SCHOOL OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

COLLEGE OF BUSINESS
UNIVERSITI UTARA MALAYSIA

PRACTICUM REPORT
(BPBX4908)

SEMESTER A202

(SEGARAN & ASSOCIATES)

PREPARED FOR :
(SIR FADZIL BIN MOHD HUSIN)

PREPARED BY :
(PUGANESWARY A/P RAVICHANDRAN)
(259070)
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The internship opportunity I had with Segaran & Associates was a great chance for learning
and professional development. Therefore, I consider myself as a very lucky person, as I was
provided with an opportunity to be a part of it. First and foremost, I would like to express my
deepest appreciation to all those who have provided me the possibilities to complete this
report as well as my internship program in the time period of four months.

I wish to express my sincere gratitude to Mr. Fadzil Bin Mohd Husin my university
supervisor for a good guidance and encouragement in carrying out this report. I specially
thank my company supervisor, Mr. Rajasegaran a/l Ramasamy for providing me a great
opportunity to do my internship in his company. He had been constantly guiding and
supporting me throughout the training period. He had exposed me patiently to the working
environment and also gave me a lot of business knowledge.

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the staff and employees of Segaran &
Associates and specifically to senior clerk Miss Siti Zubaidah Binti Ibarhim, for co-operating
with me and guiding me throughout the four months of my internship period. Last but not
least, I take this opportunity to thank my parents who have been with me and offered
emotional strength and moral support. I would also like to thank my friends for sharing their
experiences, information, time and also motivated me to complete this internship program.
Hopefully the experience and guidelines that has gained will be used as the first step once
promising career.

i
 SCHOOL OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
COLLEGE OF BUSINESS
UNIVERSITI UTARA MALAYSIA

(SEMESTER A202)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

BPBX4908 PRACTICUM

It is hereby acknowledged that the Practicum Report at Segaran &

Associates by PUGANESWARY A/P RAVICHANDRAN Matric No.
259070 is accepted in partial fulfillment of BPBX4908 PRACTICUM

Practicum Supervisor: MR. FADZIL BIN MOHD HUSIN

School of Business Management
College of Business
 TABLE OF CONTENT

Acknowledgement......................................................................................................................... i

Certification................................................................................................................................................ii

1.0 Introduction......................................................................................................................................1-2

1.1 Company Background................................................................................................................3-4

1.2 Vision...............................................................................................................................................4

1.3 Mission.............................................................................................................................................4

1.4 Objective.........................................................................................................................................4

1.5 Type Of Business...........................................................................................................................5

1.6 Management Structure..................................................................................................................6

1.7 Services.......................................................................................................................................7-9

2.0 Practicum Background...........................................................................................................................

2.1 Job Description.............................................................................................................................10

2.2 Work Responsibility.....................................................................................................................10

3.0 Company Analysis..................................................................................................................................

3.1 Main problems or challenges faced by the organization...................................................11-12

3.2 SWOT Analysis............................................................................................................................13

3.3 TOWS Analysis......................................................................................................................14-16

3.4 Suitable strategy for the company (base on TOWS)...............................................................17

4.0 Conclusion...............................................................................................................................................

4.1 New experiences and knowledge gained during the practicum.......................................18-19

4.2 Issues or problems faced during the practicum.................................................................20-21

4.3 Suggestions for improvement.....................................................................................................21

5.0 Coursera..................................................................................................................................................

5.1 What is Coursera.........................................................................................................................22

5.2 Types / Category of Coursera..............................................................................................23-24

5.2 Advantage of Coursera...............................................................................................................24

Summary................................................................................................................................... 25

References................................................................................................................................ 26

Appendices........................................................................................................................................27-29
1.0 INTRODUCTION

Practicum or internship in one way by which we student are given an opportunity to apply the
theories and learning from universities. It also helps us to obtain applicable knowledge and
skills by performing in actual work settings. This Industrial Training Program is compulsory
for students in University Utara Malaysia (UUM) before they graduate. For Bachelor of
Business Administration with Honours, a syllabus of practical training must be carried out
when the students have taken all the required subjects. Practical training is one of the
university policies in which practical training is held on final semester for the duration of four
months (15th March 2021 until 12th July 2021). Besides providing the opportunities for
students to experience the real working environment before graduation, the students will be
able to relate the theories that learnt in the university into practical aspects respectively to
their field of studies. In addition, by practicum can produce students who are knowledgeable
about the intricacies of their jobs, creative, innovative and also dynamic. The students are
expected to be more confident when they have graduated and venture into the real working
world.
My placement for practical training was in Segaran & Associates Ipoh, Perak.
Segaran & Associates is a registered law firm with the Bar Council of Malaysia, a
professional body that regulates the profession of lawyers in Peninsular Malaysia. During my
internship, I was placed in the Administration Department as an intern. Segaran &
Associates is located at first floor in the building of Bangunan Perak Han Kang Kong Hoey.
My working hours will operate at 8.30 am until 5.00 pm from Monday to Friday.

1
 Address : No. 27A, 1st Floor, Jalan Tun Sambanthan, 30000 Ipoh, Perak
E-mel : segaranassociates@yahoo.com
Phone : 05-2551654
Fax : 05-2551654

VIEW FROM GOOGLE MAP

Segaran & Associates is located at Ipoh town. Ipoh is the capital city of Perak,
Malaysia. Ipoh is a famous place District, Perak, Malaysia. As we all know Ipoh is famous
because is known for it’s British colonial landmarks, including a baroque railway station and
Birch memorial clock tower. Moreover, Segaran & Associates located at Jalan Tun
Sambathan which is nearby to law firms and courts which will be much easier to clients and
us to perform legal service.
 1.1 COMPANY BACKGROUND

Segaran & Associates is a registered law firm with the Bar Council of Malaysia, a
professional body that regulates the profession of lawyers in Peninsular Malaysia. To be
eligible for the bar admission, Segaran & Associates law firm and its lawyers have
satisfied all the academic, practical, and formal requirements under the Legal Profession
Act 1976, an act that consolidates the law relating to Malaysia's legal profession.

Segaran & Associates, established on 2nd March 2010, the firm grew steadily as
a sole proprietorship. Today, Segaran & Associates is an innovative, flexible law firm,
dealing with clients ranging from Singapore, Thailand, Bangladesh, Filipina, and more
significantly in a wide area of legal practice.

The firm focused on the mission to deliver quality, quick and reliable legal
advisory and representation services for the benefit of the clients. Besides that, Segaran
& Associates tailor their services to the specific requirements of the client and provide a
comprehensive and to the point advice with the legal solutions.

THE FIRM BUSINESS PHILOSOPHY :

 Work for their clients

 Ensuring their staffs contribute positively to the firm and take care of their well-being.
 Work closely with their business associates and legal fraternity.
DEPARTMENTS

 The firm’s crime department is one of the most active in Ipoh and account for major
portion of their turnover.
 The firm’s litigation department deals with family and matrimonial matters, probate
and wills, distribution of estates, land matters and also serves local financial
institutions in the matter of debt collection and foreclosure proceedings.
 The firm’s conveyancing department deals with sale and purchase of properties and
tenancies, retail and other commercial development projects including bank security
documentation.

1.2 VISION

Segaran & Associates vision statement is “Strive to be the leader as an organization”

that being :-
 Recognized Legal Firm in Malaysia
 Respected Lawyer Firm in Malaysia

1.3 MISSION

Segaran & Associates mission statement is “To Strive toward excellent services
through continuous improvement & innovation in providing quality legal services
for the benefit of our clients” .

1.4 OBJECTIVES OF THE ORGANIZATION

Their objective is the provision of prompt legal services of high quality while employing
every possible innovation and technique in our practice for the purpose of ensuring the
most effective legal protection for the client. They believe that the relationship between
the advocate and the client is based on increased mutual trust without this, productive
cooperation would be unattainable. Segaran & Associates manage and operate
efficiently to make as much profit as possible, strategically grow the practice and expand
into new areas and markets and increase brand awareness to attract clients and talent to
the firm. Their objectives also motivate their staff to be value integrity, professionalism,
total commitment, excellence in quality and competitiveness for all tasks. They are
productivity and quality in their business, provide continuous innovation and
improvement in their clerical works and achieving zero defect is their firm target.
 1.5 TYPE OF BUSINESS

Law firms are generally partnership, but Segaran & Associates is a sole proprietorship
business. A sole proprietorship is a business that has not incorporate, then the law practice
is considered a sole proprietorship. As a sole proprietor Mr Rajasegaran a/l Ramasamy
holds one hundred percentage (100%) shareholding in the firm.

RAJASEGARAN A/L RAMASAMY

Sole Proprietorship

Mr Rajasegaran is the founder of the firm and leads the Ipoh, Perak office and he is a
graduate of LLB (London), CLP (Malaysia) and LLM – Islamic Banking Law ( IIUM).
He has extensive experience in the following fileds:-

 Drafting enforceable agreement or contract in accordance with Contract Act 1950

and Companies Act 1965, between individual and company or company to company,
irrespective of foreign or local (including separate oral agreement or contract which
is enforceable in accordance with S 91 & S 92 of the Evidence Act , which is
normally ignore by the innocent party).
 Drafting remedies that can available in case of any breaches occurred and claims in
tort, whether by inclusion of clauses or separate agreement.
 Criminal action in case of fraud, misrepresentation and etc. by virtue of Criminal
Penal Code, Specific Relief Act, Contract Act and Companies Act.
 Drafting pleadings for tort action for any losses suffered as a result of breaches
depends upon the losses of innocent party to the agreement or contract.
 Transfer of title or estate, ex in accordance with National Land Code 1965.
 Probates, Bankruptcy and Company Winding-Up (S218 CA 1965).
 Property dealings, matrimonial matters, adoption civil litigation, and advisory matters.
 Advising and drafting in respect of agreements and instruments extensive
contractual and non-contractual transactions viz. settlements, trust deeds, powers of
attorney, joint ventures, partnerships, shares, friendly loans, novation and
assignments and wills.
 1.6 MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE

MR RAJASEGARAN A/L RAMASAMY

Advocates & Solicitors Sole- Proprietor

MR HARIKRISHNAN A/L JEYAPALAN MRS VIVEGARUBINI A/P K.KANDAIAH

Advocates & Solicitors Advocates & Solicitors

YOGESWARI A/P MAHENDRAN KARIM BIN ISMAIL

Clerk Office Dispatch

SITI ZUBAIDAH BINTI IBARHIM

Admin

PUGANESWARY A/P RAVICHANDRAN MAIESHERA A/P SELVARAJOO

Intern Trainee Intern Trainee

LENON A/L RAJAGOPAL THARMARAJAH A/L RAMASAMY HU WEH FOONG

Personal Assistant / Driver Office Boy Agent
 1.7 SERVICES

COMMERCIAL / CORPORATE INDUSTRY

Segaran & Associates provide the legal service as below :-

 Sales and Purchase Agreement

 Partnership Agreement
 Joint-Venture Agreement
 Rental Agreement
 Shareholders Agreement

CONVEYANCING & BANKING PRACTICE GROUP

Segaran & Associates provide the legal service as below :-

 Sale and Purchase Agreement and Transfer

 Developer
 Non-Developer / Sub-Sale
 Auction
 Tenancy, Trust Deeds, Power of Attorney
 Will and Estate Distribution
 Property and Conveyancing
 Landlord and Tenant
 Intellectual Property

CRIMINAL CASES

Segaran & Associates provide the legal service as below :-

 Under Yayasan Bantuan Guaman Kebangsaan (YBGK), Perak for criminal cases

 Drugs cases
 Murder cases
 Rapes cases
 Robbery cases
 All criminal cases
CIVIL CASES

The following legal services are also provided by Segaran & Associates :-

 Accident and Personal Injury

 Divorces and Family Law
 Bankruptcy and Insolvency
 Civil Litigation
 Corporate and Commercial Law
 Customs and Immigration
 Construction and Engineering
 Consumer Protection
 Insurance and Reinsurance
 Human Rights

EXPERTIES & EXPERIENCES

a) Criminal Law
 Mr Rajasegaran, have vast experience in dealing with criminal law, which in
short include the Anti Money Laundering, Blue Collar Crimes, Criminal Advisory
Work, Corruption, Drug Offences, Environmental, Preventive Detention, Fraud,
Firearms, Human trafficking, Immigration, Maritime and Piracy, Murder,
Statutory Money Markets, Statutory Offences, White Collar Crimes, Robbery
cases, LLPK, POCA, SOSMA, POTA, AMLA, SC and MACC.

b) Finance and Banking

 The firm have vast experience in the banking and finance sector providing legal
advice and services to financial institutions. They provide practical solutions to
problems based on a careful grasp of the legal, technical and commercial
requirements of the client whether as a lender or borrower and provide a fast and
efficient service. The past and present assignments include term loans, syndicated
loans, project financing, debt restructuring agreements, insolvencies, foreclosure
actions, enforcement or orders, debt recovery and other related areas.
c) Development Project

 Segaran & Associates provides legal services to financiers, developers, project

managers and property owners in the form of legal advice and preparation of project
management agreements, construction agreements, sale and purchase agreements,
amalgamation, partition and subdivision of land, project financing and other related
matters.

d) Corporate

 Segaran & Associates have experience in management buy outs (MBOs), share
purchase financing, disposal and acquisition of companies and corporate loans.

e) Litigation

 Corporation, public bodies and individuals often resort to litigation out of necessity
after exhausting all other means of out court settlement. The firm endeavoured to
obtain the best possible outcome in respect of their affairs and in the shortest time
possible. Segaran & Associates represent clients at the Magistrate’s Court, the
Sessions Court, the High Court, the Court of Appeal and the Federal Court.

f) Matrimonial and Family Matters

 The firm also undertakes on a case by case basis, divorce proceedings, custody
hearings, maintenance hearing, adoption hearing and a host of other family related
matters.

g) Civil

 Segaran & Associates also provides the legal service as accident and personal
injury, Bankruptcy and Insolvency, Human Rights, Insurance and Reinsurance,
Consumer Protection, Customs and Immigration and other related matters.
2.0 PRACTICUM BACKGROUND

2.1 JOB DESCRIPTION

 The intern trainee shall be responsible for managing the administrative operations of
the Firm, including supervising all non-attorney personnel, evaluating and managing
the Firm’s operating and information systems.
 Works with lawyers to schedule appointments and make calls.
 Prepare documents, draft correspondence, summarize records and findings and
write up briefs, petitions and other legal documents.
 Filing, organizing, scanning, copying and faxing legal documents.
 Scheduling court depositions hearings and client meetings.
 Organizing solicitor schedules e.g. travel arrangements, meetings.
 Processing invoices.
 Speaking with clients over the phone and in person.
 Filing documents with the court ahead of deadlines.
 Daily record keeping with soft copy and hard copy filing of documents.
 Ensure efficient and effective administrative information and assistance.
 Performs other related duties as assigned.

2.2 WORK RESPONSIBILITY

Segaran & Associates hired me as an internship trainee in administration department.

The work responsibilities are listed as below :-

 Manages the day-to-day operations of the office.

 Administrative tasks including answering phones, managing office supplies, filing,
and greeting guests.
 Prepare legal correspondence, documentation, and other materials.
 Compile legal documentation into files and maintain an organized filing system.
 Deliver documentation to courthouses, law firms, and other locations as needed.
 Maintain and update files and databases for other documentation such as personnel
records, financial reports and etc.
 Manages schedules and appointments including trial dates and hearings, and
meetings and travel.
 Monitor incoming and outgoing mail.
 General clerical duties including photocopying and fax.
 Protects law firm’s reputation by keeping client information confidential.
3.0 COMPANY ANALYSIS

3.1 MAIN PROBLEMS OR CHALLENGES FACED BY THE ORGANIZATION

INTERNAL PROBLEMS

i. Punctuality

 During my practicum the major problem that I found in Segaran & Associates is
employees take leaves and come late to the firm. Employees who are enabled to
have an excessive number of absences and lateness without facing any penalties
from management might have a negative impact on the performance of others. It
can leads to poor employee morale, low productivity, and a high turnover rate. From
my observation, a few of the employees are taken leave every week. Discipline is
one of the most important aspects of the organization and the discipline problem
can be seen when they are on leave frequently. This may lead to their works to
delay and drag, which can affect performance of the firm.

ii. Lack of Teamwork in between the staffs

 I observe that there are lots of miscommunication in between the staffs which lead
to pending clerical works in the firm. There is lack of communication between senior
and junior staff. Due to this, underperform by junior staff may occur in the firm.
Without effective communication junior staff not accurately understand the task that
assigned by the senior staff. This also will lead to delays in getting the task done by
the junior staff. In addition, certain tasks are overlapped and overlooked because of
confusion in roles and responsibilities which are actually caused from poor
communication. It also could result the junior staff deciding to leave the firm.

iii. Hard To Get Recognition And Low Motivations

 Segaran & Associates staff faced difficulties in receiving recognition from the
Management. This affect the performance of the staff to the firm. Employees are
lack of proper planning and in their performance. When they did not get any
recognition or awards, their motivation level will be low and tend to switch to another
company. Motivations is very important for all the employees. They need
motivations to boost their energy level and to give good performance in their works.
 This will lead them and the organization to get recognition and good reputation from
all around the world as well to maintain their standards.

EXTERNAL PROBLEMS

i. Effect of covid-19

 The pandemic of covid-19 started on 2019 until now. Due to covid-19 pandemic the
economic are not stable in certain state. Due to Movement Control Order (MCO 3.0)
and Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) company end up with less client
compare to year 2018. In business, the firm faces the clients are slowly decreasing.
During the MCO and EMCO for one month, Segaran & Associates forced to close
permanently due not listed as essential service. Besides that, the cases that need to
be resolve in court are getting delayed because of the movement control by
government.

ii. High competitors

 High competence of other law firms can affect Segaran & Associates existing and
new clients. Segaran & Associates is one of the best law firm in Ipoh, Perak. This is
because it has a good reputation from plenty of regions. There are lots of
competitors with Segaran & Associates who are provide legal services in cheaper
price. Segaran & Associates faced difficulties on focusing on their client needs. The
firm also failed to knowing the current requirements, bar council announcements,
and latest updates of their competitors which may help them to understand where is
their opportunities.
 3.2 SWOT ANALYSIS

STRENGTH (S) WEAKNESS (W)

 Highly skilled and experience  Public transportation to the firm is

lawyer and clerks. (S1) very limited. (W1)
 Well equipped facility with  Need more treatment option for
technology and security defendants and more funding
improvement. (S2) sources to assist with costs. (W2)
 Well known. (S3)  Lack of lawyers. (W3)
 Profitable. (S4)  Lack of parking lot. (W4)
INTERNAL
 5S Approach (S5)  Lack of space in the office. (W5)
 Loyal clients. (S6)  Lack of sign board and direction
 Innovative minds and approach. board. (W6)
(S7)  There is no specific rooms for
 Highly motivated workforce. (S8) practical / attachment students. (W7)
 Cheaper service than  Less upgraded computer facilities.
competitors. (S9) (W8)
 Top management has insufficient
time to monitor the trainees. (W9)

OPPORTUNITY (O) THREATS (T)

 Good at taking advantage of  High competitors. (T1)

opportunities. (O1)
 Build a stronger service. (O2)
 High image and reputation. (O3)
 Increase utilization of paperless 
technology to increase efficiency 
and security of confidential data.
EXTERNAL
(O4)
 Mistakes of competitors. (O5)
 High growth law firm. (O6)
 Good client relationship. (O7)
 Good support by higher
management to staff. (O8)
 Improve communication skill. (O9)
 Similar service. (T2)
 Changes in economic conditions.
(T3)
Government regulatory. (T4)
Declining in profit due to pandemic
covid-19. (T5)
 Parking restrictions. (T6)
 Clients dissatisfaction. (T7)
 Lack of marketing. (T8)
 Poor management. (T9)
 3.3 TOWS MATRIX

Strengths with Opportunities (SO) Weakness with Opportunities(WO)

 Segaran & Associates is

 Segaran & Associates should
specialized in legal service.
minimize the weakness which is
Therefore, the strategy to maximize
insufficient parking space by
high image and reputation as
taking effective action of the
opportunity by giving fast service as
strategic location to increase
strength to maintaining competitive
profits and for more since most of
advantage. By maintaining a fast
Segaran & Associates clients are
service to client which is a
from other district and state. To
competitive advantage of Segaran
avoid Segaran & Associates
& Associates can boost up and
INTERNAL employees and clients from
indirectly increase high image and
facing more difficulties, firm
reputation. By achieving the
should provide more parking
performance target and client
spaces by building parking lot.
satisfaction, Segaran & Associates
This strategy will definitely can
can have a high image and
increase high image and
reputation. (S3, O3)
reputation of Segaran &
Associates which indirectly can
 Segaran & Associates have highly
add more profits. The more
skilled and experience lawyer and
parking spaces are available, the
clerks. They can recruit new
more comfortability felt by
workforce to join the firm, so it will
employees, clients and others.
enable high growth to the firm. As a
(W4, O3)
best law firm it’s may require more
energy to perform the
 Segaran & Associates
responsibilities, the opportunity of
management team should
the more workforce available to be
communicate with the employees
recruited with the training
to let know the flow of the
opportunities provided by Segaran
operations as well all their
& Associates will be able to
decisions and the progress of the
develop a strong human resource
services operations. The staffs
that assists for the expansion of the
should be given opportunity to
services in the future. (S1, O6)
voice out their suggestions in
order for the services betterment.
 Apart from that, the company
may appoint a leader to
communicate with higher
management in monthly basis for
the company to know the
employees needs and problems.
This will help the firm to reduce
employee turnover among the
employees as the employees will
appreciate the firm effort to
consider their needs and
problems. A well communication
will able the employees
understand the changes and
follow according to the changes.
Thus, I suggest that the firm
should list the term that have
been modified or changed by the
top management and compose a
memo to inform the employees
about the changes. (W9, O9)

Strength with Threats (ST) Weakness and Threats (WT)

 Segaran & Associates should  All the employees need to be

manage the employees and technology advanced which
business operations more should be effective and easier to
EXTERNAL efficiently. The top management reach all clients and also attract
should do routine supervision on new clients. These technologies
the services. They have to make advancement is very necessary
sure that the employees tasks are for admin. They must make sure
not overlapped and in proper all the software and apps or
manner so that the important different version of Microsoft
documents are filed and the should the install in the personal
employees are following all the computer in order to make
company rules and regulations. efficiency in the work. (W8, T8)
The top management also has to
inform all the decisions made to the
 employees as soon as possible so  Segaran & Associates should
that the employees are always up- provide training and develop
to-date with the company progress. innovations to compete with their
Besides that, make sure the competitors. For the lack of
employees follow government expert employees, Segaran &
regulations and policies that need Associates should provide
to be follow by the firm. Firm can training program frequently to
set an approach or procedures that upgrade the firm’s employee’s
need to be followed in their daily skills and their performance. Firm
working routine to avoid any trouble should add more training to its
to firm such as penalty from the employees so that they can
government. (S5, T4) increase the credibility and
productivity of the firm.
 Segaran & Associates is well Therefore, lack of expert staffs
known for its fast services. In order can be minimized by providing
to upgrade its services and training program and will be able
overcome the lack of marketing to face the competitors and
problem, coming up with more increase in financial profit from
technological advancements the previous year’s target. (W9,
according to client’s requirement T8)
that can minimize this threat. Other
than that, new marketing strategies
should be technology advanced
which should be effective and
easier to reach all clients and also
attract new clients other than using
emails and skype. One of the best
marketing strategies may come out
is with hire more sales and
marketing executives to attract new
clients and promote Segaran &
Associates. With a great direct
marketing, it will make the clients to
be aware about this firm. Therefore,
marketing plays an important role in
developing the services of the firm.
(S3, T8)
 3.4 SUITABLE STRATEGY FOR THE COMPANY (BASE ON TOWS)

 Management Strategy

Management Strategies are plans that lead to the implementation of different functions
within the management of the firm. Typically, these strategies are guided by the overall
strategies of the Segaran & Associates and help to achieve its long-term objectives through
its staff. Talent is the human capital of an firm and is crucial to its success and it is important
to Segaran & Associates to maintain. By having a comprehensive staff blueprint, Segaran &
Associates’s management can predict the future staffing needs of the business, while also
recruiting, hiring, and retaining the best talent in the firm.

To do this effectively, the management needs to identify the different competencies

required for each job, such as the skills, abilities and knowledge required to perform the
different tasks effectively. By developing well-defined performance metrics, regular
performance evaluations, and schemes to reward employees for their high performance and
creativity in performing their tasks, the Segaran & Associates’s management will create a
high-performance culture in which employees interests are aligned with those of the Segaran
& associates.

 Research and Development Strategy

Research and development are how an firm seeks to gain new information that could be
used to produce innovations, services, or systems. Businesses that have an R&D plan have
a greater chance of success than businesses that do not. The R&D strategy can lead to
innovation and increased productivity and can enhance the competitive advantage of
Segaran & Associates. From the management perspective, R&D is essential for
management to improve the performance. For example, management always involves
managing and analyzing employees big data like skills, educational background, roles and
more.

With a proper R&D project, Segaran & Associate's management can understand the
current performance, risk better, and compensation to enhance the staff’s development.
Furthermore, the Segaran & Associates’s management also can identify many possible
trends of managing and identify which trend will suit the management style by conducting
proper R&D. An adaption of effective and efficient trends will improve the working style of
management.
4.0 CONCLUSION

4.1 NEW EXPERIENCES AND KNOWLEDGE GAINED DURING THE PRACTICUM

Industrial training is the opportunity for the students to expose to the real working
environment and gaining knowledge. During my industrial training period which started from
15th March 2021 until 12th July 2021 at Segaran & Associates I had been exposed to the
real scenario of private sector working procedure. Thus, I can relate the theories learned in
the university with the industry training that I had done for almost 17 weeks. On the first day,
I have reported my attendance to my company supervisor Mr Rajasegaran a/l Ramasamy.
He had given me a short briefing about the flows of works at Segaran & Associates
especially in Administration department. He explained to me about the rules and regulations
of the firm that I have to follow. Besides, he also reminds me as a practical student, the main
objective is to observe the real working environment and able to adapt well in the firm.

In this 4 months duration of internships, I have gained a lot of knowledge and skills
throughout this practicum. Practicum gave me the opportunity to practice my leadership,
independent learning and team building skills. The training given in practicum program is
mind opening as well as it taught me on how to adapt with colleagues who are way more
elder than me and who has different characters and point of view. In order to compete in
working life, the main thing I need to do is adapting with new environment and new people.
Besides that, I learned how to adapt myself in such group of people throughout this industrial
training. It also makes me to observe things from different outlook. I started to observe the
work tasks and people deeper.

Besides that, I learned how to do certain things and how not to do certain things in
working life. For example, I learned to double check all the documentation tasks that I did in
order to avoid mistakes. This is because certain employees in the company used to do their
task in hurry and likely make silly mistakes which gave a bad impression on them from the
superior. I also find out so much about working life through this practicum program. Not only
from the view of developing practical competencies, I also realized how has the entire
management process the work of daily task. This program helps me to gain depth of
understanding in the business and its management field. I think this was the most crucial
thing about this practicum program.
 During my industrial training period at Segaran & Associates, I had learnt the concept
of patient with the staffs and certainty I had contributed in terms of ideas as well as my
commitment to the firm. In addition, I had assisted and backed up by my supervisor in
handling documentation works and filing documents in the court systems. I have also
improved my communication skills. Workplace communication is very important to
companies because it allows companies to be productive and effective. I even experience an
increase in morale, effective and commitment when I’m are able to communicate up and
down the communication chain in my team. I also sharpened English language for my daily
interaction and email replies to other firms. Most of us communicate in English with each
other, thus my usage of English is high. This makes me to improve my language proficiency
when communicating with clients and working colleague.

Practicum experience gave me a chance to see how things really works, trying out
new things, take risks, experiment and make mistakes. Whenever I get an unclear task from
my supervisor, I tried to do it on my own first or ask the senior clerk Ms. Siti Zubaidah binti
Ibarhim and Mrs. Yogeswari a/p Mahendran. I used to have the fear yet in whatever situation,
my supervisor will treat me well even though I make mistakes my supervisor patiently guided
me to do the tasks in a right manner. Thus, I learnt the importance of trial and error, and
mistake making in the tasks.

Moreover, I make myself familiar with using office equipment properly and efficiently.
To carry out office routine tasks which require extensive use equipment and machines in the
office to add more efficiency and save time to do the work. I have gained some experiences
to operate office equipment such as photocopy machines, fax machines, computer and
telephone. Even though it seems easy to use the equipment but without a proper procedure
and accurate manner, it might damage the equipment of the firm. These skills I have been
mastered and it is a basic skill that should be on every employee.

Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic has a negative impact on me and other intern
trainee. During this pandemic, employers requested interns to work from home. At that time,
intern trainee workload keeps increasing, and we face a lack of connection with colleagues. I
managed myself and also enjoyed in performing my job responsibilities and everything went
smoothly even it was quite tiring and may do over time to finish the daily task. This industrial
training experience was very educative because it makes me to learn many things and to be
self-reliance without depending on anyone. Overall, I had great practicum experiences of
being a part of Segaran & Associates and its operations throughout these 4 months.
 4.2 ISSUES OR PROBLEMS FACED DURING THE PRACTICUM

In my opinion, internship is very important to a student in preparing to a real world

because it really helps a lot. Studies in University only is not enough to prepare for working
in future. Along the internship period, student will realize and get knowledge in all aspect
such as work culture, work environment, knowledge of product or services, manner, self-
confidence and improve our communication skill. Almost 17 weeks of industrial training at
Segaran & Associates, I faced a few problems in the beginning which are :-

 Difficulties In Learning New Things

Internship period taught a lot of new things and knowledge. For an example, I
pursued my education in Bachelor of Business Administration but I managed to learn about
documentation of law. I have learned a lot such as replying the clients via email regarding
the law services. Somehow, I have difficulties too on learning such things as I don’t have any
practical or theory understanding in that field. At first, I felt hard to learn such things but now
I am proud of myself since I’m able to settle documentation process. There are several
difficulties that I met during my internship training.

 Fear Of Communicating With Employees In The Office

As I am new to the firm and my colleagues are way senior than me, I always have
the fear to communicate with the employees. I’m scared that they might not respond to me if
I communicate with them since I am just an internship student. I have worried about my poor
social life and communicating skills too.

 Workload

Since I’m new to the firm as an internship trainee, heavy workloads are given from
different senior staff. This makes me to do multi-tasking which requires me to perform the
task within given time. I had suffered and stressed about the workloads given because I am
not familiar with the works and less supervision is given.

 Online work during Movement Control Order (MCO)

The government announced that the offices will be shutdown since only essential
service companies are authorized to open. When my law firm is not listed under essential
services, the employees are instructed to work from home. During the lockdown, it makes
me to keep calling or texting via phone / whatsapp my supervisor and senior staff in order to
perform the task given to me.

4.3 SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT

 Difficulties In Learning New Things

However, I practice myself to ask my supervisor’s opinion and advice to learn more
new things. As day goes, I can understand how those things works and adapting is
importance to be a fast learner even it is hard.

 Fear Of Communicating With Employees In The Office

However, I solved this constraint by making myself brave to interact with them more
often and with polite manner. By this, they feel so comfortable with me. They became close
to me and friendly as well.

 Workload

In order to overcome this problem I keep my long-term career goals clearly in mind to
make it all feel worth the effort. Then I have practiced myself everytime by setting an
deadline on my own. I have also avoid procrastination by getting the work on the day itself
by not delaying it to next day. This helps me to enhance my multi-tasking skill.

 Online work during Movement Control Order (MCO)

I have managed somehow by asking important questions only to my supervisor in

calls to avoid disturbing them the most. Whenever they teach me through calls or texts, I
have prepared some notes so that I can do it on my own next time with less supervision.
5.0 COURSERA

5.1 WHAT IS COURSERA

Coursera is an online education platform that offers online courses from leading institutions
and businesses throughout the world, sometimes known as MOOCs or Massive Open
Online Courses. Coursera now has over 6000 online courses created by these partner
institutions in its active library. Coursera courses are made up of pre-recorded video lectures
that students can watch on a weekly basis or whenever they are free. Student discussion
forums, weekly exercises, peer-graded and critiqued assignments, and online quizzes or
exams are all available in the platform.

Users can also earn digital certificates after completing the course, which they can
use on their resumes or share with their LinkedIn networks. Furthermore, users can also
enroll in guided projects, such as constructing a data science web app or generating
JavaScript animations, to obtain hands-on experience in a field. Signing up for a
specialization, in which users complete a series of courses and projects on a topic such as
supply chain management or search engine optimization, is another option for Coursera
users. According to the company's website, it provides more than 4,300 courses, more than
450 specializations, more than 440 projects, more than 30 certificates, and 20 degrees.
Recently, University Utara Malaysia collaborated with the Coursera platform to assist
internship students throughout the MCO.
5.2 TYPES / CATEGORY OF COURSERA

i. Course

Take classes from the greatest professors and colleges in the world. Recorded auto-
graded and peer-reviewed assignments, video lectures, and community discussion
forums are all included in the courses. You'll be eligible to earn a shareable
electronic Course Certificate once you've completed a course.

ii. Guided Project

Within 2 hours, you may learn a job-relevant skill that you can use right away through
an interactive experience led by a subject matter expert. Everything you need is right
in your browser, so you can finish your project confidently with step-by-step
instructions.

iii. Specialization

A collection of related courses designed for those looking to master a specific job skill.
You have the option of taking only one course relating to that job skill or a series of
courses that cover all areas of that expertise.

iv. Professional Certificate

Training programmes that prepare you for a certain job or sector. An organization or
school may recognize some professional certifications.

v. Degree

Coursera has partnered with prestigious universities such as Princeton and Yale to
offer students affordable and certified university degrees.

vi. MasterTrack Certificate

Parts of Master's degrees have been broken into online modules with MasterTrack
Certificates, allowing you to achieve a high-quality university-issued career
credential in a flexible, interactive format at a breakthrough price. With real-world
 projects and live, expert instruction, you'll have a highly engaging learning
experience. Your MasterTrack courses counts toward your degree if you are
admitted into the full Master's programme.

5.3 ADVANTAGE OF COURSERA

 Accredited University Degrees

Coursera has partnered with over 200 major universities such as Imperial College
and Stanford, to offer online recognized degrees once you have completed a course.

 Tuition Cost

The cost of the course is much less than that of a standard school or campus-based
course.

 Free Courses

Nearly 2,000 courses are available for free on Coursera. Additionally, you have the
option to audit, which means you can learn for free but won't be able to submit an
assignment or receive grades for your work, and you won't receive a course
certificate.

 Learn Offline

The Coursera app allows you to download course materials for offline use. Allows
you to learn and study while on the go, which is ideal for a plane journey.

 Quality Of Courses

Courses offered by world-class universities and companies' top specialists in their

fields.
 SUMMARY

As a conclusion, it is clearly known that practicum program is a crucial part of university

student’s life by enhancing the employable skills of graduates. This program prepares work-
ready students for industries. An exposure to industry practice is important for the students
in order to acquire employability skills through industrial experience. This program is a
chance for every student to put what they have learned at university to work in the kind of
real life situations when they start their career. It also gives students a great experience
during their undergraduate studies.

In addition, I felt happy and lucky to have my industrial training in Segaran &
Associates because I am able to apply the knowledge and skills that I have learnt from the
curriculum. Apart from that, I really appreciate that Segaran & Associates gave me the
chance to expose to the real workplace and gained a lot of knowledge and skills that cannot
be learned from textbooks. All the colleagues in Segaran & Associates was patience and
always give me a helping hand to deal with the problem that I have faced during the
industrial training. In addition, I have built up my confident to accept the challenge or task
that never seen before during the industrial training. With four month placement, it has
provided me the opportunities to develop and improve my soft and functional skills. All of this
valuable experience and knowledge that I have gained were not only acquired through the
direct involvement in the task given, but also through other aspect of the training such as
work observation, interaction with colleagues, superior, and other third party related to the
firm.
Moreover, the industrial training also gave me an excellent opportunity to meet many
new people in the industry and expand my networking besides improving communication,
monitoring and documenting skills. Certainly, the skills like teamwork, ability to identify and
solve problems, the effective communication skills as well as help each other are very
essential and can be developed during the industrial training period. Furthermore, I would
highly appreciate for the cooperation, guidance and knowledge as well as the great
experiences that had been shared with me along the industrial training period. Those
experiences and knowledge gained will last me a lifetime and of course these would be a
valuable asset for me as a fresh graduate which will be hunted for a job soon. Last but not
least, I will use all the experience that I gained from Segaran & Associates in my future
prospect.
REFERENCES

Build Skills with Online Courses from Top Institutions. Coursera. https://www.coursera.org/.

Izzati, N. Overview Of Industrial Training. Academia.edu.

https://www.academia.edu/32288305/OVERVIEW_OF_INDUSTRIAL_TRAINING.

R. E. White, (2000) Generic Business Strategies, Organizational Context and Performance,

An Empirical Investigation, Strategic Management Journal7 .

Segaran & amp; Associates, Ipoh. Lawyer and Law Firm.

https://lawyerlawfirm.my/listing/segaran-associates-ipoh/.

Segaran & amp; Associates, Ipoh. Malaysian Legal (Lawyers, Solicitors & amp; Advocates)
Directory. https://www.rcakl.org.my/segaran-associates-10770.html.

Sistem e-Filing Mahkamah Malaysia. https://efs.kehakiman.gov.my/EFSWeb/.

APPENDIX

Appendix A : Visiting card of the Firm

Appendix B : Company Supervisor Mr. Rajasegaran a/l Ramasamy

Appendix C : Practicing Certificate of Mr. Rajasegaran a/l Ramasamy

Appendix D : Preparing copies of client’s documents

Appendix E : Submitting documents in the court e-filing system

Appendix F : Coursera Certificate