Systems Thinking Challenge 1

“If u were the top police chief how would we deal with this problem”  blog post question- 

1. Differentiation: 
   1. Local government
   2. Taliban
   3. Policemen
   4. Overall population
   5. Ghost Policemen
   6. Commanders
2. Interdependence: 
   1. Police provide protection for the overall population
   2. Local government funding the ghost policemen are creating a low moral in the police force
   3. Commanders are getting cut of salaries from the ghost policemen
   4. Taliban feed off policemen with low morals
3. Holism: 
   1. People are upset because there are ghost policemen that are getting paid to do nothing. This lowers the overall morale of the entire police force and creates public distrust in the government.
4. Multifinality: 
   1. Goal of police force members: They just want to keep their paying job and to keeping serving their people 
   2. Goals for the public: They want to have a safe city and an uncorrupt government that cares about them
   3. Goals for the police chiefs: They want the corruption to continue because they are getting a free check out of it
5. Equifinality: 
   1. Desired goal is for the ghost policemen to be eliminated, but there is no incentive for the top down government officials to fix the issue because they benefit with a free check.  
6. Regulation: 
   1. An implementation of a verification system, that verifies if you are actually a police officer, eliminating the ghost policemen.
7. Abstraction: 
   1. Not having a verification system is problem for the policing system and for other industries that don’t have verification for their workers
8. Leverage Points: 
   1. High government- if the national government of Iraq would adopt this verification system and spread information about its benefit
      1. This would raise morale in the population restoring trust in the government. Additionally, it would create accountability measures. 
   2. Figuring out who is putting the “ghost” policemen on the payroll
      1. By identifying this person, the chief of police can either remove them or keep a closer eye on them so that they aren’t putting more people on the payroll that shouldn’t be getting paid.  They can be replaced with someone more trustworthy.  

 

How to solve the problem: 

Our solution will consist of a verification system implemented by the federal government that will require weekly sign ins, in order to receive a check.  Additionally once a month the sign in list will be examined and will check to see if there is anyone on the payroll that hasn’t signed in.  Then there will be a followup with that person as to why they haven’t been coming to receive their checks/ coming into work. It is important that the regulation comes from the top down government, because no one will listen to the community citizens since it’s the police chiefs that are the most corrupt.  Additionally, It is also important for morale so that people can be held accountable and that the people feel there is something being done to address the problem.

 

System Thinking Challenge 2: 

 

1. Differentiation: 
   1. Community members
   2. The lake (Lake Victoria) 
   3. Habitat (
   4. The moss (Hyacinth)
   5. The employees (the four employees that the entrepreneur hired and the future employees that can be hired in a possible other system that falls under the larger system) 
   6. Entrepreneur (Foreigner)
   7. Compost and Briquettes (Block of Biomass from the Hyacinth)
2. Interdependence: 
   1. The entrepreneur is taking the moss that is causing problems for fisherman and health consequences and making something (with the profits) that has economic value and possibly further cleans Lake Victoria 
   2. The entrepreneur is providing job for four employees from the village 
   3. Create more jobs for further people
3. Holism: 
   1. Community members are upset that she is selling the compost and briquettes for profit off of a natural substance in the lake
4. Multifinality: 
   1. Goals of the community members: They don’t want an outsider profiting off their land, however they want the moss in the lake cleaned up so that the fisherman can continue to fish and to avoid any possible health consequences 
   2. Goals for the employees: They want a job so they can make money and support their families
   3. Goals for the Entrepreneur:  Wants to help the community with their issue while also making a profit
5. Equifinality: 
   1. Desired output is that all parties want the moss extracted from the lake, but the community members want it gone to improve fishing while the entrepreneur wants it gone to generate profits
6. Regulation: 
   1. There should be direct communication between the entrepreneur and the community to make sure that whatever is being done with the moss and whatever the plans are for expansion of her company also aligns with the communities goals
7. Abstraction: 
   1. The process the entrepreneur created can be used in other areas where the moss grows
8. Leverage Points: 
   1. Ecosystem- By marketing the business right, the entrepreneur can inform villagers and locals about the negative effects of the water hyacinth (decreases biodiversity, spreads diseases, evenness in the water, blocks boats, disrupts fishing) so she can gain the approval of them. By gaining their trust and communicating well with the villagers, she can have a more prosperous business. 
      1. Assuring the locals that the entrepreneur has motives that go beyond the profits 
   2. As the entrepreneur’s need for hyacinth increases, she might be tempted to artificially control the moss level to profit more and not actually get rid of it. That might disturb the community and the fishermen. In the short run the entrepreneur will probably want to solve this issue of the water hyacinth infestation, but in the long run she’ll realize this business has sustained her and her employees. The radical decision would be to control the growth of the water hyacinth and her business to turn it into biomass. 
      1. To prevent this from becoming a monopoly or disruptive business, the entrepreneur must expand to other regions and consumers. Price would be a major factor in how this would sustain the community and her business. 

 

How should she solve the problem: 

She should try and make her compost and briquette process one that also benefits the community as a whole and not just benefits them by getting rid of the moss.  The entrepreneur should have an open discussion with community members about their expectations of moss removal and what they feel is becoming an issue with her company’s extraction of the moss. In addition, the entrepreneur should also address the possible noise and sight pollution that will increase around the lake. The employers that she hires should be members of the community so that the community can benefit from increasing it’s employment numbers.  Her moss extraction also needs to take into account how it is affecting fishermen. If the demand of the moss compost and briquettes is increasing, then the increased demand in moss will make the entrepreneur want more moss in the lake to extract, which can hinder the fisherman’s ability to catch fish.  She should look for other communities that are also having similar issues with the moss so that she has multiple sources of resources and not just Lake Victoria to avoid resource depletion.  Lastly, the community members might also not like that an outsider is coming in and making a profit off their land and resources.  She should find a way to give back to the community for the ability to take free resources from the lake and make a growing company that will likely make profits in the long run.

 

Another factor that needs to be considered is possible oversight on the entrepreneur and her business because we do not want depletion to occur which can lead to an unwanted outcome backfiring on the group that initially benefited which were the fishermen. According to “Water Hyacinths are crucial for animals and fish in aquatic habitats”, the moss is what helps feed some of the life within the lake and is a major contributor to their diet.  If too much moss is extracted then it could affect the ecosystem and harm the aquatic life and fisherman’s ability to collect seafood.

 

Water Hyacinths are crucial for animals and fish in aquatic habitats. 

http://www.sfrc.ufl.edu/extension/4h/plants/Water_hyacinth/index.html

 

Water hyacinth- Native to Amazon, South America

https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/national_invasive_species_awareness_week_water_hyacinth_bohling16