2. 2
Table of contents
Introduction …………………………………………………………………………3
Mission………………………………………………………………………………3
TG Commerce ………………………………………………………………………3
Internship Plan………………………………………………………………………4
My task and duties during my internship, clients, challenges and skills
Marketing department………………………………………………………………..5
Sales department……………………………………………………………………..6
Financial department…………………………………………………………………9
Human recourse department………………………………………………………….11
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………13
References…………………………………………………………………………….14
3. 3
Introduction
This placement report will label my placement year spent in TG Commerce Company, that
will contain what I have experienced from my point of view and the various benefits that this
internship model brought me now, and what it means for my future career. This report will
also follow the curriculum of presenting the company in which I worked, show the internship
plan which was organised by the company HR Manager, and involve task and responsibilities
description that I went through in these departments. Furthermore, I will describe the skills I
extended and developed throughout the period, present goals that I set up, and which of them
I managed to achieve. This Placement Report also has a task to present my place in the
company, as an intern, and why even my position in the company was essential for the each
and every project success.
Mission
TG Commerce purpose is to provide Serbia with qualitative office equipment.
TG Commerce
In this section of the essay I am going to talk about what TG Commerce is and the System as
a whole.
First of all TG commerce is a sole trader company with a revenue of EUR 500,000 per year
that makes, purchase and sells office equipment. Twice per year the owner Dragan Golubovic
goes with a translator to China to get the supply needed. There he chooses the office
equipment he would like to get and makes an offer to the suppliers’ which normally includes
the price, quality and delivery time. This offer can either be accepted or rejected. In the case
of rejection he looks for other suppliers. In the scenario where the offer gets accepted the
supplier gives an owner the offer. After this, they get to an agreement. In general TG
Commerce prefers to have one supplier and to have a close relationship with it. The
company’s motto is ``Keep it as simple as possible``.
Normally the Goods arrive from China after a period of 2 weeks by boat. The goods are being
distributed then to the central office of TG Commerce. This is located in the second largest
city of Serbia - Novi Sad. TG commerce owns a small manufacture which is located in
4. 4
Subotica where some of the Office equipment’s are being produced like printing paper,
robbers, and pencils mainly very simple but demanding articles. The final products are being
distributed also to the central office. From the central office all the products are being
exported to whole Serbia by trucks.
However in the capital city of Belgrade there is a daughter company. Although only with a
purchase department. From there goods are also being exported to end consumers like
schools, offices etc.
Internship plan
I was always interested in business and especially in my uncles business who is the owner of
TG commerce. While other children had holidays and went to the sea side I preferred to stay
in my home town, Belgrade and help my uncle’s business, to come closer to my dream to
become an entrepreneur. I have started working on my internship five years ago since 2007
each summer.
I have spent my internship in the following manner:
Marketing department (2 months)
Financial department (2 months)
Human resource department (2 months)
After working three summers in these departments I considered with the HR manager that the
Sales department suits me the best where I have worked for two summers in a row.
5. 5
My task and duties during my internship, clients, challenges and skills
Marketing department
I was always very interested in marketing; this business subject was one of the main reasons
why I have started working. I just knew that marketing is about satisfying consumer’s wants
and needs. However I wanted to experience marketing also in practice.
My main task was to attract customers in different ways.
At the begging I was creating and sending mails to potential customers. When I was
presenting our business, I was concentration on the products we offered, which were featured
by acceptable prices and exceptional quality. At this time I was specialised with two main
products called ``Central pen`` and ``Nexon board``. Later on, I was allowed to call potential
customers and tell them about these products. In addition, sometimes I was visiting different
book stores, and schools where I was making an presentation directly for the costumer.
This was the first time in my life that I was talking face to face to a client. Proudly I can say
that I have attracted a lot of costumers to buy these products. Especially schools were
interested in the “Nexon board” because they needed new boards and wanted to be equipped
with it before the school starts so during summer. Besides that, TG commerce was the only
one who had this particular article on the market at the moment.
I have really enjoyed working for the marketing department. I loved having contact directly
with the costumers, especially going directly to them. However this requires very good
communication skills which I think I have and improved them at my first semester at my IBS
studies. Although self-control and self-esteem is also very important especially when you get
rejected.
I have enjoyed a very friendly working atmosphere in the marketing department, that I have
even contributed in the web page design by introducing some nice ideas, which got accepted
(www.tgcommerce.co.rs). The HR manager Nada Milosevic told me that she was very
satisfied having an interested and ambitious worker like I am.
6. 6
Sales department
As more time I spent in this company I started to understand more and more how a
company actually operates and what I like and what I do not. I think that I have found out that
the sales department suits me the best and this was also the opinion of the HR manager.
This is also where I have spent most of the time. While working in the sales
department I was located in the daughter company in Belgrade. Which is an office and a
warehouse at the same time. Most of the time it was very hectic and I met a lot of new people,
but this is also one major reason why I liked it so much. I had plenty of different tasks, so the
job was everything but not monotone. The most part of the day I spent in front of the
computer, communicating with the costumers, telling them what we have in store at the
moment and under which conditions and of course what not.
A real scenario was the school “Cetrnesta Beogradska Gimnazija” sent me a inquiry that they
are interested in buying 150 note books. The first thing I did was requesting “Menica -
deponovani karton” (Kind of bill) to have an insurance that we receive the payment. The main
rule in the company is that the person should pay first and then we are going to hand over the
article. However this was not always the case. Exceptions occur when it is a regular and loyal
costumer or if the costumer is requesting articles in very large bulks, exceptions and
adaptations can be made. In this scenario no exception were made. I needed to check if the
wished article is in store. If not I needed to call the central warehouse to dispatch me more
supply of that good as soon as possible so that we do not lose the particular costumer. After I
made sure that the article is in store within the required quantity, I had to set a price.
First I needed to see which tax to set on the particular good because they are two tax
rates. The first one is 18% which is the normal VAT and the one that is subsidised by the
government which is 8% these are usually books for elementary school. After the tax is set I
had to check if the particular article is on discount and a lot of office equipment’s are on
discount during summer because the main costumers are on holidays, and demand on the
market is low. In addition, the costumer gets a discount of 15% if he is a regular one. I did not
decide how will I give the discount, since TG commerce has a software in which
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employees enter the name of a client and automatically receive the answer. “Cetrnesta
Beogradska Gimnazija” got a discount of 15%, because according to the software the client is
a regular one. After having received the payment I had to know if the total price is more than
EUR 100, because then TG Commerce needs to bear the costs of transport and if the order is
less than EUR 100, the transport cost will be included in the price or the client has the right to
come to the warehouse and do the takeover. In this typical scenario a delegated person came
to pick up the 150 note books.
In the meantime, while I was checking these things on my desk, it was very usual that
costumers come directly to the warehouse to see we have on stock and to purchase. My task
was then to take them around the warehouse and answer all possible questions regarding the
articles, such as price, quality and other features. This can be very stressful sometimes. When
the costumer has decided what he was about to purchase, by the law he needed to wire
transfer the money to our bank account, since it was illegal to pay in cash by the corporate
customer.
In the afternoon I was usually calling costumers and making them aware of new arrivals,
introducing them with the new products or I even put some of the products in to my
responsibility and drove directly to them to show them in person this is what customers prefer
more and tell them about new discounts and prices. Being a sales man requires self-control
and very high social and communication skills which I believe I have improved a lot.
After some time, clients started trusting me and we have made a solid relationship.
Aleksandra Taskovic, a office equipment shop owner called me one day to get her 100 gift
bags and I have asked which she would like she told me to choose the ones that would adapt
to her shop and her potential customers. From this moment on, I have noticed that things can
go much easier, better and faster if a good trustful relationship has been established between
the two parties like in this case between me and Aleksandra Taskovic.
One of the most important task I was involved with was keeping the stocks in optimal
conditions which means that after e.g. 10,000 pens have been sold, I should have called the
central and tell them that we need at least another 10,000 pens so that when the next costumer
comes there will be pens ready for him/her too. The worst scenario for a seller is that he loses
a potential costumer because of lack in stock. Stock control was the task I was doing in the
first couple of weeks, keeping records of stock.
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All in all, I think that I have found my place in the purchasing department. Because it is a job
you need to be flexible, social and organized. I also believe that having this great working
experience has helped me a lot with understanding better my IBS modules.
Procurement
I have gained great success in the Selling department; everybody was very satisfied with me,
my team colleges and clients. But the most important is that the Director was also very
satisfied with my duties and responsibilities, so he invited me for a dinner. On this dinner he
told me that he would like me to go on a trip with him to China to purchase supply. It was
always a dream for me to visit China. The economical wonder country with the highest GDP
rate. It was a huge pleasure, honour and motivation for me. On my first business trip I have
learned a lot but especially what the procurement process is.
This is a professional term used by businesses to describe the buying process, and can refer to
the purchase of supplies or services. In this particular case Supplies. Many businesses use
automated tools such as an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system and Electronic Data
Interchange (EDI) to assist procurement specialists or buyer with the buying activities.
Regardless of whether an automated system is used, the goal of the procurement process is to
buy the exact product or service when needed for the most favourable price. In the case of TG
Commerce no software is being used.
However the first step is identifying a need. If the business has an automated system, typically
a purchase requisition (PR) will be sent to the purchaser showing what product or service is
needed. For businesses without automated systems, a handwritten PR is often used, which
requires the person or department that desires the product or service to submit a purchase
requisition form to the buyer for action.
If the product or service has previously been bought, the purchaser will enter a purchase order
in the ERP system or submit payment to the supplier based on the previously decided terms
and conditions. If the product or service has not been procured before, the purchaser must
proceed with a request for quote (RFQ). An RFQ contains selecting a supplier, determining
the value to be paid, and agreeing to the lead time and quantity for transfer.
10. 10
Choosing a supplier characteristically involves sending RFQs to multiple suppliers and
associating the bids to determine which supplier can best meet the needs of the business. The
buyer will request a specific quantity and delivery time based on the requirements outlined on
the purchase requisition. Depending upon the type of product or service required, there may
also be the need for technical qualifications or special licensing.
Determining the charge paid usually includes comparing offers then negotiating the best price.
The buyer should guarantee all bids are an accurate reflection of the work to be performed or
service provided and comprise all applicable taxes and shipping responsibilities. This way, the
total landed cost is known before the purchase order is placed.
It is also necessary to appreciate the lead time and expected quantity to be delivered. Based on
the actual need date, any accepted quote should meet the required date. If the supplier cannot
meet the time needed by the business, expedite premiums may be incurred.
The predictable quantity should also be maintained by the quote received. The buyer must
make sure the quantity to be shipped is not fewer than requested because the lack may result
in loss income. The buyer must also make sure the quantity to be shipped is not more than
needed because the excess may result in liability for the business if the product is never used.
Finally, the buyer is responsible for guaranteeing the procurement process is executed to meet
the wants of the business while maintaining the profits.
On this particular trip to China we went to see what is new on the market and which new
products with different features we could offer to our clients to get more differentiated from
our competition.
We have found very interesting school equipment with not usual design, and very qualitative
writing boards for a very good price which is impossible to get anywhere else except in
China. I was amazed by the huge offers. My main task on this 3 day trip was to translate from
English to Serbian for my cousin whose English is limited. I have made a big advantage of
my English skills. After 2 weeks waiting time, we have received the things ordered including
the writing boards and school equipment. However, the school equipment was in very bad
condition and mainly damaged. In this scenario a replacement order, compensation or
11. 11
discount should be received. Nevertheless, the damage has happened during the transport and
the supplier is not obliged by the contract to bear the costs for it. So these defect products
could not be sold. This was the first time in my life that I have seen how risky business can
be.
Financial Department
During my internship at TG Commerce, I have also participated in the financial department as
an intern. Though my IBS studies are mostly business related, I was interested in gaining
financial experience that could one day help me in my own entrepreneurship. Since the
company has only 50 employees, financial department consisted of financial director and one
chief accountant.
My role was to assist financial director in day to day business to get a glimpse of the major
tasks they deal with on a daily basis. Since this is a small company where employees of
different hierarchy levels are mutually “chained”, everything was much easier. Therefore I
assisted financial director in duties, such as attending meetings with the owner and heads of
other sectors within the company. I have also attended the meetings with the bank executives
TG Commerce had relationship with and strategic partnership on some projects.
As I was so called “right hand” of financial director, I did fulfil all the requests director
delegated to me.
Some of those duties were wiring transfers over to the suppliers and checking if the payments
made by the customers were paid in the contracted time span. Having an opportunity to be
close with the banking terms, I have experienced how some financial aspects could have a
high importance of the continuous flow of business, such as exchange rate differences that
occur in Serbia due to high fluctuation of the Euro value to the Serbian Dinar.
I was also brought closer by the tax issues the company dealt with, and how high importance
tax aspect is to successful business running. It is interesting that the efficient tax scheme
delivered by the company management and getting up to that information by the new
regulations could improve tax savings by 23.5%, cited by the financial director of the
company. Moreover, we had external consultants, auditing company “Deloitte”, which
12. 12
improved our business with several consulting services, such as tax consulting and financial
advisory.
Finally, I thing that financial department has opened my eyes in terms of other, much passive
and back office work of the company that is essential for the successful business flow.
Human Recourse
In my Internship journey I have spent also some time in the Human recourse department. My
function was to assist the HR manager Igor Tomov. Mainly I have helped him with choosing
new applicants, by analysing there CVs. The most appreciated applicant is the one with a
good background and working experience. In the HR I have learned how and interview should
be done. Which I find is very important when I am going to apply for my future job. I know
exactly what is what an HR manager wants to see and hear during the Interview.
For example self-confidence, being friendly and polite is a must.
In addition it is a job where social skills are required and where you have to be in a good
relation with all the employees, which can be a challenge sometimes.
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Conclusion
To sum up I have spent my internship TG Commerce which is a company that supply’s Serbia
with office equipment. I have worked there during summer for all together 11 months.
This was a time I for sure do not regret because of the various benefits I got. First of all I got
more mature; I have learned a lot of new things I am interested at. I am proud of myself
because I worked and not like my friends who were just relaxing. I got also more self-
confident.
In addition I have met a lot of new interesting people with whom I can share similar interests,
and of course If I have not worked in TG Commerce maybe I would not have the opportunity
to visit China.
Moving from different departments gave me a global picture of how a company is organized
and how it functions in practice.
In addition I have also found myself in the sales department where I loved having personal
contact with the clients and now I know approximately what I am going to do after I have
finished my studies at IBS.
However the marketing department was also very interesting to me getting costumers buying
our products.
I have really enjoyed the felling of success and when my colleges and costumers were
satisfied with me this gave me a very strong feeling of joy.
I have always questioned myself which life is better the life of a student or the life of an
employee. I came to the conclusion that the life of an employee is much better because of
larger motivation and more self-respect.
The Internship in TG Commerce was interesting and a very good experience I can only
recommend to everybody.
