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The Importance of Good Systems

Andrew Tarawali
Class of 2005

Andrew Tarawali Class of 2005The expectations I had for an internship this summer included reinforcing knowledge from the classroom, earn some money, see what the real world is about, and keep myself busy during the vacation. BusyInternet Ghana Limited, a leading Information Communication Technology firm offered me an eight week internship in their Finance department. Although I had many fears and anxieties about the job, most of those fears disappeared within a few hours after I reported for my first day at work. The rest of my fears vanished as I met the staff, including the Human Resources Manager and the Finance Manager. I was briefed on the company's mission and culture as well as my job responsibilities, company procedures, and the software applications used in the company's operations.

From my meeting with the Finance Manager, I gathered my job responsibilities entailed preparing a Bank reconciliation statement for the six months from January to June, updating various databases such as their daily bank balance, and auditing the shift reports submitted by staff, ensuring they had tendered the correct amounts made during their shifts, and identifying any lapses in their business operations and financial procedures. To enable me effectively execute these responsibilities I under went job rotations between different business units in the company. My first positions as a cashier in the Copy Centre, which the Managing Director fondly calls "the pressure pot," taught me some practical lessons. For instance, offering superior customer satisfaction to the customer most times means using your wits and being very innovative. The best solutions for dealing with demanding customers can't be found in books. This job also offered me the unique opportunity to improve my communication skills and learn about job attitudes, although at times it could be very stressful. The only thing which made my week at the Copy Centre a little unpleasant had to do with the unfriendly attitude of a cashier, who seemed threatened by my presence.

The next job rotation, as a clerk and cashier at the Restaurant, was much more intellectually challenging. For instance it demanded a strong knowledge of accounting and management. My classes in Quantitative Methods, Managerial and Financial Accounting and even Marketing proved handy as they enabled me to fully comprehend the operations and procedures of the Restaurant. I had much more responsibilities as a cashier here, preparing shifts reports for the staff, doing the daily sales journals, inventory control, and recording daily quantities sold for each product line. I learned a lot about how to organize effective processes for running a business, which I believe will help me in the future.

Having spent two weeks in the Restaurant I returned to the Finance department where you could say the "real work" started. My main tasks consisted of preparing the Bank Reconciliation statements for January to June and at the same time auditing shift reports for the three business units which make money on a daily basis. On my second day in the Finance department I had a meeting with the Finance Manager and the Business Manager during which I expressed concerns and views on various observations from my first two job rotations. I had detected several flaws and loop holes in operations and financial processes which enabled certain unscrupulous employees to shortchange the company of considerable revenue. I made some recommendations on how to correct these problems, some of which I can proudly say have been implemented, and which I consider my biggest achievements during my entire internship experience. Through my efforts management decided to restructure and strengthen this process. Even though the work in the Finance department got very demanding, stressful, and frustrating especially when the reconciliation statement for a particular month wouldn't balance, I learnt that apart from being a very competitive person I'm also very resilient. I completed the 6 months statements two weeks ahead of schedule. To wit, I included a report which detailed all the Debits and credits not in company's cash book, which delighted the Finance manager very much.

Attending the company's General staff meeting - an informal, fun and interactive event - proved to be the highlight of my internship. The Busy Internet staff meeting stands in stark contrast to the norm of formal, uninteresting meetings that one so often finds in Ghana and Africa. One thing I believe I realized from this internship is that Ashesi's liberal Arts curriculum has really offered us a competitive advantage in Ghana's work environment by enabling us to think critically, be creative, innovative, and believe in ourselves. In a developing country like Ghana these qualities are very important and can help you stand out from the rest. I was not paid for my work; I worked mostly to gain the experience. I now realize that my work was very valuable to the company. Believe me; I'll be sure to negotiate a salary in the future.

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