Process development in a social enterprise : case study: Egg Production Uganda Ltd.

Abstract

The thesis was done as an assignment for Finn Church Aid. The purpose of the thesis was to address the needs, possibilities and ways to study the logistic flows at a new start-up business Egg Production Uganda Ltd (EPL) and opportunities to develop them. EPL is a social enterprise in Uganda established and funded by the Finnish Women’s Bank (WB) and owned by the Finn Church Aid. The purpose of EPL is not only to be a successful business unit but to create sustainable impact in the surrounding society. The main objective of the study was to provide practical and useful information for the EPL, but it also aimed to highlight the importance for the need of business know-how to the social enterprises and to the development sector in general. It should be noted, however, that the case study was made during the Covid-19 pandemic which made the business environment in Uganda utmost challenging.

The theoretical framework for the study was in process theory, Porter’s value chain theory and the Lean philosophy and it was studied in the context of Aid for Trade business and Bottom of the Pyramid markets (BOP). The thesis discussed the principles of the processes and their development from the point of them creating value. Lean philosophy, that is not only a philosophy but may also be understood as a more practical methodology or as a set of tools, focuses on the continuous development and improvement of the processes. Even though it started from manufacturing it has since then spread and grown into a highly popular approach that is used in a variety of areas. Implementing the Lean thinking provided opportunities to study the EPL not only in a theoretical level but also by the use of methodology based on it. The analysis was done using a Lean tool Value Stream Mapping (VSM) that is a common Lean method to describe and analyse the processes and detect the value- and nonvalue adding activities. Data for the VSM was collected by qualitative methods in online semi-structured interviews.

Based on the collected data the current state Value Stream Map was drawn. The main functions through which the process flows were identified, and they were used as a basis to structure the opportunities for process enhancement. They were discussed jointly with the EPL and WB key personnel. The study resulted in several opportunities for process enhancement. The key findings indicate the importance of work stage standardization and process stabilization. An important issue is also to consider the markets that are currently a Red Ocean.