Business Paper: Reflection Question

Professional Development Framework

Business Paper: Reflection Question

Potential for Growth in Advocate for Change Domain

As the competition for attention grows in recent years, it is increasingly difficult to get voices heard. The business environment is challenging, and organizations seek change agents to translate organizational priorities into reality and ensure continuous improvement. Advocacy for change in an organization is currently a professional growth opportunity. Helping the organization meet otherwise unmet needs, correct or reverse situations or errors, prevent loss in a business, and change public or consumer opinions are qualities and abilities any employer would admire and might open doors for an individual to get a promotion to a leadership position (The University of Kansas, n.d.). It is because of this reason leaders must be change agents in an organization. Examples of how I can be an advocate for change in real life include conducting advocacy research by gathering customer opinions of a product to understand their needs and improve on the product, providing education and encouraging by training fellow employees and consumers, engaging in direct action campaigns by lobbying decision makers on policies that impact the business, and using media advocacy to drive environmental sustainability initiatives of the organization.

Subdomain to be Developed

Over time, I have developed effective collaboration and communication skills, which are imperative in change advocacy. However, I need to develop mentoring/teaching and impacting policy subdomains. Organizations seek individuals who can transfer their knowledge to others, and this is possible through mentoring and teaching (Capella University, n.d.). Impacting policy can be enabled through lobbying policymakers to influence policy decisions that impact the business. I want to mentor and teach others as a form of developing and transferring knowledge to others in the future. I also intend to familiarize myself with policymakers and write to them regarding various policies to impact policy development and decision-making to benefit the business environment.

Goals for Professional Development in Advocate for Change Domain

My primary aim is to facilitate change and development through teaching and mentoring and influencing the development of new areas of policy to tackle unmet business needs and deal with emerging business needs in society. Regarding teaching, I want to understand the principles of teaching and learning, how to use effective instructional strategies, advising, and mentoring. Regarding impacting policy, I need to learn and understand the skills needed to influence and impact policy and principles of lobbying. I intend to make a difference in my future career space, and working on this goal will move me closer to this aspiration.

(Business Paper: Reflection Question)

Plan for Achieving Goals

To be successful in teaching and mentoring, I need to learn how to be one. I can enrol in an education program on how to become an educator to build basic competency of teaching and mentoring as part of continuing education for educators, participate in seminars and workshops geared toward knowledge transfer models and strategies, and engage in employee training. To impact policy within the organization and outside successfully, I need to learn how to be a good lobbyist, including how to engage legislators or leadership in the organization. I need to develop lobbyists qualities that lead to success, including being honest, observant, a good listener, responsive, a strong negotiator, highly persuasive, and an excellent communicator.

Employer Expectations of DBA in Initiating, Sponsoring, and Implementing Change

An employer expects that DBA degree holders can develop and transfer knowledge to others, including fellow employees and customers, help others improve performance by addressing their performance problems, adopt problem-solving strategies, and provide workable solutions (Capella University, n.d.). These expectations align with the developed goals because to help others improve performance, one must be a teacher or mentor to transfer the knowledge needed for performance improvement. Likewise, developing skills needed to impact policy is crucial because impacting policy is a problem-solving approach and can provide effective solutions to business problems through new policy development or current policy improvement.

Use of Professional Development in Interactions with Informal Contact Network

Informal contact networks are needed in daily life, including in the professional environment, and it is one of the ways advocates for change share or introduce their ideas or develop relationships with others necessary to enable and drive change. (Vătămănescu et al., 2022). Change advocacy resides within the professional development framework, but it interacts with the informal contact network because change advocates must engage people, and it can happen in informal spaces such as attending company parties, grabbing coffee with colleagues or policymakers, going for lunch with contacts, and meeting a group of coworkers during breaks or after work.

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Progress Toward Goals and Impacts Experienced

To teach and mentor others, I have engaged multiple teams in understanding business needs and employee needs and how these needs interact or conflict. The insights developed from this search are used to develop knowledge development areas and transfer the needed knowledge to ensure business and employee needs are not conflicting to ensure growth. I also share literature on various business concepts through various channels like social media, especially work WhatsApp groups. So far, I see improvement in the employees’ commitment to the organization’s goals and the organization’s commitment to fulfilling employees’ needs. I am still progressing toward impacting policy outside the organization, but within, I often engage leaders on how to improve policies that appear as barriers. Some policies were developed a long time ago, and their effectiveness in the current business environment is minimal, or they have undone themselves, according to Jacobs & Weaver (2015). Therefore, policy changes through leadership engagement are needed to remain competitive. After achieving these goals, I aim at engaging legislators in policy decision-making outside the organization. This a complex process, but I am working towards being an effective lobbyist and good negotiator to impact policy that promote business development and success.

References

Capella University. (n.d.). Professional Development Framework Guide. Capella University https://www.capellauniversity.edu/professional-development-framework-guide.pdf

Jacobs, A. M., & Weaver, R. K. (2015). When policies undo themselves: Self‐undermining feedback as a source of policy change. Governance, 28(4), 441-457.

The University of Kansas. (n.d.). 10. Advocating for Change. Community Tool Box. https://ctb.ku.edu/en/advocating-change

Vătămănescu, E. M., Mitan, A., Cotîrleț, P. C., & Andrei, A. G. (2022). Exploring the mediating role of knowledge sharing between informal business networks and organizational performance: An insight into SMEs internationalization in CEE. Sustainability, 14(7), 3915

Business Paper: Reflection Question