Balancing the outcomes in systems design
The Carpenter’s Problem as a solution framing tool is quite flexible. It permits a spacious solution space in the shaded area of the graph, that allows for localization and customization for best fit to particular region or geography. For instance, the challenge of designing the most inclusive internet for all the newcomers from emerging economies, […]
Perspective on the Carpenter’s Problem
This is my favourite concept for describing how to cost effectively iterate complex systems solutions within a given set of constraints and conditions. That is, the ideal solution for best fit, can be said to lie in the shaded area as shown in the graph above. This approach to solution framing comes from operations research […]
“Unlearn the past to create the future”
The late Michigan University management professor, CK Prahalad, is best known for his last, and most famous publication, The fortune at the bottom of the pyramid. But to MBA students, management consultancies, corporate planners, and regular readers of the Harvard Business Review, he is also known for a long and distinguished career in management thought […]
Detailed breakdown of Uber’s business model in Kenya puts spotlight on weaknesses
Latiff Cherono has just published an indepth analysis of what exactly it takes for an Uber driver in Nairobi to cover the cost of doing business. Here’s a snippet, In this post, I try to understand the root cause of the disconnect between how the customer (who defines the value), Uber (the service that controls […]
Analysis of the mobile phone’s impact on cash flows and transactions in the informal sector
As we saw, Mrs Chimphamba needs to juggle time and money as part of her household financial management in order to ensure that expenses can be met by income. We also saw that the mobile phone was made viable and feasible by the availability of the prepaid business model that gave her full control over […]
The East African Community is a hidden gem
Even as headlines shriek about “Africa”s economy undergoing some form of turmoil or the other, increasingly, indepth focused reports point out that the East African Community is performing exceedingly well. “Africa”, it turns out, is a vast and diverse continent made up of more than 50 countries. The IMF said: …the multi-speed growth in the […]
Professionals stand above the competition: Branding lessons from street vendors of Africa
Farai Mushayademo’s distinctive dress sense, with a different shiny suit every day, makes him a darling of customers and helps him beat the “rising competition,” he said. This article on the increasing competition for the burgeoning informal economy of Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, came less than a month after we saw this smartly turned […]
Mobile Money in South Africa: The nature of the beast by Flo Mosoane
The 2015 State Of The Industry Report (SOTIR) for Mobile Money published by GSMA, reveals a picture of a service that continues to change the landscape of financial inclusion in developing and poor countries across the globe. In December of 2015, the industry processed transactions in excess of a billion, most of which were in […]
Systems design and the Monster who squats between the formal and the informal
This framing of the real challenge to development and poverty alleviation comes from Ken Wong writing on his experience in Malawi: We can only win the war on poverty and hunger in Malawi by targeting the real enemy – and that enemy is the system of how the world tries to help. Specifically: — The system that […]
How to Spot Signals of Local Purchasing Patterns in the Market
This photograph is taken from a regular news item from a Liberian newspaper announcing the opening of a new petrol station in the town of Ganta. What caught my attention is the size of the LPG cylinders being promoted. On the left is the 6kg and on the right is an even smaller size that […]
