Personal Branding

What is a personal brand ?

Your personal brand is the power, clear, positive idea that comes into a people's mind when they think about you. It is what you stand for , the values and abilities that are embedded in you in order to stand out from others. It's a professional alter ego designed for the purpose of influencing how others perceive you.
This can be done by telling your audience the following;

• Who you are
• What you do
• What makes you different

(Marketing Library.net, 2012)

Source: Quick Sprout (2012)

According to Marketing Library.net (2012) in order to maintain perfect personal brand, you must evoke following 3 main perceptions;

• You are different: ability to see as an original or a unique person, which is one of the most important factors of personal branding that should be followed.
• Your are superior: You should have the belief that, you are the best among all others and that you provide higher and better high technology service.
• You are authentic: You brand must be built on the truth of who you are, what your strengths are, what your capabilities are and the love towards the particular work, if one fakes it's personal brand the person will end up loosing their image.   

Practical example; In Sri Lanka the graduates per year is 3750+ but on 7/8 companies hire them from universities, thus they should have a proper personal brand and should be expertise in the particular area. It can be understood that companies not only search for academically qualified graduates, most of them seek for people who has excel in both academic and extra curricular activities. 

There are companies which have built their personal brand successfully, when talking about companies like Coca Cola, Nike, Mc Donals, Google, Pizza Hut, Pepsi, Amazon, Mercedes Benz etc. they have managed to excel in the field of personal branding, basically if a person sees a logo, the brand is identified clearly. 

 Source: Start Up Sources.biz (2012)

Source: Lip Glossiping (2012)

Author understands that maintaining a proper personal brand is essential in the long run. Especially when you enter the industry, when seeking for a job survival of the fittest is very essential as the counts taken for companies from universities are very less. Your image should be able to adapt with the fast growing technical world, or else you will be left out from the on going trend. Basically thinking yourself as a company will cater towards building up a better foundation and maintaining your personal brand. 

Reference 

Lip Glossiping, 2012. Lip Glossiping. [Online]
Available at: http://www.lipglossiping.com/2009/12/brand-loyalty/
[Accessed 17 01 2013].

Marketing Library.net, 2012. Marketing Library.net. [Online]
Available at: http://www.petermontoya.com/pdfs/tbcy-chapter1.pdf
[Accessed 17 01 2013].

Qucik Sprout, 2012. Qucik Sprout. [Online]
Available at: http://www.quicksprout.com/2007/07/07/the-first-7-days-of-personal-branding/
[Accessed 17 01 2013].

Start Up Sources.biz, 2012. Start Up Sources.biz. [Online]
Available at: http://startupresources.biz/how-to-develop-brand-loyalty-on-a-budget/
[Accessed 17 01 2013].

   

Usage of library services efficiently...

Library is a room or a building containing collection of books, periodicals, records, journals etc. where people can read or borrow (Audio English.net, 2012). According to Online Library Learning Center (2012) libraries are divided into 3 main categories, they are, 

• Academic
• Public 
• Special 

Academic library- The main purpose of this library is to support the teaching and the research of a particular college or university, it is comparatively larger compared to a public library, also it does not contain any non- academic material.

Public library- These type of libraries provide popular best sellers, repair manuals and self help books, it rarely contains any academic material.

Special library- This kind of libraries mainly serves for unique purpose, might contain both academic and non academic books or not, for example libraries in government institutions, business institutions, cooperate sector etc.     

(Online Library Learning Center ,2012) 

Every library has a unique identifier to ease the search of books inside the library, for example in the APIIT library if you are searching for a programming book for C++ , the code is 005.133. C++ 118/8, this is defined as below, 

005.133- represents the subject

C++ - it is the extension of subject in the alphabetical order

118/8- is the item number and the edition of the book

For further practice an interactive session was done to arrange the books according library catalog code.

Basic search techniques

Search techniques are one of the main important things which an university should be aware of, because it will be very helpful during conducting research for certain project. As everyone's aware of it is the search engine provided by every browser, most of the time these engines provide with the desired information if only the correct syntax is entered. 

There are many searching strategies introduces, they are,

• Keywords
• Using of boolean operators- It defines the relationship between words or group of words, hence they are AND, OR, NOT, NOR (Pro Quest, 2012) 
• Nesting (Used to group synonymous spelling variations or other alternate terms)
• Phrase searching (Searches on the root of the word adding different word endings or  plurals)
• Truncation and wildcards- These can expand your search scope which uses symbols such as *. ? (Pro Quest, 2012).  

References

Audio English.net, 2012. Audio English.net. [Online]
Available at: http://www.audioenglish.net/dictionary/library.htm
[Accessed 17 01 2013].

Online Library Learning Center, 2012. Online Library Learning Center. [Online]
Available at: http://www.usg.edu/galileo/skills/unit03/libraries03_02.phtml
[Accessed 17 01 2013].

Pro Quest, 2012. Pro Quest. [Online]
Available at: http://www.csa.com/help/Search_Tools/boolean_operators.html
[Accessed 17 01 2013].

  

Discussion of Final Year Project

Final year project which is the spot light in the 3rd year or the final year of any kind of degree offered by an university. It can be called as the turning point of a student's life in their university carrier, hence it is called as one of the important segment which a student come across. FYP contributes a large amount to the marking criteria, thus the work load is very high. Therefore we are suppose to submit a the proposal of FYP by the mid of 2nd year, which will cater in reducing the workload by about 2 months as the problem is identified and analysis is made. In addition the problem identified by students for their FYPs are classified as macro and micro.

In the 3rd year according to the subject area chosen by the students, a supervisor is allocated in order to monitor the progress of the particular FYPs, please note that the supervisor will be a lecturer who is interested in the field chosen by the student, therefore in the course of 9 months the student is able to visit the particular supervisor and obtain feedback or advice.

The FYP should abide by the following criteria;

1. Feasible: Able to complete in the given time period
2. Useful: will result in the usable model
3. Balanced: Combination of the feasible and useful with the qualitative and quantitative sources

According to the university regulations, the university is bounded to provide with financial aid needed by any student to carry out the research related to their FYP, for this valid reasoning should be made. For example a student whose engaged in doing research on farmers in rural area needs to travel out of Colombo, thus they need funds to do so. 

Structure of the project:

Abstract 

• Introduction 
• Body

• Introduction to problem statement, research question, aim and objectives
• Industry analysis and business analysis
• Academic research
• Requirement specifications, recommendation of solution
• Software analysis and design
• Conclusions
• List of references 
• Bibliography 
• Appendices 

It is essential to follow the above structure in order to build up a successful FYP, mainly following the criteria is important during gathering information and analyzing.  

Centrifuging the term "Research"

Research can be divided into two main types as follows;

1. Problem analysis
2. Knowledge area:

• Customer Relationship Management
• Decision Support Management
• Service Quality
• Social Networking 
• Human Resource Management

What is Deductive Research?

Brown University (2012) mentions that "Deductive reasoning is the kind of reasoning in which, roughly, the truth of the input propositions (the premises) logically guarantees the truth of the output proposition (the conclusion), provided that no mistake has been made in the reasoning." Author understands that in deductive reasoning the final conclusion will adhere to the scientific method, where it gives a logical conclusion.

What is Inductive Research?

Inductive research is the perfect opposite of deductive research, where it it will go against the scientific method. (University of Toronto Mathematical Network, 1998). University of Toronto Mathematical Network (1998) mentions that inductive research cannot be trusted because the conclusion is built without any proof, where deductive research concentrates on proof. 

Scientific Method of Inquiry?  

Scientific method of inquiry is based on experiments and observations made on particular subjects. 

Michael (2002) mentions that there are 5 types of scientific inquiry methods;

1. Identification and observation of the phenomena
2. Formulating the hypothesis to explain the phenomena
3. Developing the research plan
4. Collecting and analyzing the data 
5. Interpreting the results and forming conclusions 

References

Brown University  (2012) Deductive Reasoning. [online] Available at: http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Philosophy/onlinepapers/schechter/DeductiveReasoning.pdf [Accessed: 1 Dec 2012].

Math.toronto.edu (1998) Question Corner -- Deductive and Inductive Reasoning. [online] Available at: http://www.math.toronto.edu/mathnet/questionCorner/deductive.html [Accessed: 1 Dec 2012].

S Michael, R. (2002) Strategies for Educational Inquiry. Inquiry & Scientific Method, p.5. Available at: http://www.indiana.edu/~educy520/sec5982/week_1/inquiry_sci_method02.pdf [Accessed: 1 Dec 2012].

Fish bone Diagram...

Purpose of a Fish bone diagram;

As mentioned by WBI Evaluation (2007) it is a cause and effect diagram that can be used to identify the potential causes of a performance plan and it provides a structure for group discussion around the potential causes of the problem.

Following is the structure of a fish bone diagram;

(Source: Leankaizen Ltd., 2010)

Following is an example for fish bone diagram;

(Source: Leankaizen Ltd., 2010)

References

Leankaizen Ltd. (2012) Fish bone Diagram. [image online] Available at: http://www.leankaizen.co.uk/fishbone-diagram-i-ishikawa-diagram.html [Accessed: 1 Dec 2012].

Re caption on what research is...........

Session kicked off by reviewing blogs of the students. Sir explained our mistakes and pointed out the places where we have gone out of the marking criteria.

Moving on, the second session started off with a very heavy topic:

What is Research?

According to Edison State College Library (2012), "Research is the investigation of a particular topic using a variety of reliable, scholarly resources." 

As stated by IFAS CALS (2008) There are three main goals of research;

1. Allow you to have confidence that the conclusions you reach are justified
2. Let you extend your conclusions beyond the actual people involved in your study -- to other groups, places, and settings
3. Permit you to provide the most thorough possible explanation or understanding of the phenomena that you explore in your study  

Flashback on problem identification.....
We made a discussion on problem identification and the example which was pulled up was the fingerprint scanner.
The main reason for the invention of Bio metric fingerprint scanner was to cut down on the losses incurred by companies, due to inefficient pay roll tracking of the employees, hence it's by at least  70% of the consumers are supported by this system (International Journal of Science and Technology, 2009). Following shows a simple analysis of how "buddy punch" which occurs in traditional attendance marking systems makes a loss for the company.
Assumptions:
Pay rate per hour for an employee= $20
Work duration per day= 8 hrs.
Units produced per hour by one employee= 100 units
Cost of 1 unit= $20
Loss when a buddy punch is done if an employee is 1 hour late,
Loss from paying salary per week from an employee= 7*$20
                                                                               = $140
Loss per year from salary                                        = 12*$140
                                                                               =$1680
Loss from production per week                               = 100*7*$20
                                                                              =$14000
Loss from production per year                                = $14000*12
                                                                              =$168000
Total loss per by an employee                                 = 168000+1680
                                                                              =$169,680
Author would like to mention that above is one of the simple analysis made on the traditional method, thus it completely show the evidence that there is a major loop hole in the traditional methods and that it should be addressed immediately. Therefore author understand that clear research into the depth of the problem can cater majorly in solving a problem efficiently, it is very important that figures and facts are reviewed before arriving at conclusions of problems.

Applies research methods 
"Applied research is done to solve specific,  practical questions; for policy formulation, administration and understanding of a phenomenon "(IHMCTAN,2012). Author understands that applied research is used to study existing tools and methods in the purpose of applying it to obtain better results.

Nature of Research 
How to determine the production of umbrellas for supermarket based on a research. Basically the demand for umbrellas should be measured in many aspects, thus weather and seasonality factors should be concerned. When it comes to weather, past weather condition should reviewed, apart from that sale on the particular weather conditions should noted. For example on a rainy season the sale of umbrellas are high thus the supply should be increased and when it comes to seasonality, if it is summer black colour umbrellas are not suitable because of the heat factor, thus what colour to be produced can be determined by that.
Hence author understand that past data and future predictions are much valued when it comes to research and the nature of research varies from type of research we are making on.

We were given an interactive car example to explain the nature how business organizations work towards obtaining their long term goals of growth.
Car 1: With dim lights and broken wiper
Car 2: Average car with good wipers and lights
Car 3: Super car with satellites and many more options
These three cars are travelling at same speed on the highway at the same time. Road has block in 1 km, the first care crashes with road block , while the car 2 stops at the barrier without crashing and passes it to start again, finally the intelligent car makes an exit earlier by getting information about the block and maintains the same speed and enters the highway in the next entrance. Author understands that different companies work with various types of methodologies, the best company out of 3 is the car 3 because it managed to collect data and predictions and succeed in maintaining its speed without slowing or stopping, thus companies with lot of data and statistics will stride forward withstanding all the barriers ahead.


Theoretical significance:
USC Libraries (2012) states that theoretical significance means, "Theories are formulated to explain, predict, and understand phenomena and, in many cases, to challenge and extend existing knowledge, within the limits of the critical bounding assumptions"

Practical significance:
"Implies a research result that will be viewed as having importance for the practice of education or, in other words, it will be viewed as important by teachers, school administrators, policy makers, and others concerned about the day-to-day workings of education and efforts to improve it" (Pages.uoregon.edu, 2001)

Essence of Research 

Qualitative data: University of Wisconsin Extension (2003) mentions that qualitative data depends on data and observations, not numbers. As with all the data, proper analysis and interpretation is required to prove the fact.
In order prove the qualitative data following is required;

• Questions you want answer
• Needs of those who uses information
• Your resources

Quantitative data: Its a process of which numerical data is collected or/and researcher transforms what is collected or observed into numerical data (Learnhigher.ac.uk, 2008).

 Whats is Deductive research; "Deductive reasoning is the kind of reasoning in which, roughly, the truth of the input propositions (the premises) logically guarantees the truth of the output proposition (the
conclusion), provided that no mistake has been made in the reasoning" (Brown University, 2012)

What is Exploratory research; It is conducted when there are no earlier research is done on the subject matter, thus main idea of it is to look at patterns, ideas and hypothesis rather than confirming a hypothesis (Palgrave, 2012).

After analyzing all the above information, author understands that research is one of the most important factors when its comes to the ARMPD module. It is very important to get an idea of how research is done step by step, especially following the below steps is very important;

1. Introduction
2. Background and Significance
3. Literature review
4. Research design and methods
5. Preliminary suppositions and implications
6. Conclusion 
7. Citation 

Apart from the procedure it is essential that we notify the type of research what we are going to conduct, therefore our research methods should fall into any of the types that is mentioned above. At last author would like to mention that research should be done up to the point precisely.

References

Brown University  (2012) Deductive Reasoning. [online] Available at: http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Philosophy/onlinepapers/schechter/DeductiveReasoning.pdf [Accessed: 17 Nov 2012].

Edison.edu (n.d.) Lesson 1: What is Research?. [online] Available at: http://www.edison.edu/library/researchskills/Unit1/1whatIsResearch.php [Accessed: 13 Nov 2012].

IHMCTAN (2012) Research Methodology. [online] Available at: http://www.ihmctan.edu/PDF/notes/Research_Methodology.pdf [Accessed: 13 Nov 2012].

Learnhigher.ac.uk (2008) Analyse This!!! - quantitative data introduction. [online] Available at: http://learnhigher.ac.uk/analysethis/main/quantitative.html [Accessed: 17 Nov 2012].

Libguides.usc.edu (2012) Theoretical Framework - Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper - LibGuides at University of Southern California. [online] Available at: http://libguides.usc.edu/content.php?pid=83009&sid=618409 [Accessed: 17 Nov 2012].

Pages.uoregon.edu (2001) Statistical Significance vs. Practical Significance of Research Results. [online] Available at: http://pages.uoregon.edu/mgall/statistical_significance_v.htm [Accessed: 17 Nov 2012].

Palgrave.com (2012) Understanding Research . [online] Available at: http://www.palgrave.com/business/collis/br/docs/sample.pdf [Accessed: 17 Nov 2012].

SERSC (2009) A Brief Introduction of Bio metrics and Fingerprint Payment  Technology . [online] Available at: http://www.sersc.org/journals/IJAST/vol4/4.pdf [Accessed: 13 Nov 2012].

University of Florida IFAS CALS (2008) Goals of Research Design . [online] Available at: http://fycs.ifas.ufl.edu/swisher/6800_12/M05_Goals_Research.pdf [Accessed: 13 Nov 2012].

University of Wisconsin Extension  (2003) Analyzing Qualitative Data. [online] Available at: http://learningstore.uwex.edu/assets/pdfs/g3658-12.pdf [Accessed: 17 Nov 2012].

Time Management

What is Time Management ? 

Time management is one of the essential skills in successful study, thus its a matter of how we use the time we have, therefore effective time management means using the time in an efficient manner (RMIT, 2012). As what author understood to be an efficient time manager, an usage of a to do list or reminders are essential, in the current developing world with high end technology many types of devices or ways can be used , for example usage of smart phones, PDAs etc.

As this module is mainly based on practical knowledge, sir kicked off the class with an interactive session, which was filling the jar with objects. The activity is as follows;
                                         

 The image left shows a bottle of water, small pebbles and big stones. We are suppose to fill the big jar with all the items left out.
If the jar needed to be filled with all the items, first the large stones should be put in, then the pebbles and finally the water. The reason for putting the stones first is that, it will occupy the space needed and then will have small spaces left to allocate the pebbles. Therefore as water is a liquid substance and it can flow anywhere, hence it is used at last.



What we understand out of this activity is that, the priority should be given to the activities which has are important and urgent, then only you move on to the other activities. Therefore it ensures that your time is manged efficiently.









Following is the activity which were assigned to do in order to measure the time left for us to study.

(Source: Penn State Learning) 

Time Management Matrix

This matrix is used to allocate your daily activities into four quadrants, thus it helps you to discover how much time we are wasting (Carl Copes Public Service, 2012), the 4 quadrants are as follows:

As we instructed, we divided our daily activities into the above quadrants.

Time Box

According to the Time box activities;

• In the section Urgent & Important is for Perfectionist
• In the section Not Urgent & Important is for Time Manager
• In the section Urgent & Not Important is for Slob ( None of the Activities)
• In the section Not Urgent & Not Important is for Doer

Finally author understand that time management is one of the most essential skill that should be practiced by students and professionals. Mainly when talking about the time management exercise , it simply shows the time left you to study, thus it is very important for students to keep a track of it in order to achieve better results. Moving on the usage of a time box is much preferable as it simply shows all the ways that our time could be wasted. Hence at last but not least author would like to mention  that time management is crucial for a successor.  

References

Cal Corps Public Service (2006) Time Management Matrix. [online] Available at: www.students.ubc.ca/health/download/guide_matrix.pd [Accessed: 11 Nov 2012].

R. Gore , M. (2012) Time Management Exercise . [image online] Available at: http://pennstatelearning.psu.edu/resources/study-tips/time-mgt/exercise [Accessed: 11 Nov 2012].

RMIT (2012) Time Management . [online] Available at: http://emedia.rmit.edu.au/learninglab/sites/emedia.rmit.edu.au.learninglab/files/timemanagement.pdf [Accessed: 11 Nov 2012].