My Experience Working at Muffin Bread Cafe - Personal Statement Example

INTERNSHIP REPORT Student Class: Study: Student no: Company: Job coach: Internship coach: Acknowledgement This opportunity wouldn’t have been possible weren’t it for Dan Smith the CEO Muffin Bread Café. Am grateful for the opportunity he granted to me work in his firm. The skills I have learned under his guidance will be of great importance as I look forward to joining the job industry. Jonathan Clerk the branch manager Muffin Bread Café Alton for taking the time to give constructive criticism to my work. Working with him on a day to day basis was enlightening as he showed me how to deal with issues in the café. Michelle Duchak my internship coach who gave me feedback on how I was doing. She also gave me tips on how to deal with different situations in a professional manner. Vanessa Westwick my mother, for her continued support and motivation. She has been my rock through the hard times and advised me to take up this internship when I wasn’t sure where to apply. Finally, I appreciate all the interns I worked with Jessica Le, Kristen Trejo, Nathaniel Meester and Penny Crawford. They were a great team to work with, and I enjoyed the times we spent together. Executive summary I am taking my bachelor’s degree in business management at the Harvard Business School. This being my third year, it’s a requirement that I have an internship experience during this year. The search for an internship opportunity landed me at Muffin Bread Café. I needed a managerial exposure and having been there before; I liked their service which meant the management had to be doing a good job. My other priority was a hands-on experience in an industry that is well structured so as to learn the chain of information. This report seeks to highlight my experience during the period I worked at Muffin Bread café. I’ll describe the activities I was involved in, the tasks and project we undertook. I will also seek to describe the objectives I had set and how this experience helped me achieve those objectives as well as the goals I had set out. TABLE OF CONTENT 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 6 2. ORGANISATION..................................................................................................................... 9 2.0. INTERNSHIP ORGANIZATION....................................................................................... 9 2.1. CULTURE, IDENTITY AND IMAGE……………………............................................... 9 2.2. PRODUCT AND MARKET SITUATION….................................................................... 11 2.3. SWOT ANALYSIS.............................................................................................................. 11 2.4. ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE................................................................................ 15 3 OBJECTIVES………………………………………………….............................................. 16 3.1 PLANNING………………………....................................................................................... 16 3.2 EXECUTION……………………………………………………………………………….16 3.3 EXPECTATION……………………………………………………………………………16 4. TASK, PROJECT AND ACTIVITIES……………………………………………………17 4.1 DAILY TASKS AND ACTIVITIES………………………………………………………17 4.2 PROJECTS………………………………………………………………………………….17 4.3 EXECUTION……………………………………………………………………………….17 4.4 RESULTS………………………………………………………………………….………..17 5. ASSESSMENT OF THE INTERNSHIP…………………………………………………..17 5.1 PROJECT…………………………………………………………………………………...17 5.2 EXECUTION……………………………………………………………………………….17 6 DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSIONS……………………….………………………….....17 1 Introduction to the company When I walked into the café that first Monday morning at 7 A.M, I was impressed to find it cleaned up, and the employees were getting ready to attend to the customers. From the flower pots that were at the entrance, to the furniture organization, everything was to detail (Maertz, Stoeberl & Marks, 2014, p. 123-142). The manager ushered me to his office and issued me with guided me through my roles during the period that I was going to be his assistant manager. I was pleased with the clear instructions issued and the duties that I was to perform. I was introduced to the employees who were kind enough to offer me help when I needed it. I noticed that the firm had a website, and a Facebook account where customers posted their feedback on service delivery. The café also posted offers they had for the week and new products they had prepared (Lang, & McNaught, 2013, p. 7-21). 2 Organization 2.0 Internship organization Muffin Break is a well-established firm that has strived to a venue for people to enjoy fresh coffee, delicious food and great service with friends. It has proved this by winning awards for its signature coffee blends and freshly baked products. Having grown from the first shop in Coolangatta in 1989 to multiple shops across Australia, New Zealand, India and the United Kingdom, Muffin Break has proven to be a mark of quality. Their slogan being “there is no break like a muffin break”. Source: http://www.muffinbreak.com.au/about-us/ 2.1 Culture, Identity and Image. Culture Muffin Break is well structured having different people who run and own franchises with the aim of maintaining same quality no matter the location of the franchise. Their main goals being: Be a reputable, reliable and trusted brand to deliver service to their clients in a warm and friendly manner offer irresistible, fresh ingredients Identity Muffin bread is built its brand both locally and internationally as a leader in the market of the retail food franchise. It has grown for the past twenty-six years to the brand it is today. Image The image of Muffin Break has been built from the feedback given by the franchise owners and the client feedback. “I opened this café business with my husband and have since been nominated in the annual Marketing Excellence Awards. It comes down to the training we received before opening.” Astrid Ford, Franchise owner. 2.2 Product and market situation Product situation Muffin Break is all about muffins and coffee. They offer a broad range of baked products that also include gluten free, low fat and weight watchers. Market situation Muffin Break qualifies to be a corporate market. The targeted market has a high demand for quality and an exceptional experience every time they visit the café. From the range of the products, it’s clearly shown that the targeted market is broad and not limited in any way (Regnanathan, Zainal, Abdul, & Chong, 2012, p. 180-191). 2.3 SWOT analysis A SWOT analysis is important in any organization and Muffin Break isn’t different. S strengths Years of experience in the market Signature product and services Competent management team and staff W weakness Lack of funds to open more shops to meet demand O opportunities Expansion to more states and opening of more franchises in the existing countries Diversion of the company to include other foods and beverages. T threads Competition from other coffee and muffin businesses 2.4 Organization structure Muffin Break by Dan Smith who’s the Chief Executive Officer is well structured and has created employment opportunities for many. I liked the way the management had opened up the door for its staff to come forward freely with any grievances. Off days were made available when an employee needed them. Despite the hierarchy, they worked together for a greater good. The management organized team building activities for its employees twice a year that fostered cooperation among them (Saxena, 2012, p. 78-103). 3 Objectives Working as an assistant manager, I set out to achieve two competency that would involve planning and execution of activities in the firm. 3.1 Planning For this, I set out to learn how they set their goals and achieve them. I aimed at taking a look on their mission and vision and with this focus on the goals set and see if the goals set will stir the firm to the direction their vision is. The second aspect in planning would be how the firm prepares its budget and the periods over which it is reviewed (Wasonga & Murphy, 2006, p. 153-163). 3.2 Execution In the execution, I focused on budget expenditure in reference to the budget set. Since employees manager relationship is a critical aspect of a business, I hoped to use the communication skills I had learned during my lectures and see how it affects the work performance (White & Fuller, 2002, p. 36-41). 3.3 Expectations I didn’t want to go through the internship just as a formality. I had hoped that my understanding of the job market will be made clearer even as my final day in college fast approaches. That would involve seeing how the chain of command is followed, that is, coordination of information from the main office to the employee through the branch manager (Hurst, Good & Gardner, 2012, p. 504-522). I also hoped to see how conflict resolution is put to play in the office and how grievances are addressed. 4 Task, project and activities 4.1 Daily tasks and activities During the internship, I had several duties assigned to me. They included; Getting stock of the deliveries made Inspection of the café to ensure cleaning has been well done Ensure the products are fresh and well baked Counting the money made at the end of the day Ensuring customer satisfaction 4.2 Projects During my internship, we had several orders for businesses that hired our services. We served their cooperate training tea break sessions. This involved larger scales of orders that needed proper planning to ensure both regular and the business customers were satisfied with our service. I had to manage the events team and ensure they delivered to the company’s standards (Smayling & Miller, 2012, p. 27-33). 4.3 Execution To achieve my daily tasks and activities as well as the projects at hand, I had to apply the knowledge I had acquired from my lectures. They may seem easy to someone reading them, but execution needed focus to achieve results (Thessin & Clayton, 2013, 790-811). When it came to deliveries, I had to cross check the contents brought to the purchase order, see that the quantity matched and the quality was nothing short of good. The cases where I had to deal with employees, communication skills were of importance (Smith, 2006, p. 331-332). These people have worked there for a while and taking orders from an undergraduate isn't something easy. I complimented every job well done pointing out how difficult it is to do what they do. They felt appreciated and this made it easy for me to recommend changes where I saw they needed to improve (Hynie, Jensen, Michael, Wedlock & Phipps, 2011, p. 45-56). 4.4 Results We had clients give us their feedback. Those who attended the cooperate training were impressed by our service. Some requested that we offer the service in the events that will come up later in the course of the year. We encouraged our customers to like our Facebook page and give feedback on the service as well as the coffee and muffins they had (Hergert, 2009, p. 9-13). We appreciated the compliments but the grievances were what I focused on so as to rectify the mistakes made (Moghaddam, 2011, p. 287-303). 5 Assessment of the internship Having set my objectives prior to the internship, I looked back to see if I had achieve them. 5.1 Planning I had set out to see how Muffin Break Café kept their vision alive. It is impressive to notice how they are able to keep this vision intact despite having different people running the franchises. The coordination by the main office and the management of the different branches was a leaf worth borrowing. When it came to the budget, the manager was keen not to go off the budget (Anonymous, 2010, p. 23). I had a look at the finance books during the time I was there and the opportunity to practice my business knowledge on balance sheets. 5.2 Execution I had visited Muffin Break before as a customer but working there was different from being a customer. I got to realize like any other customer service, it requires a lot of patience (Gault, Leach, Duey, 2010, p. 76-88). As a manager, I had to get the customer’s needs met without getting the employees to feel like too much was been asked of them. Communication skills were of essence while dealing with both parties. I liked the use of social media not only to get feedback but to get a venue to market new delicacies on the menu. The events that we had booked in to serve gave me an opportunity to exercise management on a large scale. I am pleased with the chances I got as they catapulted my growth in terms of being precise and effective. Initially, I made errors while carrying out my duties, but this changed over time, and the manager was impressed by my progress (Gore, 2008, p. 163). 6 Discussions and conclusions The past two weeks of my internship have exposed me to events that have helped me to grow and learn. Muffin Break café not only gave me the opportunity to practice what I have learned during my undergraduate period, but to develop myself as a person (Holyoak, 2013, p. 573-583). I am grateful to the people who took the time to see me through this period. I take back many lessons with me as I head back to college. I am a step closer to claiming as prepared for the job market. My fellow interns challenged my way of thinking in that we belong to the same peer group, yet some spoke of how they would open small businesses after college and how they would build it to what Muffin Break is today (Kim, Kim & Bzullak, 2012, p. 696-709). I would recommend Muffin Break to anyone looking to learn and improve their skills. You get to deal with people and at the end of the day, we end up working and living with people who have different characters. You also learn how to run manage the resources available to achieve results (Crumbley, Sumners, 2008, p. 54-58). I would also recommend to other organizations to establish websites and use all social media platforms to reach out to their client. People will easily comment on the quality of products and services online so keen attention should be paid about the social media pages (Carson & Fisher, 2006, p. 700-723). References 1. Regnanathan, S., Zainal A., Abdul, K., & Chong, L, (2012), Students’ perception of industrial internship programme, Emerald Group Publishing Limited. 2(3): 180-191 2. Saxena, K, (2012), Impact of internship on Management Students. Drishtikon Management Journal. 3(1): 78-103. 3. Hurst, J., Good, L., & Gardner, P, (2012), Conversion intentions of interns: what are the motivating factors? Education& Training, 54(6): 504-522. 4. Smayling, M., Miller, H, (2012), Job Satisfaction and Job Performance at the Internship Level, Journal of leadership, accountability and ethic. 9(1) 27-33. 5. Hynie, M., Jensen, K., Michael, J., Wedlock, J., & Phipps, D, (2011), Student internships bridge research to real world problems, Education & Training 53(1): 45-56. 6. Hergert, M. (2009), Student perceptions of the value of internships in business education. American journal of business education, 2(8):9-13. 7. Gault, J., Leach, E., Duey, M, (2010), Effects of Business Internship on Job Marketability: The Employer’s Perspective, Education & Training. 52(1): 76-88 8. Gore, G. (1968), The management internship, Academy of management journal (pre-1986). 11 (2): 163. 9. Carson, L., & Fisher, K, (2006), Raising the bar critically: students’ critical reflection in an internship program, Journal of management education. 30(5): 700-723. 10. Holyoak, L, (2013), Are all internships beneficial learning experience? An exploratory study, Education & Training. 55(6): 573-583. 11. Crumbley, D., Sumners, G., (1998), How businesses profit from internships, The internal auditor 55(5): 54-58. 12. Kim, E., Kim, K. & Bzullak, M, (2012), A survey of internship programs for management undergraduates in AACSB-accredited institutions. The international journal of education management. 26(7): 696-709. 13. Anonymous, (1960), Internship in management. Industrial management review. (Pre-1986) 2(1): 23. 14. Moghaddam, J M., (2011), Perceived effectiveness of Business Internships: Student expectations, experiences and personality traits, International journal of management 28(4): 287-303 15. Smith, P., (2006), Internships: A glance beyond the bedside. Nursing economics, 24(6):331-332. 16. Thessin, R., & Clayton, J., (2013), Perspectives of school leaders on administrative internship. Journal of educational administration, 51(6): 790-811. 17. White, S., & Fuller, W, (2002), Managing a student internship, The internal auditor 59(3): 36-41. 18. Wasonga, T., & Murphy, J, (2006), Learning from tactic knowledge: the impact of the internship, The international journal of educational management, 20(2): 153-163. 19. Lang, R., & McNaught, K, (2013), Reflective practice in a capstone business internship subject, Journal of International education in business, 6(1): 7-21. 20. Maertz, C., Stoeberl, Jr., & Marks, J, (2014), Building successful internships: lessons from the research for interns, schools, and employers. 19(1): 123-142 NB: TO THE CLIENT. KINDLY ATTACH THE COPY OF THE CONTRACT AND OFFER LETTER AND THE SUPERVISOR’S REPORT. Time table Days Morning Afternoon Evening Mon Receive deliveries Attend to customers Inspection Tue Check customer feedback Attend to customers Inspection Wed Receive deliveries Review expenditure Inspection Thurs. Attend to customers Attend to customers Inspection Fri. Receive deliveries Market new products Review returns Read More