Learning Outcomes At the end of the entire course, this is what I’m hoping you will all have to take back with you: • The first, is a set of tools for applying business design to challenges you face in Africa, either for your new business or for the business you currently work for. Most of all, this is a challenge facing most businesses in the U.S. As leaders, if you can put some of these tools into action, it will get you ahead of your competition. • Designing in teams. This is the hardest part for everyone. It is the KEY challenge for leaders. My hope is that you experience enough ...

Transforming mindsets Creating innovative business models in emerging markets Abstract Increasingly, emerging markets, formerly known as developing economies, are becoming important platforms for business growth. To compare this, one has only to look at the data surrounding the substantial opportunities afforded by the world’s economies in transition. In 1990, emerging markets represented a miniscule amount of the overall global GDP, registering a paltry 21%, of which 13% came from the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China). By 2008, emerging markets account for more than 34% of globa...

Tearing up the Box By late 1969, I was amassing an arsenal of old machinery and electronic equipment in an effort to build my own rocket to the moon, because if NASA would not take me I was determined to go on my own. I did not go to the moon, but I did destroy a lot of equipment. Also, I never really added value to anything except my own perspective, realizing in my childlike way that the axiom of "if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it" is an archaic and restrictive mindset. Innovation often occurs when one determines that even if it isn’t broken, he/she will fix it anyway. This requires...