Corporate Business Design Organization Design Sudharsanaa T | Asmita Misra
Guided by - Mayukhini Pande Bhavin Kothari
Ackowledgement
Being our final project at NID, we tried our best to give our 100% in making this a successful and valuable project. However it would not have been possible without the continual support and constant feedback from our course guide, Ms Mayukhini Pande. She was always available for us at the specified time and would go to great lengths in explaining concepts and helping us understand the data that we had collected. Mayukhini truly showed us the wonders of generating insights if the data is handled correctly. She would never rush us to complete or hesitate in repeating herself for the sake of our understanding. We would also like to thank our course anchor Mr Bhavin Kothari for giving us the freedom to take the project in the direction we found most suitable keeping in mind the eventual goals and deliverables. The true strengths of our organization were tested and found to be the dependable foundation - its flexibility. But most importantly we would like to express our sincere gratitude to Mr Premal Pandya and all other employees of Okhai - Centre for Empowerment for giving us their time, patience and access into their work. We would be unable to get the project to this level without the inputs from the artisans and other beneficiaries at the Okhai Centre in Meethapur. Their cooperation and assistance was invaluable in the execution of this project. Lastly we would like to thank our colleagues at SDM and NID for their constant encouragement and support. Sincerely, Asmita Misra Sudharsanaa Thambidhurai
Contents
1. About the project 2. About Okhai 3. Product range 4. Locations 5. Competitors 6. Organisation History 7. Hierarchy 8. Sensing - Interviews - Production process - Sampling process - Production cycle 9. Sense Making - SWOT - PESTEL - Problems identified - Initial brainstorming of ideas - Maslow’s theory - Problem statement 10. Implementation - What is empowerment? - Proposed Solutions - Impact Mapping - Feedback - Plans of Implementation - Conclusion
This project was complete by Asmita Misra and Sudharsanaa T, 2 students in their fourth semester at the postgraduate discipline of Strategic Design Management at the National Institute of Design, Gandhinagar. This is our final academic project before stepping out into the industry for our Diploma Projects. The aim of this project was to study an existing organization in depth, analyse it processes and discover areas of intervention which would help the organization achieve its goals faster and better. We had to choose and organization based on our interest but some flexible criteria were that it should have at least 10 employees and a turnover of at least over ~1 crore annually. We chose to work with OKHAI, a ethnic women’s apparel brand because we had previously established a contact within the organization and we knew that they were in the need for some organizational design and process auditing. they had expressed keen interest previously in working with NID students and we found that they would be open to supporting us and accepting our methods and study.
Process
1 2 3
Sensing
Internal Factors External Factors
Implementation Prototype Feedback Refine
Sense Making
Analysis Existing Frameworks Impact
About the project
The project was carried out over a duration of 10 weeks. The process followed was: We spent the first week in establishing contact with the organization and obtaining permissions from the highest level authorities within the hierarchy to ensure we would face no operational difficulties. Ensure complete clarity of intentions, we articulated a statement of purpose which also helped us build a common understanding of the purpose, process etc. of the course. We spent the next two weeks in scanning the internal and external environment of the organization. We mapped the transactional as well as contextual environment of the firm and mapped the major subsystems and their relationships (Goals, strategies, major inputs, transformations, outputs). This helped us, as outsiders, in getting a thorough understanding of the functioning and future plans of the organization. We created basic conceptual models of the firm and its environment. with the help of this information, we developed a base level sense of the possible problems / gaps / opportunities within the organization. The next 2 weeks were spent in collecting data specific to the problem area by visiting the field and speaking to all the stakeholders involved. We synthesized this data to arrive a holistic understanding of the problem statement.
In the 7th and the 8th week, we conceptualized numerous solutions specific to the problems identified by us. We presented these back to our organization and our faculty here at NID to receive feedback and refine the concepts to more wholesome solutions. Finally in our last two weeks we made prototypes and mock ups and attempted to receive feedback for the end beneficiaries of our ideas. We spent considerable time in creating this report and that concluded the project for us. In our 4th week, we carried out a detailed exploration of the contexts of the gaps / opportunities that were sensed. We went back to the staff, explained what we were sensing and found validation in our thoughts. This helped us develop and structure the problem and articulate a proper problem statement.
An initiative of Tata Chemicals Society for Rural Development Okhai is an women’s ethnic wear brand, handcrafted by the women of Okhamandal region in Gujarat. Okhai is an initiative of Tata Chemicals Society for Rural Development (TCSRD), which is a CSR branch of Tata Chemicals Limited, Mithapur in the district of Dwaraka in the western coasts of Gujarat. Tata Chemicals has one of it biggest factories there because of its proximity to the Indian Ocean. Mithapur, privately owned by Tata Chemicals, is part of the 5,398-acres of freehold land obtained in the 1930s from the government of the erstwhile princely state of Baroda. The town square at Mithapur, from where roads branch out in many directions, is symbolic of the central place the company enjoys in this community comprising employees and their families, teachers and merchants. Spread across 663 acres of land, Mithapur enjoys the advantages of urban infrastructure along with the beauty of its idyllic surroundings. The 350+ artisans of Okhai live in and around 50 Km radius of Tata Chemical factory in Mithapur.
Product Range
Primarily: • • • • • •
Women’s Kurta Bed spread Hand bags Dupatta Cushion covers Leggings
Other Clusters: • • • • • • • • • •
Bandhani Beadwork Jute Leather / Rexine Mud & Mirror Karjovi Coconut Husk Block Print Tailoring Paper
Locations Okhai’s functioning are divided over two major locations not including the locations of its major sales channel. The main Administrative Office which has the sales, designing and inventory management team is located on Ashram Road in Ahmadabad. The main production unit called the Okhai Center which has a permanent staff is located in the Tata Hostel Complex in Meethapur in the Okhamandal. Okhai Center is the central hub of all activity of coordinating production, inventory management, finance and training. Quality checking of fabric, stitching and final quality checking of garment is done in a separate location which is roughly 5 kms from the Okhai Centre. This is also called the OST or the Stitching Unit. This unit has 15 industrial tailoring machine and 1 overlocking machine. Okhai also has a third location within Mithapur itself called the Style Center which at the moment is primarily used for creating the Okahi carrybags. The 350+ artisans that work under Okhai are located within 10+kms radius of the Meethapur office. They all live at their respective homes and the work is delivered to them.
They have their primary shop (sales outlet) in the Alpha One mall in Vastrapur in Ahmedabad. Besides this, they supply their stock to multi branded outlets at Chennai, Banaglore and Mumbai They also have small outlets at Mithapur and Pune They have planned and are currently identifying suitable locations to open up stores at Delhi and Jamshedpur.
Competitors
Organisation History
Hierarchy
Sensing
Internal factors External factors
Mr. Premal Pandya Head of Okhai
1. He told us the entire history of the organization 2. Initially the training and development started with the funds from TCSRD, NABARD, and other government grants aim of the organization was to reduce the locals’ dependence on TCL 3. Earlier it was a small activity within TCSRD, so it would lose focus. Therefore it was created as an independent Trust, to make it an self sustaining activity. we were not clear about its potential at the start 4. We decided that if tata chemicals is going to entre into this then we might as well make it a brand. 5. “We are Driven by production and not by sales 6. we had envisioned that by 2014 we should have over 650 artisans earning atleast Rs 1500 a month by 2016 everyone associated with should should be on
Okhai rolls 7. Since we are a trust, when we make profits, we will have to reinvest them into the organization. 8. Women invest the income earned from working from Okhai for their children’s education 9. Tried selling hard goods(products from other clusters) in the store 10. The artisans of some of the clusters have doubts whether they will get work from Okhai the next time and Okhai has doubts from the same cluster if they will do the work that comes the next time. they don’t know how to break this ice wall.
Mr. Jayanth Bhojia Design Head
1. Every artisan has a “passbook” which documents their monthly earnings the earnings get transferred to their accounts directly. 2. The rate of production in the OST is such that complex garments get stitched 4 pieces a day whereas simple garments get stitched 6 pieces a day.
• •
Embroidery is done by Sathwaras and Aahirs Beadwork is done by a mixed community
8. Because the orders of our quantities are so less, suppliers take out time for printing our orders, away from their much larger orders. less quantity gives them less benefits 9. 9 design per plan was decided keeping in mind the capacity of OST and market size
16. we require 40 to 45 meters of supporting fabric for each design 17. Supporting fabric and the main fabrics are purchased at the same time 18. The payment is prioritised first to artisans, other staff, rent of the store and then the supplier
3. TCSRD wants to merge all textile clusters with OKHAI
10. Our target is to release 1 plan per month
4. The land in the Okhamandal area is not fertile therefore the locals cannot earn livelihood via farming and cultivation.
11. colorways for the designs are decided depending upon the availability of fabric and other raw materials
5. In the afternoon 2 - 5:30 pm is the free time for the local ladies. this is also the time where they do most of the work for Okhai
12. On an average we need 250 meters per design
20. Zarina does the accurate checking of the fabrics in terms of quantity and quality
13. Planning in procurement is something we need to start following
21. Bills should be processed with accuracy
14. We prefer working with block printed fabric, handloom and screen printed fabrics
22. We order fabrics for minimum required for minimum of 2 to 3 plans, but the date of delivery is different for the fabrics, we mention that separately to the vendors at the time of ordering
6. Currently the artisans earn anywhere between Rs 1500 to Rs 7000 a month 7. The crafts in the region are divided according to tribe and caste. namely: • Bandhani is done by Muslims • Applique and Mirror work is done by Rabaris
15. Few vendors send swatches to the Ahmedabad office, design team selects and places the order
19. Initial inventory checkings are done on a random selection process, and not checked extensively. width, length and the print quality are checked randomly in any one of the spools of fabric, and not on all the spools
23. We are not able to create a visually impactful store because of space constraints 24. At the time of delivery of fabric we get a delivery challan and bill both 25. In export houses, the turn around time for raw materials is much much shorter, this is an NGO therefore we take more time. consignees also know this. 26. The size sets are create in the ratio: XS : S : M : L : XL 1 : 1 : 2 : 2 : 1 = [7 pieces / set] 27. Quality check is not feasible in ahmedabad as avani is alone here 28. when we go for procurement once, we try and buy for 3 plans, delivery is phased. 29. In retail outlets, its important to maximize the space used for display and storage 30. “stock hoga, tabhi bikne ki baat aati hai� 31. Sourcing is done in different ways: - people come and show different fabric samples that they may have - Far away suppliers scan their latest designs and email it to take orders - They themselves go out and purchase fabric from different suppliers and sources
32. Needle and thread work has its own pace. 33. If the women were to work under a shed, there would be a lot more discipline 34. Women of the house are engaged in N number of activities. whereas the men have a one point agenda for the day. 35. Reduce the time taken to 1 month or double the production in the same time frame. some families have more than 1 woman so there is divison of labour and therefore more work is done in them. 36. It is an income generating activity for poor and vulnerable women women in rural areas 37. If NGOs can deliver on time and maintain consistent quality then there is no derth of work available.
Ms. Nusrat Marketing & Sales Head
1. We have 200-300 repeat customers coming in our Ahmedabad store 2. We dont give discount on bags as we don’t have much of a profit margin on them 3. We dont release more than 1 or 2 designs per week of they will cannibalize each others’ sales 4. She decides whether a cluster product is upto the mark before it can be sold at one of the Okhai stores 5. Expansion in terms of helping the women 6. We would want to increase the sales and volume to increase the income of women 7. Mark up is around 30% to 40%
8. It is a trust, and we have enough money to correspond and run the organisation 9. Requirement is not high
10. Other trusts working on the similar line increase the mark up and charge high for their products, but we do not want to do that 11. There is SEVA, Fabindia, Keri, but they are all very big. we are still trying to match their quality 12. plans of opening store in Jamshedpur and Delhi is on pipeline 13. we have 5 - 7 consignees 14. Our sales channels include corporate sales, exhibitions, putting up stalls in offices like Taj resorts and hotels, Tech Mahindra, tata sky, TCS, Axis Bank, and through the stores 15. Yearly target is divided and given as monthly targets to the store 16. Consignees place order for the design and quantity. The pieces are sold to them and we do not work on credit system anymore 17. We make sure that we go to exhibitions at least once in a month
18. TCL funds for marketing at times 19. 5% VAT is included in the MRP of all the products 20. January and july is the time discounts are provided to the customers in the Ahmedabad store 21. New designs are displayed on the mannequin in the front
Mrs. Anupama Production Supervisor
1. Women are graded according to their skills. grading is done once in a year, women are asked asked to give fabric swatches with the stitches they are familiar with. According to the stitches and finishing, women are evaluated by Jayanth bhai, Anupama, Lakshmi ben and Laku ben 2. If there is a marriage in a village or monsoon, the production gets affected 3. Distribute goods to different groups considering the social factors like religious festivities 4. Before TCSRD started Okhai, women used to do these kind of work only for their personal use 5. TCSRD was providing loan to the women associated with SHG(Self Help Group) in that region, and during a survey conducted internally, they realised the business opportunity and started Okhai 6. before they started going to exhibitions, they were selling it through government organised mela’s, but the sales was uncertain 7. Costing for each design, only for the hand work involved in it is decided by consulting with the
karigar inhouse depending on the time value 8. Design team consults with the artisan’s, before deciding to work on different fabrics
18. Artisan’s name and mandal name is mentioned on each piece worked, for the later reference
9. Designs in every plan is planned. it is made sure that there are 2 applique, 4 embroidery and 1 bead work. More embroidery designs are made, as there are many embroidery clusters
19. Eye check up for every artisan is done every year
10. At times, we face problems in production because of non availability of supporting fabrics
21. There are two different things happening in the organisation, one is production for empowerment and building a brand
11. Not all designs from a plan come together for production 12. The left over fabrics are stored, and Ramee ben decides for production of other products with that. but it is sent to ahmedabad for approval 13. Initially women were paid 40 to 50 rupees per piece, as the designs were not very heavy. the new designs are heavy these days, women take time to work. 14. Women take time to complete the designs that are given now, as the designs are little complicated than what they were given earlier 15. Women artisan’s who are willing to be a part of Okhai has to pay Rs 25 per year to be member 16. Beneficiaries are paid through their bank account. the money is transferred to the pramukh of each cluster, and later is divided to the artisans by the pramukh 17. If there needs to any training given for the women on any particular design, it is done by going to their villages itself, as it eases out the travelling for them
20. At times the pieces are fully stitched before sending for work, if the designs are simple
22. Printing is done using zinc oxide and kerosene, many people are not willing to do it because of the material used as it is harmful. 23. White petrol is used in the later process to remove to the stains of the printing 24. Sampling is done for the size L 25. Each cluster of artisans is graded according to the quality and intricacy of their work. Grade A artisans have the best performance in terms of skills, dependency and deliverables. Grade B artisans aspire to gain the status of grade A. Grade C aspire to be Grade B and then A. The gradation is done by a test carried out every year in which the artisans are asked to create a best piece of their work from scratch. Judging is done based on various criterias. The primary work of Okhai is done mostly by Grade A artisans. the other job works is done by Grade B and C. any training provided by external funding is targeted to Grade B and C artisans to improve their skills.
Mr. Ajeet
Mr. Parakrum
Mrs. Ramee
Accounts Head
Production Head
Inventory Management
1. Beneficiaries associated with the organisation for a long time should be made permanent 1. We do not spend on advertisements 2. We spend on exhibitions which includes rent for the space and other expenses for 3 people travelling to take care of the stall 3.Sales from Ahmedabad store is around 4 to 5 lakh per month 4. Sales in Mithapur store is less 5. We have a software for billing in the Ahmedabad store 6. Stock entry and control is done at Ahmedabad office 7. No barcode is used for cluster products and they are billed separately in a manual bill book
1. All the fabrics are zero dried, which means the fabrics are processed in such a way that they do not color bleed later. This is done for both the main fabric and supporting fabric 2. Barcoding is done in Ahmedabad for all the products. the barcodes for products that are sold in Okhai store, Mithapur is sent to them.
Ms. Zareena Cutting Master
3. All the other stock is sent to Ahmedabad, and prices are decided depending upon the sales channel through it is sold 4. Milk route is a colloquial term used for the route followed to distribute the job work amongst the artisans within the clusters associated with Okhai. It is named after the route used to collect milk in earlier times during the milk revolution of earlier times.
1. 5 - 7 pieces stitched on an average by every women in a day. Production can be increased if we re arrange the set up, but curretly we do not have such high requirements
Ms. Heena Ben Sales - Ahmedabad store
1. We have 17-20 repeat customers 2. Number of designs arriving per year is not sufficient for their repeat customers 3. People buy things for themselves & for their family members, especially to send abroad 4. Customers don't buy a pattern even if their distant relative has the same 5. All the salespeople divide the store timings amongst themselves 6. During sales season, clothes on sale kept right at the front of the shop, some even outside the store, fresh stock kept absolutely inside 7. During regular times, fresh stock displayed at front and other hanging areas, some stock always available on 20% discount
8. Sale not on anything other than kurtas they receive 2 new designs every 15 days - the whole “plan” doesn’t come together 9. They sell: • • • • • • • • •
Kurtas: short, 3/4th, long Skirts: 3/4th, long Dupattas Leggings, patialas Bed spreads, cushion covers Men’s kurtas Hand / duffle bags Beaded jewellery Suitpieces
Lakshmi Ben Artisan - Applique work 1. “Thoda sa hi kaam milta hai, raat raat mein baith ke kartein hain”
Hatija Ben OST Head 1. “Humse bhi card punch karwana chahiye, uniform hona chahiye, hume bhi lagega ki hum kisi badi jagah mein kaam karne aae hain”
Production Process
Sampling Process
Prodution Cycle
PESTEL Political
Environmental
Social
1. TCSRD Community development team tries to maintain contact with all levels in the village – doesn’t let political factors affect much
1. Unseasonal rains in the western part of the country will hamper production of fabric – sourcing will be delayed
1. Festival calendar affects production
2. Influential master crafts men
2. Heavy winds blow chemicals to a village then production will stop there due to uproar
3. Dwarka becoming a district has raised influx of tourists & access & development – more exposure
Economical
3. Want to focus on raw materials made of vegetable dyes, handlooms 4. Productivity differs during winters and summers
2. Marriage and death in village or neighboring village will greatly lessen production 3. Production is planned in such a way that Muslim clusters are given work during Hindu festive seasons and vice versa 4. They work average 2 hours in a day as it is not their primary work 5. 19-35 general age group of associated artisans
1. If sales is hampered due to any other factor then cash flow will be hampered. This will be a problem for their supplies and vendors
Legal
6. Production can be increased to maximum 4 hours
2. Raw material prices
1. People stop shopping in march as they spend on income tax – despite of sales in malls
7. Sales increase in winter season when NRGs visit home
3. Transportation cost – petrol / electricity
2. VAT rates
4. Sales season in the mall increases foot fall therefore sales increases
3. Compulsion of spending on CSR changes will effect this
5. Receiving grants and subsidies will boost their capacity building & thus production
4. It is established as a Trust – guidelines / grants / subsidies
6. Cost of real estate – drastic increase – sales will be affected
Technological 1. Primarily handicraft so technological interventions not suitable 2. Information flow – communication 3. Handling inventory, finances
Sense Making
Analysis Existing framework Impact
SWOT
Internal
Positive
Negative
Strengths
Weakness
1. Novelty product.
1. Lack of proper sales team / financial team
2. Access to pool of artisans
2. Cash flow problems act as a deterrent for progress & development
3. Support & vision of TCL & TCSRD 3. Un refined production processes 4. Tag of CSR / Non-profit – helps them get access
4. Gap in the perception of “Empowerment”
5. Dedicated production team
Opportunities External
1. New sales channels
Threats 1. Cash flow problems act as a deterrent for progress & development
2. Proper advertising and brand positioning 3. Demand for new products in the market
2. Unforeseen social events that will affect the production
Problems Identified In Production:
In Planning and Designing:
1. Very cyclic production process where the raw material is being moved many times between various locations to reach to the various artisans doing different actions onto it.
1. Difference in the perception of “empowerment” for the artisans and the staff
2. Quality checking is happening at more than 3-4 places this slows the process and make it time consuming
3. No defined perception / measure of “quality” for cluster products - a deterrent to sales
3. Output of OST very low because each woman is individually stitching each garment 4. Very few artisans involved in printing therefore a lag is created at this step. this is because zinc oxide is used for printing and this is harmful to health. 5. Applique cutting done at okhai centre and is very time taking process as the applique patches used in Okhai are very intricate and therefore only skilled artisans can cut these pieces 6. Low productivity in term of handwork as there is no fixed labour. all are paid per piece and are on an attachment basis
2. Esteem needs of the artisans not being met
4. Designs of cluster products alienated from the original / traditional designs 5. Brand “okhai” stand alone and does not communicate stories behind the products 6. Women would rather work for okhai - for surety of work - but there is nothing stopping them from going outside and becoming independent 7. 9 design in 1 plan and 12 plans in 1 year, this expectation puts a lot of pressure of the design team and they are not able to deliver this quantity. 8. The production cycle is very slow. it take more than 3 months to convert purchased raw materials into finished products before it is ready to be sold in the market. This hampers in the payment to the raw material suppliers as their credit period is maximum 60 days. 9. This problem also creates a cash flow crunch.
Initial Brainstorming of Ideas
Empowerment
Branding
Better planning
1. Incentivization - non monetary - for production staff
1. Differentiating brand for various product ranges
1. Reducing the no of designs in a plan maybe name it something else? - a collection? increase no of pieces per design
2. Create an organization with HR rules and regulations 3. Aligning artisans’ and admin’s perception of empowerment 4. Fashion show for artisans to see their output
2. Create narrations “cluster stories” through sales outlets 3. Sell products from other clusters as well to promote “empowerment” 4. Change store layout for better brand positioning
2. Having master craftsmen in “design team” “training” master craftsmen in design 3. Cataloging traditional designs & motifs to be reused for authenticity
5. More stylized way of branding the store
4. Increase no of pieces per artisan to ncrease productivity - reduce learning curve
Better production
6. Upcoming stores can create more story based & quality based product portrayals / displays
5. Better planning & implementation of production process to reduce time lag
1. Reducing the cyclic-ness of the production process
7. Needs more glorified displays for products in store
6. Plan production according to festive calendar
2. Increasing output of OST through reorganization
8. Strengthening sales
3. New printing technologies - safer & healthier 4. Technology / machine for applique cutting 5. Ask/ organize a set of 25-30 women who can work full time - increase productivity 6. Move the function of printing and quality checking to the OST to cut out the time taken for the movement amongst different locations
9. New sales channels 10. Stronger sales staff 11. Instead of spending on exhibition - look at more efficient methods of advertising
Maslow’s
Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a theory in psychology proposed by Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper "A Theory of Human Motivation" in Psychological Review. Maslow subsequently extended the idea to include his observations of humans' innate curiosity. His theories parallel many other theories of human developmental psychology, some of which focus on describing the stages of growth in humans. Maslow used the terms Physiological, Safety, Belongingness and Love, Esteem, Self-Actualization and SelfTranscendence needs to describe the pattern that human motivations generally move through. Maslow's hierarchy of needs is often portrayed in the shape of a pyramid with the largest, most fundamental levels of needs at the bottom and the need for self-actualization at the top. The pyramid has become the de facto way to represent the hierarchy. The most fundamental and basic four layers of the pyramid contain what Maslow called “deficiency needs” or “d-needs”: esteem, friendship and love, security, and physical needs. If these “deficiency needs” are not met – with the exception of the most fundamental (physiological) need – there may not be a physical indication, but the individual will feel anxious and tense. Maslow’s theory suggests
that the most basic level of needs must be met before the individual will strongly desire (or focus motivation upon) the secondary or higher level needs. Maslow also coined the term Metamotivation to describe the motivation of people who go beyond the scope of the basic needs and strive for constant betterment. Maslow’s theory was fully expressed in his 1954 book Motivation and Personality.
After an analysis of the vision of the organization from different stakeholders’ perspectives we studied Malsow’s need hierarchy. We realized that at this time, the organization aims to provide Safety needs to its artisans by aiming to provide them a minimum monthly wage. Their aim is to provide the artisans with some money which they can invest in their children's education and such, and through this they feel that the women will be empowered. But at the same time, we had also been told that the women don’t spend enough time doing the work of Okhai because this was not their primary source of income. They had cattle, a little bit of agriculture, shops, etc to provide them their bread and butter. Earnings from Okhai were being used for second level purposes. When we spoke to the artisan’s we had realised that the artisans were looking for something else. After seeing the men in the village being associated with a big factory like TCL, punching cards everyday for attendance, wearing a helmet and a coat for their personal safety, they felt pride and envy in this association. The artisans wished they could have the same. The desires of the artisans made us realise that they were looking for their esteem needs to be met via the organization. We realised that if these esteem needs are fulfilled, they might start giving more time to the work coming from Okhai and prioritizing it higher in their list of daily tasks.
Currently OKHAI is aiming to provide livelihood and minimum payment to aid family income
Satisfying their esteem needs is what they are actually looking for!
Problem Statement
We identified a misalignment in the understanding and perception of the term “empowerment� in the minds of the artisans and the administration. Therefore, we aim to fulfil the needs of women and empower them, in turn other organizational goals will be met.
Implementation
Protyping Feedback Refine
What is Empowerment? To better understand our identified problem area, we tried to deconstruct and understand what the term “empowerment” really meant. According to the Oxford Dictionary, “Empower” stands for: [WITH OBJECT] Make (someone) stronger and more confident, especially in controlling their life and claiming their rights: movements to empower the poor For the purpose of our project, within the given context, we felt that empowerment for the artisans of Okhai could be achieved via a 3 step intervention:
Empowerment
Ownership
Contribution
Recognition
To make them feel a part of the organisation
To allow them to contribute in the design decisions
To be recognised via the organisation
One of the first and most essential steps of empowering employees of any organization is to give them ownership into the organization and make them feel like a valued member. The organization needs to show concern towards its members.
The second most important aspect of creating empowerment amongst artisans is that they must be allowed or rather encouraged to contribute to the design making / decision making aspect of the craft that is in their blood. since this organization is structured in such a way that designs are created in an altogether different space from where the artisans live and belong, there is often found a gap in the new designs and the abilities of the artisans. this also deviate from the original aim of creating ethnic garment emerging from the traditional designs.
The second most important aspect of creating empowerment amongst artisans is that they must be allowed or rather encouraged to contribute to the design making / decision making aspect of the craft that is in their blood. since this organization is structured in such a way that designs are created in an altogether different space from where the artisans live and belong, there is often found a gap in the new designs and the abilities of the artisans. this also deviate from the original aim of creating ethnic garment emerging from the traditional designs.
This is a particularly tricky group of members in an organization in the sense that they don't actually have a specified office space which they can use separately for their working, instead they just work from home. Therefore, it would be important to provide them with elements that allow them to identify with the larger organization and be able to associate work coming from Okhai as something more important than their daily chores.
Solutions
Ownership If they cant come to office, bring the office to them. Name Boards : Artisans are provided with a mat to sit and work on with Okhai branding on it. Whenever they use it to sit for them to feel a part of organisation and as a form of identity for them associated with Okhai. this would create a connection with the organization
Specification: Weather Proof High Visibility Readable by locals & tourists Indigenous but stylized
NAME PLATE
Cost/Piece
Board
20
20
Miscellaneous
10
Total
50
Suggestive render to explain concept
Ownership
Working Mats : Artisans are provided with a mat to sit and work on with Okhai branding on it for them to feel a part of organisation and as a form of identity for them associated with Okhai
Specification: Insulating Washable Soft & comfortable Durable
RUG
Cost/Piece
Rug
125
15
Miscellaneous
10
Total
150
Suggestive render to explain concept
Ownership
Branded bundle kit : The bundles when given to artisan’s for work, given with a Okhai branded tape and a photograph of the sample of the product they are about to work on. This will give them a sense of seriousness towards work.
TAG & PHOTO
Cost/Metre
print & material - Tag
1
Print & paper - Photo
.50
Miscellaneous
1
Total
2.50
Suggestive render to explain concept
Scenario
Suggestive render to explain concept
Contribute
1. Create a catalogue of traditional motifs of that region 2. Train one or more master craftsmen in design, for them to be abled to involve in the design decisions
Suggestive render to explain concept
Recognition
1. Advertise the brand ‘Okhai’ through cluster stories and possibly convert “Okhai” the brand into “Okhai, the village” 2. Showcase the products in the store and other sales channels through creating cluster stories
Suggestive render to explain concept
Recognition
Suggestive render to explain concept
Recognition
Magazine : A magazine for the artisan’s that can be circulated among them with the list of the products they produced, artisan of the month and few tips for training them with the art
MAGAZINE
Cost/copy
Print , material & design
75
Total
75
Suggestive render to explain concept
Impact Mapping Women Empowerment - If we fulfil the esteem needs of the women then we make them feel a connect to the larger organization that they are working for. In turn, they will feel motivated to work more and be able to contribute successfully to the growing demands of the production unit. Vision - This would mean more income for the artisans which will be in alignment to the vision of the organization. Productivity - If the women do more work then their productivity will increase, and their output will be greater. Increase Capacity - Greater productivity will increase the capacity of the organization Widen Sales Channels - Since they are already planning to widen their sales channels, the demand of their products would increase. This would now be able to be satiated because of increasing supply. Brand Positioning - They would have to work on their brand positioning by reducing the number of exhibitions they target and increasing their spending on advertising. this would help them reach out to a larger audience and help establish a brand position for them. They would need this once they increase their sales channels and need to create a consistency in their brand. Increase in Sales - This would elevate their sales nationwide Increase in Profits - Higher sales would mean
greater profits.
Ease out cash-flow problems - This would ease out their cash flow problems. this would then mean they are able to invest back more money in empowering more women.
Feedback 1. You have correctly identified the lacking sense of ownership amongst the artisans. Ramee ben spoke a few months ago about how they don't feel a part of the organization anymore.
6. Another problem with adding pictures to the bundle to show whole work is that sometimes we don't have the final product ready as we are rushing for production.
2. Quality conscious businesses don't accept any minimal form of print marks on final products. we have tried white clay also, marks don't go.
7. The rug is good idea and quickly implementable. but who do we give it to first? group A or B or C?
applique cutting as it is very intricate designs. we will still think about it depending about costing. 10. “give work to them so they they don't have to come to office� is an interesting and different idea. 11. Branding the village flows with our future plans of promoting tourism in the Okha area.
3. If we reorganize the OST into a production line then how do we decide their payments? we pay per piece at the moment 4. Branded tape might not work as bundles are created and taped and sent to the pramukh of the cluster. from their on the pramukh divides the work amongst artisans. so the tape would never reach them.
8. Name boards are an interesting idea but we will have to discuss them with the board before implementing it.
5. Adding pictures of the final product to the bundle is an added expense to us. but we should look into it. 9. There can be no technical intervention in
Plans for Implementation
To create a better understanding of all the ideas generated in this report and keeping in mind the feedback given to us from the organization and our faculty, we have created here a collated pool of ideas and divided them into stages that they are most suitable in implementing at.
Short Term (within the next 2-3 months): 1. Changes in the production process like replacing zinc oxide with white clay 2. Creating a catalogue of traditional motifs and design for easier referencing 3. Giving the artisans rugs to work on and nameplates to identify their houses.
Mid Term (within an year or so):
Long Term (in the next 2-3 years):
1. Relocated the production activities of printing, quality checking etc to the OST
1. Branding
2. Providing training to the mastercraftsmen in designing and taking their inputs while creating the next range.
3. Tourism.
2. Advertising
Conclusion Through the course of this project, we aimed at focussing on reducing the time lag in production. The impact of this would have been such that once the production process would be sped up, the finished goods would reach the store faster after purchasing the raw materials, therefore the raw material suppliers could be paid in better time and thus maintain a ease of cash flow. But after an in-depth study of the production process, we realised that most of the steps taken in the production process are almost indispensable for the smooth functioning and quality production of the garments. What we really needed to do was involve the women into the work they had to deliver. We had to provide them the esteem need they were looking for and in turn they would spend more time doing their work. This would eventually also help when the production quantity would increase as the women would feel empowered and would want to contribute to the growing aims and demands of the organization. Giving recognition to the women was one of the most important features of the solutions we designed. In any organization, it is important to make the workers feel like they are a part of something bigger than themselves, something which has a larger aim /goal to achieve. This is simply the feeling we have tried to impart onto the artisans by providing the above mentioned solutions. The administrative branch gave healthy workable feedback and response to our ideas and we now look forward to receiving feedback from the artisans as well.