There is an elevated level of happiness when you get your management summer internship with a well known company and then those feelings of expectations rise as the moment of joining that company comes closer. This goes on in each management student's life and then comes the period when you join and start working for that organization that we realise how difficult it is to play in real world environment.
I was selected by TATA Steel as a summer intern in marketing domain for the region of Maharashtra and Goa. As my college got over in march end, I was supposed to report to their marketing office in Mumbai. Anxiety about the kind of work and people in company was building in my mind as I was travelling to Mumbai. There was also a feeling of fear about the kind of boss I would face. The dilemma was simple but an unknown one. With all the mixed feeling I reached "Amchi Mumbai" and feelings of everyday local train travel and Mumbai summer heat started popping in my mind.
Reporting For Duty - 2nd April 2012 - Mumbai
On day one I reported in Mumbai office at the specified time. The feeling of anxiety and enthusiasm were playing "Kabaddi" in my mind but these feelings soon mellowed down as I met my guide. My reporting manager welcomed me to the organization and told me in brief about the organization. He also showed me around the office and introduced me to a couple of senior executives in the office. I was amazed to see many pictures and posters of contributions made by TATA Steel in different industries and making of modern India. Then he handed me some product catalogues and told me to go through the literature for the next hour and half. He also informed me that as I was becoming a part of their team as a routine we all would be having lunch together and told me to order whatever I like. Being just a summer intern with such a renowned company and interacting with such top notch executives was already giving me goose bumps. The way they treated me really gave me a glimpse of much renowned "TATA Culture". To tell you more about TATA culture there was a peon assigned to me who would help me with whatever literature I needed. My manager in between game me a small presentation about the product, He also indicated me that the region where I would have to work would be Goa. Hearing Goa, my imagination went for a vacation - sun, sand and the beaches. But the repeated chanting of the word "work" by him got me come back from my imaginary Sanctum.
In the evening I met the Regional sales manager who told me more about their distributor in Goa with whom I had to work. My product was structural steel used in construction of steel structures in particular. This product was supposed to be promoted via Structural consultants and architects who used these structural steel elements in their designs. I also got my project objectives that meant Market Mapping of Goa i.e. search for new markets and determine market demand in different segments.
Work Begins - 4th April 2012 - Goa
So with two days of induction in Mumbai, I went back to Goa no doubt my home. As I reached Goa the next day I immediately went and met the Goa distributor and understood few bits and pieces about the clients and market. I wasn't aware of the market so I decided to go ahead with the work in 3 phases.
The distributor had a client list with him, to this I made some additions and created the final customer list. I got preliminary market understanding from the Goa-distributor. The distributor also took me to his warehouse and gave me all details pertaining to his sales and stocks in his warehouse. For further market understanding I went ahead and met two prominent structural consultants and understood their part of needs and problems. I was amazed to see that in-spite of a quality product from TATA Steel, the product was not selling well. All this was mainly because of Availability.
My primary understanding about the market based on secondary data collected from various entities helped me in understanding and further segmenting the market. The next part was market mapping and demand estimation. I actually went around Goa interviewing Structural consultants and architects as a part of my market research objective. The worst part was getting their appointments. They were never available in office after 12 pm in the morning as they were on field visit of their construction sites. I also observed that when I told them that I am calling on behalf of TATA Steel their tone of voice towards me changed. I was happy that a good brand was backing me. All the engineers used to give me appointments either early in the morning or late in the evening and many times they actually cancelled at the last moment, so my pace of this survey was bit slow. I had actually fixed a target in mind of meeting at-least 1-2 structural consultants/architects in a day but I soon realised that marketing and sales work never happens as you plan. Covering different cities across Goa was difficult, sometimes the consultants gave appointments immediately where as others actually made me slog with cancellations and re-appointments. Also many of them were very prominent top executives so they mostly spoke technical stuff which was difficult to understand and respond, but I tried to reply to maximum queries and routed the ones beyond my horizon to my manager, which helped in building better relationships.
Simultaneously my manager had asked me to search for new applications (markets) for the product apart from construction industry , accordingly two new industries were identified. So I went to one of these clients in Goa, after reaching there I realised that to enter that place some employee from inside has to put my name on their system as visitor and then only I could enter that place. I was really confused, as to how should I go about this as I was totally helpless and didn't know anybody inside the unit. But I remembered one rule which my father had told me i.e. to befriend with the watchman, which I did and with local language advantage got into the company and even met the purchase officer who gave me all specifications of their requirements and my job was done.
Next was the shipping industry where too I used similar approach and initiated my quest for analysis of that market. I actually met some naval architects and shipyard engineers and information gathered from them gave me valuable insights about this industry and helped me analyse applications where our product could fit in.
During the internship travelling around Goa made me realise two things that is importance of time and money. The project had some intriguing days too. There were instances when I missed the bus or had a flat tyre which made me lose a vital appointment . There were instances when I met an angry consultant who actually told me all the negative point about my product and the distributor. Handling such clients was difficult but guess it was part of my job.
When I think back in time I realise that if we look at all the experiences positively, these actually are the learning's which we should take back with us. The experience taught me the nicks and corners of Goa, though I was a local and seldom explored it so much before.
As flashback into the past makes me feel that it was not a very happy starting with the merciless sun, sales work and monotonous implementation of travel and observation with regards to structural consultants everyday but everything passes with time, even the worst haircut grows out as they say. The camaraderie that I shared with some of the friendliest structural consultants was worth remembering.
Lastly at the end of whole analysis the data was presented to the manager and my guide in Mumbai and they said that this was the first time a project was done on Goa and now they can really build a smart and necessary strategy for improving sales in Goa.
As I came back to college and started working on my report I found it very unfair to constraint my experiences and findings to SWOT's and technical frameworks. But that is what managers are known for, was what was defined to me when I joined MBA, guess it turned out to be true.
It was a wonderful experience working with TATA Steel. They really have a very good work culture and I really thank my manager for all guidance. I would end with a quote "World out there is different from what we actually learn in classroom"
I was selected by TATA Steel as a summer intern in marketing domain for the region of Maharashtra and Goa. As my college got over in march end, I was supposed to report to their marketing office in Mumbai. Anxiety about the kind of work and people in company was building in my mind as I was travelling to Mumbai. There was also a feeling of fear about the kind of boss I would face. The dilemma was simple but an unknown one. With all the mixed feeling I reached "Amchi Mumbai" and feelings of everyday local train travel and Mumbai summer heat started popping in my mind.
Reporting For Duty - 2nd April 2012 - Mumbai
On day one I reported in Mumbai office at the specified time. The feeling of anxiety and enthusiasm were playing "Kabaddi" in my mind but these feelings soon mellowed down as I met my guide. My reporting manager welcomed me to the organization and told me in brief about the organization. He also showed me around the office and introduced me to a couple of senior executives in the office. I was amazed to see many pictures and posters of contributions made by TATA Steel in different industries and making of modern India. Then he handed me some product catalogues and told me to go through the literature for the next hour and half. He also informed me that as I was becoming a part of their team as a routine we all would be having lunch together and told me to order whatever I like. Being just a summer intern with such a renowned company and interacting with such top notch executives was already giving me goose bumps. The way they treated me really gave me a glimpse of much renowned "TATA Culture". To tell you more about TATA culture there was a peon assigned to me who would help me with whatever literature I needed. My manager in between game me a small presentation about the product, He also indicated me that the region where I would have to work would be Goa. Hearing Goa, my imagination went for a vacation - sun, sand and the beaches. But the repeated chanting of the word "work" by him got me come back from my imaginary Sanctum.
In the evening I met the Regional sales manager who told me more about their distributor in Goa with whom I had to work. My product was structural steel used in construction of steel structures in particular. This product was supposed to be promoted via Structural consultants and architects who used these structural steel elements in their designs. I also got my project objectives that meant Market Mapping of Goa i.e. search for new markets and determine market demand in different segments.
Work Begins - 4th April 2012 - Goa
So with two days of induction in Mumbai, I went back to Goa no doubt my home. As I reached Goa the next day I immediately went and met the Goa distributor and understood few bits and pieces about the clients and market. I wasn't aware of the market so I decided to go ahead with the work in 3 phases.
The distributor had a client list with him, to this I made some additions and created the final customer list. I got preliminary market understanding from the Goa-distributor. The distributor also took me to his warehouse and gave me all details pertaining to his sales and stocks in his warehouse. For further market understanding I went ahead and met two prominent structural consultants and understood their part of needs and problems. I was amazed to see that in-spite of a quality product from TATA Steel, the product was not selling well. All this was mainly because of Availability.
My primary understanding about the market based on secondary data collected from various entities helped me in understanding and further segmenting the market. The next part was market mapping and demand estimation. I actually went around Goa interviewing Structural consultants and architects as a part of my market research objective. The worst part was getting their appointments. They were never available in office after 12 pm in the morning as they were on field visit of their construction sites. I also observed that when I told them that I am calling on behalf of TATA Steel their tone of voice towards me changed. I was happy that a good brand was backing me. All the engineers used to give me appointments either early in the morning or late in the evening and many times they actually cancelled at the last moment, so my pace of this survey was bit slow. I had actually fixed a target in mind of meeting at-least 1-2 structural consultants/architects in a day but I soon realised that marketing and sales work never happens as you plan. Covering different cities across Goa was difficult, sometimes the consultants gave appointments immediately where as others actually made me slog with cancellations and re-appointments. Also many of them were very prominent top executives so they mostly spoke technical stuff which was difficult to understand and respond, but I tried to reply to maximum queries and routed the ones beyond my horizon to my manager, which helped in building better relationships.
Simultaneously my manager had asked me to search for new applications (markets) for the product apart from construction industry , accordingly two new industries were identified. So I went to one of these clients in Goa, after reaching there I realised that to enter that place some employee from inside has to put my name on their system as visitor and then only I could enter that place. I was really confused, as to how should I go about this as I was totally helpless and didn't know anybody inside the unit. But I remembered one rule which my father had told me i.e. to befriend with the watchman, which I did and with local language advantage got into the company and even met the purchase officer who gave me all specifications of their requirements and my job was done.
Next was the shipping industry where too I used similar approach and initiated my quest for analysis of that market. I actually met some naval architects and shipyard engineers and information gathered from them gave me valuable insights about this industry and helped me analyse applications where our product could fit in.
During the internship travelling around Goa made me realise two things that is importance of time and money. The project had some intriguing days too. There were instances when I missed the bus or had a flat tyre which made me lose a vital appointment . There were instances when I met an angry consultant who actually told me all the negative point about my product and the distributor. Handling such clients was difficult but guess it was part of my job.
When I think back in time I realise that if we look at all the experiences positively, these actually are the learning's which we should take back with us. The experience taught me the nicks and corners of Goa, though I was a local and seldom explored it so much before.
As flashback into the past makes me feel that it was not a very happy starting with the merciless sun, sales work and monotonous implementation of travel and observation with regards to structural consultants everyday but everything passes with time, even the worst haircut grows out as they say. The camaraderie that I shared with some of the friendliest structural consultants was worth remembering.
Lastly at the end of whole analysis the data was presented to the manager and my guide in Mumbai and they said that this was the first time a project was done on Goa and now they can really build a smart and necessary strategy for improving sales in Goa.
As I came back to college and started working on my report I found it very unfair to constraint my experiences and findings to SWOT's and technical frameworks. But that is what managers are known for, was what was defined to me when I joined MBA, guess it turned out to be true.
It was a wonderful experience working with TATA Steel. They really have a very good work culture and I really thank my manager for all guidance. I would end with a quote "World out there is different from what we actually learn in classroom"