35 SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production – America Auto Repair

Group Reflection

America Auto Service & Body Shop plays an influential role in the automotive industry around the Belmont- Cragin community in Chicago. They focus on the safety and care of customers and the environment. This is all done through the effort to save money and prevent car part junking by prioritizing repairs over replacements. This is important because most car parts can take up to a century to break down in a junkyard, however repairing can not only save money but also prevent that from happening. Focusing on America auto Service and Body Shop has helped us grow an appreciation for the work that Octavio Tapia is doing every day. They have influenced their employees by practicing this strategy when they decide to leave the nest and open up their own shops. Hearing about their impact and how small shops can grow to have a greater influence through small efforts to a bigger cause is really inspiring. I hope more automotive and body shops can learn a little bit from them just as my group and I have.

Along with implementing this new found information from our interview into our own field industries. Throughout, we got a sense that changes in protocols aren’t always the worst solution and that not every business has to follow certain rules. That it is okay to accept change so then it can help a business learn more about what either went wrong or right. In this case this autoshop was able to gain consumer trust/referral. Which is essential to not only a business aspect but as said above, an impact as a whole for communities that aren’t able to access this type of care.

After learning and reflecting on the business values and morals of America Auto Service & Body Shop, one can conclude that their innovative approach has positively affected the way we will act and think in our future decisions going forward. One of the main innovations of this story was the priority of repairs over replacements. As previously explained, the action of recycling over disposing helps to improve the environment as it promotes sustainability and significantly reduces excess waste. This story really brought light to the importance of recycling and how it can prolong the longevity of our earth and further promote sustainability for this company.

Oftentimes, a “new” product or good can be prioritized or looked at as better over a reused item; however, this company and story has changed the overall outlook of that stigma.

Individual Reflections

Yael: Being able to work on this project in teams was a teachable moment. While it felt new, it felt like I was relearning effective ways of communicating. It was up to all of us to contribute to the team’s goal of pushing this story to be told. Throughout getting to know my teammates, I saw how essential it is to communicate each person’s schedule. Our schedules needed to be discussed before getting to work to ensure success, which we understood well. Throughout this process, my team and I were able to hold each other accountable yet still find a way to familiarize ourselves and work around any issues. With these skills in hand, I will practice them more to interject in my fashion major. Collaborating with the people you work with, within the industry is also essential.

Claire: Getting to work and interact with international students was a really great opportunity for myself as a student in business. Not only did it help to improve my skills regarding socialization, organization, and time management, it allowed me to meet new individuals, and gain knowledge on companies in different parts of the world. However, one drawback of the virtual distance was finding a time to meet each week with every student’s busy school, work, and life schedule. The power of social media was very helpful as we were able to create a group chat to communicate throughout the weeks. I felt that my overall participation was high, especially when it came to scheduling the weekly meetings and collaborating with my team members. I am thankful for the opportunities that this project has given me however I believe that there could be similar projects for students that are a little more organized for all of the individuals involved.

Matt: I think that the idea of this project is very interesting and I have some pros and cons that I would like to share. To start, I think that group work is important and it is something that should be done in school. It is a great way for students to learn how to interact with others as some students may struggle with that. When it comes to the real world after graduating, these skills are crucial to be more successful. With that being said, I do not think that online group work is the best approach, I think face to face interaction is the best way to get real value and the different time zones added unnecessary obstacles to work around for not getting the true value of group work. These obstacles have been somewhat difficult to handle as it is hard to find a time that works for everyone in the group. We also have had only 4/6 group members working on the project and we have been able to work around it but again it is what I believe to be a problem due to it being online. It has been a lot easier to keep track of everyone with social media (Instagram) where we do all of our discussing and where all of our meetings have been hosted. As for my part of the group work, I have participated in the weekly meeting and have been doing my part as I did the poster for our company and I have given what I hope is valuable input where needed. Overall, I think that this project is okay but there is definitely room for improvement to allow students to get more value out of the class.

Itzel: I always appreciate working in groups because it shows me new ways I can grow and be better from the experience. This group has allowed me to strengthen my teamwork and leadership skills from multiple aspects. In group work there are always obstacles and I believe that we handled them gracefully. Working in an international group was difficult; we all live separate lives which makes it difficult to find a time to agree on meeting. With the different time zones and schedules, our replies and communication wasn’t very consistent. This was hard to work around but we always found a way to work around it. That obstacle was the biggest, but we also worked around missing 2 of our group members. This “ghosting” wasn’t very fun, but we all mutually agreed to not let it hold us back and to continue with our progress. The choices put on the table for our project topic, were all great, but we ended up going with my proposal. Conducting the interview was a great learning experience because I have always been the interviewee, but never the interviewer. It was nice to switch the roles for a while, I was able to practice on my communication and questioning skills, trying to keep the conversation flowing. These were all skills and experiences that I think will help benefit me in the future. I appreciate all I have learned from this project.