INTERNSHIP

REPORT 1
April 2022

Crane Management Services

Time Period: April 4th to 29th 2022 Supervisor:
Address: Electrical Plaza, Plot 11 Market Street Ms. Olivia Namusisi
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This report has been prepared for the internship that has been done in the “CRANE MANAGEMENT
SERVICES” to study the practical aspect of the course and implementation of the theory in the field
with the purpose of fulfilling the requirements of the course of “BACHELOR IN REAL ESTATE AND
PROPERTY MANAGEMENT”

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the following people for their support and encouragement;

1. My supervisor, the building manager at Electrical Plaza 11 (Market Street), Ms. Olivia Namusisi,
as well as the other building managers Electrical Plaza 9, Market Plaza, Hardware Plaza, and
Hardware City, who undeniably and positively offered their technical skillset, social capital, as
well as expertise and/or experience in the field of real estate and property management.

2. The Hunan Resource Manager of Crane Management Services, Mrs. Sumaaya, as well as other
employees and/or staff members under Crane Management Services and Meera Investments,
who surely offered their assistance and inspiration.

3. The Academic Supervisor from Victoria University, Dr. Isa Sserwadda, who tirelessly worked
to making sure that all interns were working in a comfortable and/or learning (skill-giving)
environment, and executed all tasks assigned to them by their supervisors.

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DECLARATION

I ______JORAM WALUKAMBA YEKONIA________ hereby declare, to the best of my knowledge,

that this industrial training /internship report is my original work and has never been submitted to this
University or any other institution of higher learning for an academic award or publication.

STUDENT

Signature: ___________________
Name: Joram Walukamba Yekonia
Reg No.: VU-BRE-2101-0636
Date: _________________

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APPROVAL

This internship report has been submitted with approval of:

ACADEMIC SUPERVISOR BUILDING MANAGER

Signature: ___________________ Signature: ___________________

Name: Dr. Isa Sserwadda Name: Olivia Namusisi
Institution: VICTORIA UNIVERSITY Building: ELECTRICAL PLAZA
Date: _________________ Date: _________________

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ABSTRACT

All students of Victoria University, Kampala, are required to undergo three internships (of four weeks
each) throughout the whole three-year Bachelor’s degree course. Therefore, as a student doing a
Bachelor’s degree in Real Estate and Property Management, I underwent an internship training at
Electrical Plaza 11, on Market Street, Kampala. It is one of the properties managed by Crane
Management Services (CMS) and owned by Meera Investments Limited.

The purpose of this internship is to help interns to develop their job performance, adopt ethical work
processes, have good interpersonal relationships and communication skills, have good time keeping and
punctuality, boost productivity and also learn new skills.

Some of the lessons and/or skills learnt during this internship include professional work ethic, report
writing, interpretation of floor plans and rack rates per square meter, record keeping, site inspections and
recording of data, and application of basic knowledge learnt at school into the workplace.

A SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis was also conducted on this
internship and a number of recommendations were drawn and proposed for further scrutiny, as discussed
in the report.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgement _________________________________________________________________ 1
Declaration _______________________________________________________________________ 2
Approval ________________________________________________________________________ 3
Abstract _________________________________________________________________________ 4
Chapter 1: Introduction of the Report __________________________________________________ 6

Background: ____________________________________________________________________ 6
Purpose: _______________________________________________________________________ 6
Data Collection: _________________________________________________________________ 6
Scope: ________________________________________________________________________ 6

Chapter 2: Overview of the Organization _______________________________________________ 7

Company Overview ______________________________________________________________ 7

Vision, mission and core values ____________________________________________________ 7
Management at CMS _____________________________________________________________ 8
About Electrical Plaza (Plot 11, Market Street) ________________________________________ 9

Chapter 3: Learning Outcomes ______________________________________________________ 10

Duration of internship ___________________________________________________________ 10

Departments assigned and/or list of activities performed ________________________________ 10

Week one (4th -8th April) _______________________________________________________ 10

Week two (11th – 15th April) ____________________________________________________ 10
Week three (18th – 22nd April) ___________________________________________________ 11
Week four (25th – 29th April) ____________________________________________________ 11

Lessons and/or skills attained _____________________________________________________ 12

Chapter 4: Analysis of the Internship _________________________________________________ 13

SWOT analysis ________________________________________________________________ 13

Customer Analysis ______________________________________________________________ 13
Competitive Analysis____________________________________________________________ 13

Chapter 5: Recommendations and Conclusions _________________________________________ 14

Works Cited _____________________________________________________________________ 15

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION OF THE REPORT

Background:
Internship can be described as a professional learning experience that offers meaningful, practical work
related to a student’s field of study or career interest. An internship gives a student the opportunity for
career exploration and development, and to learn new skills. It offers the employer the opportunity to
bring new ideas and energy into the workplace, develop talent and potentially build a pipeline for future
full-time employees. A quality internship consists of a part-time or full-time work schedule that includes
no more than 25% clerical or administrative duties; provides a clear job/project description for the work
experience; orients the student to the organization, its culture and proposed work assignment(s), helps
the student develop and achieve learning goals; and offers regular feedback to the student intern
(University of Maryland Baltimore County, 2022).

All students of Victoria University, Kampala, are required to undergo three internships (of four weeks
each) throughout the whole three year Bachelor’s degree course. Therefore, as a student doing a
Bachelor’s degree in Real Estate and Property Management, I underwent an internship training at
Electrical Plaza 11, on Market Street, Kampala. It is one of the properties managed by Crane
Management Services (CMS) and owned by Meera Investments.

Purpose:
The purpose of this internship is to help interns to develop their job performance, adopt ethical work
processes, have good interpersonal relationships and communication skills, have good time keeping and
punctuality, boost productivity and also learn new skills.

Data Collection:
The source of data is mainly primary, and it entails report writing, filling of forms, handwritten recording
of data, photographic recording where necessary, as well as manual site inspections. The secondary data
was retrieved from websites, journals and articles

Scope:
Since it is not feasible to efficiently cover all the departments of Crane Management Services in four
weeks’ time, I was focussed specifically on building management, in order to know what is entailed in
the efficient running of a building within the Kampala central business district (CBD).

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CHAPTER 2: OVERVIEW OF THE ORGANIZATION

Company Overview
Crane Management Services (CMS) is a leading Real Estate management company in Kampala,
Uganda. It is a subsidiary of the Ruparelia Group of Companies. Their core business is managing,
marketing and consultancy within the real estate sector. The company prides itself in providing the
highest level of customer care service to their clients. With a data driven management approach, CMS
easily understand its customer requirements and business needs. CMS manages up to 350 properties,
totalling to 5 million square feet. 95% of our total management is in Kampala city and suburbs of
Kampala. CMS has its head office on 4th Floor, Crane Chambers building, at Plot 38 Kampala Road
(Crane Management Services, 2019).

CMS manages buildings such as Kingdom Kampala, Speke Apartments, Hardware City, Market Plaza
Electrical Plaza 9 and 11, Hardware plaza, Kampala Boulevard, Banda Warehouses, The Cube, Crane
Plaza, Bukoto Heights, Royal Plaza, Tagore Apartments, Eagle plaza, Ntinda Warehouse, The Plaza,
and Industrial Area warehouses etc.

Historically speaking, the Ruparelia Group of Companies has been in existence since the 90s.

Vision, mission and core values

CMS’ vision is “to deliver trustworthy real estate management service that our clients will cherish for
a lifetime”.

CMS’ mission is “to increase the standard of living and enrich the working environment of our clients
through providing the highest quality of customer care”.

The core values of CMS are “customer care; teamwork; integrity; professionalism; self-responsibility;
honest; and quality”.

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Management at CMS

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About Electrical Plaza (Plot 11, Market Street)

Right in the heart of Kampala on plot 11 Market Street, this property is one of the modern commercial
buildings in downtown, Kampala. Each unit is tremendously designed to support needs of retailers and
wholesalers. The overall effect of this building has an everlasting impact to every retail businessman.

The structure covers a total area of 26,469.1 square meters. The views from outside are unbelievable but
the serenity inside awesome. The extraordinary place gives tenants the thrill of modernity and high art.
It is also be one of the tallest buildings in downtown Kampala, with a magnificent view of the city and
the Old Taxi Park itself.

Electrical Plaza on plot 11 market Street is located in a busy place famously known for having many
retail business neighbourhood and also being a harbour for Nakasero Market close by it.

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CHAPTER 3: LEARNING OUTCOMES

Duration of internship
The internship at Crane Management Services lasted one month (4 weeks), commencing on 4th April
2022 up until 29th April 2022.

Departments assigned and/or list of activities performed

Under the building manager, I was assigned several tasks/activities, broken down within the whole four
week period as detailed below;

Week one (4th -8th April)

During week one, I was initiated into the company by the HR manager, and told what to expect and how
work is executed, and the general work culture within CMS. I was later handed over to the building
manager of Electrical Plaza 11, who acquainted me with the terminologies used in the real estate
industry, some of the company jargons, documentation and also record keeping practices within the
workplace.
I was also taught how to read and/or interpret floor plans, space schedules and unit rates (the standard
rate per square meter, and how they change according to the floor, the size, the proximity to the entrance,
the amenities etc.) of all the retail space (shops), residential units (apartments), toilet facilities, as well
as parking space. During this process I was given a site tour (orientation) of the building in order to know
every extent of the building. This is for proper management.
The building manager also took me through the recording of relevant details of payments by tenants
through the bank. This entails all receipts and other proofs of payment (POP) made to and for the
company by the tenants, including rent, water bills, electricity bills where necessary etc.

Week two (11th – 15th April)

Week two was more technical. In here I learnt how to record details of tenant’s complaints and place
them in a complaint form. Then I would investigate and attach the evidence to the complaint form before
submitting to the head office. A copy is made for the office. Routine site inspections were also done to
be abreast with everything on ground and make sure that the building is in good condition for customer
satisfaction.
These site inspections involved checking the floor tiles, service ducts for both power (electricity) and
CCTV, public area cleanliness etc. Additionally, unoccupied units were routinely cleaned. For example,
on Tuesday, the vacant apartments on 7th to 9th floor underwent deep cleaning, in that all the furniture

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was removed from each apartment and dusted, then the rooms, windows, doors, washing closets (W/Cs),
bathrooms etc. were thoroughly cleaned.
Requisition for necessary items was also done in this week. At CMS, all requisitions for maintenance
items, cleaning materials, stationery, computer support materials etc. are done on 15th of each month and
the requisition forms are taken to the head office for approval.

Week three (18th – 22nd April)

This week was characterized by mostly technical maintenance works. For example, all cameras were
rebooted and serviced since some had errors, some were faulty and others just needed recalibration
and/or reprogramming in order to change their IP (Internet Protocol) configurations. All camera
connections to the CCTV ducts were reconfirmed and some changed, and the hard disks (for sizes 20
and 50 terabytes) were replaced because they were full – this meant that they were not recording anything
for a full day.
I also learnt how to load power for the tenants’ meters in the power duct. In the power duct, each unit
has its own circuit breaker which is clearly labelled. This is where the tenant’s CIU meter is hot-wired
and to the live wire connection on their circuit breaker so that their power token is loaded onto their CIU
meter directly. This is usually done when a tenant waits for their electricity units to read 0.00 Kwh (Kilo
watt hours).
I was also taught how to formulate an occupancy report. For example Electrical Plaza has a total of 226
units of retail space, with 220 occupied and 6 vacant. It also has 52 apartments, with 20 occupied and 32
vacant. This means that the occupancy rate is 97% for retail space and 38% for the apartments. This
brings the total occupancy to 68%. I also learnt how to formulate a summarized lease diary highlighting
the tenants’ names and details, rent (paid and pending), bills, arrears etc.

Week four (25th – 29th April)

I learnt how to formulate regular reports (daily, weekly and monthly) in order to properly record in detail
all the necessities, and to also have reference in case of future situations. These reports include a lease
or rental diaries, occupancy reports, inquiry forms, rental agreements, CIU handover forms, requisition
forms, maintenance schedule, cleaning schedule etc.
During this period more regular site inspections were done on both the elevators in the building
(passenger and car lifts). They are usually serviced by a company called Omega Elevators Ltd., where
they were procured. The car lift gives access to parking on the 4th and 5th floors, and therefore has to be
in good working condition since it is only one. The passenger lift also undergoes regular service because
it is used by mostly people who want to access the parking space and apartments.

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Lessons and/or skills attained

1. Report writing. In every office, documentation is one of the most important factors, therefore, at
CMS, I learnt how to formulate documents like feasibility reports, lease diaries, inquiry forms,
occupancy reports, rental agreements, requisition forms, maintenance schedule etc.
2. Interpretation of floor plans and rack rates per square meter. This involves having a good
understanding of architectural and structural floor plans, space schedules and also the rates charged
per square meter on each floor.
3. Record keeping. This helps with efficiency and also avoids wastage when it comes to stocking levels.
4. Site inspections and recording of data. It is very important to know the health or condition of the
building, because a building with faults lowers your tenants and revenue. Therefore, regular
recording of faults helps to do maintenance in time.
5. Application of basic knowledge learnt at school into the workplace. For example, analysis and
attention to detail, organization, time management, teamwork, multiple task coordination, initiative,
adaptability, etc.
6. Professional work ethic. This involves learning employer expectations for workplace behaviours,
core values and work culture, specific common job functions such as marketing, management,
customer service, accounting, security, PR, training, IT surveillance, etc.

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CHAPTER 4: ANALYSIS OF THE INTERNSHIP

SWOT analysis

POSITIVE NEGATIVE

STRENGTH WEAKNESS
INTERNAL

• Strong and Prominent • Poor motivation

International Image
• Latest Technology
• Competitive Workforce
• Creativity and Innovation
• ISO Certified Company
• Little opportunity for development
• Lack of teamwork
• Lack of continuity of policies
(rigidity)
• Too many specialized jobs

OPPORTUNITY THREAT
EXTERNAL

• There are technological • There is strong competition from

advancements in the industry
• New emerging markets
• Bright local market
• New Cyber laws and Policies
• Implementation of technology and
websites in government sector
other companies
• Business slowed down due the
emergence of COVID-19 pandemic
and its effects both locally and
internationally
• Government Policies
• Political uncertainties

Customer Analysis
Crane Management Services targets all categories of income streams of their tenants, ranging from
approximately $15 (55,000 UGX), all the way to $35 (130,000 UGX) per square meter. For some
buildings, the rate might be higher. The apartments (either for sale or rent) target both middle and
high-end income earners.

Competitive Analysis
CMS’ competition mainly comprises of Knight Frank, River Stone, Broll, and Luba Properties etc.

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CHAPTER 5: RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS

In conclusion, this internship has helped me to apply some of the knowledge I learnt at school into the
workplace. This practical knowledge has helped me to effectively manage a building and/or property. It
has also taught me to have professional/ethical and generally good relationships with tenants as well as
management and fellow workmates.

I would like to recommend a few improvements;

1. The remuneration system at CMS should help in motivation as a better remuneration package can do
more in this highly competitive environment.

2. CMS should consider having a career development opportunity for their employees so that they can
work energetically in the organization – being that there is high turnover in the company caused by
lack of information in the related sector.

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WORKS CITED

1. Crane Management Services (2019) About Us - Crane Management Services. Available at:
http://www.cms.co.ug/about-us/ (Accessed: 17 September 2022).
2. University of Maryland Baltimore County (2022) What Is an Internship? – Career Center - UMBC.
Available at: https://careers.umbc.edu/employers/internships/what-is-an-internship/ (Accessed: 17
September 2022).

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