Getting Down to Business
Following several meetings to clarify scope and expectations, the three of us rolled up our sleeves and got to work. We are each tackling different business issues ranging from the development of a marketing strategy for the non-profit component of the commercial enterprise Gone Rural, to evaluating different options for a micro-credit/loan scheme and advancing the formation of cooperatives among the rural artisan groups, to reviewing existing data management processes and making recommendations. The last project is my domain and it breaks down into two projects. The first project involves an analysis of the current rural production order process, from the point at which the production order requirements are identified, to the distribution of orders (and collection of past orders) to (from) the artisan women, to the restocking of inventory. This project is particularly challenging for me because while the project is very similar in nature to past Deloitte engagements that I’ve worked on, the usual temptation to identify opportunities for increased automation is not necessarily an option. We have discussed the possibility of providing the order distribution manager with a laptop for when she visits the rural women, but the terrain, weather, and lack of a power source present considerable barriers. I have considered evaluating the suitability of a $100 laptop type of hardware solution to overcome the environmental impediments, however, such a solution would require significant training and a fairly elaborate change to the current processes. As with all consulting engagements, the change management considerations must not be overlooked.
The second project is the Design and Development of a boMake database to replace the existing Excel-based solution to manage Student Bursary Fees Program Data. The Student Bursary Fees Program is critical for the advancement of the next generation of Swazis, and initial studies reveal pretty compelling results. Compared to a national literacy rate of 68%, 80% of the children of the Gone Rural Artisans are literate. In order to continue to provide this funding to the women, boMake requires a more robust system to collect and manage artisan, school and bursary data. My project is to create a more user friendly tool to capture boMake program data; improve the data management process to reduce number of data entry errors; improve reporting capability; and create a scaleable database model to accommodate the addition of programs to the boMake program portfolio. This project will require that I recall the contents of the database design course that I took 8 years ago. Yikes.