Introduction of Co-operative training program

This is my Co-operative Training, Program research report which details my experience at Aljomaih Automotive Company as an IT Support Clerk from 23/01/2010 until 31/03/2010. I worked in this company as a full-time worker, where I worked 40 hours per week, and during this full attachment, I worked approximately 400 hours. The senior of the It department in Aljomaih Automotive Company at my time of working was Mahmoud. Aljomaih Automotive Company engages in the sale of new and used cars. The company also offers spare parts and maintenance services; and provides various financing and leasing options. It serves customers in the Middle East and internationally. The company was founded in 1967 and is based in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. It has showrooms in Dammam, Riyadh, Jeddah, Buraidah, Tabuk, Aljouf, Hail, Shaqra, Madina, and Al Jubail. Aljomaih Automotive Company operates as a subsidiary of Al Jomaih Holding Co.

In my period of the cooperative experience my supervisor helped me very much. His name is Khaled Al Harbi, he is the IT department manager who is very educated, respectful, helpful, and whenever I face any problem he’s the one who helped me.

In this research report, I will highlight all my work experience gained here and also report how the working environment affected my character, what I liked and what I disliked. Introducing some of the few areas I had the responsibility in I will start with installing and configuring computer hardware, software, systems, networks, printers, and scanners. Also, I had the role of repairing and replacing parts, I also provided helpdesk support, by phone and in person, for a variety of department and troubleshooting different computer issues. Finally, as an IT Support Clerk, I had the role of setting some accounts for staff and solving password problems.

I will write my research report based on the above roles that I had as an IT Support Clerk including my interaction experience with the other staff. Working in Aljomaih Automotive Company was an enjoyable experience, and I can't think twice if I had any other opportunity to go back to that company again. The other thing that I can't forget to mention in my introduction is that although the company had all these good experience, it also has some challenges which I will highlight in my report and also provided some solutions I would recommend so has to deal with the problems.

Aljomaih Automotive Company Organizational chart of Co-operative training program

The people I worked with;

1. Ahmed: the IT technician,

2. Farshad: The programmer

3. Mahmoud: The senior of the IT department.

Work Environment Analysis of Co-operative training program

Power in the workplace of Co-operative training program

  How power is practiced in the workplace determines the environment of the workplace and the efficient in services delivery in that workplace (F, 2004).  In Aljomaih Automotive Company the practice of power determined how happy we were and how the activities were coordinated amongst the staff. Everybody in the company was the manager according to the organization structure whose sketch I have provided above in the chart. The assistant manager reported to the manager, while secretary, Senior of IT Department   and the human resource manager reported to the deputy director. I as the IT support Clerk I said to the senior of IT Department.

In all the time, I worked in Aljomaih Automotive Company, I can't say I had spent a lot of time with the manager, but the few times I had interacted with him he seemed to be a joyful person who liked to crack jokes. I n my day I had only met him when we had staff meetings and company parties. The meetings came up in the company when something had gone wrong or when a new technology was to be introduced to the team.

The manager seemed to have excellent managerial skills since even when something was wrong, or some team was mad during the meetings he could control them appropriately. I think this was one of the secrets that the Aljomaih Automotive Company was too stable and never made losses. I can also note in my time as an assistance IT clerk nobody was fired, and the Human resource manager seemed very well to know who to hire in their company. The person who I reported to who was the senior of IT Department was also a happy person although I disliked the way he talked to me when I did something wrong. I somehow disliked him because of this but he was very competent in his work, and all the customers were happy with him.

The manager seemed to use reward power since he rewarded every employee who had a good report of goodwill at the end of the financial here. For example, he had promoted the marketing agent to the Human Resource Manager in my time, and this practice of reward power motivated a lot of employees into working hard.

Inclusion and Diversity of Co-operative training program

Inclusion is the tween component of diversity which when combined in any organization creates success (Knowles, 1971). In Aljomaih Automotive Company although things were run smoothly and no one complained, no one was fired at my time, and the company always seemed to make the profit the biggest challenged which the company faced according to me was the rapid force at which workforce was changing around the globe. Even though this is a challenge facing human resource managers of all the today's companies, I think it was the biggest problem of Aljomaih Automotive Company in performance, and I think if this was addressed the company could perform better.

 In the company, the staff seemed to challenge each other more since most of them moved from different background and had different lifestyles. This made the working team not to be able to come up with a broad range of solutions which is a bigger challenge to the company. As a solution for this, I would suggest that Aljomaih Automotive Company should openly articulate the values of inclusion and diversify the working staff so as to appeal a wide range of customer base.

Skills Analysis of Co-operative training program

I had a couple of duties as an IT support clerk which helped me gain a lot of expertise and experience. Some of the roles were challenging while the others I liked and others I disliked.          Firstly, I had a role in installing and configuring computer hardware, software, systems, networks, printers, and scanners. At first, I had some challenges in setting and installing systems this since I had no experience with the routers, the coaxial cables, the switches and the LANS configuration. I hated installation of new networks since during these times I went home tired. While doing the installation, it's like my instructor took advantage of me since I did all the carrying and the installations. Configuring computer hardware, software printers and scanners were not all that hard to me since I had experience with these before and I mostly enjoyed installing software's since it was not tiring some like the rest of the installations.

Secondly, another role I had in Aljomaih Automotive Company was the purpose of repairing and replacing parts. I used to repair mother bonds, printer cartilages, b-routers twisted pair coaxial cables and any other components that malfunctioned. This was the role I had the biggest challenge in since I had to follow the guidelines of the technicians and although I had some knowledge in it. The technicians made it seem like I totally knew nothing in this field. I hated this technician since he used a commanding tone. At my stay in the company, I hated any time that anything spoiled and I had to replace the parts or repair them only because the technician made it look as I caused it to happen.

I also provided help desk support. I did it either through telephone or in person. There are some days that I used to be on the help desk. I would say that these are my happy days since I like challenges and I loved to interact with people. In the help, my work was to act as a customer care and serve the customers. The customer could either call inquiring our services, and I could explain what services we offer and how we worked, what time we work and when we close. Some customers could appear in person we interact, and I explain to them all about the companies' services.  The challenge with this role is sometimes customers would be so annoying some were requesting to talk to the manager in person, and they could argue if I told them it’s not possible and time some could even insult me.

I had a role of troubleshooting different computer issues, and finally, as an IT Support Clerk, I had the task of setting some accounts for staff and solving password problems. Some of the time, when the computer had resource sharing problem or had some network error, it was my responsibility to troubleshoot for the computer issues and fix them properly so that they continue their functionality. I also had the role of setting up some accounts for the staff and helping them in resetting their password whenever they forgot them. These roles were not challenging at all since I had some knowledge in all this.

My Recommendations to Aljomaih Automotive Company

The organizational structure of Aljomaih Automotive Company has a few challenges which if solved the company could get more returns and pay the employees well maybe. My recommendation is that they should encourage diversity and inclusion so has to create a workforce of diverse people who are more empowered to contribute positively to company's success. This will encourage team work and increase customer satisfaction and with this the deliverance and benefit of the company will be so good.

Conclusion of Co-operative training program

In general, experience working at Aljomaih Automotive Company was so enjoyable, educative and challenging also. At first, I used to see things wrongly such as when corrected I always thought somebody hated me. My experience in Aljomaih Automotive Company has helped me to gain the control of my tempers and know that every human being stands to be corrected and in any organization the is an organization structure where some staff have to report to other officials above them and correction in an organization is a vital thing as diversity together with inclusion.

If I had another chance to go back and work in Aljomaih Automotive Company, I would go back. The main reason not being, although I miss all the people I worked with I would also like to make a difference in the company and for that time that I stayed and worked in the company I have learned that I should keep an open mind so has to learn and that in every situation there is an opportunity. I would go back to get more of those opportunities and be an entrepreneur in Aljomaih Automotive Company and make some contribution too.

The other thing I would do differently if I had a chance to go back is that although I interacted well with the other staff, I feel that I didn't give my best and if I had a chance of going back I would treat them better and may make some effects in their lives.

In conclusion to my research report, I would say that many decisions are affected by the environment that people are in, the people somebody has come upon and the problems that one as encountered. With this I would like to state that upon my graduation I would like to start a solution solving company not that being employed is not profitable or is bad but according to my view when you are employed your ability is limited and it is like if you are fixed somewhere, and you are given the roles to abide by. When I start the company, I believe I could offer more solutions to the world through the creation of responsive applications that will solve human needs has the technology continue to evolve.  My target to starting this company is near my home location, and I have saved some bugs and also, I would borrow for some addition capital from my friends or look for a partner in the company. I would use the experience gained from Aljomaih Automotive Company to run my company.

After 2 to 5 years I will not be working at any body's company but my own. I feature myself as the chief executive officer of my company. It is said that if your business does not solve any problem, then you should think of another business that the reason why I think I should build a company that will offer the solution to people's problem. Finally, my cooperative experience in Aljomaih Automotive Company has helped me grow both mentally and emotionally, and for acknowledgment, it has made me think of many technology solutions that can be offered to life better.

 References of Co-operative training program

F, l. P. (2004). Handbook for research management in cooperative education and interniships. Mahwah n,l: Falbaum publishers.

Knowles, A. (1971). Hand book of cooperative education. San Fransisco : Jossey-bass.

University, C. (2017, 4 16). career.sites.clemson.edu. Retrieved 5 16, 2017, from career.sites.clemson: https://career.sites.clemson.edu/cooperative_education/students/reports.php