Teamwork and organizational structure in How Stella Saved the Farm

¶ … Stella saved the farm

Identify one example of the 5 Ps found in How Stella Saved the farm, i.e. teamwork, use of technology, organizational structure/chart, innovation, risk management, leadership, quality improvement, marketing and health related issues, etc. (5ps can be found in section C, resource #3)

As the members of the farm contemplate different ways to make it more profitable, they engage in participatory democracy, exchanging ideas and brainstorming as part of a team. It is obvious that there is a certain bias in the suggestions they give (the stallions want to start a racetrack and the ewes want to sell ice cream made from their milk). However, in the true spirit of teamwork, they do not initially censor any of the ideas. However, once the ideas are generated, there is an effort to find the best one.

Q2. What is the purpose of the microsystem in Stella?

The purpose of the microsystem is to maintain a self-sustaining farm that is profitable and can also support the lives of all of the animals. All of the animals have a mutual interest in supporting the farm.

Q3. What is the population served of the microsystem in Stella?

The microsystem exists to serve itself, contrary to a typical farm which is owned by a farmer who uses the animals as property to make a profit from.

Q4. Who are the members of the team in Stella?

Initially, the dominant members of the team are Deidre (a horse), and the sheep Stella and Masie. However, gradually Deidre realizes that there needs to be new blood brought into the team. That is why one of the Peruvian alpacas are brought onto the management team, because there is an acknowledgement that in-depth knowledge and experience about the alpaca wool industry is required to negotiate with buyers.

Q5. What are the processes or protocols used? Identify at least 2 processes or protocols used on either two work areas in Stella?

Initially, the sheep and alpaca are suspicious of one another because the alpaca seem so different. However, by encouraging both groups to find common ground, this company merger eventually becomes successful.

Not all of the strategies used to create harmony are so positive, however. When the alpaca begin to revolt, Stella appeals to the fact that the team has a common self-interest to preserve the farm and points out the dangers of it being bought out by someone else. This encourages the alpacas to put aside their own perceived self-interests for the good of the farm.

Q6. Identify at least 2 quality or safety metrics (indicators) that could be in the microsystem found in Stella. Describe the process for gathering data on each metric.

Quality is an important component of the product produced on the farm, given that the alpaca wool is being promoted based upon its quality, not upon price alone. Ensuring that the wool was as soft and free from defects and advertised would be one quality metric. Inspecting the wool regularly from samples of the material would be one way to determine this. Costs should also be monitored to ensure that there are no unexpected expenditures. Even though the business is marketed to luxury consumers, new technology can often be leveraged to generate cost savings. Costs include the cost of production, shipping, marketing, distributing, and packaging.

Q7. Give one recommendations as to how you would have handled at least one embedded issue that was found in the book.