From B-School to BHARAT: Shiny, an Initiative for Sustainable Development
Synopsis
Today, several business schools are incorporating courses related to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Sustainability and Ethics, in their curriculum. IMT Ghaziabad (IMT-G), a business school in the National Capital Region (NCR), also has a course related to Sustainability and Social Responsibility (SSR) in its PGDM (Post Graduate Diploma in Business Management) programme. Based on experiential learning, students are required to work with Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), government agencies and social start-ups.
This case study discusses one of the projects of management students of IMT-G, which was a part of their SSR course. The project was carried out in collaboration with an NGO named SADRAG. It was for the rural women of a Self Help Group (SHG) associated with SADRAG, in Galand Village in Dasna of Ghaziabad District, in U.P. The case outlines how students underwent the process of finding a suitable product named ‘Shiny’ for sustainable livelihood generation for rural women and imparted training to them in making the product. The student team also had to find marketing solutions for the same. The case also discusses the application of MBA learning for sustainable development. It highlights learning for management students through such social projects. It is accompanied by a 5 minutes video which shows how students went about doing the project. The case also discusses the challenges and issues that had to be addressed to achieve the objective of sustainable livelihood for women.
Prerequisite Conceptual Understanding/Before the Classroom Exercise/Reading
- Prahlad , C. K.(2004): Fortune at the bottom of the pyramid: Eradicating poverty through profits, Wharton School Publication.
Case Positioning and Setting
This case study is designed to be used by academia, industry, marketing agencies, NGOs and other development agencies. It can be used for teaching courses in Management, Social Sciences and Development Studies. It is suitable for graduate, MBA and Executive MBA level of education. In management schools, the case can be used for teaching courses in Business, Government and Society. It can also be used in rural marketing, sustainable development, entrepreneurship, social responsibility, policy making and development issue related courses.
This case is intended as an opportunity for students to discuss the importance of taking effective decisions for choosing the right product for developing livelihood options for marginal sections of society. It also explores the importance of training and skill development. The case highlights challenges and constraints faced in marketing activities for sustainable livelihood. It throws light on how problems can be dealt with by the synergy of management education and NGOs.
Pedagogical Objectives
- To familiarize students with issues of livelihood sustainability for marginalized sections of population such as rural women
- To analyze how business students can help NGOs in solving problems of communities that the NGOs work with
- To understand how social entrepreneurship can be created from products made by SHG women
- To study the issues regarding choosing the right kind of product
- To understand the learnings gained by management students by being associated with NGOs
- To find out the marketing issues involved in products made by NGOs
Assignment Questions
I. Identifying the right product for manufacturing by SHG women was a challenge. Why?
II. What are benefits of doing such real life projects for:
III..............
IV.............
Preamble to the Case Analysis
The instructor or facilitator should focus on the key issues of the case. Selection of the right product for manufacturing is the key to creating a livelihood option. A product should be chosen which can be easily made by the beneficiaries. It should be such that the art of making the product can be easily learnt by ladies. The product should be marketable with sufficient margins. To create livelihood options, choosing the right product has to be supplemented with marketing activities. The students need to understand that they have to be innovative in the process of choosing the right product keeping in mind the socio-economic status of women and their financial constraints. The classroom discussion can be orchestrated accordingly [Exhibit (TN)-I]. .............
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Case Analysis
I. Identifying the right product for manufacturing by SHG women was a challenge. Why?
The ladies had already manufactured and tried their hands on many products, but couldn’t continue with them. Most of the ladies were well informed and had ideas on products. But all products were faced with the problem of finding a sustainable market. Most of the products developed earlier were not sold and inventory was becoming a burden.
The ladies of the SHG had limited skill set. There were only three ladies who could actually do stitching for intricate designs..........
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As described in the case study, the SHG women wanted to make and sell a product,
- in which none of the members faced a problem and could be made easily as per their competency level and little training in less time
- that had demand throughout the year and could be marketed and sold easily
- which had high profit margins to increase profit per individual in a month
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b. Management students got first-hand exposure to the problems of Bharat. With the help of learnings from this project, they would be able to solve the real-time problems of the country. This approach would also amplify their learnings by applying the concepts and learnings from the curriculum. This approach would be a win-win situation for both the management students and the rural women of the country...........
The learning for the students from the SHG women was that it doesn't matter where do you come from and what education you hold. If you have the willingness to learn wherein the sky is the limit. Quite often, the definition of innovation and creativity is restricted to English-speaking population in India, while there is so much to learn from Bharat. Management students often relate adapting, learning and excellence only to education. The project showed that even without education, adapting, learning and excellence can be achieved as was seen in the case of SHG women.............
They also applied their knowledge about economic factors such as
- Demand
- Seller quotations
- Cost
- Labor Involved
Making the product cost-effective became possible by negotiating and getting raw materials at very reasonable prices........
Wrapping Up/Debriefing
The last 10 minutes of the classroom session can be spent on summarizing the discussion and creating a plan for sustainability of selling product ‘Shiny’ and continuous livelihood for SHG women.
Big Picture
Globalisation has created multi-fold benefits for the society. At the same time, inequalities have been increasing. The reforms of Indian economy in 1991 brought about a change which saw the beginning of an era of increasing role of private sector. In this situation, where government role has reduced, the role of the voluntary sector has also become increasingly important in addressing the inequalities in the society....................
Path Ahead
There are more 3000 B-Schools in our India. Even if 1% of the country's B-Schools for initiating CSR projects are involved, there will be 300 B-schools to work with. Groups of 5 students each can be formed at each B-School which will help create at least 50 groups from each college. .............