Computer Science Department, Middlesex University

BIS3300
Strategic Management and Information
Systems

Element 4

Social Media Deployment in Woolworths

Pair 28
Temitope Brown M00103098
Khalifa Lame M00650209

Submitted on 20/04/2018
Table of Contents
Scope ................................................................................................................................... 4
Reaching Consensus ........................................................................................................... 4
Consensus Decision-Making Models ............................................................................. 4
Social Media as a Consensus Tool.................................................................................. 4
Strategic Alignment of Social Media .............................................................................. 5
Managing Change ............................................................................................................... 5
Changes at the Organisational Level .............................................................................. 5
Changes for the Customers ............................................................................................. 6
Changes for the Employees ............................................................................................ 6
Data Gathering ................................................................................................................ 6
Customer Surveys ....................................................................................................... 6
Employee Surveys ...................................................................................................... 6
Proposing a Series of Actions for Introducing Change .................................................. 7
Clear Communication and Transparency.................................................................... 7
Create a Powerful Vision ............................................................................................ 7
Create a Sense of Urgency .......................................................................................... 7
Create Short-Term Goals ............................................................................................ 7
Institutionalize Changes .............................................................................................. 7
Kubler-Ross Change Curve ............................................................................................ 7
Denial Phase................................................................................................................ 7
Anger Phase ................................................................................................................ 8
Bargaining Phase ........................................................................................................ 8
Depression Phase ........................................................................................................ 8
Acceptance Phase........................................................................................................ 8
Planning IS Development ................................................................................................... 8
The Impact of Social Media on the Business.................................................................. 8
The Impact of Social Media in the Fashion Industry ...................................................... 9
The Impact of Social Media on People ........................................................................... 9
Outsourcing ......................................................................................................................... 9
Initial Setup and Training ........................................................................................... 9
Data Analysis ............................................................................................................ 10
 Data Storage .............................................................................................................. 10
Coordinating Outsourced Work .................................................................................... 10
Managing Deliverables ................................................................................................. 11
Dealing with Privacy......................................................................................................... 11
Relevance of Data Protection Act ................................................................................. 11
Issues Affecting Customer and Employee Privacy ....................................................... 11
Constraints of Social Media Use................................................................................... 12
Increasing Awareness ....................................................................................................... 12
The Effects of a Global Market .................................................................................... 12
The Effects of Customisation to the Services and Products ......................................... 12
The Effects of Internationalisation Due to Regulation and Legislation ....................... 12
Investing in Information ................................................................................................... 13
New Sources of Information Generated Through Social Media .................................. 13
Effective Use of Social Media Data.............................................................................. 13
Report Findings ................................................................................................................. 13
How Social Media Will Be Deployed to Woolworths.................................................. 13
How Social Media was used by the Pair ....................................................................... 14
How Social Media was used by Individual Members .................................................. 14
References ......................................................................................................................... 15
Appendix A ....................................................................................................................... 16
Appendix B ....................................................................................................................... 19
 Scope
Woolworths is a clothing retail brand with 5 stores in Mauritius and over 140 employees
spread across its stores. Woolworths Mauritius has an annual turnover of around USD11 million.
Each store has several departments and the lower levels of management. The middle and top levels
of management are not tied to any particular store and serve to coordinate the activities of the
stores collectively. Woolworths uses its own proprietary IS tools such as WorkTrainer and
MyWorkspace to track nearly all its business activities. In this report, we discuss how the company
should best deploy and integrate social media into its business processes.

Reaching Consensus
Consensus is a group decision-making making process aimed at reaching an agreement on
the course of action to take in the group’s best interest (Hwang and Lin, 2012). The decision agreed
upon may not be each individual’s favourite, but still one that can be supported in full by all
members (Gong et al., 2018). To reach a consensus on the deployment and integration of social
media within a large organization such as Woolworths, there needs to be a carefully structured
approach which has been tried and tested. The deployment and integration of social media into the
business processes will likely affect many parts of the organization and as such, there will be a lot
of varying views from the numerous stakeholders.
Consensus Decision-Making Models
Consensus decision-making models are tried and tested strategies and methods of reaching
a consensus within a group (Wu and Xu, 2018). There are various models, each with their strengths
and disadvantages.
The spokescouncil model groups stakeholders by their views. Each affinity group
designates a spokesperson to voice their views in the spokescouncil. This model allows the groups
to deliberate during breaks and then return to the discussion table (Hwang and Lin, 2012).
Consensus voting model has an open debate format. Rough ideas and proposals are vetted by
designated referees. Then after several stages of debating, some will be discarded and others may
be merged or modified. When the final round of debate is concluded, a vote is conducted to decide
on which proposal to implement (Wu and Xu, 2018). Blocking model is used when unanimity is
required. This is only suited to small groups where unanimity is reasonably likely (Hwang and
Lin, 2012).
The Quaker-based model is used in situations where maximum inclusiveness and equal
individual participation is desired. It tries to ensure anonymity to avoid formation of factions
(Quaker FL, 1999). We propose a variant of the Quaker-based consensus model for this particular
case. It is particularly suitable as it allows for equal input from all stakeholders. No concerns will
be left unheard while at the same time maintaining anonymity. Often, consensus fails within large
groups when unanimity is the goal. The Quaker model excels here as it focuses on unity rather
than unanimity, which is unrealistic to achieve in large groups such as Woolworths.
Social Media as a Consensus Tool
Woolworths has a highly centralized structure despite the fact that it is a highly distributed
organization physically. Reaching a consensus on deploying social media however needs to be a
very inclusive process for it to be effective. We therefore propose that social media itself be used
to achieve this. This way, each and every stakeholder will be able to participate equally regardless
of location. This will also serve to save time and costs.
Social media tools such as Telegram or Discord can be used to maintain anonymity of
concerned stakeholders and avoid the formation of factions or the use of persuasion. Consensus
after all, is only meaningful if it is genuine. Polling tools can be used to keep track of the level of
agreement among stakeholders. Registered concerns can easily be moderated and incorporated
into the amendment processes of the proposal transparently.
Strategic Alignment of Social Media
When deploying social media, it is vital to understand that it is just a tool. Its strategy must
therefore align to the strategies of the different departments that will be affected by it. Only in
doing so can social media be effective. Some departments may require additional staffing while
others will merely require additional training of existing employees.
Social media can be a very effective data gathering tool. Customer preferences and
concerns can be obtained from social media activity. When combined with existing information
gathering methods such as loyalty cards, social media can provide a more detailed picture and
support strategic decision-making.

Managing Change
The organization will undergo significant transformation during the course of the social
media deployment project. These changes will affect how the business functions as well as its
structure and how it interacts with its customers.
Changes at the Organisational Level
The marketing and sales department would be greatly affected by this project. Social media
would give them a more direct access to their target audience when it comes to digital marketing.
Unlike digital marketing with advertising networks, social media marketing is a continuous
process that requires active participation (Henninger, Alevizou and Oates, 2016). There will likely
be new positions in the marketing and sales department specifically to handle social media
marketing campaigns. The costs will be slightly offset by the fact there could be a corresponding
decrease in digital marketing through advertising networks.
The customer care department also stands to be affected by social media integration.
Interacting with customers on social media will require some additional manpower. With social
media comes globalization and an expectation of timely responses. This means customer care
representatives have to work around the clock to cater to the needs of the customers from different
time zones and languages. There might not necessarily be a significant corresponding decrease in
the number of physical customer care staff needed at the stores however. Woolworths stores are
physical stores and there will always be a need for onsite customer care staff.
Social media integration into business processes will change the very way customers are
viewed. They will be considered intangible assets. Beyond the value they bring with each
transaction, customers bring additional value through social media interaction with other potential
customers. They help generate purchase intention in other individuals (Kim, 2012).
Business-to-business (B2B) communications will also be impacted. Social media
simplifies information exchange and can improve real-time accuracy of information. This can be
used in a number of ways from improving stock visibility to monitoring shipping. Woolworths
through the use of social media could achieve tighter integration with its supply chain, thereby
improving efficiency.
Changes for the Customers
The changes from introducing social media will likely be received well by the younger
demographic. Considering how other companies in the industry have deployed social media, it is
hardly a new or unexpected experience for many of the customers. That said, the older customers
are likely to have some difficulties in transitioning. Therefore, the social media use should not
replace the traditional methods that they are accustomed to.
Changes for the Employees
The employees however, will likely put up more resistance. The very way they work will
change significantly. Communications within the organization from meetings to collaborative
tasks will be carried out on social media platforms such as Skype. As such, there will be digital
records of those communications which could make employees nervous as those records will likely
be monitored. Some employees will need to undergo additional training in order to learn to use
those tools effectively. The older employees will likely show more resistance to this because of
how unfamiliar the tools are to them.
Data Gathering
In order to get a more accurate picture of the acceptance level of the deployment of social
media among employees and customers, some data gathering should be done.
Customer Surveys
Customer surveys through questionnaires can help Woolworths in understanding the views
of their customers with regards to social media deployment. It can also help identify sticking points
that may have been overlooked initially. Caught early, these can be taken into consideration and
solutions to them can be found before the implementation. Social media tools can be used to
distribute the survey in the form of Google Forms to reach a wider audience.
Employee Surveys
Employee surveys can be used not only to gauge the acceptance level of social media
deployment, but also to understand their familiarity with existing social media tools and platforms.
This can be taken into account when devising a training program for them. It can also be used to
identify new ways social media would help the employees in their daily duties.
Identifying the concerns of the employees early on will help to reduce friction later down
the line. As an example, if it is found that many employees are apprehensive because they are not
conversant with the social media tools, their concerns can be alleviated by including a training
program tailored to their needs.
Proposing a Series of Actions for Introducing Change
In order to ensure the success of the social media deployment, the changes that will be
brought about need to be introduced and managed systematically. By adapting the Kotter change
model, the following series of steps can be used to systematically introduce change.
Clear Communication and Transparency
At every stage of the project, the General Manager needs to ensure that a clear line of
communication with everyone involved is maintained. It is crucial that all employees know and
understand the status and aim of the project at all times. This will ensure no room for division and
will serve to maintain support for the project.
Create a Powerful Vision
The company has a long term vision for where it needs to be in the future. By
communicating to all stakeholders how social media deployment will help in getting closer to that
vision, a shared vision and determination can be achieved.
Create a Sense of Urgency
It is important to remember that their competitors may also be moving towards the same
ideas, and many have already deployed social media. In order to increase their efficiency and
competitiveness, Woolworths must move swiftly. A SWOT analysis can help everyone understand
the strengths and opportunities that may emerge from social media deployment as well as
weaknesses and threats that may be reduced.
Create Short-Term Goals
Fully integrating social media is a long-term project. It is important to create short term
goals that can be achieved regularly throughout the timeline of the project. This will not only
motivate employees to continue to back the project till its completion, but will also serve as a
means to keep track of the progress of the project over its duration.
Institutionalize Changes
At every milestone, the changes to the structure of the organization as well as its business
processes must be consolidated and institutionalized. This will help keep the momentum of the
project and keep employees fully committed. New employees joining the company will be able to
focus on the new status quo and become productive relatively quickly without being caught up in
the transition.
Kubler-Ross Change Curve
If we apply the Kubler-Ross change model, we can expect the employees to go through the
following phases through the progress of the project. It is important to note that each individual
will go through these phases at their own pace and it will take longer for some.
Denial Phase
In this phase, employees will try to hold on to the former status quo. This will last for as
long as the former status quo is in sight. In other words, the sooner the first set of changes are
institutionalized, the shorter this phase will be. Maintaining constant communication with the
employees about the status of the project and the benefits that will be realized at each milestone of
the project will go a long way in alleviating the effects of this phase.
Anger Phase
There will be frustrations as employees begin to see the effects of the changes. They need
a calming influence from the top management, reassuring them that the long term benefits of the
project outweigh the temporary discomfort. Seeing the first sets of short term goals being achieved
will help them progress swiftly from this phase.
Bargaining Phase
As long as some elements of the former status quo remain, some will try to hold on to them.
This is usually in attempt to reach some sort of compromise between the old way of doing things
and the inevitable.
Depression Phase
This phase is associated with negative emotions and a general lack of motivation. It is
highly important that the effects of this phase are minimized before it begins to affect productivity.
A clear and strong presence of leadership is needed here. The employees need to understand that
their leaders are fully behind them.
Acceptance Phase
This comes when there is a realization that fighting the change will not yield any fruitful
results. It may not be the case that the employees are happy with it, but rather that they have
resigned to the changes and will no longer resist.

Planning IS Development
The Impact of Social Media on the Business
Facebook is the largest social media platform with over 2 billion users worldwide. It allows
interactions in a myriad of ways from posting text, images and videos, to engaging in private
discussions. Facebook can be used as a marketing tool. Campaigns can easily spread among the
audience through the share feature. The reaction feature would enable Woolworths to more clearly
see their audience’s feelings toward their content.
Blogging is another tool Woolworths should take advantage of. It allows continuous user
engagement through subscriptions and newsletters. It also allows for detailed articles that can be
used to showcase new products or communicate other ideas to users. A comment section would
then enable users to voice their opinions. Blogging allows for far greater customization than
Facebook and Twitter for example. It also allows for much richer content.
ZenDesk allows organizations to easily offer customer care services online. A versatile
ticket management system as well as notification tools make it really easy to use for both
employees and customers. Woolworths should utilize this to offer aftersales services and handle
complaints.
 Discord should be used internally for communications ranging from text chats to video
conferences. It offers better compression and speed. It can also be used seamlessly across multiple
devices since it saves communications on the server unlike Skype.
The Impact of Social Media in the Fashion Industry
Fashion luxury brands started using social media in 2009, with Gucci as the pioneer.
Burberry followed soon after, showcasing their designs online. They saw significant improvement
in sales as a direct result of investing in social media. The massive amount of online interaction
also provided Burberry with insight on their customer habits (Kim, 2012).
Dolce & Gabbana goes as far as reserving front-row seats at its fashion shows for fashion
bloggers. Real-time upload of raw media from the bloggers helps generate customer interest even
as the show is going on. These and other popular fashion brands such as Chanel, Nike, and Stella
McCartney all maintain Facebook and Twitter accounts, posting content regularly (Kim, 2012).
The Impact of Social Media on People
Social media interactions have a tendency to be less formal even in a business environment
and can therefore be more comfortable and open. This can lead to improved quality of expression
and clarity in communication. The real-time elements of social media also make communications
more efficient and instant. Employees from different physical locations can easily collaborate in
real-time.
Social media communication is fundamentally different from physical communications. Its
nature means it is sometimes more exposed to the public and has the potential to be transmitted
beyond the context in which it occurred. There is significantly less room for error on the part of
the customer service agent as a result. There is also a higher risk of uncivil or inappropriate
behaviour in social media interactions due to the perceived physical anonymity. Additional
training may be required to empower the customer service agents to operate comfortably in a social
media environment.

Outsourcing
Outsourcing is a practice in which businesses transfer certain aspects of their jobs to other
businesses who have a higher level of competence or cost efficiency in that area (Kendrick, 2009).
Outsourcing allows businesses to focus on their chosen fields and continue to develop specialized
competence. Outsourcing brings with it a degree of loss of control, however. As a result, core
aspects of business should not be outsourced (Kendrick, 2009). The following aspects of social
media deployment are good candidates for outsourcing.
Initial Setup and Training
It can be very difficult for an organization to set foot into the social media world due to the
many challenges faced in the initial stages of deployment. These challenges can be technical, legal
or even marketing related. Outsourcing the initial setup to a company more specialized in the area
will help save costs and time. They will be made to work closely with the marketing department
at Woolworths in order to ensure control over the process.
 While this is going on, Woolworths’ marketing and IT departments will need to be trained
by the contractor in order to ensure a smooth transition when the initial setup is complete. The
training program should include a way to assess the competence of the departments involved. This
will serve as means to ensure quality of the training and also as a motivational boost for the
employees.
Data Analysis
Social media produces a huge volume of customer data. The data can be analysed for
information such as customer demographics, interests, spending habits, purchase intentions, and a
lot more. As information loses its value with time, the analysis needs to be done in a timely fashion.
Companies specializing in this field have developed specialized tools and software for this
purpose. They may use tools such as web crawlers and data mining techniques to analyse social
media data. They will therefore be more competent and more efficient than any proprietary
solution that could be developed in a reasonable amount of time.
Data Storage
Data storage is a complicated affair with no room for errors. There needs to be a great deal
of security measures both physical and technological. Even a single oversight may prove
incredibly costly and damage trusts. Multiple levels of redundancy will need to be put in place.
Importantly, data storage infrastructure needs to be able to provide access to the information as
and when needed. All these considered, it is a task that requires a high level of competence that
can only be achieved with specialization and experience. Woolworths already outsources data
storage of its existing IS infrastructure to a local security company. The costs of additionally
outsourcing social media data will be minimal as a result.
Coordinating Outsourced Work
Ongoing contracted work such as data analysis and data storage will need to be coordinated
closely with existing business processes. Woolworths carries out analysis of data from their loyalty
card scheme internally. This will have to be integrated with the additional information that will
come from the outsourced social media data analysis. Doing so will expand their datasets
drastically and will provide a wider insight into their customers. The information obtained will be
a valuable asset in their strategic decision-making processes. Such integration can be achieved by
exposing API endpoints in their existing Information Systems such as WorkTrainer and
MyWorkspace. These API endpoints will serve as a means for their contractors to integrate
analysed data back into Woolworths’ Information Systems.
An important goal of data storage is availability of data when it is needed. This requires
close collaboration between Woolworths and the data storage contractor. Data storage providers
typically expose an interface to facilitate data access, but this is only suited to infrequent or small
scale needs. In this particular case study, we would propose API level access for the depth of
integration it allows. The existing Woolworths IS infrastructure would be able to communicate
directly with the database. One of the major benefits of doing so is that it will allow customized
data queries which is indispensable in data analysis.
Managing Deliverables
With the depth of integration we propose, the deliverables will be frequent and timely. Data
analysis however, can be time-consuming and costly on the servers even with advanced software
automation. This can be scheduled to run at specified regular intervals and automatically uploaded
to the Woolworths servers.
The employee training during the initial setup and training phase can only be assessed
during and after the transition as control and maintenance is handed over to Woolworths. In order
to smoothen the process, the contractor should assume a consultancy role. As the Woolworths staff
develop their capabilities and familiarity with the setup, there will surely be challenges and other
issues that will arise. These issues will reduce in frequency eventually and the contract can be
concluded. This method in the long run will be more cost effective than a continuous outsourcing
contract. Being more self-sufficient in their social media deployment will also help reduce the
bargaining power of service suppliers on Woolworths.

Dealing with Privacy

Relevance of Data Protection Act
The Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) can be used as a guide to ensure reasonable and
lawful use of social media by Woolworths. Principle 1 of the DPA states that all personal data
must be processed and used fairly (Data Protection Act 1998, 2016). This means Woolworths must
refrain from making classifications based on personal qualities and other profile information. In
the context of providing customer support for example, it will be a violation of this principle to
offer preferential support to a certain category of users based on information such as their age,
location, previous posts, and so on. Principle 2 of the DPA instructs that personal data may only
be used for the specified purposes for which it was collected (Data Protection Act 1998, 2016).
Woolworths therefore needs to update its terms of service document and privacy policy in order
to communicate those purposes clearly to its customers and employees. It should also refrain from
using the personal data for further purposes such as selling to third parties including advertising
agencies. Principle 3 instructs against collecting excessive personal data from subjects with regard
to the purpose of collection (Data Protection Act 1998, 2016). Woolworths should therefore avoid
collecting entire user profiles on Facebook and should instead take advantage of the fine grained
permissions control system in Facebook. This will allow Woolworths to specify beforehand,
exactly which bits of information it needs to access from users. The Facebook review process will
also serve to guide this process.
Issues Affecting Customer and Employee Privacy
Some of the concerns of customers and employees about the use of their personal data on
social media is the extent to which it could be used beyond the main purpose. Targeted online
advertising is one of the ways commercial entities may use customer personal data. This often
means their personal data is sold to third parties of whom the customer has little or no knowledge.
Another concern lies in the possibility of bias resulting from the processing of personal data.
Customers and employees may fear that their personal data such as profile content and previous
posts may be used against them. An employee for example may fear getting fired over a post of
his personal views about the company.
Constraints of Social Media Use
Selling personal data obtained from social media use could put the privacy of the subjects
at risk. Advertising agencies and other third parties may in turn resell this information. The
customer will likely have no knowledge of these activities or entities and therefore will consider
this a privacy violation. All avenues of accessing this information must be reasonably secured and
strict policies should be enforced. As an example, only encrypted HTTPS connections should be
used when retrieving such information. Redaction techniques should be used to censor personally
identifiable information on any printed copies of such information as Woolworths already does
with its transaction records. Importantly, personal data must be deleted after it has served its
purpose. If used for analysing customer interest in a product for example, once the analysis is done,
personally identifiable information such as customer names should be deleted.

Increasing Awareness
The Effects of a Global Market
The use of social media opens up the business to a wider market. It would enable
Woolworths to reach a wider audience and vice versa. However, this would put Woolworths in
competition with new rivals already in the global market. Woolworths must be prepared to face
the increased number of competitors many of whom have already established a foothold in the
global scene. Woolworths may also need to comply with potentially new laws and regulations as
a result of such globalisation. For example, laws governing the use of social media in the US may
affect Woolworths’ access to Facebook or Instagram data indirectly. The Children's Online
Privacy Protection Act of 1998 is an example of this.
The Effects of Customisation to the Services and Products
Woolworths with its distributed stores and employees stands to reap significant efficiency
gains through social media integration. Real time communications among employees from
different stores will make it possible to collaborate on projects more efficiently. Tighter supply
chain integration can also be achieved through real time communication with suppliers and other
partners. This will improve stock visibility and swifter responses to delays and bottlenecks.
The Effects of Internationalisation Due to Regulation and Legislation
International laws and directives govern the use of social media in addition to specific
country laws. These laws may be global, such as UN directives, or may include a group of
countries, such as EU directives. Employees need to be enlightened about all those to keep them
from inadvertently breaking such laws. Disclosing sensitive information about their work,
company or partners deliberately or accidentally may lead to serious penalties. Special care must
be taken to ensure that non-disclosure agreements are not breached when interacting with others.
The Race Directive of the EU and related directives make it unlawful to treat people differently
based on some criteria such as race, gender or religion. Posting copyrighted materials such as
images or artworks could be considered a breach of the EU Copyright Directive. These types of
breaches are even more dangerous on social media because there is no limit to how far or quickly
they may spread. Corrective action may be impossible just seconds after posting.
 Investing in Information
Information is a vital asset to many businesses. It fuels every decision-making process and
helps to reduce risks and losses. It can therefore be seen as a means of gaining competitive
advantage. As such, businesses will actively spend resources to obtain more accurate more relevant
information faster than their rivals. Social media deployment is one such means of obtaining higher
quality information and can work in near real-time. If we consider information as a perishable asset
whose value deteriorates with time, social media can be seen as a means to improve the value of
information.
New Sources of Information Generated Through Social Media
Some of the new sources of information that will result from social media deployment will
be direct, while others will be derived. On Facebook, the analytics tools will provide aggregated
data such as number of users reached with a particular post, number of shares and likes, and other
related data which directly correspond to the levels of customer interest in the post. If the post is
about a particular product, this can be used to gauge the level of interest in that product, or the
effectiveness of the marketing tactic that was used to present the product in the post. Taking these
basic metrics and applying some statistical algorithms can often derive even more information.
This can be in the form of specific demographics interested in the product, purchase intention,
cultural perception, and so on. The analytics tools provided by social media platforms as well as
the additional data analysis done on these metrics are important sources of information. Coupled
with the existing sources such as loyalty cards, these have the potential to improve the quality of
information obtained.
Effective Use of Social Media Data
Social media data like all kinds of information becomes less useful over time. It is therefore
paramount to extract, process and analyse social media data in a timely manner in order for it to
be effective. This can only be achieved through efficient automation. It is also highly important
that security loopholes are not inadvertently introduced in so doing. The more trust users and
employees can place in the security of the process, the more willing they would be to provide
useful data. Woolworths must also be very transparent and clear on its data handling policies and
protocols. An easy to read and understand privacy policy document must be put in place to achieve
this.

Report Findings
How Social Media Will Be Deployed to Woolworths
Information is vital to any business and an especially important source of competitive
advantage in highly competitive industries such as the fashion retail industry. By getting all the
stakeholders to rally behind the project and carefully planning for the changes that will be brought
about by the deployment of social media, Woolworths can enjoy a relatively smooth
transformation. Intelligently outsourcing certain aspects will help reduce costs and improve
efficiency. Understanding the legislations that may apply and especially privacy laws, Woolworths
can avoid the legal pitfalls.
How Social Media was used by the Pair
We used Twitter to share interesting articles and resources that we thought might improve
our understanding of the topic. We also shared links to resources we felt might be of interest to
those following the handle.
How Social Media was used by Individual Members
We used LinkedIn individually to track our progress and growth as students. We posted
about our individual experiences with different parts of the report.
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 Appendix A
Group Reflective Statement
The pair started out already aware of each other’s strengths this time round. We maintained
our major team roles. Since the tasks mainly involved writing and researching, there was not much
of a gap left by the reduction in team size. There was no need for any team role models either.
From the start, we wanted to experiment with a parallelized method of writing. We would
each draft a section a week and then begin to edit those drafts iteratively until the week ran out.
Then we would pick the next two sections and repeat the process. This worked well for the less
complicated sections but needed to be adjusted for the tougher ones. For those, we both drafted
the same sections and then compared our ideas and research materials. Then we would try to pick
the best bits of both drafts and then iterate on that. It was a tedious process but one that strengthened
our individual writing skills.
While researching, we often came across interesting articles. Some of these were not even
academic or journal articles, but offered a great deal of insight into our topic. We would then post
those on our social media feed for our partners and readers. Our individual experiences were
instead posted on our individual LinkedIn profiles.
By working on two sections each week, we had a mostly complete report in just a few
weeks. We also had most of our research materials collected. For the remaining weeks, we focused
on polishing and rearranging what we already had. We also kept the word limit in mind and tried
to make sure we were within it. As the workload increased from all the other modules, it became
increasingly difficult to maintain regularity in the work on this report. Thankfully, there was not
much left to do on this report by then.
The pair collaborated by using Google Drive to share documents. Google Drive also made
it possible for us to work on the same document at the same time. The chat functionality allowed
us to give real-time feedback to each other and to point out errors. It saved a great deal of time.
For regular communications, a variety of tools was used ranging from simple email for one-off
communications to Discord for announcements. It was a lot easier to keep track of the
communications this time, so there was no real need for the channels feature of Discord. Private
messaging sufficed.
 Appendix B
Personal Reflective Statement – Temitope Brown
Linkedin was used to progress updates about the report.
Personal Reflective Statement – Khalifa Lame
Personal Contribution
I served as the lead writer for this report. I drafted many of the sections and then iterated
on them subsequently. I also did a lot of research and gathered a lot of the materials used to support
the writing.
Additionally, I reviewed the drafts by my partner and incorporated the ideas into the report.
We would often both draft the more complex sections and then compare the ideas and try to
integrate them. It was sometimes difficult to pull off, but it was necessary in order to make the
report coherent and consistent.
Teamwork Experience
The teamwork experience for me was much better than the first coursework. It was easier
to collaborate with one team mate than with five. The change in team dynamics balanced things
out a bit. It was a valuable learning experience overall.
Individual Learning
During this coursework, I could tell that I was a little more comfortable writing. Though it
really pushed me to my limits at times. For a large part of it, I was unable to settle into a rhythm
and I must admit I was not overly confident writing about business in the first place. It is still
unfortunately an alien world to me and presents me with a great deal of confusion regularly.
However, making it this far is a personal achievement in itself. If nothing else, this experience has
improved my resilience to stress.
I do not think of myself as a writer and I frankly get bored doing it, but it was much more
bearable this time around. I could write for longer before I needed to take a break. This coursework
also helped cement my grasp of some of the concepts introduced in the previous one. Or at the
very least, it helped improve my understanding of them.
I have always had a hard time working with abstract concepts. I tend to gravitate towards
ideas I can picture and observe like physics and biology. As such, business concepts often
challenge me a great deal mentally. I do not think that I have improved much in this regard, but
there were at least a few moments when I found myself imagining these abstract concepts and
applying them to imagined scenarios while writing the report. That may be a sign of improvement
or just mental acclimatization.