Course: MSc International Business Management

Module name: Entrepreneurship through digital simulations

Assignment 1: Individual Report

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Reflective Individual Report: Gibbs Reflective Cycle
Introduction
The aim of this individual report is to conduct a self analysis wherein personal experiences of
running a simulation business and a real life business will be compared simultaneously. Gibbs
reflective cycle will be used for conducting this personal interpretation. Gibbs reflective cycle is
the most popular cyclic reflective model with six stages which helps in interpreting personal
experiences of learning in a critical manner (Adeani et al., 2020).
Week 1
Description
I have been enrolled in an MSc International Business Management course and while doing so I
came across this simulation experience of running a business and capitalizing a new venture
challenge in the 4th module associated with learning the principles and concepts of
Entrepreneurship through digital simulations. This project was done in groups and it was a
complete journey and process of four weeks. Initially we had to run a simulation business in
SimVenture wherein we had to divide roles among the team members. It is a digital simulation
game and each one of us had individual roles such as sales and marketing, finance, human
resource, operations and staff management, research and development (Baruah and Mao, 2021).
After participating in the digital simulation game, it was time to take a real business challenge
which was initiated on the Challenge Day which took place on May 13th, 2024.
Feeling
Before the onset of the project, I felt anxious and inquisitive about the entire journey of digital
simulation in upgrading entrepreneurship skills. My role in the team simulation journey in
SimVenture was associated with sales and marketing. During the group activity associated with
selecting a new challenge venture, I was a little shy in expressing my views and ideas. Later on, I
participated actively and gave my best towards the completion of the running of the new venture
challenge. Time management and effective communication is very important in managing
difficult situations in sales and management activities of an organization (Yener et al., 2021).
Running a real business and a virtual simulation is very different, however, the knowledge
gained almost acted like a training journal for handling entrepreneurship battles in the real world.
Evaluation

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During the first week of the project, I was introduced to the concept and mindset of the
entrepreneurship journey from the information given in the module. Some of the most efficient
qualities of entrepreneurs can be evaluated as creativity, resilience, adaptability, critical thinking
and an analytical mind with the mentality to embrace growth and change (Sampene et al., 2021).
This knowledge helped me both during the digital simulation as well as while planning to start a
new venture challenge. This learning also helped me understand the leadership attributes I
possess and this also led me to guide the other team members time and again.
Week 2
During the second week, it can be evaluated that I learnt about strategies associated with change
management and innovation by reading some real life examples given in the module. This helped
me improve my performance in group activities and alter the team dynamics and consistencies.
The concept of adapting to change and innovative approach is highly essential for achieving
success in the sales and marketing domain. This learning has been useful for me during the
digital simulation as well as while handling the new real business venture. Our teams were the
same for both the tasks and both the times, I was associated with taking care of sales and
marketing needs for the business. It was difficult initially, but once the business started, it was
easier to manage and understand the demands of the customer.
Week 3
Analysis
It can be analyzed that my problem solving skills are good and this could be understood from my
team performance during the simulation, while setting up and managing the new business
venture. With the help of effective communication, I was also able to uplift the morale of my
team members in crucial times and keep up with the overall goal of the project. However, my
innovation management and research skills are weak and need further development as I visibly
struggled to understand the impact of the latest technologies on entrepreneur activities. I was
able to identify the innovative measures that can be used only after facing a diverse situation. I
realized after the simulation, that planning and understanding the pros and cons of each action is
very essential before implementing any plan in real life business scenarios.
Week 4

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In the fourth week, the module provided us with the knowledge about corporate governance.
This helped me a lot in discovering my strengths and weaknesses related to running and
managing a new venture start-up.
Action plan

Action Impact Ways to improve Time

To improve my Effective In order to improve Within the next 3

research and development of this my research skills, I months
innovation skill will help me will focus on using
management skills perform better in the help of the
running a business internet more often
and manage the sales along with books and
and marketing in the module materials.
most successful External sources of
manner. information and self
analysis helps in
understanding any
concept better (Yan,
2020).

To improve skills Effective use of In order to improve Within the next 5

associated with the modern technologies my skills of assessing months
use of digital and strategies in the digital world and
technologies business will be its opportunities, I
helpful in making will attend webinars
informed decisions and online courses
and improving the which help in
productivity of the understanding the
business. leading digital
technologies that are
consistently used in
everyday business
such as artificial
intelligence, big data
analytics, the use of
chatbots, and other
digital trends.

To improve financial Effective In order to improve Within the next 6

management skills development of these my financial months
skills will be helpful management skills, I
in creating a will start with the
sustainable budget for creation of savings
the growth of the and look up on the

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 business as well as internet for
generate surplus understanding the
savings. various patterns that
can be used for
improving money
management. I will
also attempt to learn
about distribution of
wealth in a business
setting for proper and
effective allocation of
budget in real time
business scenarios.
Table 1: Action plan
(Source: Created by Author)
Conclusion
After the completion of the reflective analysis, it can be concluded that digital simulation
scenarios and real life business scenarios are very different, however, simulation activities
definitely worked as an initial impetus towards learning the concepts and principles of
entrepreneurship and its implementation in real life situations. Experience about both the
activities has been shared and it can be concluded that my personal communication skills and
problem solving skills are worthy of achieving quite some success in the field of business
management as well as sales and marketing. The shortcomings in running and managing a real
life business compared to a virtual one has also been highlighted which helps in the creation of
the action plan which can improve my performance in sales and marketing domain in the future.

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Reference list
Adeani, I.S., Febriani, R.B. and Syafryadin, S., 2020. Using GIBBS’reflective cycle in making
reflections of literary analysis. Indonesian EFL Journal, 6(2), pp.139-148.
Baruah, B. and Mao, S., 2021, November. An effective game-based business simulation tool for
enhancing entrepreneurial skills among engineering students. In 2021 19th International
Conference on Information Technology Based Higher Education and Training (ITHET) (pp. 01-
06). IEEE.
Sampene, A.K., Li, C., Agyeman, F.O., Robert, B., Nicholas, L., Moses, S. and Salomon, A.A.,
2021. A critical assessment of the role of entrepreneurship development in the 21st century.
European Journal of Business and Innovation Research, 9(5), pp.1-26.
Yan, Z., 2020. Self-assessment in the process of self-regulated learning and its relationship with
academic achievement. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 45(2), pp.224-238.
Yener, S., Arslan, A. and Kilinç, S., 2021. The moderating roles of technological self-efficacy
and time management in the technostress and employee performance relationship through
burnout. Information Technology & People, 34(7), pp.1890-1919.