RECOMMENDATIONS
The Fair Trade a term that refers to the entire Fair Trade Movement and all organizations that abide by the ten Fair Trade principles. Fair trade describes the labeling and certification systems governed by the Fair-trade International. (Miller, 2010, p. 19). The Agro Water Barrel Company promotes principles of fair trade. The company should continually advocate the adoption of more practices of fair trade. The following are recommendations for the organization are proficient to help solve the wicked problem.
The business and concept of fair trade should be elemental by responding to all failures related to conventional trade (Renard, 2003, p. 11). The project should empower the farmers in India by paying them sustainable wages for their work, assisting them develop skills to propel and run sustainable businesses and providing them with a remedy for the acute shortage of water problems. The remedy involves provision of water barrels for irrigation and domestic use. The empowerment also includes providing them with ready access to existing world markets. The organization should adopt a fair trade certification program that acts as a component of the project of fair trade and the international system of certification, which works to improve the conditions for the farmers in India. Under the project of Fair Trade, the organization should ensure that all farmers receive decent payments for their goods (Telser, 2009, p. 18). The project should aim to give the farmers greater security of their jobs and assist them to produce goods in more ecological and sustainable ways. The project should improve the living standards of the farmers by providing community healthcare, assistance, training and education on the use of the water barrels and different forms of irrigating their land.
The vision of the Fair Trade concept should be to empower the farmers in India through paying them stable and decent wages for their work, assisting them enhance skills to run sustainable businesses through proper irrigation techniques and providing them ready access to world markets. The organization should define clear roles of its stakeholders and their effects to the organization. Firstly, the competitors should provide a basis for which the organization improves in its functions. Regulatory authorities should provide regulations, which could be either favorable or unfavorable to the organizations because these regulations govern the functions of the organization. The regulations could include transport policies or engagement policies with the Indian farmers. Other stakeholders could include the leaders of the project. The leadership skills of the leaders determine whether the project will be successful or unsuccessful. For instance, a team-based approach of leadership will promote easy implementation and execution of projects like development of the water barrel roller.
The target customers for the project should be Indian farmers especially in the northern India region. The company should define clear customer needs. For instance, the clients have to benefit from this project in different ways. Firstly, the customer should receive education on irrigation techniques and effective ways of storing water in the barrels. The company should develop uniqueness by reaching out to the farmers and providing the water barrels individually as well as providing education on the use of the barrels for storing water and irrigating the farmlands. There should be the creation of a business buzz around the project, which should involve the creation of awareness through public campaigns, promotions and advertisements on the Agro Water Barrel Company and its operations. Identification of the business value should encompass the business value chain and business functions. The organization should also create a value chain for the project. The value chain should include the manufacturer, which is the Agro Water Barrel Company, the advertisers and marketers, the transporters and finally the consumers who are the Indian farmers. The business functions of the project should include controlling, leading and managing.
The project should adopt the Cooperative legal form in order to bring together different owners and stakeholders to assist farmers in India solve their problem of a severe shortage of water. Additionally, the project should identify clearly the costs and benefits of the value chain. The costs of adopting the value chain could be that it takes longer to reach the consumer. Additionally, transportation of the water barrels could be expensive and costly to the company. On the other hand, the benefit could be that it promotes a flexible chain of command and flow of products from the producer to the consumer.
The project should employ the balanced scorecard dimensions in reporting and communicating the value. Potential financial indicators of the project could include the amount of revenue raised from the selling the barrels. Customer relationship indicators could include the feedback from the farmers concerning the effectiveness and significance of the water barrels in solving their water shortage problems. Possible business process indicators could include the evaluation of the supply and demand factors and the overall chain of command in the project. Lastly, learning and innovation processes could include seminars and conferences on the enhancement of the project through teaching of the irrigation and water storage techniques.
Bibliography
Miller, D. A. (2010). Fair trade. Detroit: Greenhaven Press.
Renard, M. (2003). Fair trade: quality, market and conventions. Journal of Rural Studies. doi:10.1016/S0743-0167(02)00051-7
Telser, L. G. (2009). Why Should Manufacturers Want Fair Trade? Journal of Law & Economics. doi:10.1086/466564
