Introduction To Accounting (Reflective Journal 3)

" With the Final Exam fast approaching, how are you prepared to cope with it? Do you think this module needs improvement? If so, suggest areas which you think can be improved."   

 

Introduction to Accounting has been my favorite module as it has always been since I my high school days. As I have previously learned Accounting in high school and again during my foundation year at Sunway College, the accounting concepts that are being taught now have been similar. This helped me to keep a good grasp on this subject. However, the only problem that I had was with the topic on depreciation of fixed assets. It was significantly different to the way I originally learned it in high school and during my foundation. Hence, I have to practice a little extra on depreciation questions in order to be prepared for the final examination. Besides that, the entire semester I enjoyed doing my weekly tutorials on MyAccountingLab because all this while I have been doing my Accounting homework with regular paper and pencil and this seems to be interesting. In a nutshell, this module is pretty easy to cope with hard work, determination and effort.

Introduction to Management (Reflective Journal)

• First day of lecture: What do you expect to learn in Introduction to Management module?
• After 12 weeks: What are your feelings regarding the module? Is it important for working life?

Management can be defined as the organization and coordination of the activities of a business in order to achieve defined objectives and goals. Since I never had the opportunity to take up Introduction to Management during my foundation, I have the privilege to do so in my first year of undergraduate studies at Taylor’s University. However, I did have an idea of what Management was about since I studied Commerce during my high school years in which few concepts of Management was briefly covered in Bahasa Melayu.

After the first lecture, I was expecting to learn that Introduction to Management was all about the management functions, roles and management theories. During the first lecture I learnt about the importance of managers in an organization and their roles, skills and responsibilities. The first topic was relatively easy to understand and comprehend. However, questioned the importance of learning management and the field that I intend to pursue is Accounting. Sooner or later, I realize that it is important to understand how an organization is managed in order to be a productive employee.

The following lectures I learnt a number of topics, ranging from management history and the approaches people have used in management, to how business environment and culture affects decisions made by management. After these several informative lectures, I was able to learn from blunders and mistakes made by management before and avoid them. I also learnt to use management approaches which are more aligned to the culture of the organization in order to ensure smoother and efficient management of the business.

Besides that, I also learnt about organizational structure and design. Learning this topic helped me to realize that choosing a structure based on the size and type of business is important because each business is different and unique in its own way. Motivation of employees was also another topic which I learnt and captured my interest. In this topic, I learnt that managers are responsible to motivate employees in order to obtain the best outcome and productiveness from employees. Hence, the various motivational theories which were covered during the lectures and tutorials would help me to further get an idea on how to motivate employees in an organization. Leadership is also another very essential topic which I learnt as the various leadership theories and views would give me guidance on which leadership approach to take when dealing with different employees. Another important topic which is planning was fruitful because planning would ensure better control of the business activities and helps in accomplishing business goals and strategies.

After 12 weeks, I feel that learning this module has benefited me because it acts as guidance for me on how to work in various places with different types of people. In addition, I'm also able to identify the needs that I need to fulfill before I proceed to the next level of needs. For example, according to the Maslow's hierarchy of needs I know that I need to achieve the physiological needs before fulfilling the social needs or esteem needs. Furthermore, it will also be an advantage for having the knowledge on how to manage a company as it could come in handy if I am planning to set up a business of my own in the future. I might know how to manage my business efficiently and effectively with the appropriate ways of management. In a nutshell, I believed that a person with the knowledge and skills of management are more capable in handling people, their welfare and the organization as a whole better.

 

Quantitative Methods for Business (Reflective Journal)

"Reflection of your group assignment. You need to include statistical theory/concepts that you've applied in your group assignment. You also need to share new things that you've learnt."

I was presented with a group assignment for Quantitative Methods in the 6^th week. Me and my group that consist of three other members to complete two questions that are worth 25% for this assignment. For the first question, we were given a statement “Property prices have been strong in recent years with many urban areas experiencing property price increase while newly launched homes are priced above the RM500 000 mark, according to the Property Market Report statistics. What actually determine house price?” Based on that statement, we were required to choose one type of property in a specific location in Malaysia and obtain a set of at least 60 selling prices together with their sizes. These should be real selling prices of the properties as advertised in sources such as the local newspaper or the Internet. My group members and I decided to conduct our investigation on double-story terrace houses located at Kajang.

For the first part of the question, we were required to use Excel display the summary statistics for both selling price and the size of the properties. At initial stage, it was a challenge for me to answer this question because I was not familiar with the mathematical functions in Excel. However, my tutor Mr. Wellman has provided us with an Excel Guide to help us get through this assignment. The Excel Guide showed step-by-step procedure on how to do various statistics functions. From the summary statistics, I manage to obtain mean, standard deviation, median, sample variance, kurtosis, skewness, range, minimum, maximum, sum count and confidence level. From that data, I needed to find inter quartile range and coefficient of variation for both price and size.

For the second part, we were required to organize the 60 data collected into frequency distribution. The challenges in doing this question is that my group members are I needed to divide the data into appropriate class interval. After several trials and errors, we manage to answer this question. I also learned how to do histogram and ogive using Excel.

Furthermore, using correlation and regression analysis in Excel, I was required to display the output for price and size of the data collected. For this question, I needed to calculate the correlation coefficient, significance test for correlation. I also needed to identify the dependent and independent variable, prepare and scatter plot of a simple regression model and calculate the regression equation. All of these figures were easily derived using the additional add-ins in Excel. 

For the final part if the question, we were required to write a report of not more than 800 words explaining about the data collected, interpreting the graphs and statistics including the best measure of location and spread that should be used for both the selling price and size of property. In the report, I also was required to explain if the assumed independent variable explains well the dependent variable. I was also required to identify other possible factors affecting the dependent variable.

In conclusion, this assignment has made me to explore various functions of Excel and I am also able to understand in detail about various statistic theories. Besides that, I have also understand the importance of team work and how it makes impossible things to seem possible.