Operational, Personal and Strategic.
● Personal - individuals outside of your business who can aid in your career growth.
● Organisational - who are essential for carrying out regular operations.
● Strategic - refers to those individuals who are not directly under your control but who
are vital in helping you achieve your most important goals.

Social Capital
The concept of social capital refers to the natural social connections between individuals that
facilitate the development and acquisition of essential skills and values. It is considered a
valuable resource that may have a big impact on financial inheritances in contributing to the
persistence of societal inequalities (Adler & Kwon, 2002).

How does networking theoretically link to social capital?

Theoretically, there are two important connections between networking and social capital. In
the beginning, networking enables people to access the social capital of their contacts. People
may use their connections to obtain current knowledge, opportunities, and other resources by
building strong relationships with persons in their network. Second, networking helps a
person develop and accumulate their social capital. Their ongoing participation in networking
events improves their knowledge and abilities on a personal level, giving them a significant
professional advantage.
By impacting the following factors: the size of an individual's social networks, the quality of
their connections, the way they are connected in their networks, and the resources in their
networks, networking may increase an individual's social capital (de Janasz & Forret, 2007).

What have you learnt about your networking skills and social capital, how have these
developed? How are these important for your future Self?
Working on my crowdfunding pitch team has taught me the value of building relationships
and making connections.
By contacting investors, partners, and mentors as part of a crowdfunding pitch team, I was
able to improve my networking abilities. I now understand the value of establishing and
maintaining connections with other people for the sake of receiving professional
relationships.
Thanks to the social capital, I have been able to tap into more areas of expertise, attract more
prospective supporters, and strengthen the legitimacy of our crowdfunding effort.
Building my social and professional networks is an investment in my future success. These
skills will help me thrive in today's globally interdependent environment by facilitating my
ability to make important contacts, expand my professional network, and get access to
relevant information. As a result, I may better position myself to take advantage of
opportunities, get help in achieving my objectives, and monitor advances in my field.

Network Map Week 4 and 12

I made a pretty big step in connecting with people from week 4 to week 12. During week 4,
most of my relationships were within the safety circle of college and teachers, family, and
friends from high school.
My network of friends and professional connections had significantly grown by week 12.
My connections with individuals for similar job and academic purposes have grown
dramatically, and I am getting to know and work with people who are knowledgeable about
the field and have good friends.

Networking Survey results

The 2 charts focus on Internal network and External network.
A private network that is exclusively accessible within a particular organisation or
corporation is referred to as an internal network. Within the company, it is utilised for data
exchange and communication between departments and personnel.
An external network, on the other hand, is a public network that is accessible from outside the
company. This includes the Internet and other open networks that provide interaction and
information exchange with other parties including clients, partners, and suppliers.
What have you learnt about working collaboratively within a team? How
did your team manage the tension between Belonging and Distinctiveness
that team members can face? What value does this provide for your future
Self?
The topic of food safety and cleanliness in school settings has drawn significant attention and
has emerged as a prominent societal problem in recent times. The significance of children as
the future of the nation requires the provision of special attention and care. In response to this
concern, we have taken measures to form a team responsible for food safety and hygiene
inspections in school kitchens.
In this group assignment, we had to complete three small assignments in total.
● The first task is Team Charter, identifying each person's background and the broad
standards that the group must achieve. Additionally, there are different standards for
members' degree of involvement.
● The second assignment requires brainstorming, creativity and planning skills to create
an inspecting team with the task of monitoring and enforcing strict regulations of food
safety within school canteens.
● Assignment 3 is the completed video based on the storyboard submitted for
Assignment 2. The workload was equally distributed for all members, including video
shooting, presentation preparation, voiceover recording, video editing, and writing
report.

Other team member endorsements and feedback

Based on the assessments given by both my peers and myself, I see a rather balanced level of
equality, with little noticeable disparities. This evidence demonstrates my productivity in the
team and highlights my substantial contributions. In subsequent projects, it will be essential
for me to put more effort in order to get the highest score.

Participation and Teamwork

We are a collectivist team as 4 out of 5 members are considered as collectivists. They placed
a higher priority on fostering a positive work atmosphere, which might result in a
harmonious, cooperative process. Collectivist team members took high responsibilities as a
shared burden. They suppose not only individual effort, but also a group effort could perfect
the proposal. The pitch message was more aligned and consistent as all team members shared
the common goal.
However, there is just one person, Tuan, belonging to an individualist who took the lead in
coming up with ideas and solutions for the pitch. Despite working individually, to obtain
efficiency, he always asks for everyone’s opinions during team meetings before making any
important decisions.

Cultural dimensions involved in working collaboratively within a team

Cultural dimensions are diverse including power distance, individualism vs collectivism,
uncertainty avoidance, masculinity and femininity, long-term and short-term orientation as
well as various levels of analysis (Zheng, 2016).
Speaking of power distance, our team selected a leader and an assistant leader. However, the
power distance within our team is relatively low. Our leaders mainly serve as instructors,
allocating tasks based on each team member's skills and strengths. In addition, they are
responsible for reminding team members of deadlines and conducting regular team meetings.
Collectivism involves while our team values teamwork and adapts a collective approach. We
emphasise teamwork and focus more on team success than on individual accomplishment
because we recognize the benefits of working together to achieve a common goal. We
proactively promote open communication, idea exchange, and teamwork among our
employees. We are able to work together productively and make the most of the unique views
of each team member by combining our resources, expertise, and abilities.

What conflicts have your team encountered?

Overall, there is a pretty big difference in the level of contribution among team members.
Each member had different viewpoints on which approach to use. Conflicts arose as each
member had a different idea of "time management”, and “productivity” leading to
misunderstanding. Despite the fact that this is a group assignment, some individuals are only
concerned with their own tasks.
To address these issues, one of the group members had increased awareness for others by
emphasising the value of mutual respect, understanding, and cooperation in a group. We
regularly had conversations and made sure that everyone participated in decision-making.

Working in/Leading such a diverse team in terms of cultural values provide you with
what skills/experience/lessons that support your future self?
Working on a team with people from different backgrounds teaches me many useful skills
and lessons, improving both professionally and personally.
My communication abilities have significantly increased as a result of working with
colleagues that have a variety of communication styles to complete the group task. I've
figured out how to work around these differences, which has improved my ability to express
ideas clearly and persuasively. Though we encountered a few conflicts occasionally, we
managed to talk it out through text messages, face-to-face communication.
Most importantly, resolving conflicts in teams teaches me skills in negotiation, mediation,
and resolution that I can apply to many aspects of my life.

Your team members’ cultural profile

Individualism values personal independence. People in individualist societies are more
likely to identify themselves according to their own attributes, perceive these features as
mostly constant and unchanging, and see themselves as distinct from others.
Collectivism values personal interdependence. People in collectivist societies are more likely
to view themselves as interconnected, to define themselves in terms of their relationships
with others, and and see their characteristics as more likely to change across different
contexts.

- How did your team manage the tension between Belonging and Distinctiveness that
team members can face? (Better if you can provide reference as theoretical
recommendation for such conflict resolution methods)
Appendices
1. VIA Strength

3.
Networking Survey results

Ref. Ref. Performance relative

SCALE group group Individual to reference group
range size * mean score mean
Internal Contacts - Building my
networks 1-5 234 3,43 4,33 126,2%
Internal Contacts - Maintaining my
networks 1-5 234 2,75 3,50 127,2%
Internal Contacts - Using my
networks 1-5 234 5,40 4,00 74,1%
External Contacts - Building my
networks 1-5 234 3,14 4,50 143,5%
External Contacts - Maintaining
my networks 1-5 234 2,98 4,00 134,4%
External Contacts - Using my
networks 1-5 234 2,99 5,50 184,1%
Networking self-efficacy 1-5 234 2,73 4,00 146,5%
Networking identity congruence 1-7 234 2,81 8,00 284,2%
Networking prioritisation 1-7 234 3,16 4,50 142,5%
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