Our project execution is separated in two main parts:
- Field research, discover and tackle the deficiencies of the workshop and improve these issues. This will eventually lead to more orders
- Focus on the continuity of the workshop (see chapter XXXX for bla #fixme)
Each of these points is to be elaborated in the next part.
Field research
First we will focus on the field research. One of our goals is to bring in more orders for the carpentry workshop create market formation. An important customer segment here is the city of Kisumu, which is about a half hour drive from the carpentry workshop. There are many companies in Kisumu which could be possible buyers for the carpentry workshop. Therefore, it is important that these companies are approached. This is a task that we are going to perform. These potential buyers have specific needs that we will investigate. Then we will match the demand and supply through information exchange (van Alphen, 2008).
Obviously it is not sensible to arrive empty-handed at these companies. Therefore we make use of promotional materials to show which products the carpentry workshop is able to make. These promotional materials will consist of leaflets, posters and stickers. These are easy to give to a potential customer, so they also have the contact details of the workshop. The leaflets and posters will be produced in collaboration with SRI, because a renewed logo will be part of this. The current logo is not appealing enough and needs a modern input.
Another way to come in contact with the buyer is via the website of SRI. This website is a perfect medium to showcase the products in the carpentry workshop. In the future the website could even turn into a web shop on which consumers can order their products online. Currently the SRI website is being updated, so the carpentry workshop page can just as well be included in this process.
Discover and tackle the deficiencies of the workshop
The marketing strategy, as described above, should lead to more orders for the carpentry workshop. In order to make sure that production of these orders runs well, several changes at the workshop itself are needed as well. There is lack of motivation and dedication amongst the carpenters, because there isn’t a lot of pressure and their confidence level is not high. A number of plans have been made to change this situation.
It is unrealistic to expect the same attitude as you would expect from a Dutch employee. Due to the differences in culture and the lack of knowledge, this situation is different. It is difficult to estimate the precise needs of the employees in order to keep them more motivated. Therefore, a part of our plan consists of placing a suggestion box. In this box, people that are involved with the carpentry workshop can deposit their wishes and ideas. This suggestion box is designed not only for the workers, but also for other people from the community that would like to give input to the workshop. In addition, it is intended to conduct interviews with stakeholders in the community. This can vary from family of the workers to neighbours and potential buyers. It is important to collect as much information as possible, in order to improve the carpentry workshop and its relationship with the local community.
The contribution of development succes in our project can be estimated to look at the functions of innovations. Our project includes de functions of innovations systems who are set up by van Alphen. This because we transfer a technology, namely the carpentry techniques, to the carpentry workshop. Functions like entrepreneurial activities, market formation, creation of legitimacy and demand articulation will be used a lot to complete our research (van Alpen, 2008).