Customs foreign trade manual writing and implementation for interns Case Company: Cedillo Ramos

Abstract

The purpose of the thesis was to create a feasible and suitable alternative for Cedillo Ramos to determine the opportunity areas that the interns have to improve during the training process. One objective was to study the company's current situation by analysing it with qualitative and quantitative methods. Another goal relied on the design of a foreign trade training manual so it could be implemented to increase customer satisfaction and to facilitate the training process.

The theoretical framework was based on literature regarding customs legislation, supply chain management, service design, and six sigma philosophy. Most of the used authors are leaders on the field, such as Richard Gerson, Elizabeth Cudney and Omer Artun. However, some material retrieved to write the service design title was taken from lectures provided by Georg Berger, lecturer in the International Business degree programme.

The study was executed in an electronic survey sent to the most important and loyal clients. Moreover, by gathering data directly from the company's email, the author analysed the operational knowledge that the interns have in Cedillo Ramos. Eleven different clients were studied in-depth with their answers to the surveys and their previous foreign trade operations to interpret the results. Nonetheless, the analytical approach methodology was a mix of qualitative and quantitative data collection through long-distance interviews, surveys, and meetings to analyse the results with the commissioning company.

The findings revealed that the training process that the company was implementing ten years ago is no longer helpful and that the implementation of the manual revealed positive numbers regarding the leading time of the operations, the operational knowledge of the interns and customer satisfaction.

To sum up, there might be some room to pay close attention to the interns' process and perform their tasks when they are hired. By combining several activities, the company's culture will become a safer place for students who can be part of these foreign trade consultancy organisations and retain the loyal and vital customers that the company has.