Develop a business model for your venture using the Osterwalder Business Model Canvas:

Our business and research team plans to research an antioxidant that will prevent aflatoxins from damaging copra during the copra drying process. The antioxidants that we are researching come from natural ingredients that are cost-effective and safe to consume. It is important that we look toward antioxidants that will be easily accessible to farmers as well. Our goal is that this antioxidant will be sustainable to farmers (saving them money) and produce more quality copra that farmers can sell at a higher price. In this system we plan for farmers to pay for the antioxidant themselves.

List lessons from the Business and operations model of the Aravind Eye Hospital:
• The organization was “patient-centric,” and was garnered toward the patients to make them more comfortable receiving care.
• Its goal was to have universal techniques for patient care despite the versatility of backgrounds.
• They changed their approach due to lack of money and to unify practices between doctors and patients in different locations.
• They coordinated community vision checks so they could identify the problem’s scale and figure out how to distribute resources.
• They scaled their project by working in community clinics and then adding more locations to reach more people.
• They took different approaches to solve the same problem beginning with their community clinics and moving toward different location eye clinics, which allowed them to reach a larger population of people.
• They coordinate prices based on the clients’ income and lives, making it somewhat accessible to people of all incomes.
• They targeted their venture to reach the target market (the people who needed the services the most).
• Since they had limited ophthalmologists they had to organize effective ways to distribute the resources among the patients.
• They had an increase in expenditure and revenue because they performed free work for those who could not afford the services.

1. List five compelling take-aways from the Art of the Start. 

• Choose a mantra – not a mission statement. Mantras are for employees and it is a simple phrase that inspires them to perform; mission statements are for customers. In the beginning, it is more important to motivate employees. 
• The ice is smooth when businesses first start. Entrepreneurs need to prioritize the most important aspects and not get wrapped in trivial details. 
• Highlight the unique value that the product offers the consumers. Make the consumers feel like they need the product or service for its inherent value. 
• Create meaning by demonstrating how a product/service increases quality of life or corrects a wrong.
• When giving presentations apply the 10x20x30 rule – 10 slides, 20 minutes, and size 30 being the smallest font used. This will force the entrepreneur to fully understand the product and will retain the investors’ attention.

1. Articulate your value propositions for your diverse customer segments. 

For small farmers who have difficulty optimizing copra production and lose potential profits, our efficient and cost-reducing copra oven is the copra farming equipment that saves you valuable time from the drying process and increases copra production.

1. Discuss your Total Available Market and Total Addressable Market. List all your assumptions and hypotheses.

Total Available Market:

• Male and female coconut farmers whose primary source of income is their copra farm. 
• 15 million Filipino copra farmers.
• Low-income, small coconut farmers whose purchase power parity is less than $1.90 per day. 
• NGOs whose mission is to help low-income, small coconut farmers (whose PPP is less than $1.90 per day) expand their market and optimize profits. 
• Key Assumptions:
  • • Copra is one of the most important exports of the Philippines – in 2018, the Philippines exported approximately 49% of the world’s copra products. 
    • The global coconut oil market revenue is approximately $5.9B. 
    • 25 million Filipinos are directly or indirectly dependent on the coconut industry; 9 million of those directly involved live in poverty.

Total Addressable Market:

• 3.4 million copra farmers whose income suffered from a 64% reduction in the world’s coconut prices
• Key Assumptions: 
  • • It currently takes 4 days for farmers to properly dry their copra.
    • Filipino copra farmers median annual income is $620, living on approximately $1.70/day.

1. Summarize and report out on the results of the SKS exercise. 
   1. Start: Begin to communicate with each other better and with the engineering copra team. While the transition to another project has been difficult, if our team begins to collaborate more with the engineering team, this will help us not only with our research but with moving our project alongside with theirs. Having constant communication with their team can also help us to not have overlapping research on both ends. 
   2. Stop: Leaving things for the last minute has been a difficult challenge for our team to overcome. We tend to think we have more time than we do to meet deadlines or to perform our own research. A way for us to stop leaving things for the last minute could be to hold each other accountable for the work they are in charge of for the week, or even check in and make sure the workload they have for the week or reasonable for the time they have to dedicate to the project. 
   3. Keep: weekly meetings. Our weekly meetings are important because this is where we share the research that we have done for the week and we also have the chance to get feedback and ask each other clarifying questions if we do not understand something that is going on. Apart from research these weekly meetings allow us to build a relationship with the others on our team both socially and academic, which in the long run help move the project along because it is easier to work with people that you enjoy being around and trust. 
2. Develop a detailed Collaboration Plan for your team clearly articulating your goals (Small g and Big G), Roles, Procedures, and Relationships. 
   1. Small g: 
      1. Create an informative presentation that shows the importance of the work our team is attempting to and to effectively work alongside the engineering team in order to support the process they are taking to change the system that we are also attempting to change.  
   2. Big G: 
      1. Find a way to preserve the color and texture of the copra as well as prevent aflatoxin formation by the end of the fellowship and leave the necessary information for the next team to get started on either refining our process to preserve color and texture in a more efficient way or work on more methods that prevent aflatoxin. 
   3. Roles: 
      1. Michelle: As a biology major, I have found my role on the team as looking for a way to better preserve the copra. I have researched that the main reason why people don’t buy “bad” copra is due to the appearance of it. However the copra is perfect fine to use and eat.I have found that if we are able to find a way to stop the copra from turning “brown” copra farmers would be able to still make a profit on copra that people would not have previously bought. 
      2. Rozhin: As a Molecular Biology major, I want to research ways to stop the breakdown of the enzymes that create browning in the copra as well as methods to preserve its texture and prevent aflatoxins from forming, which are carcinogens found in molds that can be very dangerous to living organisms if consumed.
      3. Bri: 
      4. Larissa: As a cognitive science major I want to focus on how the current processing system is affecting the farmers that use it and then compare how much better or worse off they will be with the product that both the engineering team and our team will come up with. Apart from the effective the device will have, the device will require some new education on how to properly use it to its full potential and this is also a role I will play, finding the best ways to educate the farmers who will be using the device in a way that is easy for them to understand but also efficient as they may not have the time to take a long course to use the device.  
   4. Procedures: 
   5. Relationships: 
      1. The Engineering Copra team is one of our relationships because we are working on different aspects of the same problem. 
      2. The University in the Philippines who will help us better when we are conducting research. They are more knowledgeable of the area and who we should speak to if we need certain data. They can also help us as our translators if that is necessary.

 

Does your work require IRB approvals? If No, explain why you don’t need IRB approval and identify situations when you might need IRB approval.

1. Our work with copra farmers does not require IRB approval. The only thing we need to perform our research and project will be a letter from officials in the Philippines which states what we are doing and that it is okay for us to do our project. A situation that would need IRB Approval could be a project where we are directly working with the farmers and doing research on their direct lives, collecting identifiable information from them. This would require IRB approval because we would collect this information and then have to make sure it won’t be accessible to others who could identify the people that we have surveyed. 

Develop an outline for your mid-semester presentations. What supporting evidence will you provide for each point? How will you boost your credibility every step of the way?

An outline of our mid-semester presentations will first start with an outline of what the copra project is. The project that professor Jedlicka’s team is doing and how this will then impact our project. We can talk about how we are collaborating with the engineers on the team to see what the needs of the people are. We could also use their team to learn about what vendors look for when buying the copra product. From our side of the project, we will be researching many articles regarding the best ways to design and what to include in the copra project creation as well as how the business process of copra in and outside of the Philippines, so that we can make the most efficient item for the farmers.

 

List ten things that make you feel human:

• Feeling the warmth on my skin on a quiet, summer day.
• The exhilaration of finally summiting after a long hike in an unfamiliar place.
• Laughing uncontrollably with my friends to the point where I am out of breath.
• Feeling lonely.
• Feeling stressed and worried about things that are out of my control.
• Forming genuine connections after meeting new people and listening to their experiences.
• Living life moment by moment instead of thinking about things that have already happened or have yet to.
• Walking around unfamiliar places and having the time to thoroughly explore them.
• Catching up with friends that I haven’t talked to in a while.
• Spending time with my family and remembering how lucky I am for all my experiences that have shaped who I have become.

Articulate your philosophy of engagement as it pertains to your work with GSIF:

Oxford dictionary defines engage as “to succeed in attracting and keeping someone’s attention and interest.” With my work in GSIF my philosophy of engagement is to fully immerse myself into the project and develop relationships with key stakeholders. I envision myself forming relationships beyond the realm of being “Brianna from GSIF.” I hope by the end of it, I will have a deeper connection with said stakeholders, where our conversations are personal in addition to professional. Knowing people more personally makes for a more conducive working environment, one where I am more familiar with people’s work ethic and style. I also do not want to be regarded as a “Western savior” during this project. I would much rather have a role of being their peer working with them, instead of someone working to save them. They do not need saving – this is a mutually beneficial project. I am engaging  because I want to make copra processing more efficient to help Filipino farmers economically benefit.

I must engage in ways that make them feel comfortable and that are not condescending. In order to accomplish this, I must take approaches where I speak to the farmers as equals. I am coming from a perspective where I am curious about learning about their culture. I am not criticizing it; I want to work with the women collaboratively to find a solution to optimize their profits. Of course there will be challenges along the way, such as cultural differences, but if I prepare and educate myself about the cultural differences before the field work, it should minizine any potential chances of offending the women. Additionally, being gracious and acknowledging any of my behavior to upset these women is vital in being able to properly engage. Considering my philosophy of engagement if my epitaph read, “Brianna Cimaglia: friend to all” I would be happy. I truly hope to engage by establishing friendships and a sense of comradery.

1. *Based on your life experience, skills and interests, what would a design process that is both uniquely yours and effective look like?

A design process that is both uniquely ours and effective would look like first doing a thorough and deep research about the needs of the patients and making sure that they are culturally appropriate according to Philippine culture and then going to do fieldwork in the Philippines to do interviews of our stakeholders and making sure that we are fulfilling the appropriate needs and wants of the patients and healthcare staff that are involved in the process of birthing. Afterwards, we will be coming back to create a business model for our product since the other birthing team in the Philippines will be creating the design for the birthing chairs this year.

2. *Identify your three most important stakeholders and list five UNIQUE attributes for each one of them.
Mothers
Region of Country
Social Class
Health
Religion
Income
Healthcare Network
Money
Region of Country
Partnerships
Need for new birthing chairs
Amount/number of staff in hospital (under/over staffed)
Doctors/ Physicians
Education Level
Region of Country
Skill
Understanding of different cultures
Teamwork

3. *Identify three ways in which you will validate your project concept, technology, usability, and business model.
Concept
Help decrease maternal and infant mortality
A durable and comfortable birthing table
Affordable
Technology
Technology/ product platform
Technology is not usable in our product however infrastructure is
Sizing ability (ability to change to different sizes for the mothers)
Usability
Durability
Comfortability
Sizable (able to withhold mothers of different sizes and adjust accordingly)
Business Model
Helps alleviate potential risks when women give birth
The Philippines is a developing country so the birthing table will have to be an affordable cost
A culturally appropriate birthing table design

4. Give three examples of something very interesting you learned from a friend that was a completely alien concept to you.

• In Japan it is not considered rude to ask someone their age when upon meeting them. This is because respect and age vary directly in Japan and people do not want to mistakenly treat someone with less respect if they incorrectly estimate their age.
• The South African work day is broken up by “tea time.” It often occurs in the morning or afternoon and is when the people of the office take a break from their work to engage in non-work related conversations with their coworkers. It is meant to increase the strength of interpersonal relationships in the office and increase productivity.
• In Spain, businesses and restaurants are oftentimes closed from 2pm-5pm. These siestas are designed for workers to take long lunches (their big meal of the day) and naps. This is to protect people from midday heat and enjoy the nightlife and culture of the country. Dinner is typically 8-9.

1. List the top 20 questions your team needs to answer to advance the venture forward. Categorize the questions if necessary. 

 

Cultural:	Financial:	Aftermath:	General Impact
Will this impact affect religious or cultural beliefs?  Do they want to be impacted?  Will the government accept this impact?  Will there be backlash on our impact?  Will others adapt to this impact?  In what ways does in impact benefit people and communities?  Will this impact indigenous cultures?	Will this impact be costly?  Where will we get funding for this impact?  How will we continue to get funding after we leave the site of impact?	Will this impact change birthing practices directly?  Will this impact benefit people besides mothers and children?  Will this impact be world wide?  Will others be inspired to create more impact?	Will making this impact be  difficult?  In what ways can we impact?  How can we measure this impact?  Can this impact be negative?  How can we look at this impact in a broader sense?  In what ways does our help impact?

 

2. Develop and Visualize the Theory of Change (Logic Model) for your venture. 

 

Stakeholders	Inputs	Outputs	Outcomes
Mothers/Children Healthcare workers Healthcare Network	Money Product Hospital/Vendor partnerships Work and Time that the team puts into the project	Decrease in number of non-violent births Mortality rate of mothers and infants at the time of childbirth Number of birthing chairs bought and successfully used	Better connections with field professionals and mothers who are willing to participate. More knowledgeable about birthing practices and how they are different within the US.  Less birthing  Complications Less suffering for the mother and faster recovery time More comfortable births that are aligned with cultural norms

 

3. Develop a M&E plan for your venture. – Clearly list all assumptions. – Identify short-term and long-term success metrics. – (Optional) identify specific methods to measure the metrics.

 

Long Term Metrics

• A decrease in complications while birthing
• Spreading our birthing chairs to other East Asian countries
• Our birthing chairs being available in most hospitals and health centers in the Philippines
• A decrease in infant and mother mortality

 

Short Term Metrics

• A deep understanding of current birthing methods / practices in different areas of the Philippines (ex: rural, suburban, urban) 
• Connections made to the people for the Philippines (doctors/ nurses/ physicians/ mothers)
• A better understanding of the religion such as is there any restrictions that do not allow people to do certain thing

 

We will measure our metrics by asking hospitals and other health clinics on how many mothers preferred using our birthing chairs instead of the regular ones or other traditional and cultural birthing chairs (like the bamboo-made birthing chairs of the Austronesian people in the Philippines). Other forms of measurement would be gathering statistics on how many birthing complications occurred. Then we can gather data on how much birthing chairs we have sold as well as in how many hospitals and health centers they are provided.

1. Give three compelling examples of how cultural issues affect your project.

There are many cultural issues that contribute to maternal and infant mortality in the Philippines. Most of these issues originate from myths that have become ingrained in Filipino culture. One such myth is that pregnant women should eat as little as possible to “prevent” the baby from coming out too big. This rumor is most likely a consequence of Filipino women’s tiny stature – as most pregnant women weigh less than 100 pounds during pregnancy. In turn, it makes sense that having a large baby would make the pregnancy and birthing much more difficult. However, pregnant women should be encouraged to eat a lot during pregnancy – especially healthy meats and vegetables as this will ensure that the baby is getting nutrients. Another issue is that expecting mothers are advised to resist exercise and work during pregnancy, meaning they are often on bedrest and become weak leading up to birth. This contributes to a much more difficult birthing process than women who remain active and fit during pregnancy. However, this ideology has become so engrained in Filipino culture that is difficult to convince women otherwise. Another cultural issue is that Filipinos believe that feeding their newborns formula is a sign of wealth and prestige. As such, women who are able to breastfeed resort to watering down formula to feed their babies. Celebrity formula endorsements contribute to this notion, even though it has been proven that breastmilk is the most nutritious vitamin and mineral source to newborn babies.

2. Have you experienced or observed any of these social situations at home? Describe at least three such situations.

Although it is less common to experience these sorts of situations at home, they nevertheless do occur in some capacities. The most common social situation being women preferring to feed their baby formula opposed to breastmilk. Even women who can breastfeed oftentimes choose to buy formula for a variety of reasons. Some women do not have the time, some find the idea of breastfeeding uncomfortable, some are unable to due to body piercings, and some simply believe that formula is a fine substitute for breastmilk due to advertising, etc. Another social situation that mirrors cultural birthing practices in the Philippines are pregnant women being bedridden. During my aunt’s pregnancy with my cousin she was bedridden for three months and ultimately delivered via C-section because this bedrest made natural birthing riskier. Additionally, although this example may seem counterintuitive – as it is the opposite of the cultural views toward birthing practices/ pregnancy in the Philippines – it nevertheless relates to the stigma regarding weight gain during pregnancy. I remember when my mom’s friend was pregnant, she was yelled at by her OBGYN for not gaining enough weight during her pregnancy. The doctor warned her that her child would be too small and sickly, leaving my mother’s friend hysterical. This situation illustrates how in both cultures – Filipino and United States – it is common for people to comment on a mother’s weight gain and surmising how it will affect the newborn baby.

3. Give three examples of cultural practices that can be leveraged to addressed community / market problems.

An example of how cultural practices can address problems about birthing practices in the Philippines is having Filipino celebrities endorse breastfeeding. They can initiate advertising campaigns to discuss the benefits of breastfeeding. Furthermore, having celebrities renounce formula as a substitute to breastfeeding with newborns can make a tremendous impact. Additionally, educating women in the community about the benefits of exercise and maintaining mobility during pregnancy can reduce issues related to weakness during birthing. In turn, this will make birthing much safer and easier. Lastly, having doctors inform expecting mothers about the importance of eating nutrients during pregnancy will help mothers realize how vital this is to their babies’ health. Education is the most important aspect of addressing this community problems, but it integral to ensure that this education is presented in ways that will resonate with the Filipino community. Since Filipinos look up to Western celebrities so much (as seen by their ability to convince them to use breastmilk) perhaps having Western celebrities or people of influence discussing these tips will compel the locals to try this. Once locals see results, this tips will spread through “word of mouth” and have a lasting effect on Filipino birthing practices.

Why did you enroll in this course (motivation, prior interests)?

I have never felt as passionate for a program during my time at Lehigh than I have for this. I am not interested in it for the credit or resume aspect of it. On the contrary, the prospect of preparing for this excites me. I don’t mind having 4 hours of class a week, in addition to, related work outside of such classes. I look forward to collaborating with my team members to enact change. Additionally, I am excited for the reflection and analysis phase of the project next fall. I want to learn from this experience and publish our findings to instill other successful projects. This is something I really envision my future self doing and I am certain that I have the skills, work ethic, experience with research, and passion necessary to commit myself to such a project for potentially the rest of my time at Lehigh.

How do you envision this course making you a better student?

When envisioning this fellowship, I see it supporting my personal and professional aspirations in countless ways. First and foremost, it will help me develop the skills necessary to carry out future research projects. To have prepared so intensely and in advance will help me develop a work ethic for long-term projects, something I have yet to do in my college career. It will make me see through with my commitments as this is not something to take lightly or do the bare minimum in. Everything done in this project has a real tangible impact, something I am certain will give me clear direction in my plans after graduation. Additionally, it will allow me to form connections with locals and network throughout a region where I would otherwise have little exposure in. This is something I can potentially continue during the rest of my time at Lehigh. Personally, I see this as aiding the development of my character. It will challenge me and force me to become comfortable being uncomfortable. I will learn how to interact and develop relationships with people with entirely different upbringings than myself.

The World Health Organization estimates that over one billion people who need eyeglasses do not have access to them. The vast majority of these people live in developing countries like Kenya where there is barely one optometrist per one million people. Given the high poverty levels, access to eyeglasses is almost nonexistent. Lack of proper eyeglasses severely impacts people and their livelihoods by decreasing their productivity at work, limiting or eliminating new opportunities, affecting their quality of life, deteriorating their general health and possibly leading to (preventable) blindness. What solution do you propose to address this problem?

One way to address this problem would be to create inexpensive, easy-to-make eyeglass prescriptions that people with limited skillsets can make. This way people in low to middle income countries can produce these glasses within their countries and not pay to export it from elsewhere. Each country could make glasses out of materials that are readily available in their respective countries. For instance, the frames do not need to be made out of wood if there is not a supply of wood within the country. Instead, they could use bamboo to make frames, etc. This will also boost employment opportunities within each country. To compensate for the lack of optometrists, there could be manuals distributed explaining how to test for eyesight, eye conditions, etc. This manual can be duplicated and could be a one-step guide to figure out what eye problems someone has and which glasses to make based on the condition.