February 27, 2008

Business on a Personal Level

Lynn Cook, a volunteer at Global Village Collection, straightens merchandise at the Delaware store.

Well, perhaps not you per se. Rather, they are watching what you buy, why you buy it, and how your decisions affect theirs. Max Kraus ’09 and Christina Swartz ’10 are the new student interns at Global Village, and they are learning a lot from what they see.

“This is my third week here,” Kraus, an accounting major, says. “I’m learning as I go.” With several catalogs open in front of him, he enters products the store has ordered into a new computer system that keeps track of inventory and sales.

Kraus works under the guidance of Cliff Cook, OWU Professor Emeritus of Economics and a volunteer at the Global Village, on the financial activities of the non-profit organization. “I do something different every week. This week I do inventory, then maybe next week I’ll use QuickBooks [accounting software], or work on financial statements and the 2008 budget,” he says. “Some of this I learned in class, but most is hands-on experience.”

Swartz, an EMAN and psychology double major, concentrates on “the people side of business,” as she calls it. “I am involved in many aspects of the store. I work on selecting and ordering new products, market research, setting up displays, and checking orders,” she says. She plans to learn more as she becomes more familiar with the store.

Her supervisor, Lynne Cook (no relation to Cliff Cook), certainly appreciates Swartz’s help. “Having her is mutually beneficial—she experiences retailing in all ways, and she helps us review the basics of all the things that influence the buyer,” she says.

The intern positions at a small business like Global Village are a valuable opportunity in that that the students’ knowledge and experience cover both range and depth. Swartz says, “I like that I get to see just about every aspect of operating a business since Global Village is so small. I get a much better idea of what is going on and how different things interact by being exposed to so much.”

Of course, as Spiderman’s wise Uncle Ben put it, “With great power comes great responsibility.” Both Max and Christina admit the work can be challenging.

“Classes help, but when you’re working in real time you encounter problems that aren’t in the textbook. You have to find ways to solve them yourself,” Kraus says.

“The biggest challenge so far involves making the store ‘shoppable,’” Swartz says. “Global Village is small, so it is hard to display a wide variety of products in a creative manner without being disorganized or overwhelming. Our display is different from displays at big-box stores.”

But no matter the challenge, both students know they can always go to Cliff and Lynne for help. They both describe their supervisors as great people. “I like working with them a lot,” Kraus says.

“They are great at combining their business skills with a passion for fair trade,” Swartz adds.

Swartz and Kraus’ close relationship to their supervisors, as well as a passion for their job, are valuable and relevant attitudes to have with a store like Global Village. The values that Global Village stands for—fair trade, sustainability, and justice for producers who struggle to make a living in less developed countries—must be understood on a personal level. As Lynne Cook puts it, “Every product has a story. When people can have a connection to the products they see, it brings poverty to a personal level.”

The two interns not only gain insight into how a business operates, but also into how the world operates. Sometimes the world doesn’t operate fairly, but through Global Village they are learning how it can be a little fairer for others. And by knowing the personal implications of each action they take, whether it is analyzing sales or displaying Indonesian handicrafts in the best manner, they can spread that message to us as well.

Global Village Collection is located on 37 N. Sandusky Street.

– Bea Pantoja ’10