The groups are also encouraged to think about the future. If they manage production well and work as a team, they will be able to handle larger orders and earn more money. The facilitators discuss how the quality of the group’s production relates to future success as an independent group. There is a strong emphasis on cooperative, collaborative, and continual learning.
Exposure to professionals in the garment industry has also been an important learning tool for improving production. MAYA ORGANIC has arranged several visits to and by professionals. Several members have traveled to export houses and designers’ workplaces, and a number of company representatives have visited MAYA ORGANIC. They have exposed collective members to various quality issues, new tools and instruments, and demonstrated new techniques. For Shakti, the stitching collective, company representatives have taught members how to stitch certain garments and to take measurements or set the batch for production.
3.24 Business Processes
As with production, business processes (e.g. accounting, book-keeping, and group- and production-related documentation) are handled by facilitators and staff in the beginning, but are gradually shifted to the collectives. In Level 2 groups are introduced to book-keeping procedures and trained to manage these systems themselves. The functional group on systems handles accounts and paperwork. As members rotate through the functional groups, more members become adept at handling and understanding these processes.
One of the more complex processes the collectives will learn - record-keeping - is simplified, and templates that members fill in for each order are often used. The number of records and documents that collectives must manage is substantial, including a cash book, rules and minutes book, production ledgers, quotation forms, delivery receipts or delivery challans (DCs), job work forms, and payment registers for wages. The functional group on systems has primary responsibility for record-keeping although for some documents, record keeping duties are shared with the production group. As members rotate into the functional group on systems, all will learn how to utilise these records and documents.
As in production, ad hoc consequences are a first-hand way for members to learn the importance of accurate book-keeping. Mistakes, such as omission of the date, are common in the early stages, and the staff holds meetings to discuss these errors. After some time, facilitators began warning the workers that they would withhold payment for an order if the forms were not properly completed. Such experiences, combined with a realisation that proper paperwork results in accurate and on-time receipt of wages, have illustrated the importance of good record-keeping. Most groups have, with experience, become careful with their records.
At Levels 3 and 4 as the collectives have developed a strong capacity for keeping accounts, costing and management of resources, groups require more complex financial planning to meet the challenge of creating financially sound enterprises. Financial budgeting and developing a business plan play important roles. This includes the assessment of loan and asset requirements, learning how to use investments, reinvestment of profits, continued savings, and group payment of running costs, such as rent and electricity, which has thus far been paid by Maya Organic.