thinkPhD

I worked on assignment 2 again yesterday and it is almost complete. Over the course of the last week or two, I decided on a topic and started research in the NCU library. I printed out a number of journal articles and read them (of course!). This assignment is basically a “read the chapters, decide on a topic, write a 10+ page research paper.” Note that this is not a report – it is research. I take that distinction seriously and try to gather information from previous journal papers and develop a new combination of their research. I often find conflicting or poorly done research, or that from which conclusions were drawn without secure analysis. Generally, my References page is at least two pages long. In this paper, I actually take a disparate side from our text. There are statements in the text in reference to market follower strategies, such as, “Followership is often not a rewarding path” (Kotler & Keller, 2006, p. 361).  Current research does not support this – in fact, a market follower often overtakes and eclipses a market pioneer! Kotler and Keller are partially correct in their assessment that “Many companies prefer to follow rather than challenge the market leader” (p. 360). The sticking point is that following is always a CHALLENGE to the leader because any competition is just that – competition. 

The paper is done except for the introduction (which I always do last), proofreading and final touch-up. After that, we will see what Dr. Rose thinks about my research.

I finished and turned in my first assignment for MGT5002. I am so far behind in this course! There are three assignments and one down, two to go. I have done the preliminary research for assignment 2 and will work on this now. I got a great grade on the first assignment so I suppose I interpreted the assignment correctly. I am always nervous when I have a new class and new instructor!