Hi!!!!!!
My name is Le Thi Phuong
I am a second-year student in MBA program of the Vietnam – Japan University (VJU). The first year studying at VJU has brought me many challenges, such as the purely English curriculum, the intensive curriculum from many famous international universities, the liberal education method, and so on. However, all of these challenges provided me with a solid stepping stone into my internship.
Usually, you would think the internship is that the students will be assigned to the apprenticeship company and make the internship report, right? At VJU, you will have different experiences. My internship besides going to an internship company, I was also allowed to take part in courses organized by an affiliated university in Japan, Yokohama National University (YNU). Through the lectures, I have gained a deeper understanding of business operations, business management as well as the business environment of enterprises. From there I was able to associate and apply the knowledge that I learned in the internship program in business. In addition, I have been able to take some field trips, I get to visit companies, many of which are leading in different fields such as recruitment, market research, IT. Finally, there is a weekly seminar with instructors to find pathways for graduation thesis. Sounds are very hard, doesn’t it? But the hard work will bring great values. Today, I will tell you deeply about an interesting part of my internship semester, which is my 2-month internship at the Corporate Strategy Department (CSD) of Sapporo Vietnam Limited Company.
My internship is the period when learners gain practical experience to prepare for a new job. Internships help me master professional soft skills such as communication, punctuality, and time management. These are key skills to succeed at work. Workplaces mentor help and train me and advise me on how to navigate their workplace cultures and interact with other workers. In addition, I can practice and improve their industry skills while learning to work effectively.
While I was learning at University, I had a question for myself that is “Do I have a clear understanding of what companies are doing?” Perhaps, the answer is “not yet”. However, at my internship period, I learned the roles and responsibilities of a particular profession directly from the people working in the related fields. For example, what types of projects do they work on? What skills and knowledge do they need to perform this job? Where do they study? I have gained all the above benefits with a two-month internship at Sapporo Vietnam Limited Company.
I took an internship in the Corporate strategy department, which was a very valuable opportunity for me. I was trained in the culture and operation strategy of the business from the very first days. I assisted the strategy department staff in coming up with new ideas for the company’s operations. I received enthusiastic support from my colleagues to get along quickly and keep up with everyone’s work. The job list I received on the first working day is as follows:
(1) Study and understand SVL regulation & information
- Some SVL main regulation
- CSD Manual
- Sapporo information (Sapporo Book etc.)
(2) Research job
- Market information research（Macro Data、Competitor Data, Consumer insight report etc.）
- Support to Ms.Thanh on FDG project
- Study about some reports (Brand health check etc.)
- Study on Gmap tool and research potential outlet online and provide the list to SD (cooperate with SSD)
(3) Internal PR job
- Support Ms. Thanh to prepare letters
- Internal survey (Innovation Mail etc.) (4) Strategy: Prepare some business strategy.
Through my internship, I understood the duties of the department’s staff in a production and commercial business as follows:
- Factory: Research and develop, cut costs, build a new system, find the value of Sapporo premium Beer (SPB) in accordance with the cuisine, propose product packaging to match the beer image of joy.
- Administration: Create an easy environment for internal communication and exchange (internal events, offices, free seating positions, activities that other companies have not done, and so on), cut spending fees
- Accounting: Build new systems, build profit-generating mechanisms (increase selling prices, target students, control finance), cut costs
- Marketing: Build a new system, communicate with Factory and marketing to cut costs – Personnel: Find talented people who love Sapporo and are interested in food, and like new things; build new systems.
- Corporate strategy: Propose programs and plans to follow IKKAN KEIEI (connect with cuisine, focus on celebrations, think a new way of selling, create a mechanism to share experiences into work, develop mechanisms to help to sell goods)
- Sales Department: Search and attack famous culinary outlets, food-related suggestions, suggestions related to celebrations, build trust with customers, handle in a way fast.
As a large corporation from Japan, in Sapporo, every employee is working under KaiZen (≒ innovation), there is always creativity towards more positive change for each individual and the entire enterprise. Here, the working method does not remain in a state for a long time. The employees are always creative to improve the quality of work to improve the quality of products and services and, to reduce operating costs. These continuous innovations have helped the company to cope with the challenges of the tough competitive environment during the period of rapid economic growth, along with the continuous development of technology and cultural-social changes. Sapporo Vietnam is a dynamic working environment, so the employees in Sapporo have a long-term commitment to accompany the development of the business. I was very surprised and delighted that the company has prepared such a professional internship. Besides, during my internship and research, I received enthusiastic support from my colleagues in the company. They helped me to have a deeper understanding of the Vietnamese beer market, a relatively new market to me. I have gained a lot of experience and knowledge in this internship. At the end of two months of internship from November 2, 2020 to December 31, 2020, I learned many new things, expanded my relationship with many people in a completely new field to me. I also found out my passion during this time and really excitedly greeted the opportunity to work in the near future.
Last but not least, I want to send my sincere thanks to Vietnam Japan University, the MBA program’s teachers who helped me to have this perfect practical internship. I also sincerely thank the leaders of Sapporo Vietnam Limited Company for giving me a valuable opportunity to practice in your company.
Thank you for reading my article.
Best regards!
Le Thi Phuong
These are some interesting pictures on December’s Beer Day at Sapporo Vietnam office.
