INTERNSHIP AT IMATION KOREA
Introduction
Internships are a necessary experience for any university or college student in order to apply their theoretical knowledge practically. The company chosen for internship was Imation Korea. This is one of the most successful data-storage-device companies in the Korea specifically and in the world generally. In the year 2007, the company recorded total revenue of about one point six billion dollars. It has over two thousand employees in over one hundred countries all over the world.
Description of the organization
Industry
The Company under consideration deals with the manufacture of hardware devices with removable storage. It therefore falls in the computer equipment and peripherals industry. However, manufacturing is not the only thing that the company deals with. It also handles product development, product sourcing, distribution and marketing of these storage products and devices. (Imation, 2008)
There are plenty of data storage manufacturers in the industry today. However, Imation tries its best to stay ahead of the competition through investment and dedication of its resources to innovation and development of its products. For example, one of the most recognized names in the CDs retail sector is Imation. This is because their CDs are well known for their high storage capacity and durability. They are also less susceptible to spoilage through dust or scratches. These qualities are continuously being improved by the company’s product development team.
The Company is also well know, it has established a strong brand image. This is the reason why most of its consumers stick to their name because they are loyal to the company. The Company’s name is unique and gives new purchasers an idea about what the company is selling.
Size
The Company is located in numerous states all over the world. The internship was done in Korea but its products are sold internationally. This is quite an advantage because the organization can appeal to numerous market segments. It is not just restricted to one locality that may be inhibited by certain social and economic factors. By having such a large size, the company can compensate for the inadequacies in one region by concentrating their sales in another location.
Source; Indeed (2008): Imation company information; retrieved from Http://www.indeed.com/ accessed on 9th April
Shown above is a depiction of the company’s market share in different parts of the world. It has substantial influences in The United States because its headquarters are located there. Korea is also quite influential. The reason why most of the products are taken up Kenya is because there is less competition in that market. The US and UK have very many players in the data storage industry and this has affected the Company’s performance there.
Products
The various products manufacture by the company fall under different brands. These include MOBI 3000 Solid State Drives, PRO 7000 Solid State Drives, RDX CDs, RDX DVDs etc. In general, most of the products prepared by the Company fall under the following categories; Flash disks, DVDs, CDs, tape drives, floppy disks, Solid State Drives. These are media sources that have the capacity to store data. The data can be in any form be it a movie, music whether in MP3 format or otherwise, figures and charts, word documents and many other forms. (Imation, 2008)
Organizational culture
Imation Korea is a company that has a strong corporate culture. This is because all members of the various departments work hand in hand to ensure that the company achieves its objectives. The finance department coordinates with the production and innovation team. The Human resource sector also collaborates with al other branches to improve output. The marketing team is always doing surveys of what customers are looking for in their data storage products. It gives these suggestions to the product development team which then incorporates the into their work processes. Such high levels of cooperation have been the major cause of the introduction of Solid State Drives to the market.
History
The Company was started in the 90s when the technology bubble was growing. The company realized that there was a need to replace tapes as the most common form of data storage. Initially, it was known for the manufacture of temporary storage devices like floppy drives. With time, the company expanded to include more permanent data storage devices such as flash disks, CDs and DVDs. The latter markets grew because most people started discovering that they could save a lot of time and money by retrieving information from the internet and saving it into a device with removable storage. Many people started copying online articles, newspapers, movies, books and songs through these devices. Consequently, their market expanded and they now have a numerous segments to correspond to their clientele’s interests.
The company has been engaging in numerous expansions and mergers ever since. One of the latest ones is the merger it undertook with Memorex International Inc. This lead to the increment of the company’s assets and consequently its market share since the merger brought with it most of the clients that were loyal to Memorex International.
How l got the internship
The internship was acquired through application to the human resource team. There are vast resources on the internet about Imation Korea. Part of this information gave guidelines on how to apply for positions within the company whether temporarily as interns or permanently as employees. The website was www.imation.com . The reason why I chose this company was because it is an international company. This means that there are numerous business skills that can be acquired there especially in relation to international business and marketing. Besides this, the company engages in a lot of outsourcing and distribution. This implies that it is quite relevant to my business marketing major. On top of this, Imation Korea is an influential; force in its industry. Besides, it readily admits fresh individuals into its workforce as depicted from this graph (Imation, 2008)
Source; Indeed (2008): Imation company information; retrieved from Http://www.indeed.com/ accessed on 9th April
The application was done three months before the actual internship was to take place. This was to allow the company enough time to make selections. The Human resource manager gave me feedback after a few weeks before the internship began allowing me to join the company. The human resource manager requested to see me in order to asses whether l could fit into the organization. I reported to the human resource manager and after some questions, I was granted permission to join the company. This was after it had been confirmed that l was capable of fitting in with the organization. I was given an acceptance letter, instructions about where l would be located and the time l was expected to report
Training and orientation
I was oriented by the Flash business team. This was a team that dealt with all the business aspects relating to flash storage media. (Imation, 2008)The team made sure that I was familiar with almost all aspects relating to the production of that particular item. First of all, I was given the work stations that I would be allowed to visit. I was allowed to seek information from the flash development team, the flash manufacturing section and the accounting section. I was also given a brief company history.
Afterwards, my responsibilities were laid out to me. This included highlighting some of the people I would be working with. There were to more students on internship at the company but they were not dealing with my particular area of study.
The flash development team continuously checked on my development and made sure that there was adequate progress in some the assignments I was given. They checked that I reported on time and left on time. Besides this, they gave me assistance on writing a weekly report for the company. This was mostly in relation to what I had done in the company.
Activities performed
I was expected to compile some of the information that had been previously acquired by the marketing segment concerning the company’s competitors. I was given specific topics such as competitor’s market shares. Here, I was supposed to compare other hardware device manufacturer’s market shares with Imation Korea’s. Some of the Companies I dealt with included Sony Company. (Imation, 2008)
I was also expected to deal with some of the financial and cash reserves needed to manufacture flash disks. Here, I worked in collaboration with my supervisors in the flash business team and also in the accounting section. The main purpose of this analysis was to determine whether the company was operating profitably in the manufacture of flash storage devices. Most of the research work was primarily done by the real employees of the company. I was simply expected to confirm some of the calculations and to put in some additional information.
I conducted some market strategy analyses under the supervision of the flash development team. For example, I did some porter generics strategy analyses for Imation Korea. This was achieved after incorporating knowledge from the other three departments I was supposed to work with. This was also topped up with a conduction of growth strategies. I was expected to make reports about some of the product diversification and intensification ideas that the company could take up.
Besides this, I was also expected to writer reports about the level of customer-product fit achieved by Imation Korea. In this analysis, I was expected to determine what the consumers in the market segments that Imation deals with want. I was then expected to examine the level of incorporation of these aspects in the manufacture of flash storage devices. For example, I identified that most people would like flash disks that are less susceptible to data loss. That is, they had to have an element of durability. I also found out that most customers prefer light material that does not compromise ion quality. By quality, this means that the flash disk had to have enough data saving space.
The flash business team deals with target market analysis. In this process, it was supposed to examine the following factors that affect the purchase of the flash devices; environmental factors, economic factors, opportunity, cultural factors. Under these, they examine;
- currency value
- GDP
- political trend
- trade tariffs
- legal factors
- diverse cultures in their markets
All the above information was already available at the Flash business team. All I was supposed to do in this case was to update it. Most of the information was for the last quarter. Under the guidance of the flash business team, I was to follow the pattern they had used before to come up with new figures for this particular session. In that way, I was able to learn the practical aspects of PESTLE and SWOT analyses.
I was also supposed to accompany the tem when they had to go and interview clients about the view on the prevailing Imation prices. I was given specific retail outlets that were well known for the sale of the products. Most of the interviews were conducted by the actual employees of the tem. My task was to note don what customers were commenting and to compile this information into the form of a report with the help of the flash business team. The Team guided me on which answers fell under which portfolio. For example customers who compared Imitation’s prices o other competitor’s prices were to be placed under the conformation price strategy. (Imation, 2008)
On top of these activities, I was also expected to handle the issue of branding. I accompanied my superiors during their surveys. Here, they asked customers about what they thought about the Imation brand and its products. Suggestions by the consumers were also obtained. Some customers gave new brands that the company could adopt. I worked hand in hand with the flash business team to make sure that all the information was written down. This was also supposed to be compiled in a report. This involved team work and I had been incorporated into that team.
The issue of price was revisited time and time again. Some of the aspects that I examined were
- quality
- supply
- economy
- demand
Quality of the flash drives was examined in two realms. The first was through their quality assurance section. It was found that they had achieved their objectives. On top of this, it was also examined from the consumer’s point of view. Here, consumers were expected to give their opinion about the products’ quality and what they would like to see changed. My task in this case was to review some of the responses given by consumers and organizing that information into easily usable reports. This work was not done on my own; it was mostly done with the help of the flash business team. (Imation, 2008)
Supply was to be examined through the raw materials that were to be used by the company. This information was already available in the procurement section of the company. My task was to assess whether the supply was adequate to deal with the company’ treat productions. It was found that this was the case.
I was also expected to determine whether there was a chance of determining whether the company was meeting their customer’s demands. This was done through surveys conducted by employees. My task was to write down what consumers were commenting during the surveys. I was also supposed to give the team assistance during compilation of demand trends.
Another aspect that I dealt with during the internship was the issue of communication. The flash business team had to make sure that communication was streamlined in two realms
- internally
- externally
Internal communication related to transference of information to members of the organization. This was normally done when my superiors required information form those departments in order to do some business analyses (Imation, 2008)
External communication was the main focus of the flash business team. This was because external communication dealt with the customer and the organization. The business team use different forms of communication to inform clients about new products, secure purchases and obtain feedback from them. The main form of communication that the team used was the internet. This was because they were able to get feedback for their clientele through their blogs. Imation also used a lot of posters and newspapers in their preparations. My task as an intern was to make suggestions for improvement of the company’s website. I was also expected to compile some of the customer suggestions made by consumers though the feedback blogs.
How my responsibilities relate to the major
My responsibilities were directly related to my major because they covered almost all the crucial areas in business marketing. I learnt about market analysis through the customer surveys I attended and the information collected for the company website. On top of this, I was able to apply my business communication skills when working with the team members and also with clients. The purpose pf product, pricing strategies was also put into the test during the internship. This is because part of my responsibility was to assess the effectiveness of some of these suggestions through customer responses.
I was also able to sharpen my market research skills and analysis skills. This is because market research was one driving force in Imation Korea. Most of their new products were introduced after customer surveys.
Defining moments in the internship
My most memorable moment in the internship occurred when the flash business team had been given a deadline by the company’s business team to give a report on the relationship between the internet purchases and the overall products made by the company. I had been looking at that report for two weeks under my direct supervisor. I therefore made my suggestions to the flash business team and to their surprise, I had written down almost all aspects of what was required. They simply polished some of the rough edges in the report and then handed it in.
Everyone kept thanking me about the way I had saved them this time. They kept congratulating me and telling me that l would become a very useful member of the team after completing my course. I felt appreciated and was grateful that a mere intern like me could be appreciated by such people.
Conclusion
Internship at Imation Korea was an enriching experience. It allowed me to work for an international organization with a diverse work force. The department I was given had a direct relationship to my major and I was glad that my efforts were appreciated by the entire team I would definitely want to go back to Imation to wok for them as a permanent employee. (Imation, 2008)
Reference:
Imation (2008): Company website; retrieved form http://www.imation.com/ accessed in 9th April
Indeed (2008): Imation company information; retrieved from Http://www.indeed.com/ accessed on 9th April
