Case 1:

Background: Afghanistan Police

• Population: 35,000,000 (250,000 Police)
• Literacy Rate: 27% (2019: 32%)
  • High numerous rate: understand numbers
• 13 Years later Issue: Billions of dollars have been spent on the police force but there is still poor personnel and payroll data (no verification)
  • Extremely High (Hierarchical) Corruption:
    • 10% “Ghost” Police
    • Commanders get a cut from salaries: each person employed, they get a portion of the salary
  • Poor Morale (from poor salary) → Defection to the Taliban
  • Law and Order Crises; deface public trust

If you are the Chief of Police for Afghanistan, what solution would you develop to pay the cops that are actually working, reduce corruption, and boost their morale?

Actions I would take as the Chief of Police for Afghanistan:

1. Raise the salary of all policemen. 
   1. Differentiation (identifying the problem): Upon examining the problems within the current system of operation in the Afghanistan Police force, I pinpointed the individual issue of poor salary to members of the police force.
   2. Explanation of solution: One of the reasons why there is an extremely high (hierarchical) corruption is due to the fact that the people in the police force are simply not getting paid enough. Commanders who have some power are using it for corruption rather than the good because they need money to sustain themselves and their families. This statement is especially true to policemen who do not have the power to perform such corruption for the surplus income and end up defecting to the Taliban. It is inappropriate to raise the salary of corrupt government officials, however, it is a different story if they are not getting paid well for their service and need to resort to corruption in order to meet their financial needs. As the Chief of the Police for Afghanistan, I need to first take care of my men who are working for the public by providing them the appropriate financial means for survival.
      1. Multifinality & Interdependence: An increase in pay of all the employees within the police force develops a mutually beneficial relationship between the police force organization and its members. The financial needs of the members are being met and corruption within the organization decreases corruption. The morale of the policemen will increase and lead to a fall in the number of cases of deflection to the Taliban, which benefits both the organization and its members as well. The police force meets their goal of obtaining an income that will meet their financial need. The police force system meets its need of decreasing corruption, raising the morale of the officers, and decreasing the number of deflection to the Taliban.
2. Scan the entire police force and remove all ghost police. 
   1. Differentiation (identifying the problem): A problem within the Afghanistan Police force is that 10% of individuals (ghost police) listed in the police force (system) receive pay.
   2. Explanation of solution: Annually the police force eats 10% of its overhead cost paying for ghost police. A scan of the entire police force to terminate the ghost members is appropriate to eliminate the financial leakage within the organization. The inappropriately lotted money can be re-invested in the first action of raising the pay of policemen (check details above, listed in the first action).
      1. Multifinality: Police organization retains 10% of its overhead costs and eliminates ghost members in initiating the scan/verification amongst its own members. Members of the police force execute the scan and enable the organization to retain 10% of its overhead costs, which will now be applied back to them to raise their salary. 
3. Have police officers do community service and set up a donation box. 
   1. Differentiation (identifying the problem): Another problem within the current system of operation in the Afghanistan Police force, is the individual issues of (1) law and order crisis and (2) deface trust of the public.
   2. Explanation of solution: Community service allows officers to develop a rapport between them and the community they serve. The personal/communal trust that is established between the individual police members and the public would influence the reduction in corruption. The individual police member that is caught in corruption would lose face and the public may become more active in pressuring the police force to remove the corrupt officer since they would know him. Community service would re-establish both the people’s image of the police force in a positive light and their trust in the police force. The donation box serves as an indication of support/trust towards the police force and provides a source of income to raise the salary of the officers (action 1).
      1. Equifinality: Corruption is decreased through the channel of personally meeting the public. The officers provide community service and develop a personal relationship with the community which will make them less inclined to perform corruption.
      2. Regulation: The donation box serves as a feedback system from the public that reflects their perception of (1) law and order and (2) their trust in the police. The public will only donate money if they trust the police and see that they are maintaining law and order.
4. Change existing policies to make corruption acts more difficult within the police force: (1) commanders no longer get a salary cut from each person employed and (2) all police are required to present the proof in the completion of their initial training program (perhaps their ID/certificate) in order to receive their pay.
   1. Differentiation: An individual problem within the current system of operation in the Afghanistan Police force is the corruption amongst commanders.
   2. Explanation of Solution: Another solution to eliminate corruption is making the act of corruption more difficult for the commanders who are committing the act. Implementing a policy of eliminating the idea of receiving a salary cut from each person they employ disincentivizes them to employ people for money and would shift their focus on employing people who are fit for the job to make the commanders themselves look good. Enhancing their image and achievements through their subordinates will serve as an alternative means to obtain more money through a raise rather than corruption. The difficulty or extra work in obtaining proof of training also disincentives commanders to perform corruption for a measly small lump of cash.
      1. Equifinality: A decrease in corruption is achieved in an alternative channel from action 1. In this action, the desired output is achieved in eliminating the salary cut bonus, which is made up through the raise in salary from action 1. Commanders will no longer have incentives to simply have a large number of subordinates. In addition, a decrease in corruption is also achieved by making the act more difficult for commanders from requiring proof of initial training.

Case 2:

Facts:

• Water hyacinth infestation is a problem affecting the shores of Lake Victoria
• The amount of moss coverage doubles every month
• Blocks fishermen’s access to lake and results in spread of disease
• Entrepreneur is profiting from compost and briquettes that she produces from crushed hyacinth
• Employs four people to cut, crush, and bring hyacinth to her workshop
• Need for hyacinth increases substantially after two weeks
• Communities on shore are unhappy that she is making money
• The members of the community stop her from accessing the hyacinth, so now she needs to get it from somewhere else 

Problem: If you are the entrepreneur, what multi-final solution will you develop so that you succeed, your venture succeeds (takes water hyacinth off the lake), and the people living along the lakeshore also walk away happy. Please be specific on how your solution might function and precisely whom you would work with. For example, refrain from including vague stakeholders like entire communities.

Systems approach:

• Consider whole structure of related systems
  • Interaction of ecosystem, entrepreneur’s business model, and community members (fishermen, potential venture employees)
• Looks for interrelationships across systems
  • Hyacinth interferes with fishermen’s ability to conduct business
  • Entrepreneur dependent on sustainable yield of hyacinth to operate business
  • Community dependent on entrepreneur for jobs
• Understand the long standing causal factors which generate problems
  • Hyacinth causes problems for fishermen
  • Members of the community will always need jobs
  • Removing too much hyacinth is not sustainable for the entrepreneur
• Identify leverage points which wield influence across the whole system
  • If entrepreneur runs out of hyacinth, her business model is no longer operative
    • Using too much hyacinth is unsustainable, so they should only take half of what is currently growing each month, so when it grows back the original quantity will be maintained
• Short term and long term impact on all systems
• Consciously avoids ‘shifting problems’ to other parts of the system
• Identify resistance sources; reduce resistance rather than increase force
  • Community members are resistant because the entrepreneur is profiting from their problem

Solutions:

1. Getting feedback from the community (stakeholders like fishermen, leaders of government agencies, common citizens that are concerned about the hyacinth issue) through open discussions
   1. Regulation: the feedback will bring about expectations of the moss removal and what the community feels are the issues with the entrepreneur taking the moss and selling it as her own. The entrepreneur should also openly discuss the pollution and other effects of removing the moss that may increase around the lake, and discuss with them ways to combat any issues so that it results in a win-win situation for all. 
   2. Explanation of solution: Open discussions will facilitate a cooperative discussion and will allow people to express their opinions on moss removal and come up with a solution that all stakeholders are happy with.
2. Establish a type of permitting system 
   1. Equifinality: the same output of removing the hyacinth (but not too much by the entrepreneur alone) is achieved, with multiple channels of stakeholders being utilized so many different outlets of people can reap the benefits.
   2. Explanation of solution: The permitting system will allow fishermen to collect hyacinth, then they will either be paid a small amount by the entrepreneur or offered a discount on her products; the permits will also ensure that too much hyacinth is not removed.
3. Sourcing the hyacinth from lakes other than Lake Victoria
   1. Differentiation: identifying individual components of a large system. Identifying other lakes that have hyacinth will lead to less outrage when the entrepreneur profits off of large sums of moss from one single lake. The rest of the moss can be used by other members of the community and even fishermen that collect the hyacinth and sell it to people like the entrepreneur that uses the moss to make products
   2. Explanation of solution: Taking a small portion of the moss from certain locations will lead to less resource exploitation and will allow fishermen and other members of the community to have access to the hyacinth, making it more fair and giving more people a chance to benefit from the hyacinth. Having multiple sources will also allow the entrepreneur to keep up with the demand for the hyacinth
4. Hiring more community members to help her in the crushing and composting process as the demand for the hyacinth increases 
   1. Holism: the components of the system need to work together to achieve their goal. This benefits multiple components of the system because the entrepreneur has created more jobs and people will be more economically sound and have more opportunities to provide for themselves. The fishermen also benefit from this option because the moss will continue to be removed from their lake, permitting their access to the lake and mitigating the risk of spreading disease 
   2. Explanation of solution: Since community members are outraged that they are not more involved with getting profits from the entrepreneur’s product, a way for them to accept her business is if they are involved and employed in the business, getting a salary.

Describe at least 5 partnerships with individuals and/or organizations that have been formed to support your project and that impact the success or failure of your venture. Please identify partnerships at the individual, team, and Lehigh/GSIF level.

1. What constituted the partnership
2. How did the partner help? How did you help them?
3. Was this a symbiotic relationship? Why or why not?
4. What would help strengthen this partnership and make it more equitable?

Team:

1. University of the Philippines Diliman (UPD) HEED program
   1. UPD has a similar program (HEED) as GSIF for their students. When the GSIF decided to take on the PlasTech Ventures project, the project idea was also presented to UPD. Since the project also aligns with the HEED program, they decided to take it on as well.
   2. The partnership enables the PlasTech Ventures team to obtain direct information about the Philippines. In addition, UPD provides a facility for the PlasTech Ventures team to work at during fieldwork. We provide constant updates on our project to UPD and provide assistance within our capabilities upon request.
   3. No, this is not a symbiotic relationship. Our team oftentimes reach out to the UPD team to request for information that would advance the project. However, responses tend to be slow on their end and communication has slowed down significantly at this point in time. During fieldwork, the relationship is symbiotic and they are constantly present when needed to advance the project forward.
   4. An equal level of commitment between UPD and the PlasTech Ventures team would strengthen this partnership and make it more equitable. Since the UPD team is only committed to the project on a semester basis, the constant change in participants on the project resets the communication between them and the US. In addition, the motivation and feeling of ownership over the project never fully develop for the UPD students involved in the project. 
2. Victor Paterno (7-Eleven Philippines) 
   1. Being that he is a Filipino businessman, the partnership was constituted to help advise us on venture creation and business development aspects.
   2. He helped us with his expertise and guidance on his particular industry and of the geographic area. At the time, PlasTech Ventures was very new so we helped him by sharing our knowledge and ideas to offer a solution to combat the plastic waste crisis.
   3. This was not a symbiotic relationship because at the time we had little to offer to him. We benefited more from his expertise and knowledge that he offered. 
   4. This partnership was initiated in the beginning stages of development and has not been communicating on a continuous basis so we really need to strengthen our relationship by reaching out to Victor Paterno. A more equitable relationship between Victor and us could be him becoming an entrepreneur and establishing a PlasTech Venture in the Philippines through us while also activating as a business advisor for our PlasTech Ventures initiative.
3. Philippine Plastic Industry Association (PPIA)
   1. This partnership will help the team understand more of the machinery standards for the Philippines and help us implement the necessary operating procedures.
   2. We both have common goals of reducing the environmental damage created by plastic pollution. By having a common goal we can help each other advance the dream forward. Being that they are in the Philippines they can help us specifically because we are not able to be there full-time. 
   3. This is a symbiotic relationship because while we both have the same goal to reduce environmental damage, we also have other specific goals that each side works to fulfill for the other.  When we help them, we will be helping improve the well-being and financial state of their economy and citizens. When they help us, we are gaining more insight and understandings that will help us develop the project further and make it more feasible
   4. Frequent constant communication between the PPIA and us would strengthen this partnership. Exchanges on how PPIA can expand our reputation in the Philippines and how we can contribute to meeting their company goals such as creating employment opportunities would make our partnership more equitable. 
4. Jill Manapat
   1. Jill Manapat and Khanjan had a previously established connection with one another. Khanjan played a role in inspiring Jill to start up the HEED program for students to work on impactful projects at UPD. As the director in charge of the HEED program (which is similar to GSIF working on impact-based projects), Jill is almost always willing to provide feedback and guidance to the PlasTech Ventures team.
   2. Ma’am Jill helps our team by offering her expertise about in-country operations. Our team is doing a large majority of the hands-on work, which advances the project forward. We offer our resources and information on our research to Jill.
   3. Yes, this is a symbiotic relationship because her advice is very important. She also has a valuable network in the Philippines that we are able to capitalize on with her help. Our team is responsible for much of the forward progress on this project, which will give her insights on how the HEED program can advance their PlasTech Ventures. 
   4. Sometimes communication is slow, which inhibits our ability to make progress. Constant communication between Jill and PlasTech Ventures would strengthen our relationship and make it more equitable.

Personal:

1. Professor Raymond Pearson
   1. This partnership started due to my connections with the Polymer Science & Engineering department. I already conduct research as part of Professor Pearson’s group, so I felt comfortable reaching out to him when I had questions about the role of plastic in our project. He acts more as an academic advisor than a partner, but has been very helpful nonetheless.
   2. Professor Pearson has been helpful in answering several of my questions about polymer processing. He has also graciously allowed the team to use his labs to conduct our research. He aided in identifying appropriate equipment to carry out the experiments.
   3. This is not a very symbiotic relationship because the team is mostly relying on his knowledge and resources. However, any findings have been shared with him, so he is involved and learning as we do. 
   4. To strengthen this partnership and make it more equitable, it will be important to include him in any publication that results from our lab experiments.

1. List ten specific ways in which your teaming approach has changed/evolved since you started, teamwork skills you have developed, and lessons you have learned.

1. I have become more confident in expressing my thoughts in group meetings because my materials ‘expertise’ has become more critical to the project
2. I have learned how to hold other team members accountable
3. I have learned that it is more important to be transparent about being unable to complete a task and needing an extension than to under-deliver on the deadline
4. I have learned about the importance of delegating tasks based on skill-set
5. In a similar vein, I have learned that it is important to step outside of your comfort zone (and skill-set) to take on tasks that will advance the project forward
6. I have learned how to communicate with people on a multidisciplinary team, who all have different academic backgrounds
7. I have learned that it’s always better to go the extra mile because any work will advance the project forward
8. I have learned that not everyone on a team will have the same standard of “completeness,” and sometimes you will have to add on to someone else’s work but other times someone will add on to yours
9. I have learned that bonding outside of the project setting is very important for strengthening the team dynamic
10. I have learned that it’s important to be patient when your teammates need extra help with something because sometimes you’ll need their help with something

2. During Spring 2020/Week 7, your team developed a Collaboration Plan for your team clearly articulating your goals (Small g and Big G), Roles, Procedures, and Relationships. Provide an updated collaboration plan.

Goals:

• What are the personal goals (small g) of each member on this team?
  • Laura: Use the technical skills I’ve developed through my coursework at Lehigh to  make positive change on global scale
  • Susan: To change the way people currently live to be more sustainable and environmentally friendly through my mechanical engineering and product design background.
  • Kelly: Using my experience to manage the distribution channels of plastics to ensure there is consistency in the types of plastics used, so that the bricks ultimately can be of high quality to the population of the Philippines.
• What is the project GOAL (big G) we’re all committed to achieve together?
  • • To provide a clean environment for Filipinos to live in by diverting solid plastic waste from landfills and decreasing plastic pollution in the oceans.

Roles:

• Team leaders
  • Prototyping – Andy
  • Material Testing- Laura
  • Paper Development- Kelly
  • UPD Outreach- Ellie
• Team scribes: Andy and Susan
• Company sponsor interface: Susan
• Financial manager: Kelly
• Final brief editors: Susan → Laura → Andy
• Liaison to shops, labs and other support persons:
  • Woodshop: Susan
  • Packard Shop: Andy
  • Whitaker labs: Laura

Procedures: 

1. Decision Making – What process shall we use: consensus, majority rules, deference to expert, default to the loudest, or?

• Decision making will result from mainly a team consensus. So far, no situations have arisen where there has been enough disagreement among the team to warrant alternative strategies. In areas where a majority of the team lacks knowledge, we tend to defer to the ‘expert’ on the team.

1. Effective Meetings – Focus on key, timely decisions together vs. status/update (offline);

• Meetings occur every Friday where each team member presents their work for the past week. The team analyzes the result of all the team members’ work and determines the next steps as a group. The team then divides and conquers the tasks needed to achieve the next steps by next week’s deadline. If any changes occur throughout the week that relates to the deliverable set for the upcoming week, the team member will notify the student team via Slack and develop any necessary backup plan.

1. Meeting roles: scribe, facilitator, timekeeper

• Andy and Susan will collaborate as the main scribes during the meeting. Any other members are free to chime into the effort. The team will go through the list of deliverables that was agreed upon the previous week and ask the designated team member to present their efforts on the specified deliverable. Brian acts as the facilitator based on the information presented during the meeting. Both he and other faculty advisors will ask key questions throughout the meeting to push the team forward. Deliverables will be determined and assigned to each member at the end of each meeting as a group consensus. 

1. Communication – FTF: frequency, time, location; type of technology: (Googledocs, Zoom, Hangout, etc.); expectations for responsiveness; ‘best time to work’ (AM, PM, weekends?)

• The general meeting between the team, advisors, PI, and sponsors occur on Fridays from 12pm-1pm on Zoom. The student team will be in constant communication with each other through Slack throughout the week and expects a response within an hour to one day. A weekly brief will be sent out to all the faculty advisors prior to the weekly general meeting to provide a quick update on the team’s efforts and progress during the week.

Relationships:

• Team Diversity – What is the diversity on our team? Disciplines to tap for solutions;  individual learning styles for the stages of invention; overall team learning style strengths and places to supplement;  cultural backgrounds , work experience, dreams to leverage for scope & impact of goals, new roles, better procedures; languages for more diverse customer set, bigger market;
  • Currently, our team is composed of people from all kinds of backgrounds that have contributed to advancing PlasTech Ventures forward. First, the majority of the team is pursuing a different major. Andy and Susan are Mechanical Engineering majors (Susan also has a product design minor) and have been really involved in making various designs of wall systems and the machinery to produce the wall systems. Ellie is an IDEAS major (Mechanical Engineering and Environmental Science) who has been investigating UV degradation on plastics to understand how the wall systems will be impacted by the sun over a long period of time. Laura is an IDEAS major (Material Science & Engineering, Economics, Environmental Studies) who is leading the efforts in conducting research on the compressive strength of recycled plastics at different contamination levels. Lastly, Kelly is a supply chain who plays a major role in determining the movement of plastics in the Philippines and is currently leading efforts in the development of our most recent paper.

2. Listening – Notice my binary thinking, auto-rankism, and go beyond it.

• As the team is faced with numerous tasks ranging from prototyping machinery to material testing, the team decided to divide and conquer! During the start of the Fall 2020 semester, PlasTech Ventures was divided into the prototyping group and the material testing group. At the very start of the semester, the research team was fumbling their way through obtaining accessibility to testing facilities, sourcing the PET flakes, determining the experimental procedure and equipment, etc. Understanding that the prototyping team was busy with their tasks, such as machinery investigation, the research team had every intention to shoulder the heavy duties that were laid upon its members. The prototyping team listened to the researcher’s team progress and knew they needed help. They immediately proceeded in aiding the research team and spent at least a week in investigating the appropriate specimen mold for the experiment. 

3. Team Name–What’s a team name that captures who we are and what we’re going to do?

• PlasTech Ventures! The team is utilizing technology to create products out of recycled plastics in order to diverge plastics from the landfill and ocean. The business model that the team is currently developing will provide entrepreneurial opportunities to Filipinos.

3. Identify a real potential funding source for your project. Seek sign-off from your faculty mentor and develop a detailed outline for the proposal with specific insights, arguments, and accomplishments.

• https://sorensonimpactfoundation.org/grant-rfp/
• https://www.worldpulse.com/community/resources/library/35528#:~:text=The%20USAID%20(United%20States%20Agency,political%20or%20economic%20policies%20abroad.
• https://roddenberryfoundation.org/our-work/catalyst-fund/ 
• IEEE site application http://ieee-sight-toolkit.org/start/