Khandhamal Women Leafplate Co-operative Ltd.

Siali leaf plate increases income indigenous Indians women

About Khandhamal Women Leafplate Co-operative Ltd.

Khandhamal Women Leafplate Co-operative Ltd. has been established in 2005. At the moment there are over 200 cooperation members. The aim is to reach 800 new members in 3 years. Orissa is one of the poorest states of India and most of the inhabitants are indigenous. One of the main sources of income is making plates from siali leaf. The women gather leafs and string them together to make durable plates. These plates are being used in local restaurants. The cooperation supports the Indian women in the production of the plates.

Business case

Khandhamal Women Leafplate Co-operative Ltd. asked SharePeople to support the development of there business plan, in particular finances, marketing, production and sustainability. The cooperation invites SharePeople to help increase the strategy, strengthen the market position and increase the profit margin on the products.

Results

Analysis

The SharePeople team analyzed the organization by applying several concrete company models on finance and marketing. Also, they analyzed how the company can improve their training programme for producers. The team maps the complete supply chain. At every link in the supply chain it became clearly for the producers where the profit could be gained. Also, a portfolio analysis has been made which proved that 3 of the 36 models in total generated 97% of the profit. The team applied the method of the growth curve on the organization and gave the cooperation insight in which phase they are and which characteristics this phase has.

Advice

The team recommended the organization to narrow down the number of plates to 13 types to increase the efficiency of the organization and to simplify the production process. To guarantee the continuity of the cooperation, the team recommended generating more working capital, for example to make the purchase of sewing machines possible. Because of this the cooperation can react more rapidly on the increasing market. The team also points out the importance of ecological sustainability establishing attention on conservation of the natural source (siali).

Impact on the overseas partner

The cooperation has learned to apply several analyze models. With that information they have learned how to get insight in their own organization. They now know in which phase the organization is and have insight in their weaknesses. In a business plan they have described their future strategy on the basis of these new insights. On distance the Dutch professionals gave feedback on the development of the business plan and associated financial planning 2008-2010 of the cooperation.

Impact on the professonals

In succession of the Group Programme SharePeople invited the representative of the Khandhamal Women Leafplate Co-operative Ltd for a counter visit to the Netherlands. The representative of the cooperation was inspired by the Dutch leadership style. Furthermore, the Dutch way of organizing and analyzing impressed him and he wants to apply it in its own working method.

The passion and effort of the members of the cooperation left a huge impression on the Dutch professionals. They became aware of the world problems. After the programme they participate in smaller projects near by as their contribution to a better society.

'Philosophy of SharePeople says, don't give the poor fish but learn them how to fish, but in this journey the Indians also learned us to fish. They showed that you can increase productivity with minimum sources and that you can still be creative with so many restrictions.' (Seren Dalkiran, winner of Inspiration for Integration de Baak).

Related business cases

• Khunti Horticultural Co-operative Society, 2008, SharePeople Group Program, India
• Poultry Co-operative Federation, 2008, SharePeople Group Program, India