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THE BUSINESS STUDENT’S HANDBOOK LEARNING SKILLS FOR STUDY AND EMPLOYMENT SHEILA CAMERON Fourth Edition THE BUSINESS STUDENT’S HANDBOOK LEARNING SKILLS FOR STUDY AND EMPLOYMENT Fourth Edition SHEILA CAMERON More than just a study skills book! The Business Student’s Handbook integrates study, interpersonal and work skills to help you gain better marks in your studies and to transfer those skills for success in the workplace. The broad range of topics covered includes: • Essential skills such as essay writing, exam techniques and managing one’s studies. • Interpersonal skills such as working in teams, communicating and presenting. • Work skills such as exploring problems, managing projects and improving creativity. Skills are improved by doing, rather than reading, and this book includes an extensive bank of exercises and activities, both in the text and online, to help you assess your strengths and to build a personal development plan to improve on weaker areas. This new edition has even more content covering the key issues for today’s students, such as critical thinking and analysis, reective practice and logic and plagiarism. It also contains more examples and case studies to help you apply advice to your own studies. Activities are fully supported with resource materials and teaching notes for lecturers, all available for free at www.pearsoned.co.uk/cameron. Sheila Cameron has worked for the Open University Business School since its inception. She has been involved in its MBA programme in a variety of roles, including a period as MBA Director and is also the author of The MBA Handbook, Sixth Edition. THE BUSINESS STUDENT’S HANDBOOK LEARNING SKILLS FOR STUDY AND EMPLOYMENT SHEILA CAMERON Fourth Edition www.pearson-books.com An imprint of Cover photograph © Getty Images | Superstudio 9780132349246_COVER.indd 1 17/7/07 10:11:08 THE BUSINESS STUDENT’S HANDBOOK Visit The Business Student’s Handbook, Fourth Edition, Companion Website at www.pearsoned.co.uk/cameron to find valuable student learning material including: ■ An online study guide to introduce core academic and transferable skills ■ Interactive activities such as games, multiple-choice questions and fill-in-the-blank quizzes that will challenge you to improve your own skill set by applying these skills in practical situations ■ Downloadable templates for exercises and activities that you can print, complete and keep on file for your PDP portfolio ■ End-of-chapter quizzes to help you assess your progress and identify areas for further study and development BUSH_A01.QXP 10/5/07 8:59 AM Page i We work with leading authors to develop the strongest educational materials in business, finance and marketing bringing cutting-edge thinking and best learning practice to a global market. Under a range of well-known imprints, including Financial Times Prentice Hall, we craft high-quality print and electronic publications which help readers to understand and apply their content, whether studying or at work. To find out more about the complete range of our publishing, please visit us on the World Wide Web at: www.pearsoned.co.uk BUSH_A01.QXP 10/5/07 8:59 AM Page ii THE BUSINESS STUDENT’S HANDBOOK Learning skills for study and employment Fourth Edition SHEILA CAMERON The Open University Business School ➔ BUSH_A01.QXP 10/5/07 8:59 AM Page iii Pearson Education Limited Edinburgh Gate Harlow Essex CM20 2JE England and Associated Companies throughout the world Visit us on the World Wide Web at: www.pearsoned.co.uk First published 1999 Second edition 2002 Third edition 2005 Fourth edition 2008 © Sheila Cameron 1999, 2008 The right of Sheila Cameron to be identified as author of this work have been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without either the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying in the United Kingdom issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, Saffron House, 6-10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. All trademarks used therein are the property of their respective owners. The use of any trademark in this text does not vest in the author or publisher any trademark ownership rights in such trademarks, nor does the use of such trademarks imply any affiliation with or endorsement of this book by such owners. ISBN 978-0-132-34924-6 British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library 1098765432 11 10 09 08 07 Typeset in 9.5pt Stone Sans by 3 Printed by Ashford Colour Press Ltd., Gosport The publisher’s policy is to use paper manufactured from sustainable forests. BUSH_A01.QXP 10/5/07 8:59 AM Page iv List of figures xiv Guided tour xvi Preface xx Part 1 LEARNING: CONTEXT, PROCESS AND MANAGEMENT 1 Learning, skills and employment 5 2 Managing your studies 20 3 Learning and reflective practice 49 Part 2 STUDY SKILLS 4 Critical reading and note taking 79 5 Basic numbers 100 6 Written communication 129 7 Using information and communication technologies 167 8 Gaining great marks 181 Part 3 WORKING WITH OTHERS 9 Talking and listening 211 10 Team working and leadership 237 11 Presenting to others 264 Brief contents BUSH_A01.QXP 10/5/07 8:59 AM Page v Part 4 CONCEPTUAL SKILLS 12 Complexity, cases and diagrams 282 13 Obtaining data and information 307 14 Making sense of data 327 15 Increasing your creativity 353 Part 5 INTEGRATING YOUR SKILLS 16 Managing projects 375 17 Into employment 402 Answers to test exercises 420 Bibliography 430 Index 434 BRIEF CONTENTS vi BUSH_A01.QXP 10/5/07 8:59 AM Page vi List of figures xiv Guided tour xvi Preface xx Part 1 LEARNING: CONTEXT, PROCESS AND MANAGEMENT Introduction to Part 1 3 1 Learning, skills and employment 5 Learning outcomes 5 What employers look for in graduates 6 Key skills and applications for learning and employment 7 Careers within today’s organisations 10 Implications for graduate employment 12 Structure of the book 16 Summary 19 Further information 19 2 Managing your studies 20 Learning outcomes 20 Personal management skills 20 The classic view of management 23 Basic ideas of control 25 Setting Objectives 27 Action planning 31 Motivation 33 Time management 38 Stress management 42 Summary 47 Further information 48 Contents BUSH_A01.QXP 10/5/07 8:59 AM Page vii 3 Learning and reflective practice 49 Learning outcomes 49 Learning theory 49 Learning styles 54 The role of reflection in learning 58 Tools for reflection 63 Managing your learning 67 Learning opportunities and how to exploit them 68 Organising your file 71 Summary 72 Further information 73 Part 2 STUDY SKILLS Introduction to Part 2 77 4 Critical reading and note taking 79 Learning outcomes 79 ‘Simple’ reading skills 80 Selecting materials and choosing reading speeds 85 Reading critically 87 Notes and annotations using words and diagrams 93 Summary 98 Further information 98 5 Basic numbers 100 Learning outcomes 100 The importance of numbers 100 Diagnostic exercise 101 The importance of mathematical skills 102 Sources of difficulty 104 Basic mathematical signs, symbols and operations 105 Units 113 Estimating and rounding 113 Fractions, ratios and percentages 115 Using equations 122 Using brackets 126 Going further 126 Summary 127 Further information 127 CONTENTS viii BUSH_A01.QXP 10/5/07 8:59 AM Page viii 6 Written communication 129 Learning outcomes 129 Writing as a transferable skill 129 Elements of communication 130 Assessing your writing skills 132 Basic English 134 General points on style 135 Basic written forms 138 Formal letters 139 Memos 142 Email 142 Essays 145 Reports 147 Summary 156 Further information 156 Helpfile 1: Grammar and spelling 157 Helpfile 2: If English is not your native language . . . 164 7 Using information and communication technologies 167 Learning outcomes 167 Organisational impacts of information technology 168 Improving your ICT skills 169 Word processing 172 Presentation software 174 Spreadsheets, databases and statistical packages 175 The Internet 177 Online conferencing 178 Summary 180 Further information 180 8 Gaining great marks 181 Learning outcomes 181 The aims of assessment 182 Why students fail 183 The serious sin of plagiarism 185 Improving your assessment technique 187 Deconstructing questions and planning answers 188 Doing well in examinations 194 Viva voce examinations 199 Portfolio assessment 201 Summary 202 Further information 203 Helpfile: Terms commonly used in assessment 204 ix CONTENTS BUSH_A01.QXP 10/5/07 8:59 AM Page ix [...]... which replaced the above was intended to be more interesting Unfortunately it often left students feeling they were floundering in a foggy mathematical swamp, not knowing where they were going or how they would get there even if they did At least with the old-fashioned method students were drilled in the basic techniques to such an extent that they would remember them for the rest of their lives Information... idea how they can work If you want to try a wider range, read some of the books suggested at the end of the chapter ➔ Ch 12 The first way of overcoming limitations is to try to ensure that nothing is left out Techniques already introduced in the problem-solving chapter serve this purpose These include rich pictures, the use of fishbone diagrams and systematic ‘questioning’, trying to answer the ‘who’,... from the career that follows This book is designed to help you to take control of, and manage, your learning so that you maximise the return on investment, for yourself and for the other stakeholders in the process It is designed to help you to develop the skills that you need for learning, both as a student and in your working life The good news is that many of the skills addressed are common to all these... areas The first part of the book addresses the context in which you are likely to be employed The world of employment has changed radically in recent years, with particular impact on the kinds of managerial roles to which graduates have traditionally been recruited The first chapter looks at how jobs, and the skills needed to succeed in them, have changed as a result of organisational restructuring The. .. qualifications Most of the activities which form an important component of the book will contribute to this file, but when they are particularly important, there will be a file icon in the margin (see the example here) To help with this there will often be proformas available as web resources As with other web resources, these will be indicated by another icon, as shown Some activities will serve more than one purpose... are to get full value from the book and your studies, that you do the activities as suggested, rather than merely read them If at all possible, work through the exercises with one or two other people Confucius said, over 2000 years ago: When three of us are walking together I am sure to have a teacher Having noted his competences, I imitate them: his incompetences I avoid A rather more interactive way... once they are ‘taught’ maths Either theyyou to fail need to put a lot of effort into exploring the problem in detail, looking for key develop their skills further or they lose even those skills which they have.elements and problem themes Proper diagnosis is crucial And you also need to Furthermore, separate it they develop almost a phobia about anything with a number or an equals sign inout different... disturbed by the sight of an equation, you may still have suffered from the shift in teaching methods before you entered education It usedto which they contribute, drawing upon what you have learned about relevant to be the concepts fashion to teach mathematics as a series of techniques These were learned by roteand relationships between them in your course This will normally be followed by rather than... from the very beginning if hand, even though any book of mathematical tables (before the calculator became anthe essential first stage of ensuring that the problem was clearly defined was omitted everyday item such tables were essential) had lists of square roots and we also knew how to find them from log tables in the same book Such a method of learning was difficult, boring and often pointless But the. .. improving at the time of writing, the job market may have changed significantly by the time you graduate The good news is that if you start now to manage your learning, to think about the sort of job you want, and to develop the skills you need to be attractive as an employee, you can greatly increase your chances of a profitable and fulfilling career The even better news is that most of the skills that . children something seems to go wrong once they are ‘taught’ maths. Either they fail to develop their skills further or they lose even those skills which they have. Furthermore, they develop almost a phobia. Images | Superstudio 9780132349246_COVER.indd 1 17/7/07 10:11:08 THE BUSINESS STUDENT’S HANDBOOK Visit The Business Student’s Handbook, Fourth Edition, Companion Website at www.pearsoned.co.uk/cameron. THE BUSINESS STUDENT’S HANDBOOK LEARNING SKILLS FOR STUDY AND EMPLOYMENT SHEILA CAMERON Fourth Edition THE BUSINESS STUDENT’S HANDBOOK LEARNING SKILLS FOR STUDY