Today’s conversation about the women artisan cooperative was very intriguing. Before this lesson, I was unsure how elegant Moroccan mugs are crafted and where they originate from. I assumed most would be made in-house in a major city or Medina. To my surprise, most rugs originate from rural areas and are crafted by women who only take home 4% of profit. The fact that merchants take home more than 20 times the revenue is absurd, with most people in our lesson predicting the margin to be above 30%. This large difference is exactly what the Anou cooperative is trying to reduce by creating a system where artisans have greater control over prices and customer relationships. To regulate this discrepancy, Anou cooperative were able to leverage digital tools by teaching these women how to use the platform to operate their own marketplace. The dashboard of this platform looked very simple, with 3 major icons displaying sales, inventory, and orders. To benefit these women further, the website to purchase these one-of-a-kind rugs also offers services to western consumers, allowing them to work with these talented crafters in their territory. While listening to this innovative approach, I couldn’t help but think about my managing in complex environments class, instructed by Ray Jones. For one of my exams, I had to come up with technological solutions for a traditional Mexican mezcal company that wanted to remain competitive to western consumers, but were subject to fake brands and poor margins. There is a lot of overlap between Anou and my solutions since both signify the artisanal approach and maximize internal capabilities to current trends (aka S-O approach in a SWOT analysis.) This example gave me a great understanding of the SWOT analysis, and I will keep it in mind when learning about our other site visits.

This lesson also made me think more critically about where my products come from. It’s painful to know many brands I buy from have been exploiting workers in cheap, dangerous environments. After learning the harsh realities of retail, I want to start being more proactive and research where my clothes are being sourced from. On a positive note, the stories about the women making these rugs are truly inspiring, and pushes me to explore exclusive, professional crafts.