BI Internship: HR in Orkla Confectionery and Snacks

Hi ☺

My name is Emma Bivstedt and I’m an HR-intern in Orkla Confectionery & Snacks Norge (OCSN). My internship is unfortunately soon coming to an end, but before that I would like to share a few reflections about my stay here.

OCSN is located at the head quarter at Skøyen and has factories in Trondheim, Skreia and in Kungälv, Sweden. OSCN is truly “kongen av kos og glede”, in other words responsible for the production of all the better confectionaries and snacks you can dream of – such as Nidar favoritter, KiMs chips and Safari cookies!

I have had the pleasure to be a part of an HR-team with high ambitions and a working culture where no limits exist. This has given me the opportunity to work with a lot of challenging and fun projects. Through my stay here I have been assigned two larger projects and several smaller ones.

The first of the larger projects was related to recruitment and the purpose of this was to redesign and create clear guidelines for the whole process. My second project was related to the onboarding process, aiming to create a program which efficiently could help new employees to come on board to OCSN. Both resulted in changes in the way the processes are approached – and I gained a lot of experience which I am sure I will take advantage of in the future as well. Moreover, I have been fortunate to assist a recruitment process (sitting on the other side of the table has truly been a valuable experience), assisting in podcast recordings, working on tasks regarding the Orkla EHS week, attending meetings and workshops, and working on other administrative related tasks. One of many highlights during my internship was to visit the Nidar factory in Trondheim where products such as Stratos chocolate, Troika and Nidar favoritter are produced – (after the visit I was about to ask if I could move in, hehe). It was a pleasure to get an inside peek to how the production process works.

During my time here, I have met so many inspiring, kind and smart people who has welcomed me with open arms since day one. My leaders have trusted me and challenged me to make the very best out of every day and in every project.

All in all, I’m beyond happy and grateful that I got the opportunity to be a part of OCSN. My weeks have been filled with new knowledge, inspiring meetings, laughs and challenges. I have had a fantastic experience at OCSN with a steep learning curve that I am sure will favor me in the future as well!

 

My very best regards, Emma 🙂

 

BI Internship: OHPC

My name is Regine Markussen, and for the last 8 weeks I have had the pleasure of working for Orkla Home and Personal Care (OHPC). OHPC is responsible for pretty much everything within the personal and home care sector with familiar brands such as OMO, Jif, Dr.Greve, Lano, Blenda, Define, Zalo and many more.

On the first week of my internship, I was given a proper introduction into the company structure, the value chain and I got to meet all the wonderful people working at Skøyen. Towards the end of the introduction week I was lucky enough to join the marketing and sales team to Borregård- a beautiful mansion in Sarpsborg, for “rikets tilstand”. Here, the management team went through the past year`s accomplishments and failures, and future roadblocks OHPC must overcome was discussed. In addition, the marketing team presented the new products launching next year. I gained a lot of insight into the company over these two days, and it was a great way of getting to know the employees at OHPC in a formal and unformal setting through intriguing presentations, amazing food and great wine.

At Borregård they have decorated with beautiful antique furniture and real Munch paintings

 

Once back at Skøyen HQ I was given my three projects, which were all very different from each other. My first project was a creative and strategic one, where in combination with the brand- and marketing manager for Zalo I had to come up with a sampling strategy for a new product that is launching next year. I was given creative freedom and could contact anyone I wanted- this was unlike anything I had ever done, and so much fun!

My second project was more analytically based. I was given the task of figuring out how much a Norwegian household within a specific segment spend on different home and personal care products a month, how much they use of these products and what products they buy in bulks. This was further used in a research project called “project refill” in order to determine a correct price for a refill service. This project is a part of a three-year research granted project in collaboration with NHH in Bergen and other institutions, where the aim is to increase the circular economy in Norway.

My third project was a research project that I got to oversee from start to finish. The purpose of the project was to understand young adults’ perception and attitudes between private label- and branded products within the home care sector. To collect data, I chose to first distribute a questionnaire to get a better understanding of this segment`s attitudes towards the different brands. Then, I went to several grocery stores where I observed, and talked to actual consumers which gave me valuable insight. In addition, me and Vigdis (Intern at Grandiosa) conducted a focus group interview to get even more insight. The findings, as well as potential solutions were presented for the home care team at OHPC.

At Orkla, knowledge sharing, teamwork and collaborating is important. 

Vigdis and I could not have agreed more and decided to help each other out. She is an intern at Grandiosa so I joined her for a field day, and she was kind enough to help me out with my research project.

My two months at OHPC has been filled with laughs, challenges and a steep learning curve. I am grateful to all the wonderful people working at OHPC for entrusting me and for welcoming me with open arms. I have had a wonderful experience at Orkla, and now I cannot wait to finish my master’s degree and hopefully end up in a place like Orkla. I recommend everyone that has the chance to be an intern, to apply at Orkla- you will not regret it!

BI Internship: Finance

Hi!

We are Jan Ove Vedvik and Simen Key Grimsrud, currently conducting a finance internship in Orkla Foods Norge. We are both on the 5th year of our MSc in Business with major in Finance at BI. There are currently 14 interns from BI working for Orkla, spread out over many different divisions.

 

The first week we were introduced to all the different business areas within Orkla, to get an overview of the company and the organizational structure. In addition, the Orkla Foods finance division had their annual summer party the first week of our internship, which made our arrival smooth and we got to know our new colleagues very well.

We were presented with a project to screen and analyze a new potential market that OFN are considering entering. In addition to the two of us, we are working with a marketing intern named Vigdis Bonvik-Stone. She is focused on the qualitative approach – analyzing market trends, consumer behavior and strategy. We, on the other hand, are approaching the quantitative side of the project – gathering financials, finding key ratios and making an estimate of the financial potential of Orkla entering this market.

Right now, while writing this blogpost, we are on a plane on our way back from a business meeting in Denmark, which is relevant to the project. It’s cool to see how Orkla values the interns’ input to the company, giving us the opportunity to go on a business trip to enhance the depth of understanding and the quality of our work. It was valuable to get hands-on experience from the company in Denmark and learn about their business model.

More generally, Orkla is a really great place to work. We are halfway through our internship now and have made great connections and learned a lot. The new office at Skøyen is an absolutely fabulous asset for the employees. The PC screens, cafeteria and gym is some of the things that has impressed us and made our stay very enjoyable.

 

We encourage everyone to apply for either summer- or BI internship!

 

BI Internship: Marketing in Orkla Foods

Hi! My name is Vigdis Bonvik-Stone, and all I want to do in my professional life is to become really really good at marketing. Therefore I jumped on the opportunity to do a marketing internship as a part of my MSc.

Studying marketing in Norway, the chance to

In uniform

work in an Orkla marketing department is the dream. Orkla is a company we learn about from the day we enter Marketing 101 – either as an example of a house of brands, as a class discussion about the newest, most exciting marketing campaigns, or as a case study for marketing strategy. It’s a company we get to know and respect, and this is why I had high expectations as I started my internship in August. And, I was not disappointed.

 

My first week started out the same as for all other interns – it consisted of an introduction to the company, the brands and “the Orkla way”. There was also a scavenger hunt that went OUT OF HAND (I’m pretty sure we managed to annoy all 16 floors with our frantic running and yelling – but how could we not be excited, there are snacks everywhere).

The next day I received the two cases for my internship. The first consisted of analyzing a new market for Orkla Foods Norway (OFN) in a team with two other BI interns, and the second gave me the title as working Project Manager for a test campaign for the Grandiosa brand. I was stunned, and honestly terrified. Grandiosa is the most recognizable Norwegian brand. I am an intern. This did not necessarily seem like a good idea. However, my boss/buddy/mentor/colleague Renate made it very clear from the first day that: 1. No questions are too dumb, 2. We are in this together and 3. I can do this (probably).

Learning about the products (which means tasting the products hehe my pants don’t fit anymore and I don’t care)

I have now been in this role for five weeks now, and I have evolved from feeling like I am constantly in the way, asking too many, too dumb questions, to feeling like I am an actual resource to the group. With the incredible support from my superiors I have been able to navigate the large organization and managed to coordinate tasks with the whole supply chain; from factory, to depot, to the salespeople who will handle the product with the end-customer.

This week has been really special to me – on Monday me and the finance interns went to Denmark to learn more about a company Orkla Foods Denmark recently acquired. They utilize design-thinking processes, which means every new product emerges from truly understanding their customers, and what they want and need. The Danish team really inspired us, and the learning from the trip has already become a significant part of our final rapport and recommended strategy.

Also this week – my test campaign with Grandiosa started! It involves taking the Grandiosa brand from grocery stores and into convenient stores. Seeing all the work we have put in over the last weeks come to life has been nothing but amazing (except one small incident where there was a fairly large delivery of frozen pizzas to a kiosk that did not have any freezer capacity, but hey – I count that as learning about supply chain management ✓).

To sum up – my internship so far has been everything I hoped and more. I have worked

Hot Grandiosa in the kiosk

with exciting new business ventures, as well as a really strong and beloved brand. I have learned new skills, and honed old ones. I have become better at handling stress, at juggling multiple projects (and thoughts) at once. My excel skills are through the roof. But most importantly, my supervisors have encouraged me to take charge and make decisions, to learn from my mistakes and to ask questions. They have been patient and incredibly generous with their time and their talent. I hate to be cliché, but they truly gave me a home to grow.

 

 

 

BI internship: HR in Orkla Foods Norway (OFN).

Hi! I’m Ingvild Sveier Ottemo and for the past eight weeks, I have had an internship in the Human Resources department at Orkla Foods Norway (OFN).

Located at Mastemyr just outside of Oslo, OFN is the biggest business area of Orkla, with more than 1400 employees.  Here, I have assisted the HR managers in their everyday tasks, mostly concerning personnel administration, recruitment and other organizational matters.

To kick start my Orkla experience, I attended a two-day introduction seminar together with other employees who recently started their Orkla career. The seminar gave a great introduction to the value chain of Orkla Foods Norway, and gave a valuable insight into all of the different functions that work together so that you can eat a pizza Grandiosa on a Friday night.

Left: Safety goggles and vest at the factory visit. Right: Introduction seminar for new OFN employees.

I have also been fortunate enough to assist in a recruitment process. Sitting on the other side of the table has been a valuable experience, not mention reassuring for my own future interviews. Note to self: those sitting on the other side of that table interviewing you truly only want to get to know you!

I have also gotten the opportunity to get an inside peek into the production process at Orkla. The interns who works at Orkla this semester got a guided tour at the factory producing products such as Zalo. From an HR perspective, it was really interesting seeing the working conditions in a factory, and how strict the safety procedures were. A big thumbs up from the organizational psychology student on that one!

Having an internship as a part of my master’s degree has been an overall great experience. I have met a lot of people who have challenged me and helped me grow within my academic field. In addition, I have received a lot of trust and freedom to solve the tasks given to me.

BI Internship: Marketing at Orkla House Care (OHC).

Hey!

We are Solveig and Emil from BI, marketing interns at Orkla House Care. OHC has brands such as Jordan, Anza, Harris, Spekter and Hamilton. These brands are specialized within painting tools and cleaning products. Even though we are both working within marketing, we have different tasks and work with different brands and markets. Emil is working with the Swedish brand Anza and Solveig is working with the Norwegian brand Jordan.

Let’s start with the lady: My name is Solveig and I study MSc in Strategic Marketing Management at BI. Here is how my internship experience is:

When you hear the word “Jordan”, you might think “vet hvordan”. This has been their slogan since 1955. The company has a long history and was established in 1837. However, I first thought that they were only producing toothbrushes and other products within the mouth hygiene category. In other words, I had no experience within painting tools and I was very excited to learn something new about a market I had very little knowledge about. Jordan is known for delivering innovative products known for high quality and user friendliness. I had no clue how important it is with a painting brush with high quality and how many tools you actually need to achieve the perfect result. Jordan has a large assortment and one of their challenges is how Jordan can help their customers to choose the right tools for the job, in order to help the customers succeed.

During my internship I have been included in different projects and meetings, but my main project has been working with a campaign within in-store communication for 2019. Which are store materials with purpose of helping the customers to choose the right tools for the job. First I had to map how the campaign 2018 worked, in order to find out what we can do better for next year. Further, I have contributed with insight and ideas for in-store material for 2019 with help from my supervisor and colleagues. This project is very exciting and I have been able to use and develop both analytical and creative skills. I would like to give a special thanks to my supervisor, Natalie. She has guided me and helped me with this project.

Now, let’s hear what Emil has to say: Well, first of all, I have to thank my mentor, Henrik, and all the other colleagues for a great time at OHC throughout the period. I have been working in OHC’s export division, where my attention has been on the painting tool brand Anza. Anza can be described as Sweden’s Jordan, and is the brand the firm uses for export all around the world.

Here you can see me working hard:

My focus has been on one project for the whole internship period, where I have worked closely together with the project manager. The project started early this year, when the firm decided to develop new products that was tailor made for industry painters. When I started my internship, the goal for the next couple of months was to find target market, develop a business plan and a go-to-market strategy. The final project presentation for the steering committee was due last week, one week before I go back to school, so I also got to experience the finishing touches on the project (and even got to present some of it!).

The internship has been very educational, and a great experience. I have been involved in everything the project requires: from Skype meetings with large Korean and Chinese shipyard owners, interviews with Greek- and Norwegian industry experts, to internal steering committee presentations.

Lastly, we would highly recommend you to apply for an internship at Orkla, as we have had a great time! Our internships will be wrapped up by going to Sweden for a kick-off event later this week.

 

BI Internship: Marketing & Sustainability at Idun Industri (OFI)

Hi! My name is Mathilde and I am interning at Idun Industri, a part of Orkla Food Ingredients.

Idun is not about the ketchup (which is actually a part of OFN) but are one of Norway’s largest suppliers of bakery ingredients. They supply manly on an industrial B2B level, and their customers are bakeries and producers from all around the country. Idun also have some consumer products sold through supermarkets, like baking yeast, fillings, sprinkles etc., marketed as Idun Mors Hjemmebakte and Odense Marsipan.

Idun is located at Hvam, Skjetten, which is one of the Norwegian production- and distribution sites. One of Idun’s subsidiaries is also located here, as well as the test bakery.

The office & some baked goods (which there is a lot of, due to the test bakery. Apparently, employees put on about 7kg during their first year here).

My supervisor is the Marketing Chief at Idun, but she is also responsible for sustainability and EHS. Therefore, I am lucky to be included in several different projects. Currently we are working on the new sustainability and transformation plan, with targets and initiatives on how Idun will contribute to achieve the overall goals sat by Orkla within 2025. As Idun has five subsidiary companies, who all operates in different fields, this project is quite comprehensive! As a part of this, we have met with internal employees at Idun, the subsidiaries and with colleagues at Orkla ASA, in order to identify where and how we can implement changes in order to reach the targets.

During the last couple of weeks, I have been included in everything from planning exhibitions, making online ads, attending a sustainability seminar and working on the development of the beta version of one our websites.

I am very grateful for how Idun has entrusted and included me in their projects. I have really been enjoying myself and learned so much through this first-hand experience. It has been very insightful to explore and understand the diversity that exists in a company like Orkla together with Idun. I am eager to finish my Masters now and hopefully end up at a place like this!

BI internship: Orkla Marketing & Innovation (OMI)

Hi! I’m Ida Vrangen and this fall I’m doing my internship at Orkla Marketing & Innovation (OMI).

I am working on Orklas content hub: plusstid.no. Plusstid is a website containing tips, advice and inspiration for families with children. My assignment is to identify how Plusstid can benefit from the possibilities of e-mail marketing; wherein I will create a strategy for how they should be working on newsletters in 2019.

I am excited to be trying my hand at new tasks and working for a company like Orkla and the talented people at OMI. Although I have not worked with email marketing before, I do have a couple of years of experience in digital marketing and analytics, which is highly relevant in my work here. My supervisor has challenged me to utilize my skill set in different ways, providing a great learning process. Having worked in an agency, I find it very useful to see from a company perspective how Orkla works with digital analysis, giving me a larger perspective on how digital data affect strategic decisions throughout the company.

During the last several weeks I have attended seminars about AI, content marketing, and advanced Google Analytics. I also got to spend a day with Cloud Media, Plusstid’s content agency, receiving input from experts on different fields of digital marketing. I have also been in contact with other departments within Orkla, learning about their approach to digital marketing and newsletters. The other interns and I were also taken on a tour of a factory that produces products like Zalo and OMO, giving us valuable insight into the production process.

It is both fun and rewarding to be interning at Orkla as a part of my master’s degree, and I am glad to have gotten this opportunity.

BI internship: Finance and Marketing in Orkla Confectionery and Snacks (OCSN)

Hello everyone! We are Marie and Henrik and we are BI interns at Orkla Confectionary and snacks (OCSN). Henrik is majoring in Business Finance while Marie majoring in Strategic Marketing Management. Since we are studying different subjects, we work in different departments. In other words, in this blogpost you will get to know how it is to work as an intern at OCSN from two different perspectives. Let`s start with Henrik.

I am situated in the corporate finance department of OCSN. My tasks vary greatly, but most of the work is related to business controlling. This means that I am helping out with everything from providing relevant numbers for the CFO to creating Excel models for other departments. Although I really enjoy numbers and working with spreadsheets, it is sometimes nice that the work is so much more than that! The first week I was lucky enough to be included in a product launch meeting (looking forward to seeing those products in stores), and there are several non-work related activities around within the company, such as in-office light strength training and a running group. I really feel like I am contributing to the department and the company, and that the tasks given to me has value in the big picture. Over to Marie!

I have been allowed to be a part of the marketing team at OCSN, where my work is mainly focused on chocolate tablets. My supervisor has entrusted me with my own project this internship period, where I gather insight and conduct my own consumer research. Also, through smaller projects I have been challenged to be creative and come up with new solutions for in-store promotions, packaging and campaigns (exited to see if any of my ideas will be used in the future). I feel very included by the marketing team at OCSN, as I have been allowed to attend meetings, workshops and small coffee breaks in the social area. In short, my weeks here at Orkla has really gotten me exited for the future, and I am looking forward to working full time as a marketer when I am done with my degree.

All in all we have had a great experience so far. The work has been challenging, yet rewarding. Rethinking how things are done compared to studying and getting to know all the systems and routines almost seemed overwhelming at first. Luckily we have supervisors who follow up closely, and the work is facilitated such that it matches our capability. We feel welcomed into the work environment and it certainly does not hurt that we have access to free candy and snacks!

BI internship: HR in Orkla Home & Personal Care (OHPC)

Hi bloggers!

We are two master students from BI working in Orkla Home & Personal Care (OHPC) within the HR function. Our names are Angelica and Anniken, and we are studying leadership and organizational psychology and leadership and change on our last year.  Half way through our internship program we have gained new experiences and knowledge that we could not have obtained in school.

The past three weeks has not only been about learning about the huge product portfolio that OHPC have for making ourselves, our clothes and our homes clean – we have also had the opportunity to look into the harmonization of products, strategic meetings, onboarding program, recruitment movie project, wage settlements, GDPR, and more. No day has been the same, and this has definitively not been a typical “coffee run” internship.

The first week started off with an introduction day, with a scavenger hunt to learn where everything is located. Very helpful, since the office is like a maze. Still after three weeks we are still learning where everything is! During the first and second week we had introduction meetings with the different managers here at OHPC to gain insight about how and what the different divisions work with. During these meetings we realized the complexity of Orkla as a company. Orkla operates with the whole value chain, making them a unique company with a wide range of expertise.

We are grateful for the opportunity and looking forward to the next five weeks, especially beer/prosecco and pizza night in October!

 

XOXO,

A&A