Rio Grande Corporation Bookstore

proudly serving

University of Rio Grande &
Rio Grande Community College

AN OVERVIEW OF THE RIO GRANDE CORPORATION

The Rio Grande Corporation was established as a "for-profit" firm in 1987.  Until September of 1994, the corporation operated both the University Bookstore and a Game Room.  Business students, who are called Rio Grande Corporation Associates, manage all functions of the corporation.

The associates start by stocking shelves, housekeeping, operating the cash register, and other customer service operations of the business. During their Junior and Senior years, students enter executive positions with responsibilities, which include purchasing, inventory management, personnel management, and all accounting and financial activities as well as month-end closing.  They prepare and present reports for quarterly and annual board meetings.  The workweek of Rio Grande associates normally ranges from a minimum of 10 to a maximum of twenty hours. These hours are subject to change during registration periods and month-end closing due to increased sales and report preparation.

In addition, the associates must also deal with the administrative and technical aspects of operating the firm, and may often find themselves engaged in difficulties associated with scheduling personnel for adequate store coverage without causing students to miss classes.  In order to assure that associates gain experience with modern equipment, the Corporation has made investments in computer hardware and software equipment.

With the design of the associates work structure, there is a built-in inefficiency.  This must be recognized as the associates strive for profits in a learning environment.  Twenty-five to thirty percent of the most experienced associates graduate each year.  This turnover at top executive level requires constant training expenditures, which are not experienced by organizations that operate with normal turnover.

A broad and general objective of Rio Grande Corporation is to prepare business graduates to "hit the road running" on new jobs far faster that other business graduates.

To produce technically competent as well as managerially competent graduates a self-directed management environment works well since only self-starters and strong team members are retained.  The total disclosure of mistakes is critical from several points of view:

1.   Associates learn to accept the fact that all humans make errors.

2.   They learn that errors reported immediately to the right person can frequently be corrected with minimal resulting cost.

3.   Associates learn that working toward error-free systems can occur only if errors, their causes and their corrective actions are discussed openly and honestly.

4.   Associates learn that hiding, or delay in reporting errors can cause termination in organizations that they may join after graduation.

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