A Report on Cooperative Education Experience at Flourish Imports Limited

A Report on Cooperative Education Experience at Flourish Imports Limited

Part 1: Reflection on the cooperative experience at Flourish Imports Limited

Introduction

Cooperative education is defined as an ordered means of combining experiences in classroom education with the practical aspects of a working environment. It is generally disambiguated as “co-op education,” and it has been hailed as one of the most effective means of achieving real job experience for learners. Recently, cooperative education has gained popularity as the most effective means of enabling young scholars transit successfully from the school environment into the corporate world. Just like internships and industrial attachments, it has been proven that cooperative education is a work-integrated training that should be emphasized in learning institutions as a means f preparing all learners for the job market to prevent cases where institutions produce half-baked grandaunts into the job market.

The effectiveness of cooperative education as a work-integrated training has been compared with that of related programs such as internships. One of the distinct features of cooperative education that set is apart from internships is the fact that it alternates a school term successively with a work term, in an organized manner. It also involves the establishment of a working partnership between the employer and the learning institution, something that is not common in conventional internships. Cooperative education is also distinct in the sense that it allows for the compensation of the learner with an agreed pay, with the ultimate objective being the enabling of the academic advancement of the student. Cooperative education has been heralded as one of the most effective means of preparing students in the technical disciplines for the work market. According to Herman Schneider, an engineer, classroom learning alone is inadequate in preparing students and that a form of work-related training is necessary for the streamlining of the transition between the classroom and the work environment

Cooperative Education at Flourish Imports Limited

The process of transitioning between the classroom environment and the job market has always been challenging for many students. In view of that, it was fundamentally critical for me to undertake a cooperative education program at Flourish Imports Limited. The experiences while undertaking the program were extremely important, and they dramatically changed my perception of the readiness for the job market. It has been argued that the experiences in cooperative education programs have unparalleled significance in preparing students for the challenges and opportunities that come about after school.

I have been undertaking my cooperative education at Flourish Imports Limited. The core business of Flourish Imports Limited is importing electronic accessories from China and selling online. Most customers come from New Zealand and Australia. The organizational structure of Flourish Imports Limited is a functional structure. It was founded on the ninth of July 2018; the company is still in infancy and currently has five employees.

My primary job is to reply to customer’s emails and answer their questions on Trademe. Sometimes I take charge of orders emendation, orders tracking, paying customs duties and ordering goods from the manufacturer overseas. The main task is communication with the customers. I found that there are plenty of practical difficulties to overcome in work. During Christmas, the number of orders increased sharply. The number of emails and messages has also increased. Some of the customers canceled orders or leave negative feedback to complain about our services because of the delay in replying to emails.

The experience at Flourish Imports Limited has greatly impacted my professional skills in the aspects of problem-solving and providing quality service. One of these experiences has been the way I have addressed complaints from customers. In-class work environment, one of the critical emphasis has been the importance of effective communication in a working environment and, to an extent, the need for these communication skills and interpersonal skills in a business environment. According to Bovée, Thill, and Raina, excellent verbal and written communication, combined with proper interpersonal skills, are vital for success while working in a business environment (2016). While success in a business environment as an employee does not come on a silver plate, it is even harder when working in a business that makes its sales online. This has provided an ultimate challenge since the start of my cooperative education program. After experiencing complaints from customers and loss of orders, I reflected on my work and found some tips to improve my work, which is related to my research topic. This experience has been fundamentally critical in enhancing my communication skills and appreciating some of the concepts learned in class on business communication. According to Boarcas 2017, It is clear that communication is the essence of life, and it is also essential in e-commerce (Boarcăs, 2017). Therefore, it is salient that all students in business-related courses pay keen attention to their communication skills and their interpersonal skills.

The lessons learned from the need for proper communication in a business environment, especially in the e-commerce industry, I have been able to come up with solutions on how to address some of these challenges. This hands-on experience cannot be learned in a classroom environment, but rather in work-related training for students. First, I have learned to be responsive in a timely manner. For e-commerce, time is an important competitive factor. The longer customers wait, the more likely we are to lose orders, it is necessary to reply to customers in the shortest time. Secondly, the knowledge of the product or service being dealt with is a critical element of enhancing proper communication, and hence business success in e-commerce. According to Bhattacherjee, knowledge of the details of products or services dealt within e-commerce is the most important factor in enabling customer service attendants to attend to all complaints in a swift and satisfactory manner (2000). The main job of customer service is to introduce the product and explain it in detail to the customer. Therefore, we must be very clear about the product in order to serve the customer well.

Another key aspect I have developed in during my cooperative education program is the familiarity with the online operating systems, for example, Trademe and Tradevine. For example, listing updates, order emendation and refund process. These operating systems, although, mentioned in class, have been made clearer to me through continuously using them while undertaking my duties. Although this may look insignificant in the ability to communicate efficiently with customers, it is still a key element in this regard. Keying in true data is a key component of the success in e-commerce. The establishment of a proper data entry and communication platform is fundamental for every e-commerce business (Yang, Pan and Shen, 2010).  While these concepts have been well articulated in class, my cooperative education experience has been key in understanding their working and significance in e-commerce business. These concepts are also key in understanding the customers and the different use ways to communicate with different people in order to recommend products based on their needs.

Personal development during my cooperative education

            For personal development, this job has improved my professional skills significantly. First, I have developed my knowledge of e-commerce companies and how they work. Conventionally, an e-commerce company consists of the marketing department, warehouse department and customer service department. Each part has their essential role. Furthermore, I have improved my language and communication skills. By communicating with clients and colleagues, I have improved my verbal and written language skills. It not only enhanced my English level but also developed my communication skills. I understand how to communicate effectively, for example, explain things in an easier way with minimal words. From this cooperation education, I also improved my working skills. I have learned how to relieve stress, communicate across cultures, become more confident at work, and be skilled in Trademe and Tradevine and understand how important these operation systems are in ecommerce

My experiences at the company have influenced me on how I would like to advance in my career. For future career planning, I wish I could develop further and improve my professional knowledge in international business professionals. on one hand, I hope I can participate in more different fields of work in future career in order to understand the culture of different organizations and exposure to more areas of knowledge. On the other hand, as I am now getting more familiar with ecommerce, therefore I hope I can have an opportunity to work for a larger company, such as Amazon or Alibaba, which I believe they can helps me broaden my horizons and I can gain more valuable experiences from these larger companies.

Part 2: Research report

Research Topic: A study on the importance of, and the ways to establish high-quality communication with respect e-commerce

Background information

The most important aspect of e-commerce business is the development of an effective product release strategy. To achieve this, it is essential that a proper communication strategy is developed. This is specifically fundamental in the sense that, despite developing an excellent business plan, the lack of a proper means of executing it could well be the reason for the failure of the business, and the presence of a proper communication system is an important as the availability of funds to start an e-commerce business. Having a clear picture on the communication strategy of an e-commerce business is essential in ensuring that the e-commerce business breaks even in the shortest time possible. This is not the only benefit of an excellent communication system as there are other benefits that accrue as a result. These include customer loyalty and customer satisfaction. According to Hsu, the presence of an effective communication strategy means that customer service attendants in e-commerce businesses are in a better position to serve the interests of the business and hence yield more success in the achievement of the business objectives (2008). While there numerous opportunities to learn on the concepts of proper communication in business during class work experience, my experience during the cooperative education program has effectively changed my perception on the concepts of effective communication, not only in e-commerce business but in all business ventures.

The social customer relationship management is one of the effective means of achieving a close contact with the customers of an e-commerce company. Social CRM means that the company has an effective social media strategy that can help achieve desired goals in terms of accessing and addressing customer related complaints over social media platforms. In today’s social media dominated society, it is impossible to ignore the role of the contacts between the customers and the company though social media platforms (Zarrella, 2009). Therefore, it is salient that all e-commerce companies develop effective tools of utilizing social media platforms for the benefit of the company in terms of achieving the desired business goals.

The availability of a live chat option and a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section has been argued as one of the most effective tools that can help ensure customer satisfaction in e-commerce businesses. According to a study conducted in 2013, e-commerce businesses with FAQ sections and live chat options had better records on the customer satisfacti9on index (Elmorshidy, 2013). Therefore, there is need for these businesses to adopt these techniques since mist of the staff in these businesses re deployed in the customer service portfolios.

Communications using the socal media platforms, live chat options, and prduct review sections have for long been viewed as the key elementals of effective communication. However, the customer- customer service agents communications are as important as these elements. This is because they involve the utilization of the customer service agents communication skills as well as the interpersonal skills of individuals deployed in the customer service departments.

Good communication is generally considered as one of the most essential ingredients of business success. Aside from encouraging strong interpersonal relationships between workers, it is also essential in enhancing the ease of service delivery for the business. This in turn improves the effectiveness in the implementation of the business objectives. Therefore, the implementation of particular tasks becomes easier and hence the realization of the set performance expectations.

Justification of research topic

The research topic in my study is about the consideration of the importance of, and the ways to establish high-quality communication with questions in e-commerce. Since 90% of my cooperation education assignment is customer service. Therefore, my research topic is related to effective communication. As an e-commerce company, we should pay attention to how to communicate with customers with high quality, which includes communication efficiency and the level of satisfaction of customer services (Boarcăs, 2017) .Communication, is the key factor in many types of company, which is also important to the traditional industry. However, in e-commerce, since both parties are trading remotely, buyers unable to get products right after payment. The trust between the customer and the company is essential. Effective communication helps to increase credibility, which contributes to the deal. Therefore, the customer service should promote the credibility by communication. According to Husain 2013, when interacting with someone from another culture, try to watch more, listen more, and speak less. Listen before you speak and learn before you act. (Husain, 2013) It can be found that listening is the first step in communication. We should listen carefully to the customers. Listening is one of the most straightforward secrets of customer service. Only by understanding the needs of customers can be better respond and provide assistance.

Communication problems identified

1. Employees ignoring texts and emails due to communication overload

One of the common cases of lack of communication ethics that I have come across during my cooperative education program has been employees ignoring texts and email as a result of a perceived information overload. Some of these employees claim to be busy handling phone calls from customers or performing other official duties.

2. Lack of listening

Another key problem that has been witnessed is the lack of proper listening by some of the employees of the company. Though these experiences have served to be extremely relevant in understanding the challenges in the job market, their role in shaping the success of Flourish Imports Limited has been specifically important to me. One of the key occurrences has been employees forgetting on the customer complaints on specific issues. Although this can be attributed to communication and information overload, it is rarely understandable on the side of the customer who expects excellent service.

3. Lack of coordination between employees

Effective communication can only be achieved if there is a proper coordination between the customer service department employees in e-commerce entities. This is largely due to the high number of expected enquiries on the product and service features by new or disgruntled customers. Although with current technology it is possible to have a proper digital coordination of the communication systems in an organization, laxity in the aspect of sharing information and recording customer complaints has been observed in the entity I have been working under the cooperative education program. In a dozen of occasions, I have been called upon by a customer to give a specific answer on a certain complaint, only to find myself awkwardly lacking on the specific answers for particular concerns.

4. Burnout as a result of constant communication

One of the cases I have noted extreme ignorance on its implications is the burnout of employees who are engaged in constant communication while addressing customer related issues. Though it is essential that the need of the customer are prioritized, it is essential that this is done with due consideration of the staff engaged. Personally, I have been occasionally faced with overloaded communication, in manner that I have to work beyond office time or even miss meals as a result. These kind of experiences are common, especially in e-commerce industries as employees struggle to meet customer demands.

5. Inability to facilitate an effective coordination of communication systems

While there are established communication systems in every business entity, there is always a tendency of customer service agents to deploy their personal communication devices and accounts for purposes of communicating with customers. This not only puts the communication strategy of the business in disrepute but also exposes the employees to possible confusion and loss of customer loyalty. Occasionally I have been called upon to act on customer concerns I am unaware of, only to find out that a fellow employee had made contact with the concerned customer over personal communication accounts.

Recommendations on solving communication problems in e-commerce business

According to Raymond 2011, like an e-commerce business, it is important to communicate the way customers prefer (Raymond, 2011). For instance, person A tends to use the telephone. And Person B could prefer to notify only by email. Therefore, it requires that the workers of e-commerce need to own different tool of communication. Gaining an understanding of the many tools available to you will help you reach each client in the format they are most accustomed to using (Metzger, 2007).However, the role of online communication and telephone communication are different. We need to analyze the differences between the two communication methods critically. Telephone communication is more formal than online communication, and it is closer to customers. The phone communicates is immediate. It requires an excellent communication skills and better understanding of the products. Online communication is more flexible, and people prefer in communication online rather than phone nowadays, especially in ecommerce, emails can be archived into folders and it is a way of recording the order information.

It is also important we use pre-sales as a way of communication. Everything about the products constitutes communication (Metzger, 2007). For example, I will have to check listing often to make sure the product description is correct. If there is any discrepancy between the picture and text, I will immediately correct it to prevent unnecessary trouble. Besides, Good product descriptions can reduce the communication time between customer service and customers (Unger, 2016). By reading a clear and complete product description, customers get most of information they need, this can significantly reduce the response workload of customer service and improve communication efficiency. For example, most customers are concerned about the shipping time of goods. Therefore, we have indicated the estimated shipping time at the bottom of our listing; this can reduce the frequency of questioning from the customers.

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