Summary

The Project:
The Nourish Project was an applied class project for a local small business called Nourish based in Savannah, GA. The goal was to consider how Nourish could expand to different locations and improve the efficiency of its structural communication network.

My Role:
I did the secondary research, involving several case studies. I also shadowed the business’ manufacturing staff. I was a participant in the team responsible for creating the stakeholder map, the internal communication map, and the product journey. I analyzed and designed the opportunity map, as well as synthesized the implementation roadmap.

What I Learned:
I experienced first-hand how a small business operates and learned how it can expand. I learned about different frameworks and tools for designing business models.

THE TEAM

INTRODUCTION

• THE GOAL

The goal of the class was to understand how small businesses and organizations run by analyzing their communication between owners, employees and customers.
Our goal is to create insights and recommendations on how to improve an organization’s communication network. Our class decided to help a local small business, Nourish, since they were the perfect size for the for our study and could highly benefit from our findings.

• THE FRAMEWORK

The framework used to understand and analyze the communication of Nourish was adapted from the Components of a Social Theory of Learning: an initial inventory
written by Etienne Wenger in Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning and Identity, as seen in the diagram on the right. This framework helped us categorize our findings and build insights through the integration of each component.

• Project Methodology

Our project methodology followed a sequential path in research, synthesis, analysis and formulating recommendations and opportunities. We completed both secondary research and primary research before using the lens of the social learning of theory to understand and analyze the data. Finally, our analysis led
is to create opportunities that Nourish can potentially use in the future of their business.

SECONDARY RESEARCH

For secondary research, we examined businesses in two sectors: natural bath/body
products and businesses that sell other natural products. Examples of the case studies can be seen to the right. We analyzed their business practices, their plans for growth, and their specific market niches which revealed current, innovative
methodologies for their sectors. We also analyzed Nourish’s marketing material and created Wordles to identify key words, as seen on the next page.

PRIMARY RESEARCH

We conducted primary research, which is the collection of first-hand data by using
different methodologies. The methodologies applied to this project included: shinterviews, interviews, secret shopping, contextual observations, and workshops. Our research efforts were separated into three sectors in order to get a holistic view of Nourish : Retail, Office, and Manufacturing

• RESEARCH QUESTIONS

We developed research questions using the framework of the Social Theory of Learning as a lens. This helped us determine what aspects to look for and how we should frame our interview questions.

SYNTHESIS & ANALYSIS

For synthesis and analysis, we began by clustering all the information from our primary research. This included quotes, data points, and pictures from the interviews and shadowing of Nourish’s retail, manufacturing, and office.

This helped us identify outliers in the data that would ultimately lead us to further investigate Nourish’s community of practice. By doing so, we were able to uncover emergent themes, latent needs, and user practices that both, enhance and contribute to Nourish’s “niche market.”

• STAKEHOLDER MAP

 

The Stakeholder Map visualizes every person and entity that a business works with, including their titles and how close they are to the core stakeholders. It shows makes tangible where employees lie and how they can potentially move forward in the company. This map identifies that Nourish is currently missing supervisors and
other key core employees. It also shows how many external product companies Nourish works with, and asks if those partners could potentially be consolidated.

• INTERNAL COMMUNICATION MAP

The Internal Communication Map visualizes the internal workings of a business from describing the target customer to how employees and customers communicate. The map illustrates to both employees and owners the key components of the business and what can be improved.This map shows where the business is currently, and components are missing in order to create better communication for employees.

• INVENTORY JOURNEY

 

The inventory map visualizes the process that occurs from an end of day report of the products that need to be restock, shipped and manufactured. It is an essential component for Nourish to be able to optimize the process of restocking, shipping and making the products in order for future growth. The process of restocking, shipping and manufacturing are an important process for the companies to understand the relationships and human processes.

• PRODUCT JOURNEY/IPO

This model explains the product manufacturing, processing and delivering. IPOs walk us through the journey from the procurement of raw materials to the final delivery to clients. This model helps companies understand the processes that are involved in their practice. Making elements tangible and processes visible helps
companies to realize where opportunities lie to start further actions. This model traces the path of product processing, making staff interactions visible, and outlining the areas of interaction. This will help Nourish management to visualize their processes and as a conversation piece.

• FORMS FLOW MAP

This diagram shows where information is recorded and how it moves through the organization. It is completed to the best of our knowledge about the various forms
and the people responsible for them. It visualizes the transfer of information and who is responsible for it is a critical element in a business. The diagram visualizes the process and could be used to see ways for system improvement. It is a helpful
method of understanding the resources used for communication.

RECOMMENDATIONS & OPPORTUNITIES

• OPPORTUNITY MAP

The opportunity map for transforms all the information from the research phase into goals or initiatives. Its intent is to generate insights for Nourish and transform them into potential opportunities. It’s part of the analyze and synthesis phase of the study, it helps to systematize all the information from previous research phase. It makes tangible the insights of Nourish in different operational areas, systematizes
them, and converts them into opportunities. It helps to generate actual ideas that can put into action.

• IMPLEMENTATION ROADMAP

The roadmap helps identify how to implement the design ideas discussed in the opportunity map by time: short-term to long-term ideas. It is a future plan for a company to improve its growth step by step. It also contributes to give a holistic view for owner and manager to consider all sides of their company. The Roadmap can help inspire Nourish mature its brand. By pulling out each idea as a step for the next, Nourish can map their current goals in order to reach their future goals. future improvement in Practice, Community, Identity, Meaning.