Introduction
This professional development plan (PDP) aims to demonstrate how I’ll achieve three professional goals during my doctoral business administration program of study, the resources I’ll employ to achieve these goals, as well as the specific timelines set for the achievement of the discussed goals. In this PDP, a goal is essentially taken to imply a statement of my desired outcome or accomplishment after completing my doctorate study in business administration. In brief, the three professional development goals include the development of professional responsibility, broadening my capacity to become an effective researcher, and sharpening my skills in collaborative leadership.
Development of Professional Responsibility
Within the course of my study, I aim to improve my professional responsibility as the foundation for a lifetime of implementing professional integrity in all my undertakings. The motivation for wanting to achieve this specific goal is premised on the fact that professional responsibility is at the core of business success, especially in the context of developing the capacity to compete successfully for a job that meets my professional as well as business needs and expectations (Clark, 2005). This goal relates directly to my deeply held personal values of professionalism, dependability, and integrity in that it is only through developing a sufficient professional responsibility orientation that these values will be cemented in a business context.
I intend to accomplish this goal not only by attending formal processes such as professional development in-services, workshops, training sessions, seminars, conferences, and collaborative learning among colleagues in my organization but also by engaging in largely informal contexts, such as social networking with professional peers, discussions among work colleagues, as well as independent reading, analysis and research (Mizell, 2010).
At a personal level, I feel comfortable participating in management-oriented workshops, training sessions, seminars, and conferences, hence these positive attributes will assist me immensely in the development of a sense of professional responsibility as an individual, as a member of the business administration profession, and also as a member of an enterprise that plays a fundamental role in society. However, I must sharpen my social networking skills in social media websites such as LinkedIn and Twitter to achieve the goal of enhancing my professional responsibility.
Resources
The resources that will assist me to achieve the goal of improving my professional responsibility include:
- Journal article by Muff (2013), which will provide “insight into the suggested new purpose of business schools as role models in providing responsible leadership for a sustainable world” (p. 487).
- LinkedIn social media, which will be used to make and expand a network of business students, tutors, and professionals sharing similar interests. Such a resource, in my view, will be instrumental in understanding current practices relating to the development of professional responsibility through constantly sharing with friends and peers in relevant business fields.
- Journal article by Ekore and Okekeocha (2012), which will avail deep insights into how my goal of improving professional responsibility is intrinsically correlated with other important variables required in business practice, such as innovation and creativity.
Timelines.
Broadening my Capacity to Become an Effective Researcher
My second goal in this PDP is to broaden my capacity to become an effective researcher in business and management-related contexts. The motivation for this goal is grounded on a reinforced need of developing an adequate capacity to undertake and complete research studies that will increase productivity and competitiveness throughout the organization. This motivation relates to my personal values of exploration, excellence, inquisitiveness, and insightfulness as all these values come into play in making an effective researcher (Phillips, 2010).
I intend to develop a reading and writing culture that will enable me to become an effective researcher. I also intend to acquire the knowledge needed to collect data from the field, develop tenable research questions, and come up with appropriate methodologies in terms of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approach (Phillips, 2010). Additionally, I will aim to liaise with my tutors and peers within the profession of business administration to undertake mutual research studies and have them published in peer-reviewed journals.
The above steps, in my view, reflect consideration of my personal strengths of researching and writing news articles related to business events and posting them online or having them published in newspapers. However, in the same vein, I need to read a lot of literature to ensure that I become knowledgeable on the use of the mentioned research methodologies in my pursuit of becoming an astute and effective researcher. I will continually liaise with my lecturers as well as my networking peers to ensure that I successfully deal with this limitation.
Resources
- Journal article by Phillips (2010), which describes an approach used to evaluate “the enterprise training needs of researchers using primary and secondary data and trying to cater for these needs within the framework of an academic research setting by creating an integrated enterprise training program for researchers at university” (p. 289).
- EFactor social networking site, which provides the capacity to connect business professionals interested in research activities with research experts, potential research partners as well as clients.
- Journal article by Ekore and Okekeocha (2012), which will assist to link my research knowledge and endeavors to enterprise development and innovative practices in business.
Timelines.
Sharpening Skills in Collaborative Leadership
The third goal in this PDP entails sharpening my skills in collaborative leadership, particularly in the context of working in teams. The motivation behind this goal is grounded on the fact that the business sphere is becoming increasingly interconnected, hence the need to develop adequate skills on how a manager can lead project teams of diverse composition in skill and expertise. This motivation relates to my personal values of leadership, balance, consistency, control, diversity, and control, especially within the realm of developing the capacity to lead project teams in a manner that will result in optimal productivity and success in achieving the set objectives (Raelin, 2006).
To accomplish this goal, I intend to (1) liaise with my lecturers and peers in developing the capacity to translate discipline-oriented notions, methods, and practices in ways that business experts from other fields will find comprehensible, (2) put considerable effort in developing and understanding group dynamics, the professional development of team members and management of inter- or intra-team conflict, and (3) liaise with my lecturers and peer network members in the development of specific skills and competencies, such as building trust and building clarity. These steps, in my view, reflect consideration of my personal strengths (e.g., group leadership, diligence, and dynamism) that are relevant in the development of collaborative leadership skills. They also reflect the areas that need to be addressed (e.g., conflict management) so as to become a full-rounded collaborative leader (Raelin, 2006).
Resources
- Journal article by Ekore and Okekeocha (2012), which is fundamental in instilling issues of innovation, creativity, and enterprise development into collaborative leadership paradigms.
- LinkedIn social networking site, which provides professional networking services hence assisting in the development of unique traits, skills, and competencies required for collaborative leadership.
- Journal article by Raelin (2006), which is instrumental in the development of collaborative leadership traits through action research.
Timelines.
References
Clark, T. (2005). The business profession: A mandatory, noncredit, cocurricular career preparation program for undergraduate business majors. Business Communication Quarterly, 68(3), 271-289.
Ekore, V.O., & Okekeocha, O.C. (2012). Fear of entrepreneurship among university graduates: A psychological analysis. International Journal of Management, 29(2), 515-524.
Mizell, H. (2010). Why professional development matters. Oxford, OH: Learning Forward.
Muff, K. (2013). Developing globally responsible leaders in business schools: A vision and transformational practice for the journey ahead. Journal of Management Development, 32(5), 487-507.
Phillips, R.A. (2010). Encouraging a more enterprising researcher: The implementation of an integrated training programme of enterprise for Ph.D. and postdoctoral researchers. Research in Post-Compulsory Education, 15(3), 289-299.
Raelin, J. (2006). Does action learning promote collaborative leadership? Academy of Management Learning & Education, 5(2), 152-168.