Homework 2

[mallikasaran]

Homework 2
1. Make a stakeholder diagram: list all stakeholders in your project and rate their interest (on a scale of 1-3) and their influence on the project's success or failure.
Stakeholder Interest Influence
Brick and tile makers 1 Success or failure will entirely depend on their responsiveness to our product
Local Guatemalans 3 Will benefit from better quality tiles. Will not directly have much impact
Trade union 2 If they feel that it is not in their best interest then they will oppose the project
Us 1 Our effort and innovation will ultimately determine the success or failure of the project

2. What are the 5 greatest challenges to your success? Consider all angles: technical, social, economic, educational, political challenges.
Social – Tile and brick making is an established practice thus we may experience resistance due to inertia to change
Technical – we do not really have expertise in this are so designing a good product may be difficult
Economic – we need to find a way to make our product cheap enough so that the cost of production does not increase significantly
Educational – we need to make sure that our product is easy to use so that not too much education needs to be done when the product needs to be used
Political – we need to understand the political system and its influence on workmen. We need to particularly investigate the existence of a trade union or a similar organization pose a threat to our successful implementation
3. Research to find similar projects others have done, and what they foretell about yours.
A similar project has been carried out in Zimbabwe and Sudan by Practical Action. They provide technical advice, helping brick makers to experiment with, for example, new types of kiln, alternative fuels for the kilns, and different ways of using the kiln to get the most efficient and productive process. These measures have raised both the quantity and quality of their brick production doubling the income of the brick makers in two years. We intend to contact Practical Action and ask them what steps we should take in Guatemala to implement a similar plan
4. Write down 5 going-in hypotheses about your project.
• The brick making process is inefficient and there is room for improvement
• Brick makers will be receptive to our attempts to help
• We are equipped with suitable skills and expertise to develop a product that will be useful to the Guatemalans
• The product that we develop will not affect the cost of production much
• Simply improving the production techniques will improve the quality of bricks. For example the clay may not be of good enough quality
5. Write down 10-25 questions you hope to answer in Guatemala that will test these hypotheses. What kind of people or places will you visit to answer them? How many interviews will you seek to get credible data?
We feel that our primary source of data will be the tile and brick makers. We want to try and visit at least 5 tile and brick makers. We will attempt to interview a cross-section from very small scale to slightly larger scale makers. We are also looking to visit a brick making factory (we are looking for a suitable one) as they will be able to give us valuable insight into the industry.
Small to Medium Scale Brick Makers –
Our goal is to find out in which areas they are experiencing the most difficulty and also assess how open they are to change
Product
i. Where do you get your raw materials from
ii. How much do the raw materials cost
iii. How much do you use for each brick
iv. How much do you waste
v. How do you prepare your raw material
vi. How long does this take
vii. Do you get injured
viii. Are there any other problems
ix. Have you ever changed your method
x. Do you think there is a better way
xi. Would you be interested in using a better way if it causes you less pain
xii. Would you be interested in using a better way if it causes you less pain but reduces your profits slightly
xiii. Once you finish preparing your raw materials what do you do
xiv. Do all your bricks come out the same shape
xv. Would you like something which made it easy to make sure all your bricks came out the same shape
xvi. How do you put the bricks in the kiln
xvii. Do the bricks get damaged when you do so
xviii. Do you get burnt ever when you do so
xix. How do you know what temperature to set the kiln at
xx. Do you think the quality of the bricks is affected if you can’t control the temperature of the kiln
xxi. Would you like to be able to control the temperature of the kiln
xxii. How do you fuel the kiln
xxiii. Would you be interested using alternative energy to fuel the kiln (we would be able to suggest a couple once we have talked to the people from Practical Action)
xxiv. How much do you sell each brick for (so we can figure out profit margins)
Market and Customer
i. Who is you typical customer
ii. How far is your market from you (understand how durable they need to be)
iii. How many other brick and tile makers do you have near you
iv. How many customers do you think you have
v. What volumes do you typically sell (understand potential for economy of scale and buyer bargaining power)
vi. Do they have any complaints regarding your bricks

Factory

Product
i. How does your product differ from those made by the small scale artisans
ii. What price do you charge
iii. Where do you get your raw materials from
iv. Ask them to take us through the production process (so a lot of the same questions as above)
v. Why do you feel that the production techniques of the local artisans has not developed
vi. How much potential for development is there
vii. Would you be willing to help them or engage in a partnership with us to help them

Market
i. How does your market differ
ii. What customer segment do you service
iii. How many other players are there in the market
iv. Volumes
v. Number of customers

Other useful people to meet would be someone from the government on a trade commission though this may be hard to set up. We also need to investigate the presence of trade unions or organizations in the industry since meeting a representative would be helpful.