Possible detailed questions for the internship report

Master Programmes in
SALES 4.0 |International Sales Management,
International Sustainability Management
Sustainability Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Strategy and Digital Business
International Food and Beverage Management

The report should have 20 pages +/- 10% (excluding appendices) and must
contain 3 major parts:

1. Description of the company and its environment

 Including background information on the
sector and business environment of the max. 6 pages
company

2. The internship projector task(s) •

 Description
 Differences between prior agreements and
max. 6 pages
actual tasks?
 Relevance of tasks in the overall organisation

3. Personalanalysis
 Critical reflection upon tasks
 Useful, aspiring?
 Reflection of company and tasks in view of
theoretical knowledge acquired throughout the
programme
 How should such a
company/department/processes work in your
opinion? min. 8 pages
 Critical reflection of theoretical knowledge
 How useful was it for your work?
 The internship’s contribution to your
professional development
 Better understanding of the sector,
company organization, opportunities and
limits or other relevant aspects?
 Personal skills acquired?

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The student is free to change the titles or the three major parts, or to add
other parts which he/she considers useful (such as an introduction or a
conclusion).
The questions presented in the following text are given as an
inspiration.

 What legal form does the company have? What executive bodies does it have?
What is their composition? How do they work together? Is there any one-sided
concentration of power?
 What specific business advantages and disadvantages does the company’s
location (do the company’s locations) have? Are there any compellingly better
alternatives to the current location? To what extent and in which direction has the
range of products or services changed or shifted in the past decade? With which
goals in mind were the changes in range and/or location made?
 How have the company’s earnings developed in recent years? Are the reasons for
especially striking developments? How are middle and long-term prospects for
earnings judged and explained (for the sector as a whole, for certain market
segments)?
 Have you requested to see one or more annual reports of your company? Where
do you find information about the activities of your field of work or your
department? What conclusions do you draw from the analysis of these company’s
reports about the company as a whole and about your department?
 What competition does the company face, e.g. in the German market (market
share, key competitors); in the major EU markets (market share, relevant
competitors); in the major overseas markets, e.g. USA, China (market share, main
competitors); and in the world market?
 What are the factors that especially influence the future prospects of the
company? Are there significant company-specific and/or sector-specific risks and
opportunities?
 Is it possible to study the company’s constitution or rules? What aspects of
corporate activity are laid down in them?
 What consequences of the company’s constitution or rules do you see for the
management of its corporate culture? How would you define its corporate
culture?
 Is there something like a corporate identity? If so, how is this perceived and
expressed by the company’s employees? Are there certain rituals which are quite
typical of the company? What was your perception of them?
 How is the company’s structure organised (e.g. functional or divisional
organisation, management staff offices)? On what grounds is the existing
organisational form either necessary or outdated?
 Describe your company’s internal and external networks! How many players do
you identify? How are these connected to each other? Is your company equipped
for the future with sufficient negotiating power to face suppliers and customers?
Carry out a five forces analysis!
 What are relations with stakeholders like? Do shareholders receive preferential
treatment? Is there something like active stakeholder management?
 How many subsidiaries does the company have and where are these listed? Were
these once Greenfield Investments? Outline their development!

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 What forms of cooperation exist with other companies? What advantages and
disadvantages arise for the company from this cooperation? Are there specific
opportunities or risks?
 What allocation strategies has the company pursued in recent years?
 How is the company’s planning concept put together (operative or strategic
planning, planning calendar, contribution of senior management to the
planning)?
 What are the basic principles of the company’s human resource policy? Are these
put into practice? If so, how?
 Do job descriptions exist in the company? What are their components? How are
job descriptions assessed, fulfilled, reviewed and subsequently (not) fulfilled anew
by senior management and employees actually doing the jobs?
 What is the structure of the workforce like? What reasons have led to the current
structure? How will it develop in future? Are the employees content?
 What style of leadership is propagated within the company and how is the
company actually led? What specific comments and/or behaviour characterise the
leadership style of line managers and superiors? Do principles of leadership exist
in written form and, if so, what are they like?
 What are the principles used for determining wages and salaries (e.g. results of
evaluating work and achievement)? Are agreements on set targets always
honoured?
 What social benefits does the company grant? On which requirements (pressures)
and circumstances is the specific catalogue of company benefits based?
 Does the company have a pension scheme for the employees? What policy goals
does the company pursue by having one?
 Does the company have a profit-sharing or stock-ownership scheme for its
employees? What are the features of the scheme? For which groups of employees
does such a scheme exist? How high have participation rates been in recent
years?
 Does an employees’ suggestion scheme exist in the company? What are its
features? How often is it made use of? In which areas do specific problems lie?
 Are there quality circles, job-rotation schemes or even a Kaizen philosophy
integrated into company processes with a specific set of tools for practice?
 What in-house training courses are provided? Which special areas are focused on?
To what extent do employees take advantage of opportunities offered to them for
further training?
 How is the system of regular in-company staff assessment organised? What
criteria are used in the assessment? In what intervals do assessments take place?
What are the underlying goals of staff assessment?
 Does the company have corporate career plans for nurturing new generations of
managers?
 What is the company’s international human resource policy? Do certain criteria
exist for selecting staff to send abroad? Which problems arise here? How long is
the average stay abroad? Which schemes are in place for the reintegration of
expatriates?
 What prospects do young university graduates have in the company? Are there
graduate trainee programmes?
 What starting salaries are paid?
 What is the fluctuation rate like in the company? Are any special rates to be found
among certain groups of employees?
 What absentee rates are typical for the company as a whole and for individual
groups of employees? What causes are given for these absentee rates?
 What significance do labour costs have for the company’s cost structure?
 In what sort of numbers have employees been made redundant through
rationalisation measures over the last ten years? Was it possible to find work for
these employees in other parts of the company?

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 How can employees participate in company decision-making processes (e.g.
through co-determination of works councils or presence on the supervisory
board)? Are there key issues of conflict between management and employees?
 What long-term trends does the company forecast for its key markets? Which
trends are forecast by other market players, the press or independent analysts?
Name future markets and the market processing strategy pursued for these
markets and give your views!
 What is the company’s main marketing strategy like? Are there striking
differences when compared with major rivals? Describe the essential components
of the international marketing mix and its country-specific features!
 What percentage of its products does the company export and where do the foci
of its export business lie (e.g. which groups of products, which foreign markets)?
What are the reasons for different export success in different countries? Who are
the sales agents abroad? What margins are sales agents granted at the trading
level?
 What are the typical distribution channels for the company’s products? What
other forms of market processing are used? What reasons can be given for this
distribution policy?
 As part of its policies on price, product, distribution and communication does the
company make any differentiation according to place, time or customer groups?
 Which market segments of which markets are processed? How are these
segments specifically defined and which criteria are used to divide markets into
segments?
 What target-market and timing strategies were pursued when entering new
markets?
 With regard to individual products, does your company have any special ideas
about their “phase“ in the product life cycle, or about their position in a BCG
matrix, an experience curve, an integrated benchmarking concept, etc.?
 How would you characterise the company’s key advertising methods? Which
design elements and which advertising media are used? How high are advertising
costs (also as a percentage of turnover)? What effects does the advertising
produce in your opinion? Give reasons!
 What partnerships and shareholdings exist for the company? What consequences
arise from this for its short and long-term corporate policy, as well as for it to
continue as an independent company?
 How is the company’s equity spread? What capital structure policy does the
company pursue? What consequences arise from the present shareholder
structure (e.g. for the decision-making process in the company)? How great is the
threat potential of individual shareholders?
 Describe the company’s capital procurement policy. Which criteria have been
crucial in recent years in decisions on financing? Was the company “optimally”
financed?
 Have you reflected on the current situation of your company with regard to costs
and earnings? How profitable is it? What do you think of the levels of ROI, ROE,
ROS, EPS, DPS, TIR, etc. or your own selected growth rates?
 How has the net income of your company been used over the past decade? What
arguments are there for and against a certain dividend payout policy? Would you
recommend buying these shares?
 Have you considered the company’s liquidity structure? What is your judgment of
the liquidity balance, current and acid test ratios, also taking account of further
fundamental information?
 How does the company’s cash management operate? How do pooling and
clearing processes take place?
 Does the company make use of the possibility of leasing? For which objects and
on what grounds?

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 Are there great differences between the company’s financial structure and that of
its major competitors in the sector? What reasons are given for these differences?
 What is the company’s balance sheet like? What capital structure ratios are there
(e.g. the ratio of own capital to borrowed capital, or of long-term borrowed capital
+ own capital to fixed assets)? Carry out a detailed ratio analysis for the whole
company, as well as for areas which you find particularly interesting.
 Does the company have an adequate accounting system as a monitoring and
steering instrument and as an instrument to provide information for senior
management, the state, shareholders and creditors?
 Is the company’s profit and loss accounting broken down into programmes,
product groups, departments, workforce groups, etc? Are certain areas regarded
as profit centres, service centres or competence centres? Are contribution margins
analysed? How are the results of these analyses specifically used?
 What accounting rules are applied by the company? HGB (German), IAS
(international), US-GAAP? In your opinion, how will this look in ten years time?
 Does the accounts department have subsections like administrative accounting,
cost accounting, operations statistics, an analysis and planning section, a loans
and participations monitoring section, a reports and information section?
 How is the costing of key products of your company structured? What costing
concept is used, and on what grounds?
 What role does Research and Development play in the company? What
percentage of turnover (or profit) is invested in R & D? Which way have “make or-
buy” decisions been taken in recent years? Which locations are given preference
for R & D and on what grounds? How are staff and financial resources allocated
between parent company and subsidiary?
 What data processing systems are used? In which special, company-specific areas
is the computer used to your knowledge? What is your estimate of the company’s
investment in data processing infrastructure in recent years?
 Which knowledge that you have acquired at ESCP Europe do you need in your
internship? In view of your specialised knowledge and social competence, are you
underqualified, adequately qualified or overqualified for the work you do?
 Which business and management theories are regarded in your company or in
your area of work as being useful?
 Which business and management methods do you know which, from your point
of view, could or ought to be used as alternatives? Discuss the advantages and
disadvantages of the working procedures actually in operation as well as the
alternative procedures, and draw up concrete alternative proposals.
 Discuss whether and, if so, to what extent the experience gathered during your
internship has helped you to gain a better understanding of the knowledge
acquired in the theoretical part of your studies.
 Compare your practical experience while on internship with what is written in the
relevant literature on business and management. Are there textbooks or books on
this company which in your opinion ought to be rewritten?