UCU School of Business

A REPORT ON INTERNSHIP ATTACHMENT CARRIED OUT AT VVSAOL INVESTMENTS

BY: Julia Ahumuza Byaruhanga S18B41/146

Agency supervisor: Ms. Desire Kansiime

Academic supervisor: Dr. Dan Ayebare

Internship Report presented to the school of business for the partial fulfillment of a bachelor’s
degree in procurement and logistics management at Uganda Christian University, Mukono

Date; 1st November 2021

Declaration
 I Julia Ahumuza Byaruhanga affirm that this report is founded on the experience
and knowledge attained during my internship. Consequently, it is not a replication
or imitation of any other report. I have personally carried out the internship as
required and all the data enclosed in it is built on my experiences during the
internship engagement and has never been presented to any university for
examination with intention to be awarded.

 Signature ……………. (student) Date: 04/11/2021

 Signature………………(academic supervisor) Date ……………….

 Acknowledgement
 I could not have accomplished this internship short of the aid, love, and provision from a
profusion of people. First and foremost, I would like to thank the school and staff of the
School of Business for all of their help and support. I especially would like to thank my
academic supervisor Dr Dan Ayebare who provided the needful direction, leadership and
information needed to complete this report. I would also like to thank the management of
VVSAOL Investments for allowing me to work and learn in their organizations and
treating me as one of their own. I obtained contributory knowledge, and developed
immeasurably as an individual. Immense gratitude goes to my family for the financial and
emotional support during my internship period. To everyone involved at large including
classmates and friends, thank you very much for your reliability.
Approval

 Signature (Agency Supervisor) Date: 04/11/2021

 Signature…………………(academic supervisor) Date………..

Chapter 1
 1.1 Overview of organization or entity

VVSAOL Investments started in September 2009. This company mainly deals in procurement
& supply of the following; office equipment, stationary consumables, protective wear, medical
products and laboratory reagents office equipment, protective wear election materials non
medical products and solar equipment. They mainly operate in the medical sector. It is situated
in Kampala Uganda at the serena conference center with two head directors Mr. Benjamin
Kiiza and Mrs. Ainebyoona Oliver. Vvsaol investment exhibits the highest level of
professionalism by ensuring customer satisfaction and goal oriented delivery. In its 12 years of
existence, Vvsaol has expanded from being small by building remarkable clientele base
ranging from public supplies, non government organization contracts as well as corporate
firms. Ministry of Health, National Medical Stores, and National Drug Authority being their
core clients.
 1.2 The issue of internship engagement or internship problem

Vvsaol investment in all its years of existence lacks an operations manual. An operations manual
acts as an encyclopedia for the business. It basically would inform clients, employees, and other
stakeholders all there is to know about the business. This form of insightful document would act as
an employee handbook whilst providing details of company information. Upon reaching Vvsaol, it
was hard for me to know exactly what the company dealt in as this information was not provided
even on their website. It took about two weeks of working for me to have an idea of the kind of
service the company offers. I observed that the employees did not have a reference point for their
work, therefore it was had to base their results on anything. Even still you can only get well
acquainted with the operations of the business if you have had a long term experience with the
company. I would say of about 2 years and more. Even though employees would complete their
tasks, it was difficult to track their efficiency and compare it to the standards of the company.
 1.3 Relationship between internship problem and course of study

Being an International Business and Management student, I have studied and know the
importance of having an operations manual. It is a company portfolio of sorts that introduces a
client and any other concerned party to the entirety and nature of the business. Without it, it is
extremely difficult to manage the staff as they have no standards of procedure. In any business,
it is possible to need quick answers and guidelines to a challenge along the way which may
only be found in the operations manual. International Business as a course educates that small
businesses to big firms must notate business hierarchy, job descriptions, company policies,
contact information, and business procedure. By specifying the fore mentioned information
and parties engaged in a specific assignment, you keep everyone accountable for what they
ought to do. This form of accountability is a key aspect in reducing human error.
Chapter 2
 2.1 Description of the Internship activities

Working at Vvsaol was a true induction or orientation into corporate environment. I was
deployed in different tasks to help support employees achieve their day to day tasks. Although
their principles and tasks were preset, they welcomed my suggestions with both the theory and
practical knowledge I had.

Activities

• Posting financial transactions into the ACCAST system. ACCAST is an accounting system
similar to QuickBooks and tally commonly used that was locally developed for Vvsaol for
record keeping, making financial reports, and tracking inventory.

• Participation in the preparation of bids whereby we delivered some to National Medical

Stores. Administration work had me printing, photocopying, binding and filing bids and
• Managing office imprest with the administration assistant. This involved me managing office
expenses accordingly on a weekly basis. Expenses such as stationary, utilities, and other
office necessities.

• Being covid 19 times, some interactions such as communication with suppliers and other
meetings were conducted via zoom calls. However sustaining rapport with customers such as
ministry of health would require frequent visits most especially during the delivery of
gumboots.

• Between my agency supervisor and fellow colleagues, we would often sit down to
brainstorm on marketing strategies, particularly how we would set apart our products and
increase sales which was obstructed by the lower prices in the black market.

• I enthusiastically participated in the refabrication of the company website with the head of IT
as it had a lot of missing information
 2.2 Methodology used to address the problem

• I was able to prepare this report and the problem at hand on the basis of experience at the work
place and my own understanding and learning provided to me throughout my course of study.
I was able to gather primary data through examination of tasks, interviews and discussions, as
well as secondary data already provided by the organization such as the certificate of
incorporation and the human resource manual and intricate study of prevailing files.

Primary data

• One on One interview with key informants. During my course of internship I was able to have
sit down interviews with the two directors, head pharmacist, and the administrative assistant.
Upon giving me their consent to conduct these interviews, I asked them about their position in
the company, their years of experience working in the company, how employee performance is
appraised and on what basis, how they market themselves to their clients and how their results
align with the mission and vision of the company.
• Through focused group discussion I was able to sit down with staff members from the
accounting department, compliance department, operation/field department, as well as the
administrative department to discuss about their experience working at Vvsaol and to
acquaint myself with a few of the challenges they face. I was able to decipher their
attitudes, views, and opinions through this open discussion. What they all had in common
was the strain of not having a reference or basis for them to always look back to when they
encounter a problem during their course of work. There was particular emphasis on not
having tangible information to rely on or even share. One employee said “When someone
asks me what does Vvsaol do?, I wouldn’t know where to begin.”

• I attended the weekly general meeting every Monday and observed how concerned the
director was upon not having a clear strategy outline in document form by use of an
operations manual. He urged his employees to research on the current customer insight and
industry trends for better vision.
 2.3 Solution to problem

The need for an operations manual has been brought to the attention to the directors of Vvsaol
Investments. As of the month of October 2021, Mr. Benjamin Kiiza (Director) tasked his staff
members to brainstorm on ideas/strategies that can be implemented in the documentation of
the operations manual. Strategy will be based on leveraging data from experts and
stakeholders through industry trends and customer insights.

As that is being set up, an insightful website should be projected for outsiders to obtain
information on the operation of the company. This would help people to know who VVSAOL
is in depth.
 2.4 Lessons learnt (skills, experiences and other competencies)

The daily engagement with the ACCAST system enabled me to learn financial management
through the bank account tracking, expense management, invoicing processes, budgeting and
accounts receivables/payables.

I learnt good communication skills and professional etiquette through the interaction with our
clients at VVSAOL. It is through our weekly meetings and virtual meetings with other
stakeholders that I was able to polish my literacy and interpersonal skills. I gained confidence
with the task to chair some of the meetings within my assigned department.

I had the opportunity to go to the field a couple of times and through this experience I could
notate and see how equipment is gotten of the ship, to the container at the storage house, and
transported all the way to the client for offloading.
 Skills continued

I learnt how to formulate bids and present them. This enabled me to also learn how to place
purchase orders internationally.

Throughout my internship I was able to acquire knowledge about the procurement process and
supply chain management and how the clearances move before the supplier is eventually paid
against the delivery invoice. I learned how to accurately verify the supplied products and create a
goods received letter based on the supplier's invoice and the organization's purchase order. This
was supported by involving me in the supplier selection process to know how it is conducted.

Most importantly I learnt how to work in a team and how to balance our strengths and
weaknesses amongst each other.
 2.5 Limitations

• Most of the company information is highly confidential, so it was a bit limiting to gather
all the credible material which would have been helpful.

• The time to meet and discuss was somewhat limited because the members of staff were
busy, most especially because it was a period of delivery, and they are also quite a few
members; one employee per department. Time was also an issue due to the rush office
operating hours.

• The ACCAST system was complicated to use to a certain extent due to the fact that it is the
first of its kind within the company, therefore when we faced certain challenges, we had to
always call the developer and wait for his guidance which would halt the speed and
process of work.
 Limitations continued

Small office space has hindered the organization's ability to recruit volunteers in various areas
of operation. Often a times, I had no where to sit, which would sometimes keep me a distance
from my supervisor.
Chapter 3
 3.1 Reflection on internship

The internship program provided a real life work environment for me to apply my academic
knowledge gained from the university. Being a procurement and supply chain management based
company, Vvsaol’s main service is centered around the importation of medical consumables,
products and laboratory reagents. Under their employment I was able learn the importance of
good international business communication between clients and suppliers to help maintain
sophisticated business dealings. Business to client relationship and customer satisfaction/behavior
was majorly influenced by the quality of service provided. The opportunity to go to the field
allowed me expand my knowledge and see the practicality of the desk work prior. I pioneered
working the ACCAST accounting system for the company in which I was able to learn different
financial and accounting processes through making financial reports and forecasts. The fact that I
was not limited to one task or department enabled me to engage and learn different skills.
 3.2 Recommendations

VVSAOL Investments is operating fairly well, most especially during this Corona virus pandemic.
Despite the pressure of meeting deadlines with just a limited number of staff, the company is in
fact looking to acquire more clients and branch out into more procurement and supply of medical
equipment.

I would like to further recommend the following;

There should be rigorous regulations about the delays caused by producers’ unprofessionalism
/incompetence, such that if they request an extension of the intended period, they must compensate.
This is because for a certain period, goods were held which delayed VVSAOL to transmit them to
their clients.

There should also be a sustainable way of insuring the equipment. The current company that
VVSAOL uses for insurance is very negligible.
 Concerning the issue of inadequate office space, the organization should establish new
structures because it has enough room for expansion to suit all employees and interns.
 3.3 Conclusions

This report is a detailed overview of my internship journey at Vvsaol Investments. This

opportunity taught me about procurement and supply chain management, financial management,
marketing and strategy development. My engagement in the company has introduced me to
imports process; from the time a bid is submitted to when goods arrive in the country. Through
working in a corporate environment I enhanced my interpersonal skills and my level of
professionalism. I was highly motivated by the appreciation I was receiving from my agency
supervisor and fellow colleagues. I am grateful for the opportunity I had to practically see how
procurement and supply chain works and is evolving in Uganda most especially during such covid
19 times. Although this report has been written in a short period of time, I was intentional everyday
at the workplace, performing to the best of my ability to ensure I provide a well reflected report of
my time at Vvsaol Investments.
 Conclusion continued.

I am exceptionally grateful that I was given the opportunity to intern at VVSAOL investments
and I intend to continue to bring the teamwork attitude that I have developed to the workplace
where I will be assigned a job in the future. Improve my competencies such as the
communication skills I acquired and be able to use my efficiency in the performance of
procurement activities while keeping value for money in mind. I aim to apply the negotiation
skills I learned throughout my internship when carrying out various procurement
responsibilities allocated to me and in my own commercial operations. After studying and
adhering to the rigorous reporting time, I intend to become an excellent time manager.