Next to Succeed

OUR 2015 INTERNS EXPERIENCE

David Wright's Next to Succeed Experience

David Wright's Experience, 2015 Next to succeed intern

The intern

David Wright, MBA student, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto

The project

During his internship, David was responsible for three major projects

  • Organize and participate in a three-day meeting for company leaders to develop a 10-year strategic growth plan. This project involved researching relevant market intelligence, competitor information and internal operation reports in order to participate in the development of this important plan.
  • With each company head, the COO and the CFO, develop a detailed yearly forecast for the next five years for each country where the company operates, and define tools to achieve measurable goals with regards to strategic planning.
  • For the company’s BioCircle line in Canada and the United States, analyse the customer list and develop a tool to understand the cost structure for service of this business line and how it differed by region. Then, develop a new offer structure that would allow to better serve the customers while making the business less costly for them and more profitable for Walter.

The benefits for the company

All three projects are new initiatives for the company and are now important parts of the business on a daily basis. For instance, the 10-year strategic plan is the first thing discussed in executive monthly meetings and lays out specific tasks to be accomplished by each country team to achieve the long-term goals. All of David’s projects were positively received by the management team.

The intern’s learning

David learned that each day, leaders are bombarded with urgent but less important tasks that keep their attention in the present. One of the challenges he found for management in any company is to keep the team strategic and focused on the long term. Management must empower their teams to handle the daily activities and keep their focus on making good long-term decisions.

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Cyril Tremblay's Next to Succeed Experience

Cyril's Tremblay Experience, 2015 Next To Succeed Intern

The intern

Cyril Tremblay, Chemical Engineering student at Polytechnique Montréal, Université de Montréal

The project

When Cyril started his internship, the company was finalizing its passivation tester, a portable probe that measures the invisible barrier that keeps stainless steel from oxidizing or rusting upon contact with its environment. This is a new and unique tool on the market. The technology works with a smart phone app and allows the user to keep test data in a cloud. Of course, like most technologies, its use required some explanation. Cyril was charged with developing educational materials, both for marketing and end user purposes. He also helped test the app and the Web site to spot bugs and fine-tune the tools.

The benefits for the company

Having an intern work on this project brought a new set of eyes to it, as the company had been working on this for a few years. The intern was able to confirm that the interfaces were clear and make good recommendations as to how to improve the product. His contribution and the fact that he took charge of the educational material definitely allowed Walter to deliver a high quality final product within the timeline required. The launch had been planned at the end of August - a goal that would not have been easy to attain without his help. And customers seem to appreciate the product and understand how the technology works, thanks to the educational material developed by Cyril.

The intern’s learning

In addition to learning about the treatment of metal surfaces, Cyril's internship gave him the opportunity to work in a lab environment and experiment with passivation, a concept that isn't being taught in his program. The hands-on demonstration of passivation and the way the tester works to measure it helped him better understand what would be the basis of the educational material he was asked to develop.

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