Systems thinking skills

Source: Originally found here. Please read and study this concept map, which shows some common skills associated with systems thinking.

How might a systems thinker talk about scaling in emerging markets?

1. Immerse yourself in the chaos
2. Understand the product
3. Look at what is going on in the wider environment
4. Set up some facts - what is the model, what is the impact
5. Figure out what scale will look like
6. Set some objectives
7. Understand cost and value drivers
8. Do market SWOT
9. Set up expansion pathways
10. Systematise basic processes
11. Bring on actors
12. Oversee replication scouting and testing mission
13. Create and use feedback loop to improve systems
14. Systematise complicated processes with expert help
15. De-systemiatise processes, unbundle, de-mystify
16. Set up network of actors and activities and functions
17. Create learning buckets
18. Push through learning through the network
19. Oversee trickle through of information and action
20. Do continuous learning and innovation
21. Systematise
22. De-systemiatise 
23. Create networks
24. Package learning 
25. Distribute learning
26. Oversee trickle through 
27. Do continuous learning and innovation
28. Systematise
29. De-systemiatise 
30. etc

What types of careers are there in international development?

Skills (What you can do!)

• All skills needed!!

Functions (What role you would play!)

You may have 1 or more of these skills!

• Fundraising - storytelling, strategy, communications, budgeting, networking, relationship building, research, project management
• Policy - research, communications, legal, institutional development, relationship building, politics
• Institutional development - research, governance, relationship building, politics
• Economic development - economic modelling, industrial development, market systems strategy, welfare 
• Social welfare - advocacy, social welfare subsidies, charity work, 
• Private sector development - business innovation, enterprise development, enabling environment, entrepreneurship, taxation and legal
• Marketing and retail - commerce, business management, sociology, psychology, policy and/or network development
• Operations - logistics, network management, project management, finance, and/or results measurement 
• HRM - sociology, psychology, training and development, and/or team building
• Finance - finance, strategy, M&E, project management, and/or legal
• Results measurement - finance, strategy, project management, and/or research

New Trends (Where you might position yourself!)

• Market-based development
• Socialist market systems
• Social welfare
• Ethical business
• Fintech
• Behaviourial sciences
• Systems change
• Resilience
• Conflict 
• Livestock
• Healthcare
• Climate and the natural environment
• Informal sector
• NGO organisational development
• Foundation funding

Things to Remember!

• Be different - If you have good ideas that seem too out-of-the-box for traditional work, this could be the right time to build a skills around it and offer that skill to the development space
• Look deeper than large institutions - If you want to learn on the job, develop tangible skills and be part of an impactful project, start at the field and work upwards
• Competences are important - teamwork, patience, time management, critical thinking, adaptability, focus and determination

What does it mean to do ethical business in apparel?

What value do ethical standards bring to the fashion industry?
What does it mean to be ethical in fashion ?
What is the business case for ethical fashion?

• Product development that sources and uses raw materials according to sustainability regulations/norms/codes/standards/values in the industry 
• Product design that reflects stories from different people and different culture (i.e. non-normative, beyond the Western beauty ideal) and in a way that respects ownership and that protects against cultural appropriation for profit
• Innovation based on participative collaboration that understands power structures and control/equality/equity issues 
• Ensuring that wage payments, work health and safety conditions and regulations are observed, external audits and inspections are supported and violence and illegal practices are addressed through a fair justice system (Guardian)
• Working with producers and suppliers in developing countries: meeting regulations and codes and respecting power imbalances in ethical management styles and monitoring systems
• A systemic approach to certification/regulations/norms/codes/standards to bring about sustainability and scale and builds on the successes of supply chain strengthening (multi-stakeholder governance, transparency, independent verification, and third party chain of custody) (Business Fights Poverty)
• Creating a demand for ethical fashion by using multi-channel retail opportunities including pop-ups to showcase the brand the product and the story
• Ensuring that the pricing model allows producers and suppliers to be paid a living/decent wage even when it means charging the retailer or consumer a few pence more. The recent example of dairy farmers in the UK removing milk from supermarket shelves in an attempt to sell it directly to the consumer to get a better price.
• Understanding that in fashion there is economic value to the 'story' in the same way that any brand builds equity - through rational, emotional and behaviourial consumer analysis
• The impact on retail pricing - what is the market willing to pay?
• Businesses that 'work in Africa' do not automatically mean social enterprise or ethical sourcing
• Making your claims of ethical business practices credible and possible to observe and verify. Consumer driven - Mintel found that half of those surveyed said they would only pay more for ethical products if they understood clearly where the extra money went, and 52 per cent said they found information about which foods are ethical confusing (Supplymanagement.com)
• Working on textile waste to minimise, recycle, reuse, upcycle, upgrade, re-configure, re-integrate, and more (The Ethical Fashion Source)

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http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/10/lithuanian-migrants-chicken-catchers-trafficked-uk-egg-farms-sue-worst-gangmaster-ever
http://source.ethicalfashionforum.com/article/recycling-on-the-high-street-3-different-approaches

A systems perspective to supply chain development

In classic economic theory, making products cheaper by reducing the cost of goods (COGS) can mean removing the intermediaries in the supply chain where margin might be absorbed. This means system actors, such as agents, middlemen/women, traders, small retailers (kiosks) are vulnerable to the disintermediation. However, in low-income countries, this has a system wide effect: this will limit the supply of goods and services to marginalized populations, such as smallholder farmers or the urban poor and this will reduce employment and revenue generation by cutting the poor out of the system. Moreover, in times of desperation, this will naturally create conflict and instability that will have even more far-reaching effects beyond the original supply chain.

Things to remember:

• For real wide-scale change, take a step back and think more systemically and less narrowly and think about the wider impact of any intervention in business operations, pricing and COGS. 
• Rather than a focus on cost, price and money, consider gains that bring about long-term growth, such as quality, value and service-driven loyalty
• Yes, eliminating supply chain actors may reduce the cost of goods along the way, but there is no guarantee that this will be passed on to the customer.  
• Intermediaries are the backbone of a system and agents, traders, kiosks are ever present in a market - work through them rather than against them or by sidelining them
• Look at where the incentives lie. For a supplier, that wants to shed certain costs, who might be willing to take them on? Who might benefit? Who might see the value in managing this transaction directly? This is essentially the origination of outsourcing.
• Consider how the market could function better. As a supplier, you may be incurring a huge cost getting products to the consumer. However, if a retailer can offer a better coordination function, then it would make more sense to switch to wholesale operations. Many retailers in developing countries do this albeit with  need for capacity building around effective management. 

New to international development - Where to look for job opportunities?

Books

• Amartya Sen 'Development As Freedom'
• Dambisa Moyo 'Dead Aid'

Research/Think Tanks

• Overseas Development Institute
• International Institute for Environment and Development

Opportunities are for more seasoned development professionals with 5 years or so experience

CSR Networks

• Ethical Trading Initiative
• Ethical Performance
• Triple Pundit

Opportunities are emerging - from communications to technical assistance on projects

Social Business

• Stanford Social Innovation Review
• Business Fights Poverty
• Inclusive Business Practitioner Hub

Opportunities are emerging - technical assistance, field work

Corporate Foundations

• Rockefeller Foundation
• Gates Foundation
• ASPEN Institute

International Charities

• International Red Cross
• World Vision
• Save the Children
• Oxfam

Opportunities are communications, fundraising, project management, team coaching; may provide training to get you field-ready (smaller NGOs might be willing and able to send you directly to the field)

Development Consultancies

• DAI
• Adam Smith International
• Cardno Emerging Markets
• GIZ
• ITAD
• The Springfield Centre

Opportunities are in research, policy, monitoring and evaluation, project management; long term roles will get you field-ready on formal secondments or assignments, however, generally the roles are West-based

Practitioner Networks

• BOND
• Beam Exchange

Opportunities are for seasoned professionals with 5-8 years experience under their belt

An illustration on mental models for systems thinking

The graphic was originally found on Twitter posted by Amy Koo ‏@awykoo, who had come across it at a sustainability and systems workshop in November 2015: http://watersfoundation.org/category/newsletter-archives/march-2014/

Why might some poverty reduction project incorporate behaviour change theories?

Nudges
(behaviour change tactics)

• Commitment device. A commitment device is a choice that an individual makes in the present which restricts his own set of choices in the future, often as a means of controlling future impulsive behavior and limiting choices to those that reflect long-term goals.
• Temptation bundling 
• Loss aversion. More pain with loss than the pleasure for what we gain. The customers that cancel with you are more worried about what they will lose than what they could gain by switching and going elsewhere

System actors
(for market actors integrating nudges)
Market actors who may be interested in behaviour change nudges are diverse. We see commercial enterprises looking to develop a customer base within a low-income population at the bottom-of-the-pyramid; we see Governments wanting to affect the behaviour of citizens such as through giving up smoking, reducing speeds on the roads and paying taxes on time; and we see opinion leaders/institutions/social networks wanting to influence and change socio-cultural dynamics - think of #blacklivesmatter.

System change
(why?)
We think that some behaviour change nudging is needed when the context is new for people, such as a unprecedented growth in the market economy, or recent modernisation, or evolving non-traditional systems, or new sectors and economic activity that require new practice and behaviours.

Facilitation using behaviour change
(for development practitioners)

• Avoid prescribing behaviour. Instead, help system actors find the behaviour they want to adopt; let it be self-deterministic and self-motivated. This makes it easier to find the right nudge - through the process, system actors will indicate the right nudge for them and what it will take to adhere to the effects of the nudge. 
• Be intuitive and look for deeper narratives. System actors will tell you what they want but this will not be overt, out-loud and obvious. This will be through their attitudes, behaviours, mindset, actions, and perceptions. You will need to read all of these cues to understand the full script of what the actor is (not) saying to you.
• Look into the socio-economic benefits for sharing the costs of desgining and implementing nudges and the socio-economic benefits for the value created. This should be the basis for programming the nudge into the market system
• Celebrate the effort not just the intellect. Telling people that they are smart and intelligent can create situations where the individual relies on their intelligence to get them through complex situations. Often what is needed more is a combination of patience, commitment, sacrifice, and possibly super-normal hard work (= effort)

RCTs in poverty reduction and development: why are some practitioners abandoning RCTs?

This blogpost about ethics in international development is about a randomised control trial (RCT) in Kenya. In the experiment, some households in Kenya were given unconditional cash transfers of either USD 404 or USD 1525. The researchers found, unsurprisingly, that the lucky ones were happier and that their unlucky neighbours were unhappy. The paper is aptly titled “Your Gain is my Pain”.

Most importantly, however, the blogger reflects on why this type of research is done at all: "Am I the only one to think that is not ethical dishing out large sums of money in small communities and observing how jealous and unhappy this makes the unlucky members of these tight knit communities?" 

For myself, as a development practitioner with a systems thinking perspective, RCTs can come across as having very limited usefulness and application. They can also be quite machine-based: they either choose to wilfully ignore human behaviour or they simply limit their interactions with other disciplines (psychology, sociology, anthropology) so that they can create more simple hypotheses. Thus, it is felt that the applicability of an RCT for complex problems (such as systemic poverty) is limited.

The RCT we have seen from Kenya seems to fall into that trap too. This RCT seems to need to test the notion that poor people in Kenya might not exhibit the same reactions and behaviours as other people. As if the nature of the human condition (in Africa) is under exploration. To me, this is strange and feels like the original hypotheses might have been drastically distilled and reduced down to overly simplified thoughts.

I wonder how the findings would actually be useful to policy and projects. Who might need proofs from an RCT that Kenyans are like any other human being? How could such research be useful for development planning at an economic or social level? Why is the notion that proving that desperation, jealously and unhappiness occurs among very poor people is valuable? I would also wonder what long-lasting impact this type of research would have on social relationships in the communities in the future.

Globally, there is a large community of development practitioner who feel that RCTs in poverty interventions are not ethical and not useful. From my conversations with them, they make the following points:

1. In many RCTs, an assumption is made that the the groups will not be communicating with each other. However, it is actually very difficult to have demarcated and clear boundaries for the treatment groups to be adequately isolated. People talk. Information can flow through multiple channels and through multiple mechanisms (face-to-face, mobile phone, internet, etc) across groups, geographies, social hierarchies, institutions, etc. 
2. In RCTs, people might be very desperate because of the psychological and social impact of poverty and crisis. In this case all the RCT does is exacerbate that desperation and exacerbate those behaviours that present themselves when people are in desperate situations. The results are therefore naturally biased and skewed and outlying when compared to any group at any point in time. This is not adequately recognised in RCTs and thus not at all reflected when RCTs attempt to influence policy and project applications.
3. Over time, the RCT can have a lasting negative impact. Those RCTs which test the type of reactions as the one featured here in Kenya - jealousy and unhappiness - can damage social relationships between individuals and groups even after the trial has ended. Real people are not as adept to switching off their pain and trauma (and any additional feelings of betrayal, anger, envy, frustration, etc.) as machines might be able to! 

To strengthen an economic system means agents in system must explore, test boundaries. Not the consultants nor the policy makers. The entrepreneurs. - Shawn Cunningham

A video on the three dimensions of the facilitators' role

The video describes the three principal dimensions of the facilitator´s job.

Check out the website to find out! http://english.iifac.org/

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Alternatively, watch the video here from IIFACWEB and published on 1 Apr 2013

How are MBTI frameworks used to understand behaviour and manage teams?

The source material on cognitive learning styles can be found here on Wikipedia

MBTI for cognitive learning styles

Each is not a polar opposite, but a gradual continuum.

• Extraversion to Introversion

The extraverted types learn best by talking and interacting with others. By interacting with the physical world, extraverts can process and make sense of new information. The introverted types prefer quiet reflection and privacy. Information processing occurs for introverts as they explore ideas and concepts internally.

• Sensing/Intuition

The second continuum reflects what a person focuses their attentions on. Sensing types enjoy a learning environment in which the material is presented in a detailed and sequential manner. Sensing types often attend to what is occurring in the present, and can move to the abstract after they have established a concrete experience. Intuitive types prefer a learning atmosphere in which an emphasis is placed on meaning and associations. Insight is valued higher than careful observation, and pattern recognition occurs naturally for Intuitive types.

• Thinking/Feeling

The third continuum reflects the person’s decision preferences. Thinking types desire objective truth and logical principles and are natural at deductive reasoning. Feeling types place an emphasis on issues and causes that can be personalized while they consider other people's motives.

• Judging/Perceiving

The fourth continuum reflects how the person regards complexity. Judging types will thrive when information is organized and structured, and they will be motivated to complete assignments in order to gain closure. Perceiving types will flourish in a flexible learning environment in which they are stimulated by new and exciting ideas. Judging types like to be on time, while perceiving types may be late and/or procrastinate.

"Tell me and I will forget, show me and I might remember, involve me and I will understand." - Confucius

What are some useful indicators of systemic change?

What is systemic change?

1. A measurement  of the change in the rules that govern the system and that affect how actors/agents behave and function. From an economic perspective, this means going beyond the conception of people as 'rational individuals' and incorporating a better understanding of social constraints that lock us in to our patterns of consumption. 
2. The relationship between certain types of 'resilience finance' and the ability to confront shocks and disasters at individual level, household level, business level, industry level and across social networks and political positions 
3. A measurement of 'subjective resilience' at household level to better understand the ability to "anticipate, buffer and adapt to disturbance and change"
4. Developed by looking at synergies between the development, business and economics fields of study to better frame measurements of systemic change. Bringing together traditional nonprofit measurements around poverty and impact with typical business and social enterprise measurements of efficiency and effectiveness with typical economic measurements, such as tax revenues, job creation, labour income, for deeper systemic measurement, such as increase in business-to-business services, change in investment patterns towards long-term customer relationships and emergence of new market-based products and services that respond to pro-poor needs. 
5. A recalibration of the equilibrium. Moving systems from unjust to just, marginalisation to inclusion, structural disadvantages to systemic advantages (gender), traders to value creators, short-term transactions to long-term relationships and incremental shifts [in markets] to transformations and revolutions, 

What does a market system specialist like me do?

Economic Development

• Develop retail networks in developing countries to get products and services in the hands of low-income marginalised consumers
• Help aid programmes do more systemic social welfare through systemic safety net programmes
• Improve the enabling environment for MSMEs and the informal sector  

Social Business and CSR

• Look at supply chain interventions that go beyond the value chain approach and take more of a systemic perspective that actually deliver benefits to poor farmers 
• Identify different areas where CSR can be better programmed by way of a market systems approach
• Integrate the private sector into market systems approaches that have historically focused on socialist mechanisms (large State, community associations, NGOs)
• Work with system actors to identify areas where market systems development will make a difference

Behaviour Change

• Train practitioners on behaviour change and behaviour change methodologies to help projects deliver systemic solutions 
• Design behaviour change tools to improve the adoption and commitment of poor people to long terms savings and investments practices

"We need to reach that happy stage of our development when differences and diversity are not seen as sources of division and distrust, but of strength and inspiration" - Josefa Iloilo

The Guest House by Rumi

The Guest House by Rumi

This being human is a guest house. 
Every morning a new arrival. 

A joy, a depression, a meanness, 
some momentary awareness comes 
as an unexpected visitor. 

Welcome and entertain them all! 
Even if they're a crowd of sorrows, 
who violently sweep your house 
empty of its furniture, 
still, treat each guest honourably. 
He may be clearing you out 
for some new delight. 

The dark thought, the shame, the malice, 
meet them at the door laughing, 
and invite them in. 

Be grateful for whoever comes, 
because each has been sent 
as a guide from beyond.

"Do not look where you fell, but where you slipped." - African Proverb

"Without a sense of urgency, desire loses its value." - Jim Rohn

Forgiveness is not true compassion - Krishnamurti

Forgiveness is not true compassion
What is it to be compassionate? Please find out for yourself, feel it out, whether a mind that is hurt, that can be hurt, can ever forgive. Can a mind that is capable of being hurt, ever forgive? And can such a mind which is capable of being hurt, which is cultivating virtue, which is conscious of generosity, can such a mind be compassionate? Compassion, as love, is something which is not of the mind. The mind is not conscious of itself as being compassionate, as loving. But the moment you forgive consciously, the mind is strengthening its own center in its own hurt. So the mind which consciously forgives can never forgive; it does not know forgiveness; it forgives in order not to be further hurt.
So it is very important to find out why the mind actually remembers, stores away. Because the mind is everlastingly seeking to aggrandize itself, to become big, to be something When the mind is willing not to be anything, to be nothing, completely nothing, then in that state there is compassion. In that state there is neither forgiveness nor the state of hurt; but to understand that, one has to understand the conscious development of the 'me'.
So, as long as there is the conscious cultivation of any particular influence, any particular virtue, there can be no love, there can be no compassion, because love and compassion are not the result of conscious effort.

J. Krishnamurti, The Book of Life

"At first dreams seem impossible, then improbable, then inevitable." - Christopher Reeve

“Do not let another day go by where your dedication to other people’s opinions is greater than your dedication to your own emotions!” - Steve Maraboli

The systems for welfare and safety net programmes

How are welfare and social safety net systems set up?

Broadly speaking and quite simply, welfare and benefits help people through poverty as well as respond and be resilient to unexpected external shocks, such as macroeconomic downturn and job loss, sickness and injury, and other disabilities. Welfare also helps people grow their financial and asset base and are used to supplement incomes that are considered below living wage. Welfare can also help pay for supplementary services to people overcome poverty, respond to shocks and/or grow their asset base, such as childcare or energy subsidies.

Conversely, tax systems are used to generate income in order to redistribute to welfare recipients. Tax can be applied to incomes (and conversely tax can be reduced on low incomes and personal allowance thresholds). Tax can be applied to goods and services deemed harmful to other people and the environment such as cigarettes. Tax incentives (or tax-free activities) can be applied to goods and services deemed beneficial to other people and the environment such as solar panels for household roofs.

Welfare budget - The welfare budget is formed through amount raised in taxes and more precisely, the proportion of tax income allocated to the welfare system. Who decides this proportion? How does this money get allocated? Does the amount reflect the needs of the benefit claimants within the system? According to Open Democracy: "Benefit levels in Britain reflect political decisions on the amount governments in Britain have been prepared to spend, not the total of claimants’ needs."

Welfare eligibility criteria - There are several different categories of eligibility criteria to be able to clam welfare, such as time in work, dependents, length of residency. There are also different categories of benefit types from job seeker support, to housing to sickness to occupational injury. The specific criteria will differ in different countries. Above all, claiming benefits is not an easy task for local claimants or those from elsewhere classified as migrants or immigrants. And certain welfare opportunities are not included in the benefits system because they are public goods (from clean air to access to a universal healthcare system that treats personal injury and illness especially those that are communicable, contigious and treatable) (BBC News)

Multi-territorial welfare system - Across integrated trade and economic zones (where integration includes policies and regulations as well as social networks, culture and learning), such as the European Union (EU), it was found that migrants from wealthier countries (like the UK) have the power to claim benefits from across the water, in other equally wealthy or even less wealthy countries. At times, the number of Britons claiming welfare in the EU can be larger than 'EU migrants to the UK claiming welfare in the UK' (IB Times and the Guardian)

Changes to the welfare system - Changes to the amount in the welfare system (taxation) and who gets them (welfare recipients) are brought about by those operating within the system itself. The Government may seem to have decision-making power but what analysis do they do to make decisions and who does the research? In some cases, the EU can put pressure on member states to make welfare system changes (Social Europe)

Factors that affect the ability of a welfare system to work

• A restriction in money inflows are more of a burden than the increase in the number of welfare recipients
• 
  

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https://www.opendemocracy.net/can-europe-make-it/charlotte-rachael-proudman/welfare-benefits-are-calculated-by-political-objective
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25134521
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/britons-claiming-benefits-across-eu-outnumber-immigrants-getting-welfare-uk-1484091
http://www.socialeurope.eu/2015/02/welfare-union/

What is the TTIP and what effect will it have on developing countries?

The TTIP is the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership between the USA and the EU. The gains for the US and EU businesses, particularly large corporations in the USA and emerging SMEs in central Europe are huge.

"Between the two of them, the United States and the EU stand for 40 percent of global economic production; their bilateral economic links are the most expansive in the world. The liberalization of these ties would boost global competitiveness and market confidence in a time of economic crisis, and according to some predictions, could create more than two million new jobs. This naturally lends it significant support from many Central European governments." (Center for European Policy Analysis)

There may even be benefits for the UK as a member of the EU. An open editorial by UK policy advisors for the Guardian makes the following points:

TTIP is about doing away with those barriers on both sides. We believe that the agreement of a transatlantic trade deal would benefit the European economy in the long run by up to £100bn – £10bn a year to the UK alone – an adrenalin boost for jobs and growth in our countries when we need it the most. Crucially, the businesses that have most to gain are not large corporations but small and middle-sized enterprises. They don’t have the big firms’ economies of scale or the in-house lawyers to overcome trade barriers.

The criticisms of the TTIP focus around the fact that firstly, it will exacerbate trade imbalances by putting in preferential trade mechanisms (going over and above simply alleviating trade barriers) between the USA and the EU and secondly, result in huge social cost at local level as well as for the Global South.

The UK Parliament , a briefing paper describes the TTIP as follows:

Average tariffs on trade between the EU and US are relatively low. Much of the negotiation therefore centres around non-tariff barriers to trade, such as harmonising product regulation and standards and on measures to protect the rights of investors. 

and frames the benefits as follows:

The economic benefits of TTIP are contested. A study for the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills estimated that the gains to the UK would be £4 billion to £10 billion annually (0.14% to 0.35% of GDP) by 2027. Critics of TTIP argue that these estimates overstate the gains, and that alignment of regulatory standards in areas such as consumer safety, environmental protection and public health could have social costs

 and frame the most contested issues as follows:

Probably the most controversial element of TTIP is Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS). These provisions allow investors to bring proceedings against foreign governments that are party to the treaty. These cases are heard in tribunals outside the domestic legal system. The concern is that the ISDS provisions might affect governments’ ability to determine public policy if they are concerned they might be sued by corporations.

In the UK, the main area of concern has been the NHS – in particular, whether any future measures to reduce the private sector’s involvement might be challenged under these provisions. The UK Government and the European Commission have sought to allay these concerns but critics remain to be convinced. Besides ISDS, there are a number of other areas of concern with TTIP including food standards, public procurement, intellectual property, transport and financial services.

 Here is what the War on Want, a civil rights and advocacy organisation, thinks about the TTIP (War on Want)

"...the main goal of TTIP is to remove regulatory ‘barriers’ which restrict the potential profits to be made by transnational corporations on both sides of the Atlantic

Here is what the head of  UNISON, one of the UK's largest trade unions, thinks about the TTIP (Bond)

"TTIP may be a US – EU trade deal, but its impact will be felt all over the world. Multinational corporations will profit, but millions will lose out. People in Britain are angry about the impact TTIP will have on their lives. Unless we also get them angry about the impact of TTIP on the Global South, we will have missed an opportunity, and millions will be a great deal poorer as a result."

 On the impact of the TTIP on the 'Global South', here is what policy advisors suggest might be the impact (Green European Journal):

"[the Global South] is not a homogeneous bloc, but consists, rather, of a range of extremely diverse states which will certainly be negatively affected by any potential US-EU trade agreement. Such effects will result primarily from the diversion of trade flows, but also from, for example, the bilateral setting of global standards. Countries for whom, say, the US represents a main trading partner will be forced to enter into competition with the EU when the T-TIP comes into force.

and cites the following possible impacts on specific trade zones:

It is Mexico’s economy that will suffer most from the T-TIP, as it maintains very close trade relations with both the EU and the US. (...) With the T-TIP the Mexican garment industry, for example, could face increased competition from Europe. (...) the garment industries of both the EU and Mexico are already in competition for access to the US market and, if T-TIP favours European products by lowering tariffs, this would negatively affect Mexico’s garment industry. Another example is the trade in citrus fruits. In the EU, they are mainly imported from South Africa, Egypt and Morocco. So far, the US’s biggest export markets are Canada, Japan and the Netherlands. A trade deal could see US citrus fruit exports to the EU rise, forcing South Africa, Egypt and Morocco to look for new markets.

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http://www.cepa.org/content/ttip-setting-global-standards
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/feb/16/ttip-transatlantic-trade-deal-businesses
http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN06688
http://www.waronwant.org/our-work
http://www.bond.org.uk/blog/119/whos-really-profiting?utm_source=Bond&utm_campaign=995c1d212a-Your_Network_June_2015_W4&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_9e0673822f-995c1d212a-247690901
http://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/the-eu-us-free-trade-agreement-bad-prospects-for-the-global-south/

The many faces of CSR - some concerns

CSR is ...

... a collection of small piecemeal fixes that cost millions whilst companies stand in the way of wider systemic reforms (The Atlantic)

... a response to and/or a driver of ineffective regulation and enforcement mechanisms (aka corruption) (NBER Working Paper)

... the antithesis of sustainable? doing as much (or as little) as the legal compliance frameworks deem necessary, social (green)washing, a disregard for systems change and an appropriation of cheap labour and culture... (Triple Pundit)

... old, redundant and anemic, desperately seeking new energy to bring about real change both within the organisations, which espouse it as well within the markets, economies and systems in which they operate? (New Global Citizen)

... missing an opportunity to respond to new consumer-driven preferences and evolving buying behaviour?

• Tetra Pak research found that 60 per cent of consumers that they surveyed said that they would look for environmental information on products they buy and would be influenced by what they read
• In a survey by Mintel, 60 per cent of respondents said that guaranteeing that ingredients used in its products are responsibly sourced was of major importance (Supplymanagement.com)
• Several brands, such as Fairtrade, pay producers a higher wage than other buyer. They demonstrate the market for niche consumer groups that have a willingness and ability to pay a significant premium for higher quality product 
• Labour Behind the Label also makes the point that paying producers a living wage for basic products, such as t-shirts, may mean increasing the retail price by only 3%, which is something that might be barely noticed by a customer

...
http://www.supplymanagement.com/news/2015/responsible-sourcing-a-key-concern-for-majority-of-uk-consumers

"It is wise to direct your anger towards problems, not people, to focus your energies on answers, not excuses." - William Arthur Ward

Do market-based approaches hold too many false assumptions?

This blog post from the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) attempts to reflect the main challenges in implementing market-based approaches. It questions the "false assumptions" of market development and systems thinking for poverty reduction.

In fact, what is most evident is that a very damaging assumption held by policy makers and practitioners alike is that market-based approaches simply mean "business" and "market access". In fact these are two outcomes of a functioning market system - among many others - but not the end-goal. In reality, well-designed market-based approaches that adopt systemic principles also deliver the following benefits:

• Production and supply systems that respond to demand and the needs of the market so that relationships are inherently win-win and about capturing the value within the system 
• Inclusivity of poor, marginalised, vulnerable groups as key actors and influencers (including, women, youth, disabled, etc.) 
• Market resilience and the ability of the system to stay strong and react positively to economic, social, political shocks even after any development intervention 
• Innovation is from within the market itself and emergence of new products and services (both for mainstream as well as niche users)
• Better relationships between market actors and market-driven design and testing and learning so that products and services respond to market needs 

When talking about market-based systemic approaches to poverty reduction, the first step is for all parties to get on the same page. For advisors to development projects, these are some things to look out for:

• An inaccurate understanding of systemic thinking and a persistence towards value chain approaches. The former is about the structures, patterns and cycles in systems, and the systemic constraints that affect the functioning of a system (rather than any specific events or element or value chain). Systemic analyses then lead to solutions and leverage points that generate long-term change throughout the wider system (and not for any particular market actor value chain or sector). 
• Visible conflicts between projects and market partners and disagreements around 'ownership' and 'control'. There can often be a tug-of-war between 'who does' and 'who pays'. The project may be doing too much and be paying too much and can be reticent to relinquish control and allow market forces and systemic pressures to take over. 
• A lack of understanding of what a better functioning market system looks like. Poverty is often considered a 'wicked problem'. As a result, without diversity for multiple viewpoints in problem-solving, there can often be difficulty in envisioning a better future. Some projects also perceive that by formalising all things informal and turning informal activities into formal value chains will somehow naturally strengthen systems. 
• A lack of appreciation for (and a fear of) complexity. As a result, there may be a pattern of efforts to simplify, delineate, isolate and control within specific timeframes and outcomes, leading to tick-box approaches to measuring systems change. 
• A heavy emphasis on quantity over quality in project activities. In particular, a tendency to prioritise activities that promise large impacts for lots of beneficiaries as soon as possible ... over and above interventions at leverage points in the system that take time but draw people into the system and bring about sustainability through relationships, value creation, growth, feedback, market response and evolution 
• A tendency to directly intervene in the market instead of employing facilitative approaches and market-based tactics. Examples: 
• running 'project pilots' instead of working through market actors and offering opportunities for 'market exposure and idea testing' 
• dragging actors into the market through 'cost-sharing' instead of supporting existing interest and willingness for 'early-stage market entry' 
• organising and leading 'stakeholder forums' to get buy-in for the project's bright ideas instead of facilitating membership based groupings around common market constraints 
• when buying down the risk in new markets, offering a heavy amount of 'financial subsidy' to businesses instead of non-financial options such as 'networking, capacity building, coaching, information-sharing and relationship-building' 
• a lack of adequate focus on the incentives, relationships and behaviours in markets. This can be evidenced by projects that make broad assumptions about why the private sector does not already work in marginalised markets. e.g. ICT4Development projects often make the mistake that ICT constraints are primarily technical software issues, and do not spend enough time addressing the incentives and facilitating the relationships and interactions between firms and the market (mostly small rural-based enterprises).

Dealing with prejudice in social settings

Often, I am out with friends or friends of friends or co-workers or in fact, complete strangers and I am confronted by horribly sexist, homophobic, racists and other prejudiced opinions. I naturally end up confronting these people to expose the bigotry in their thinking. However, very often I leave feeling dissatisfied, frustrated, more angry or even ashamed if the group plays a dominant domineering role in society (as often happens if I am talking to white privileged male heterosexual able-bodied people).

Here are a selection of blogs and articles and thought pieces that I have found to help deal with bigotry in social settings.

• Make a plea for empathy - "For example, during a recent conversation where someone was saying some very stupid things about a trans person who had recently come "out" at work, I made the comment that. "Yeah, it can be weird, but I always think with this sort of thing that it must be much harder for them than it is for you really.." Which didn't actively disagree with what they were saying but made a plea for empathy." 
• Remember you are "an emissary from the next generation" and there are things you can do to share the Word from your own (biblical or non-biblical) gospels. This is some of the very inspired thinking behind the #blacklivesmatter hashtags on Twitter and others. 
• If you have suffered prejudice and have been deeply wounded, apply antiseptic, de-sensitise the area of attach and opt for pragmatism in building prejudice-free environments in places where you have power and control. Remember, prejudice is learned and can be unlearned. Prejudices are attitudes rooted in ignorance and a fear of differences. Work within social and commercial spaces to plan an appropriate response. 
• Set up projects (such as this one) to record, monitor, map, measure prejudice in honour of the the 'victims' and their voices and remain vigilant in the face of aggression, paranoia and hate

Inclusive governance of informal markets: street vendors

Interesting article here from IIED on formalising the informal sector. The key takeaways are to look for mechanisms that incentivise and reward informal traders to participate in formal structures. And in turn, look for mechanisms that help governing bodies better understand the needs of informal traders.

Inclusive governance of informal markets: the street vendors of Surakarta
Ronnie S Natawidjaja, Endang Siti Rahayu, Joko SutrisnoJun 2015 - IIED 

Surakarta’s informal street vendors are well known, acting as a tourism attraction and — as in many cities in developing countries — making an important contribution to the food security and incomes of the urban poor. But it wasn’t always so. Informal street vending is often ignored by policymakers, or regarded as a problem to be eliminated. This was also true in the city of Surakarta, Indonesia until the mayor led a very different dialogue-based approach. By offering street vendors desirable and well-planned physical spaces and formally recognising them as viable and important businesses, the city enabled them to make a meaningful contribution to urban transformation and economic growth. The mayor’s first programme of engagement, designed to genuinely communicate with these marginalised economic actors, saw 17 per cent of street vendors move to mutually-agreed locations 2005. By 2014, more than three quarters of informal street vendors were operating from purpose-built facilities.

Scaling and systemic change in market systems programmes

Many reports on pro-poor business, especially from the grey literature, call for companies to ‘scale
up’ their impacts, with systemic change sometimes seen as a means to scale, as well as impact. Yet
there is an important distinction to be drawn between systemic change and efforts to achieve scale.

Scale is about numbers. It is about increasing the size, amount or extent of a business and development approach, through working with large corporations that have a vast reach, through
partnerships, or through replicating and multiplying results. The WBCSD (2013) describes scale as a
combination of the number of people reached, geographic footprint, and sales or procurement volume. While economies of scale and return on investment are important for business, as they can determine whether ventures are commercially viable, scale implies nothing specific about development impact.

Systemic change is about transformation in the structure, dynamics and relationships of a system.
Where business and development initiatives target systemic change this implies delving behind immediate problems or symptoms and tackling underlying causes to deliver tangible and enduring benefits with significant impacts on the material conditions or behaviours of large numbers of people, going beyond those directly involved in the initiative.

There is also a time element. Scale may be achieved in a (relatively) short period, but changes are not necessarily long-lasting. With systemic change, often the initial activities are niche, involving small and isolated impacts and unstable structures, which take a long time to strengthen and stabilise. However, where these innovations eventually drive systemic change, the result can be dramatic with lasting impacts over long time horizons.

Market systems analysis to evaluate change and transformation of a market system can be carried out by looking at 3 main questions:

1. How was ownership in a pro-poor business initiative structured? Initiatives led by an existing company, initiatives led by a new company that was created in response to a specific development challenge, formal partnerships between two or more entities, and multi-party platforms involving a large number of organisations with broad, shared objectives are different ways in which ownership by the market actors in a system (and not the donor or the market facilitator) will lead to actual systemic change.
2. Were key elements of systemic change part of the design of the initiative? Did it address issues that originate from the system and its elements (institutions, policies, relationships, resources, power structures, values and behavioural norms), rather than challenges specifically relating to the value chain and individual actors. Did the initiative distinguish between incremental initiatives around efficiency, quality and productivity, which rarely drive systemic change, and radical niche innovations that change the underlying constraints in the system?
3. How have changes to behaviours and norms been observed and monitored? How have they demonstrated that change has been sustained and long-term and not short-term, ad-hoc, or with undesirable unexpected consequences?

Adapted from John Humphrey, Professorial Fellow Institute of Development Studies (IDS), 'Market systems approaches: A literature review', December 2014 and available at Beam Exchange and Jodie Thorpe, 'Business and international development: Is systemic change part of a business approach?', Evidence report 42, August 2014 and available at Institute of Development Studies (IDS) 

Article - In health, let countries run their own programmes and take a systems perspective

A nice blog on lessons learnt in global health. Advice? Let poor countries run their own programmes and take a systems perspective ...

This blog was originally published here on the Guardian website.

Lessons in global health: let poor countries run their own programmes

In 2008, Square Mkwanda found himself in a quandary: international pharmaceutical companies had just donated millions of dollars worth of drugs to treat Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) in his native Malawi but the civil servant had no money to distribute them and they were stockpiling in the ministry of health’s warehouses. “I thought, what am I going to tell pharmaceutical companies? That I let billions of kwachas’ [Malawi’s currency] worth of drugs expire because we couldn’t spend just a few millions to distribute them?”

So he talked to his minister of health and they managed to free up enough funds to distribute the drugs in eight districts. By 2009, the distribution programme had reached all 26 districts and was entirely funded by Malawi. Seven years on, Mkwanda, who is the lymphatic filariasis (LF) and NTD coordinator at Malawi’s ministry of health, proudly announced that Malawi has interrupted transmission of LF (pdf), the second country in Africa to do so.

Putting neglected tropical diseases under spotlight

Read more

Leadership like that demonstrated by Malawi was one of the key themes in thethird progress report of the London declaration on NTDs, produced by the consortium Uniting to Combat NTDs and released at the end of June. The report said: “Endemic countries are demonstrating strong ownership and leadership, in variable financial, political and environmental circumstances, to ensure their NTD programs are successful in meeting 2020 targets. Countries are achieving elimination goals, more people are being reached, and the drug donation program for NTDs, the largest public health drug donation program in the world, continues to grow.”

In the wake of the Ebola crisis and in preparation for the sustainable development goals, these success stories are important best practice examples for the global health community as it rethinks how to effectively deliver sustainable programmes. Recognising the opportunities for lessons learned, the World Health Organisation called the elimination and control of NTDs a “litmus test for universal health coverage (UHC)” – one of the targets of the new development agenda.

Other countries are joining Malawi to take charge of their public health initiatives. Bangladesh, the Philippines and India are now financing 85%, 94% and 100% of their NTD programmes respectively. Motivated by growing evidence of the impact of NTDs on child development and productivity (and as a result on economic growth) 26 endemic countries met in December 2014 to sign the Addis Ababa NTD Commitment, in which they agreed to increase domestic investment for NTD programme implementation. The Addis commitment was an initiative of Ethiopia’s minister of health Kesetebirhan Admasu. Explaining why more governments are showing interest in this work, Admasu said: “NTDs are not only a health agenda, but a development agenda too, for which the poor pay the highest price.”

These country-owned programmes come in different guises but at the heart of every successful one is an integrated, multi-sectoral approach. Ethiopia for instance requires that every partner working on trachoma implement the fullSAFE strategy – Surgery, Antibiotics, Facial Hygiene, Environmental Improvements – and not just the ‘S’ or ‘A’, on which development programmes tend to focus.

Brazil decided to include NTDs in its national poverty reduction programme, which has other development targets such as education, water and sanitation. Municipalities, who implement the programme, are given free rein to tailor interventions to best suit their circumstances (a peri-urban municipality would have different issues from an Amazonian location for instance). 

Other countries used the single funded programme they had – onchocerciasis in Burundi’s case – as the building block to a fully integrated, multi-disease programme. There the ministry of health put in place a dedicated NTD team and worked with national and international partners to build a national programme that has been immensely successful. By end of the programme in 2011, national prevalence of schistosomiasis had been reduced from 12% to 1.4%. 

Will the SDGs be the last hope for lost causes?

Read more

Country ownership doesn’t just encourage policymakers to come up with strategies to reach their entire populations with health interventions but it also enables them to practice good resource management. Mkwanda says that NTDs brought good discipline at the ministry of health. “As with NTDs, we sit and budget. And we do not segregate diseases – integration isn’t just for NTDs, it’s for the whole essential care package.” 

The story gets even better as countries in the global south, such as Brazil and Nigeria, are not just coming up with their own programmes but also funding others’. Marcia de Souza Lima, deputy director of the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases says the new funding streams will guarantee that NTD programmes outlive traditional support (a large proportion from philanthropic foundations) but she concedes it also makes them susceptible to leadership change – although recent elections in Brazil and Nigeria suggest this hasn’t been the case.

Article - Apparel sourcing opportunities in Madagascar and Mauritius

An interesting perspective on apparel industries in southern Africa. The video also includes evidence of how intra-Africa trade is supporting the growth of the apparel industry where the exports of fabric from Mauritius go to Madagascar to feed producers and workshops.

Madagascar and Mauritius are not small fish third-tier suppliers. Their factories supply to major global retailers - CMT cited in the Mauritius segment of the video supplies to Puma, Marks and Spencer, Topshop and H&M.

"Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can't practice any other virtue consistently." - Maya Angelou

Article - Why re-think retail? Consumer expectations are changing

The blog was first publshed here on Thoughtworks by Dianne Inniss

We explored why retailers need to evolve, and what they should consider in response. How they respond tactically will vary by retailer, but here’s some food for thought

Why Re-think Retail? Consumer Expectations are Changing

 Consumers are making their voices heard like never before. Here's what they're asking for:

• Immediacy: Like the fictitious Veruca Salt. consumers are saying “I want it now”. One hour Amazon delivery, Uber on demand and streaming media are all responses to  - as well as drivers of - this demand for immediate gratification. And delivery expectations will only continue to accelerate. 
• Personalization:  Consumers are saying “I want what I want.” They are expecting more personalized and customized services that cater to them as individuals. Whether it is personal stylist recommendations from StitchFix or Le Tote, custom portfolios and investment products from online financial advisors or artisanal coffee at their local cafe, consumers expect retailers and other service providers to deliver solutions that are uniquely targeted to them and their needs.
   
• Ubiquity:  Consumer are saying “I want it wherever and - however - I want it.” Although the term omni-channel is quickly becoming hackneyed from overuse, consumers do want to be able to use whatever channel they want, in the ways they want, at the time that best suits them, not the retailer. They also want to conduct transactions on their own terms, defining how they want retailers to interact with them (from full service to completely self-service) at any given time.
   
• Information Control: Consumers are saying “I have all the information I need… now I want to be edu-tained.” Consumers are inundated with information. Brands and retailers no longer define themselves. Rather, they are being defined by customers who have access to peer reviews, blog posts and more information than ever before. Given the overload of information, consumers are looking for retailers to help make sense of it all… and to cut through the clutter by entertaining them and keeping them engaged.
   
• Congruence:  Customers want their retail experience to fit into the broader context of their lives, and to be seamless across channels. They want their service providers to recognize them no matter where they enter a transaction or how they choose to interact. Put simply, they are saying “I want a unified experience.” 

• Implications  - What Consumers Need

   Given these changing expectations, retailers must provide customers with solutions that address their well-defined needs:
  • Context – “Understand me where I am. Fit into what I am trying to do.”
     
  • Empowerment – “Give me the tools to be a smarter consumer, and to lead a better life.”
     
  • Engagement – “Entertain me; my attention span is short and lots of people are competing for my attention and my time.” 

  What to Do About It:  Retail Response

  We think that the way to address these needs is to bring disruption to the retail value chain. As consumers interact with retailers, many incremental steps add value to or subtract value from the experience. Disruption is about increasing the ratio of value-adding elements throughout the path to purchase.
  We propose that there are three possible strategic choices when creating disruption to drive value
  • Disrupt the product delivery value chain – Find ways to reduce the non-value-adding steps between the time a customer identifies a need and the time that the customer uses the product which addresses that need. For example, Amazon Dash allows customers to order certain products with the touch of a button as soon as they realize they need them.
     
  • Disrupt the customer experience value chain - Understand customers’ transactions within the context of their whole lives, and address the broader set of needs beyond any individual transaction. For example, ALDO uses “look books” at the point of purchase to help customers understand how a pair of shoes might into a complete wardrobe, or work for multiple different wearing occasions.
     
  • Disrupt the retail model value chain – Challenge the notion of what it means to be a retailer. This might mean becoming a clearinghouse for consumer-to-consumer transactions and/ or expanding the definition of retail to create new means of entertainment and engagement. Domino’s Pizza Mogul program in Australia has managed to do both. 
  These options provide an initial framework. Each retailer needs to tailor its response with an approach that is anchored in its own unique brand promise. Couple this with investments in the business processes and enabling technology to create strategic differentiation, and retailers will open a host of new ways to address changing customer expectations. 

Article - Oversimplifying behaviourial science

Why are simplistic solutions dangerous when addressing complexity? Do they promote simplified and lazy thinking? Do they result in linear solutions based on 'low-hanging fruit' for complex problems?

Does the new found energy and excitement around behaviourial science, psychology and marketing for selling products (both in wealthy consumer driven markets as well as in low-income bottom-of-the-pyramid markets) run the same risks?

This blog post was originally published here by Jesse Singal

Here's an excerpt.

"Although this product sounds like a fun idea, I’d worry that it could be distracting for drivers and it’s misleading to cite these rather complex and nuanced studies as evidence that looking at a smiley emoticon will make us all happier on the road," he concluded.

So no, MotorMood isn’t scientifically proven. But why should it be? It’s a light-up smiley face! Either people will like it and support it and buy it, or they won’t. Science shouldn’t have anything to do with it.

I’m only picking on this one Kickstarter because it’s a particularly silly example, and because this style of claim is so common right now. The emails arrive daily with the expectation that Science of Us and, presumably, the dozen other sites a given company is pitching, will breathlessly report shaky scientific claims that exist solely to prop up or draw attention to a given product or company.

This is a waste of everyone’s time, and in the long run it makes it hard for people who don’t think or write about this stuff for a living to understand what scientific claims really are, and what making and testing them entails.Surely there’s enough room in the world for actual, real-life science, and for products that are just fun (or stupid, depending on your opinion) but don’t need science’s imprimatur.

In other words, there’s no need to drag behavioral science into areas where it doesn’t belong. Like, you know, light-up smiley faces on Kickstarter.