https://www.inderscience.com/info/ingeneral/forthcoming.php?jcode=ijesb

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Remy Nyukorong

Abstract

The purpose of the current study is to propose a straightforward, real-world model of personal development and active citizenship that will enable the model to be easily explained as well as utilised as a framework when working with young people to improve their quality of life and self-sustainability, and to promote competitiveness and graduate employability. The model was created based on current research into employability concerns. The model sketches out what is meant by lifelong learning, in explicit and understandable terms, and suggests ways for interaction among the various aspects. However, the interfaces between the five stages of the model remain theoretical. The model will be a useful tool for teachers, guidance and counselling officers, curriculum development experts and any other practitioners engaged in entrepreneurship education activities. The model will be of value to any person with an interest in employability issues.

Keywords: entrepreneurship education, graduate employability, learning through life, learning for life

Int. J. Entrepreneurship and Small Business, Vol. 46, No. 1, 2022

Executive leadership is leadership at the top of an organization (Hambrick and Mason, 1984), “senior” leadership (Barnard, 1938; Heller, 1972), or “strategic” leadership (U.S. Department of the Army, 1993). Thus, the quality of an organization’s top leaders is a key determinant of its overall effectiveness and ongoing adaptability (Katz and Kahn, 1978). Those leading executive leadership processes typically oversee such business activities as fulfilling organizational goals, strategic planning development and overall decision making (Ben Cole, 2015).

In their planning and exercise of influence, executive leaders also are expected to balance many, usually conflicting, stakeholders, goals, demands, and obligations, both inside and outside the company. When leaders undertake these responsibilities effectively, their companies will likely perform well and, in a position, to adapt quickly to environmental dynamics (Zaccaro, 2001). High-quality senior leaders contribute significantly to the success and vitality of their organizations.

There are different executive leadership, namely servant leadership (Greenleaf, 1977), paternalistic leadership (Farh and Chen, 2000; Lin and Zhuang, 2018), participative leadership (and authentic leadership (Ilies, Morgeson & Nahrgang, 2005). Qualities of effective executive leaders include vision, transparency and accountability, problem-solving capabilities, emotional intelligence, and wide-ranging job experience. Effective executive leaders employ analytical skills to decide how to maximize the productivity of employees and get the maximum corporate value from company resources. Successful executive leaders show leadership behaviours such as compassion, being open to feedback and new ideas, adaptation to change, readiness to collaborate with others and the ability to listen effectively to their subordinates.

Executive leaders typically have a combination of hard skill and soft skills (e.g., common sense, a communication skills, organizational skills, interpersonal skills, etc.) which they use to motivate employees and leverage employee talents to improve corporate processes. In addition, effective executive leaders play a critical role in creating and epitomizing the corporate culture of the organization.

Based on the above, executive leadership is defined as:

“That set of activities directed toward the development and management of the organization as a whole, including all of its subcomponents, to reflect long-range policies and purposes that have emerged from the senior leader’s interactions within the organization and his or her interpretations of the organization’s external environment” (Zaccaro, 2001, p.13).

Mother’s day gives us the opportunity to thank our mothers and to reflect on the distinctive contribution that mothers make to society through their care of their children. The day forms a triptych with Father’s Day and Family Day in expressing gratitude to people who shape our lives as children. Each of these days celebrates relationships that bless us as human beings.

Mother’s Day points to the importance of being there and being well disposed in relationships, even if these qualities are often devalued. A mother’s disposition and behaviour during pregnancy and the first months after birth contributes to the health and happiness of the growing child. Basic trust and security develop in this time. The subsequent relationship with the mother, or with the person who offers encouragement and nurturing, also help shape the basic dispositions of the child in adulthood. The lasting importance of mothers is brought out in times of desolation – in war or in detention centres, for example – many adults cry out at night for their mothers.

For that reason, Mother’s Day is not simply a celebration for the family but for society. It is a chance for society to recognise the importance of mothers and to honour and facilitate their contribution. This poses a dilemma today because the premise on which our economy is built is that people are valued by the economic contribution they make to society, and so are expected to work in the market. But we put no value on the mother’s contribution at home. This puts a heavy burden on single mothers, who are often already burdened by not being able to share the care and nurturing of young children with partners, and who also often lack financial resources. We often regard them in society as second-class citizens instead of being admired for their generosity and so receiving help to discharge their responsibilities.

Mother’s Day is a day to thank our own mothers and to acknowledge the debt we all owe to people who accept the responsibility of mothering. It is also a time for asking how as a society we can encourage mothering.

Happy Mother’s Day to all!

Reflections on Ethics and the Russian Invasion of Ukraine

Any reflection on the ethics of war and the war in Ukraine must begin with what is brutally obvious: The Russian invasion is a moral outrage that has no justification in the ethics of war. But even in the hell of this war, we can make distinctions about moral reasoning. By making such distinctions, we can make clearer the moral responsibility for the conflict and vouch for the thin but powerful reed of hope that comes from the capacity to make moral judgments in the face of relentless gaslighting in service to murderous violence.

Here are four key ethical points about the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The Basis of Moral Outrage

To understand why the invasion is a moral outrage, we must note what may seem odd: The ethics of war is properly understood as an ethics of politics. I don’t mean politics in a reductionist, horse-race sense. But I mean it in the sense of politics as the ways by which large groups of people organize themselves into societies with laws that require obedience; with leaders who have authority; and with processes by which power is transferred from one leader to the next. The outrage of the war—the outrage that gives rise to all its other outrages—is that the Russian invasion is precisely aimed at denying the people of Ukraine the right to determine the shape of their own political community. In the language of just war theory, the rights to “territorial integrity” and “political sovereignty” protect the more fundamental right of a people to political self-determination. When Russia sent tanks across the border (and thus violated territorial integrity) to decide for itself Ukraine’s political future (and thus violating political sovereignty), it not only violated Ukraine’s right to self-determination but also threatened the order of the world which, whatever its faults, is based on the inviolability of this right.

Self-Defense in the Face of Overwhelming Odds

Self-defense is the classic ethical justification for going to war: You are attacked, and you may respond by using violence for the sake of political justice. But it is also an ethical requirement of going to war that there should be a reasonable hope of success. If going to war likely means you’ll lose badly and many people will be killed, then even if you have a right to self-defence, it would be more prudent and just not to fight back and thus avoid a needless loss of life. But the war in Ukraine has challenged how we interpret the requirement for success. No one thought the Ukrainians had a chance against the Russians. But four weeks into the war, the Ukrainians are holding out and inflicting terrible damage on the Russian army. Does success mean having to defeat another army? Or does it mean inflicting enough damage to get better terms at the negotiating table? Or is there an intangible but powerful success achieved by the self-respect and courage that comes with fighting for great values, no matter the odds?

Siege Warfare and Direct Attack on Civilians

Unable so far to succeed in battle against the Ukrainian military, the Russians have turned to what for them is a familiar tactic: siege warfare. In doing so, they have signalled clearly that they intend to terrorize the civilian population of Ukraine to compel the government to give ground at the negotiating table. The immoral logic at work here is: “Unless you surrender, we cannot stop shooting directly at hospitals, apartment buildings, and shelters.” Nothing is clearer in the ethics of war than the absolute prohibition on precisely what the Russians are doing: directly targeting civilians. And, for this immoral logic to work, there must be civilians to terrorize. Thus, it was no accident that the Russians consented to the evacuation of civilians from besieged cities and then directly attacked the civilians as they were evacuating. Terror is that much worse when it descends from blue skies on the desperate expectation of safe passage out of hell. Humanitarian no-fly zones established by NATO could be a powerful response to this problem. Such zones could offer greater protection to civilians fleeing a city under siege. And such zones could also weaken Russia’s military advantage by depriving them of what is now their awful but best negotiating tool: dead and injured Ukrainian civilians.

Ethics and Endgames

I noted already that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threatens the global order premised on the right of states to determine their own political life. But we need to specify the values being threatened. The political right to self-determination could lead to a variety of kinds of government. But, in this case, the Ukrainians are defending their right to determine themselves specifically as a democracy—and as a democracy after years of living under the outright or proxy authoritarian rule of Russia. How the war will end is far from clear. But it will be impossible to evaluate its outcome without close attention to the fate of democratic values and not simply to military power. Ukrainians have moved the world by their willingness to die for such values. Putin has killed Ukrainian civilians in order to eradicate these values. Unless we see this moral component of the war, we cannot properly understand what is going on now and how it might end.

ACTIONABLE INSIGHTS FROM AUSTRIAN ECONOMICS

Business success is a function of knowledge — the right knowledge at the right time applied in the right way. But knowledge is always scarce and incomplete and sometimes wrong. It is best to regard knowledge as a process: continually gathering changing knowledge from a wide range of sources to integrate into decision-making and action. Austrian economics can provide that integration, helping businesspeople with sense-making in a complex, ever-changing world of knowledge.

We gather business knowledge from multiple sources and multiple disciplines. Gathering knowledge that’s relevant for business success is a process, a journey, and an exploration. We do not limit it to business subjects. A rounded businessperson studies economics, of course, but also history, psychology, languages, culture, computer science, political science. Why are these all relevant? Because business is a social science, concerned with how people think and perceive and interact, and how they adapt to new knowledge and changes in context and changes in choices. All the knowledge disciplines impact business.

There is an exploratory phase in every knowledge journey, where we cast our knowledge net wide. I gathered comparative knowledge of different countries and cultures. I continued the process by traveling to and studying in the Netherlands. I developed an elevated capacity for the critical business skill of empathy: seeing things as others see them, through others’ eyes, or rather, through others’ mental models. People who grow up with a different cultural, philosophical, religious,  linguistic and institutional background develop different mental models. The facility to discern, analyze and understand those mental models helps businesspeople in their interactions with customers, competitors, employees, partners, and suppliers. The exploratory phase of knowledge gathering does not require us to think about applying that knowledge in business at the time of gathering. It is building up a knowledge inventory.

I felt that, even with my wide range of multidisciplinary knowledge and multicultural experiences, I still did not understand people and their decision making sufficiently for business. I discovered Austrian economics by reading its definitive treatise, Human Action by Ludwig von Mises. I found the insights in Human Action, derived from theory, were highly confirmable in the real world through observation. Anyone can make the same discovery. Over time, for example, a person will build more and more confidence in his (her) understanding of how people make their decisions, as well as in their own decision-making about the future. By understanding how individuals’ value systems drive economic decision making, one will interpret and expect their economic choices. You will deduce the theories or mental models through which people see the world and analyze their actions that way. Value systems are at work in firms, as well. When a firm has a value system of trust and collaboration, there will be an alignment of interests among everyone who works there, and with suppliers and partners. If you take such a firm as a customer, you can apply the same values-based approach to building a strong business relationship.

What Virtues are Required in a Time of Crisis?

During the 1576 plague that menaced Milan and eventually took 25,000 lives, the civil government fled the city out of fear. The Archbishop of Milan, Saint Charles Borromeo, took over, assured the people he would not abandon them and, together with priests from the parishes and religious orders, cared for their material and spiritual needs.

He organized hospitals, cared for orphans, and brought the sacraments to those who were quarantined in their homes. He got priests to offer Masses in public squares and the middle of streets so that people could take part from their houses. He sold his personal goods and much of the diocesan treasury to feed the hungry and had the tapestries of his residence converted into blankets to warm the poor.

As a Good Shepherd, he will risk his life to care for both the souls and the bodies of those entrusted to him and could persuade so many of his brother priests to join him. Recalling how Christ died for them first, he declared that Christ “does not even request this pathetic life of ours, but only that we put it at risk.”

He challenged them to pay attention not only to what can kill the body, like the pestilence but also to what can harm the soul, commenting, “the devout souls of our brethren languish with desire for divine things.” And providing them, he argued, is not a small matter. “I will certainly say that the sick does not need our help in such a way that without it they would have no hope of salvation, but often our services are necessary. Besides, it is indisputably clear that we all understand how much [the sacraments] benefit not only the bad but also the good, and how much alleviation they usually bring to the sick body and above all to the soul solicitous for its salvation.”

The greatest illustration of that point was how he scaled a mountain of corpses to give absolution and viaticum to a man at the top of the heap who had been placed there prematurely. The example of courage tied to charity is a mirror for the Church and her leaders in every age, most especially of crisis. As all of us confront the coronavirus, we can profit from how St. Charles put the Catholic faith into action in the most demanding and dangerous circumstances. I would heartily recommend reading Msgr. John Cihak’s superb 2017 work Charles Borromeo: Selected Orations, Homilies and Writings.

To become courageous like he was, what virtues do we need?

The first is faith, to recognize that Christ, who promised to be with us always until the end of time (Mt 28:20), is good to his word. Faith likewise helps us trust in God’s providential care. There’s a temptation, in times of crisis, to take control even over things that human beings cannot control. This can come from a practical atheism, from living as if God doesn’t exist or doesn’t care. Faith inspires us to do all we can, but in tandem, rather than apart, from God, knowing that our life is in God’s hands.

The second is prudence, which helps us to discern the good in each circumstance among many competing goods — and to choose the right means to achieve it. It helps us set a proper rule or measure, something desperately needed in times of crisis when certain goods can be emphasized disproportionately, and others can be forgotten. Aristotle, and St. Thomas Aquinas after him, taught that moral virtue is a middle point between two extremes, deficiency, and excess. Compassion, for example, is the mean between apathy and sentimental indulgence. Courage is found between the extremes of cowardice and recklessness. In this present circumstance, prudence can help us see that an “overabundance of caution” is not a virtue but a vice. Prudence focuses on the right measure of caution, balancing, for example, the duty we need to protect those most vulnerable to infection by “flattening the curve” through social distancing, hand-washing, and various other practices, with other needs, like providing for one’s family, nourishing one’s soul and others’, providing goods and services, etc. Prudence assists courage in helping people know how to take the right risks.

The third virtue is charity, which helps us to sacrifice ourselves for the good of others. “No one has greater love,” Jesus said during the Last Supper, “to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (Jn 15:13), and charity motivates us to take risks, even dangerous ones, to protect and provide for those we love. Moms and Dads, even the most temperamentally timid and conflict adverse, instinctively protect their children in the face of gunmen, bombs, and tornados. The greater the love, the greater the audacity. Courage does not mean fearlessness, but doing what we ought despite our fear, and love gives us the strength to overcome fear and do what love demands.

The fourth is patience, which means principally not an ability to wait but a capacity to suffer. The word patience comes from the Latin patior, to “suffer,” which is why we call the sick in hospitals “patients.” Courage requires that we do not have an excessive fear of pain and of where our fear of pain ultimately derives, the fear of death.

In the present circumstance, many, including young people at very low risk of serious consequences from Covid-19, are terrified of contracting it, as if it were an automatic death sentence, even though, for 80 percent of those who get it, the symptoms are mild and pass like a cold or flu, and only those whose bodies are compromised by old age or other serious health conditions are in danger.

We should all be doing everything reasonable to prevent transmission out of concern for those who would be most vulnerable, conscious of the reality that our health care system is inadequate to handle over 120,000 people in ICUs at the same time. We need to work together to ensure that no one dies when medical services, received promptly, could save their lives. However, we should not be giving in to an epidemic of fear, as if catching Covid-19 were getting leprosy or stage-4 pancreatic cancer. Hysteria, based on fear of pain and death, doesn’t help.

The Imitation of Christ, Thomas à Kempis’ 15th-century spiritual classic, advised us that the easiest way to overcome the fear of death is to ponder it each day. “In every deed and every thought, act as though you were to die this very day.” Once we do that, we take every day more seriously: we do not procrastinate on telling family members and friends that we love them; we ask forgiveness from God and those we’ve wronged while we still have time; we let pass so many things that ultimately matter little; and we get our real priorities straight.

When we pray each day Jesus’ last words from the Cross, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” (Lk 23:46), we become emboldened, like Jesus, not to have our life taken from us but freely to lay it down (Jn 10:18). When we’re not afraid to die because we’ve rehearsed it daily in prayer, we will be ready to offer our life without fear should that prove necessary.

Crises, like the present situation of the coronavirus, are times for Catholics united with Christ truly to shine. As salt, light and leaven, Catholics are called to help everyone else to become courageous in the face of the threats, to act to help others and save their lives, and to show everyone how to unite their situations to God. It is a time for Catholics to show that we truly believe Jesus’ words, “Take courage. It is I. Do not be afraid!” (Mk 6:50), and, like waves of apostles and martyrs throughout the centuries, and saints like Charles Borromeo, boldly lead society not only in response to people’s material needs, but in care for their even more important spiritual needs.

Different people can be useful for different projects. Another thing I have learnt over time is that people like being asked for their input and they enjoy discussing ideas – at least those who are any good at it.

When there is a group of you working together – thinking together – try to see yourselves as some kind of hive brain. Each one of you is a single component of a greater entity (idea generation, problem-solving, analysis, organization, figure work, practical skills). Between you, you have all the thinking skills you need. So have some patience, tolerance, understanding of those in the group who think in ways that you do not. Appreciation even. Because without them, the hive cannot function properly in the face of whatever comes along.

Never assume that people who are silent have nothing to say. This is especially true when there are two or more vociferous people in the room. If ideas and comments are flying back and forth – even if it is always fun and friendly – it can be quite daunting to people of a shyer persuasion, or those who consider themselves junior or less qualified to speak. And yet sometimes the sharpest observations can come from people who have a fresh eye, unsullied by experience.

We established it is not helpful if you all think alike and agree with each other most of the time. So, the most useful group is one that thinks differently and whose members often disagree with each other. The group has to express disagreement about it becoming a problem. The single most important way to achieve this is for everyone in the group to understand that it is their job to say if they disagree, and that it is necessary to ensure the group collectively thinks at its very best. Once you know people are briefed to challenge your thinking, and that they likewise expected you to question theirs, it becomes much easier to take. It depersonalises it.

You must have – or find – the confidence to make suggestions even when you think other people might judge them negatively. I have a line I like to use in this situation: ‘I’ve got a stupid idea but I’m going to say it because someone might turn it into a good idea.’ This works for two reasons. First, you do not have to worry people will judge you for having a stupid idea because you have already made it clear you recognise it. And second, instead of rejecting it out of hand (hopefully they would not but who knows), the rest of the group is likely to consider whether there is the kernel of a good idea they can build on. Similarly, make sure the surrounding people know they are always allowed to air ‘stupid’ ideas without fear of censure, and make sure you listen to see if you can think them into more practical ones.

Corruption: The biggest enemy against the sustainable development goals

It is a historic opportunity: to realise the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and secure a better future for us, the peoples on this planet. But this inspiring vision is challenged by risks, the most serious of which is that all 17 unanimously adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) could be severely undermined by corruption.

The scale and impact of corruption are alarming. This menace costs more than 5% of global GDP, hits the world’s most vulnerable groups the hardest, affects all states, societies, and sectors, and contributes to the collapse of entire countries and economies. Corruption is the antithesis vis-à-vis human rights, the venom vis-à-vis the rule of law, the poison for prosperity and development, and the reverse of equity and equality.

A strong, relentless fight against corruption is therefore a conditio sine qua non for realising the 2030 Agenda. However, it calls for more than just warm words and tepid expressions of support. It requires shared ownership by all, with leadership from the top, nationally and internationally, both from the political and corporate worlds.

And yes, conditions are tough. The world faces other daunting challenges, such as increasing distrust and dispute among leading powers, stern security trials, economic uncertainty, and climate change. Furthermore, citizens’ confidence in leaders’ ability to tackle global issues is declining.

But there are reasons for optimism too. One cause for hope is the growing awareness of corruption’s horrific impact. Another is the explicit language under Goal 16, which aims, inter alia, to “substantially reduce corruption and bribery in all its forms”. A third is the recognition in the 2030 Agenda that daily implementation is crucial if the SDGs are to become a fruitful reality.

The day-to-day actions against corruption must not rely on traditional criminal law and enforcement alone. It also requires prevention, education, and international cooperation – three of the key areas in which the International Anti-Corruption Academy (IACA,) an international organisation covering more than five billion people, is empowering anti-corruption and compliance professionals across the globe.

Preventing and fighting corruption is about sustained hard work, not quick cursory plasters. Let us thus be guided by recalling that investing and engaging in anti-corruption education and empowerment is the smart way towards sustainable development, safeguarding human rights, and strengthening the rule of law; on the road to 2030 and beyond.

Educating Our Young People About Climate Change

Sustainability is a concept most people only learn about through social media and news articles. In most places, sustainability is not taught in classrooms or from an early age and thus, it is not deemed as important as other topics such as mathematics or the sciences.

But as many of us are increasingly aware, sustainability is important and can be largely attributed to the intensification of climate change in recent years.

When we emphasize the importance of sustainability and inculcate environmental values during a child’s formative years, they will grow up with an understanding of why they need to protect our Earth and how they can go about doing so.

A poll conducted in the US found that 80% of parents and 86% of teachers are supportive of the teaching of climate change in schools as they feel that this will be the generation most severely affected by it.

Should Climate Change Be Taught in Schools?

In this same poll, however, it was found that less than half of parents and teachers are teaching their children about climate change.

Most teachers cited the reasons being climate change was out of their teaching scope and that they simply did not have the resources and knowledge to help students learn about it.

But teaching our youth about sustainability and how to tackle climate change is pertinent, especially currently where the effects of climate change are starting to manifest in disastrous ways.

The Future of Climate Change

Most projections predict that climate change is going to be catastrophic. Not only for the natural environment but for human welfare as well.

May 2020 has been the hottest month on record, with the record just having been broken in April, which had just been broken in March and so on so forth. This year has presented itself with soaring temperatures all over the world and it is just going to go up from here.

Global warming has devastating consequences. From increased frequency and intensity of natural disasters to food and water crises, the outcomes are bleak. Economic ruin will soon follow.

It is predicted that if we do not act, by 2100, average temperatures will rise by 4ºC, and GDP will fall by over 30%. And these figures are considered optimistic.

Around the World

UNESCO has introduced Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) to encourage action for the environment and to lead more sustainable lifestyles. They have since been working with governments around the world to integrate such learning into educational programmes.

Amid the pandemic, New Jersey has been the first state to mandate the incorporation of climate change into the K-12 curriculum, starting from the year 2021-2022.

Though this is wonderful news, the pandemic has resulted in a potential breakdown of the nation’s current outdoor environment programmes. 

It is projected that up to 65% of outdoor education aspects will have disappeared by the end of the year. These had been crucial in exposing and teaching children about the natural environment around them.

Italy has also recently introduced the education of climate change at the core of what the students learn, ensuring that the knowledge they gain in school comes from an environmental perspective.

New Zealand, on the other hand, has introduced an optional curriculum that can be adopted for youth aged 11-15 years old that aims to ease eco-anxiety and prepare youth for environmental activism.

And these are just some of the newer examples. Countries such as Australia, the Dominican Republic and South Korea have already introduced such programmes years ago.

Preparing Our children For Calamity

Many countries are catching on to the importance and urgency of educating their youth on climate change and sustainability.

Having knowledge of climate change and learning the skills to act upon it is crucial and will empower our youth to tackle this disaster.

Environmental values, however, should also be cultivated at home. Parents should bring children up with sustainability at the core of their actions, making them aware that every little thing they do can affect the environment.

Children will grow up with respect and care for the environment and will also better internalise what they learn in school.

Sustainability and the environment are of utmost importance. By educating our children in these areas, the world will stand a fighting chance against our common antagonist: Climate Change.

According to the extant literature (https://350.org/11-trillion-divested/), US$11 trillion has already been divested worldwide. But while it may seem a logical strategy, divestment will not lower demand for fossil fuels, which is the key to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, it may even cause emissions to rise.

The Issues:

At first sight, the argument for divestment seems straightforward. Fossil fuel companies are the main contributors to the majority of CO₂ emissions causing global warning (Scientific Consensus | Facts – Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet (nasa.gov). Twenty fossil fuel companies alone have contributed 35% of all energy-related carbon dioxide and methane emissions since 1965. Revealed: the 20 firms behind a third of all carbon emissions | Climate change | The Guardian

The argument goes that squeezing the flow of investment into fusel fuel companies will either bring their demise or force them drastically transform their business models. It makes sense for investors, too, as they avoid the risk of holding “standard assets”, fossil fuel reserves that will become worthless as they can no longer be exploited.

For companies heavily invested in coal, the most polluting fossil fuel, this rings true. Although new coal plants are still being constructed in countries such as China, India and Indonesia, predictions by majority energy agencies and industry alike indicate a steep decline McKinsey-Energy-Insights-Global-Energy-Perspective-2019_Reference-Case-Summary.ashx ) in its contribution to the global energy supply. With cleaner alternatives readily available, coal is no longer considered a safe long-term investment, and widespread divestment will only add to this sentiment.

When it comes to oil and natural gas, however, the picture looks quite different. Oil is used for a much wider range of products and processes (Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) – U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)) than is coal, while the cleaner reputation of natural gas gives it significant appeal as a “bridge fuel” to a zero carbon economy, whether rightly or not (The EU wants to fight climate change – so why is it spending billions on a gas pipeline? (theconversation.com). As a result, the push for oil and gas divestment is likely to have unintended consequences.

The disinvestment paradox/troubles

The primary targets of the divestment movement are international oil companies (IOCs) – private corporations that are headquartered in Western countries and listed on public stock exchanges. ExxonMobil, Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell, BP, and Total are among the private oil “supermajors”.

Recent research (Does the Fossil Fuel Divestment Movement Impact New Oil & Gas Fundraising? by Theodor Cojoianu, Francisco Ascui, Gordon L. Clark, Andreas G. F. Hoepner, Dariusz Wojcik :: SSRN ) suggests that divestment can reduce the flow of investment into these companies. But even if the divestment movement were successful in reducing the economic power of these companies, IOCs currently only produce about 10 percent of the world’s oil (International Oil Companies: The Death of the Old Business Model | Chatham House – International Affairs Think Tank).

The rest is mostly produced by national oil companies (NOCs), i.e., state-owned behemoths such as Saudi Aramco, National Iranian Oil Company, China National Petroleum Corporation and Petroleos de Venezuela, located mostly in low- and middle-income countries.

Given that NOCs are less transparent about their operations Secretive national oil companies hold our climate in their hands | Environment | The Guardian ) that are IOCs, and that many of them are also headquartered in authoritarian countries, they are less exposed to pressure from civil society. As a result, they are dangerously under-scrutinised (National Oil Companies, with $3.1 Trillion in Assets, are Dangerously Under-scrutinized | Natural Resource Governance Institute), according to the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI).

As they are state-owned, they are also not directly exposed to pressure from shareholders. Even the imminent public listing of Saudi Aramco ( Saudi Aramco’s $1.5 trillion IPO flies in the face of climate reality (theconversation.com) will only offer 1.5 percent of the company ( Subscribe to read | Financial Times (ft.com), and this will impose much less pressure to value environment issues. Environmental groups have urged Western multinational banks not to invest in the Saudi company ( Banks warned over Saudi Aramco by environmental groups | Aramco | The Guardian).

This means that while global demand for natural gas (https://www.iea.org/reports/gas-2019) and oil ( https://www.iea.org/reports/oil-2019) is still rising, and investments are insufficient to meet future demand (Global energy investment stabilised above USD 1.8 trillion in 2018, but security and sustainability concerns are growing – News – IEA ), divestment pressures are unlikely to impact the business plans of NOCs. As a result, instead of reducing global fossil fuel production, the divestment movement will simply force IOCs to cede market share to NOCs.

If anything, this would cause CO₂ emissions to rise. The carbon footprints of NOCs per unit of fuel produced are on average bigger than those of IOCs( CDP_Oil_and_Gas_Executive_Summary_2018.pdf (rackcdn.com).

IOCs are also generally better placed and more willing than are NOCs to reduce the carbon intensity of their products and support the transition to renewable energy (Oil and gas company strategies regarding the energy transition – IOPscience). They have, for example, led the way among oil companies in research into capturing and storing carbon, even if results have so far proven elusive.

Conclusion:

In a nutshell, the divestment movement will not reduce demand for oil and gas. It will transfer the supply of fossil fuel to companies that are more polluting, less transparent, less sensitive to societal pressures, and less committed to addressing the climate crisis ( Fossil fuel emitters and climate change: unpacking the governance activities of large oil and gas companies: Environmental Politics: Vol 26, No 4 (tandfonline.com).

What I see as the missing link

The divestment movement is understandably enjoying widespread appeal in a time of climate emergency. But by targeting the low-hanging fruit that are IOCs, the movement misses the more complex question of how to actually reduce the global demand for fossil fuels. To achieve that goal, the world would be better off creating a regulatory environment that forces both IOCs and NOCs to redirect their energies. For example, eliminating fossil fuel subsidies (4 Ways to Shift from Fossil Fuels to Clean Energy | World Resources Institute (wri.org) and putting a price on carbon (What is Carbon Pricing? | S&P Global (spglobal.com) would make heavily investing in renewables, already cheaper to produce than fossil fuels ( Renewable Energy Is Now The Cheapest Option – Even Without Subsidies (forbes.com), more attractive for all energy companies.

Such changes could also generate nearly US$3 trillion by 2030 ( https://www.wri.org/insights/4-ways-shift-fossil-fuels-clean-energy) for governments globally. These funds could be used to massively scale up renewables ( https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-019-0365-7) prioritise the development of energy storage to address the intermittent nature of such power, and improve energy efficiency in industry, transport and housing, which will make fossil fuels increasingly redundant.

While IOCs now produce much less fossil fuel than they used to, they still have huge among of expertise ( How the Oil and Gas Industry Is Contributing to Sustainability (spe.org) that could be applied to the energy transition ( Full article: The oil and gas sector: from climate laggard to climate leader? (tandfonline.com). In my view, rather than transferring power to less environmentally conscious NOCs, we should make use of them. As for those with shares in fossil fuel companies: they must exercise their powers as a shareholder to pressure them to support the energy transition as constructively and ethically as possible. Their influence matter greatly.

“DREAMING OF A BETTER RESTART”

Casina Pio IV, Vatican City, May 14th, 2021

The current crisis and global state of confusion must be overcome by ending the globalism of selfishness, exclusion, and the throwaway culture. The increase of inequality and hunger is posing major ethical, economic, and political challenges to which policy makers, civil society and the business community must react.

Pope Francis, like many other leaders, has stressed that this situation demands a new beginning of solidarity and fraternity in the global economic and political configuration from the perspective of human development. Since the 1980s a combination of forces, including the globalization of indifference, the misuse of digital opportunities, and institutional changes, has generated strong centrifugal effects in economies, deepening existing divisions.

Extensive changes in international policy and financial architecture are required to address inequality and poverty. Comprehensive plans to combat climate change and pandemics, and to transform the food system, must be put in place.

The good news is that, in principle, we already have the human, natural, scientific, and technological assets to ensure that such wealth and the gains resulting from the free movement of capital and labour are distributed fairly among the various countries and social groups. But we must want it.

Observations and Implications

While the consultations did not aim at a consensus, important messages for action emerged directly and indirectly from the perspective of the Pontifical Academies of Sciences and Social Sciences:

1.             The post-Covid world requires a fresh restart in the spirit of Pope Francis’ Encyclical Fratelli Tutti, fraternity for all. Openness is called for, allowing us to acknowledge, appreciate and love each person, regardless of physical proximity or country of birth or residence. When contemplating initiatives for financing a way out of the current crises, the needs of the poor and hungry, many of whom have stopped dreaming of a better restart, must be on the agenda. The approach to favour aims at transformational resilience of countries and peoples vis-à-vis their own vulnerabilities.

2.             The multifaceted health crises, i.e., the pandemic, rapid climate change, growing hunger and malnutrition, and lack of employment especially among youth, call for re-thinking fundamental economic and social concepts that preoccupy policy. Non-action may trigger more conflicts and wars. Efficient and effective economic policies are called for but are not enough: global problems such as pandemics, climate change, hunger, and biodiversity loss demand global collective action. This also applies to financing the actions to move forward.

3.             Addressing the debt problems of developing countries, climate finance for green transformation, dealing with Covid19, and overcoming hunger belong together in a coherent policy agenda. Rewiring finance is an urgent matter requiring that the financial accounting systems include social and environmental metrics, and that impact investing becomes a norm of behaviour. We record the value of what we harvest from nature but make no matching entry for its degradation. This means that the true cost of food and energy is not signalled to the markets. In support of this the following three actions are important: 1) Multilateral Finance Institutions and Development Banks need to be supported with significantly expanded resources. Impact and ethical investment funds, opting for justice, peace, and integrity of creation, are to be encouraged. 2) Tax havens must be eliminated and a unified global corporate taxation at meaningful rates must be established. 3) The global conferences of 2021 – Climate COP26, UN Food Systems Summit, Biodiversity COP15 – need to be connected in meaningful ways and must lead to clear action agendas and commitments.

4.             The urgency of stronger climate action is increasing with every year of lost action. Weak competition, feeble productivity growth, increasing inequalities, and degraded democracies are failing citizens. Countries have to cooperate to establish rules and standards, especially in the areas of finance, banking, and international trade regime. It is crucial to mobilize public and private sector finance to drive the net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) transition and to help vulnerable countries cope with climate impacts on their people’s health. Having a global carbon price, which should probably be much higher than currently contemplated by most governments and corporations, if the direct and indirect costs of expected climate devastations are considered, is the single most powerful mechanism to promote private sector investments into mitigation and adaptation.

5.             A much stronger focus on the poor and hungry, and on equity is called for, related to health and food systems. A large share of the poor is connected directly and indirectly to food systems and farming. Food systems generate a third of GHG and are also crucial for adaptation. So far, relatively limited climate finance has gone for mitigation and adaptation of food systems, while opportunities are big in low- and middle-income countries, such as investments into land restoration, afforestation, avoiding climate-negative land use change, and investments into value chains for reducing food waste and loss.

6.             Ending hunger is possible with suitable policy reforms and focused investments at scale. It needs financing alongside climate financing and financing the restart post Covid19. Research-based estimates suggest a need of additional US$ 39 to 50 billion per annum for the next 10 years to end hunger. Financing this can be a combination of 1) doubling the annual development aid (ODA) dedicated to agricultural and rural development, food, and nutrition security; 2) an “End Hunger Fund”, as also proposed by Pope Francis; 3) fresh finance by the envisaged increased SDRs by the IMF that could facilitate “End Hunger Bonds”. The IMF, World Bank Group and regional development banks are positioned to find and facilitate best financing mechanisms to assure these investments. Private sector and philanthropies should be part of such an initiative that could be launched at the UN Food Systems Summit 2021.

7.             Investments in green transformation are a huge opportunity for sustainable growth and employment. The green-labelled market is experiencing rapid growth. The green bond market reached USD 1 trillion in cumulative issuance in December 2020. There are, however, no well-defined global standards of what constitutes “green” climate finance, i.e., risks of “greenwashing”. We need strong incentives based on sound data to mobilize finance for investments. Data and technology instruments can enable investments.

8.             It is understandable that governments would want the private sector to be more actively involved in funding climate action. But governments still need to shoulder a large part of climate mitigation and adaptation costs that mobilize finance. Climate change involves a lot of externalities; markets are not sending clear signals for action; voluntary actions by the private sector alone will not be enough.

9.             We emphasize that science and innovation to address climate and food crises – especially bioscience, and health sciences, digital innovations, and social sciences – play a key role for sustainability in the Anthropocene. Science investment is too low and global sharing of science is too constrained. Because of low income, inequality between countries in science spending and science capacities is huge and reduces response capacities of low- and middle-income countries to crises. Science is playing a key role in addressing pandemics and coping mechanisms, and in the development of vaccines. Scaling the production and fair sharing of vaccines globally is now critical. The pandemic is not over. Long Covid, that is, the long-term health effects of the virus, is a worrisome emerging issue. The effectiveness of a vaccination campaign depends on its being universal. Therefore, it is imperative to propose that Covid vaccines be considered a global common good, with the ensuing implications on the regulation front and sharing systems.

10.          As PAS and PASS underlined in 2020 in their joint statement at the outset of the Covid19 crisis, a thorough review of worldviews, lifestyles, and short-term economic valuations must be carried out to cope with the challenges of the Anthropocene. A more responsible, more sharing, more equalitarian, more caring, and fairer society is required if we are to survive. That call still needs to be emphasized. Integral human development is meant to be transformational in that it aims to improve people’s lives by enhancing their capabilities. As stressed in Pope Francis’ Encyclical Laudato Si’, the ultimate goal of an integral human development approach is that people become more truly the authors of their own lives.

BUSINESS RESEARCH

With the increase in competition in the business world, the need for business research has also increased. Business leaders need to constantly undertake thorough research of all the areas of a business including the market and customers and use information obtained to maximize sales and profits of the business. They need to carry out research in order to effectively target their customers, understand the market trends, project sales, locate opportunities, prevent future problems, gather better knowledge about production departments and financial practices.

Business research is vital to help better understand the needs and requirements of the existing and potential clients. This helps in the development of products and services based on the customers’ requirements and expectations. Business research also helps the business to know their competitors move and helps the business to remain abreast about the latest trends in their industry.

To carry our research, businesses require software that can help them gather as much information as possible within the shortest time possible.

Data Analysis Software: An Introduction

Data Analysis software is defined as a tool that is used to process and manipulate information, analyze the relationship and correlation between the dataset by providing quality analysis like transcription analysis, discourse analysis, grounded theory method and content analysis, and decision-making methods using the Analytical Capabilities, based upon these capabilities data analysis software is classified as exploratory data analysis and confirmatory data analysis.

Data Analysis

Data Analysis helps in the form of clarification, understanding or interpretation of the individuals and things to assist within the meaningful and symbolic content of qualitative and quantitative information. Qualitative and Quantitative are two fundamental methods of aggregating and interpreting data in the analysis. These strategies can be used independently or at the same time since all of them have the same objectives.

Quantitative analysis is often related to numerical analysis where data is collected, classified, and then computed for definite findings using a set of statistical methods. Qualitative analysis, on the other hand, is concerned with the analysis of information that cannot be quantified and is related to the understanding and insights of objects.

Quantitative and Qualitative research data analysis strategies provide tools that help in transcription analysis, cryptography and text interpretation, algorithmic abstraction, content analysis, and discourse analysis that helps users to avoid wasting time and manage large amounts of information, increase flexibility, and improve validity and suitability of information analysis.

Best software for quantitative data analysis.

Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS): SPSS is the most popular quantitative analysis software program used by social scientists.

STATA: STATA is an interactive data analysis program that runs on a variety of platforms. It can be used for both simple and complex statistical analyses.

SAS: SAS is short for Statistical Analysis System, is also used by many businesses.

R: Free to download and use. You can add your own programs to it if you are familiar with statistics and programming.

NVivo: “It helps researchers organize and analyze complex non-numerical or unstructured data, both text and multimedia,” according to UCLA Library.

MATLAB: Provides “Simulations, Multidimensional Data, Image and Signal Processing,” according to NYU Libraries.

Quantitative Data Analysis Software

Quantitative data analysis software helps in the form of explanation, understanding or interpretation of the people and situations to help in the meaningful and symbolic content of qualitative data. Qualitative data analysis software is a system that helps with a wide range of processes that help in content analysis, transcription analysis, coding, text interpretation, recursive abstraction, grounded theory methodology and to interpret information so as to make informed decisions. The types of qualitative data include, telephone interviews, internet interviews, focus groups, email interviews, face-to-face interviews, nominal groups, Delphi groups, observation notes, and document collation, among others.

Qualitative data analysis software offers content searching tool, coding tools, writing and annotation tools, linking ability and mapping networking tools.

Top Qualitative Data Analysis Software

NVIVO, ATLAS.ti, Provalis Research Text Analysis Software, Quirkos, MAXQDA, Dedoose, Raven’s Eye, Qiqqu, WebQDA, HyperRESEARCH, Transana, F4analyse, Annotations, Datagrav are some of the top qualitative data analysis software.

Conclusion

The ability to prospect and clean the large information is important within the 21^st century and for that proper data analysis tools are required to compete with your rivalries and add edges to your business. You can decide your appropriate data analysis tool based on your needs, development, revenue, cost of your organization.

Yesterday, I finished reading the new encyclical “Fratelli Tutti” by Pope Francis, and this will be my final reflection upon it.

Since the Fall of the USSR in 1991, the Scientific Socialism of Marx and Engels was defeated, and this left Enlightenment Liberalism to establish a new world order. Pope Francis now confronts the modern evils of Anglo-American Liberalism, as he condemns Individualism for dissolving the family, Consumerism for promoting a selfish waste culture, and Neoliberal capitalism for creating unstable market busts. The Supreme Pontiff also denounces the irreligion of Secular Humanism, noting that human rights without God leaves society only with a Nietzschean Will-To-Power, a cruel world of might makes right. Globalism is condemned for imposing Liberal cultural uniformity, while National Populism is rejected for basing itself in the subjective will rather than the objective good. Pope Francis gives us a solution in Christian Integral Humanism, where the dignity, rights, and duties of the human person is founded on the transcendent Image of God. Communitarianism–a society based on the family unit–is to be the golden mean between the isolated individual of the Right and the collectivist blob of the Left. The economy should be a socially minded market , where the poor are given preference and a family wage is provided. This is the Post-Liberal world Pope Francis envisions, where a family of nations can live in peace, justice, and harmony.

This new Encyclical letter is a call for a new way of living human relations: not only on paper, not only by words, but with our daily actions, in our private, public or professional life, overcoming social, cultural and religious divides, like Jesus explains in the Parable of the Good Samaritan or like St. Francis showed in his meeting with the Sultan al-Malik al-Kamal in 1219”.

‘Fratelli tutti’ is a new compass useful also at the political level. It indicates the path towards integral human development, spelling out the needed steps to transform our economic and political systems and to shape them with attitudes such as openness, dialogue, engagement, solidarity, fairness, care for our common home, justice, promotion of the common good, support for the poor and marginalized.

In the third last paragraph of Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis issues a combined appeal for peace, justice, and fraternity with Grand Imam Ahmad Al-Tayyeb (FT 285). An appeal carries weight as it evokes a sense of urgency. It is significant that this joint appeal rounds out the encyclical, maybe ‘saving the best to last’ in a true spirit of inter-faith ‘fraternity’!  The appeal is a powerful text to read aloud, maybe in a liturgical celebration, at a staff meeting or with students. The appeal is book-ended by reference to God; however, it also invokes the names of all those we relegate to the margins: in the name of: innocent life, the destitute, the marginalized, those most in need, the poor ….

To conclude, the document is a moving one precisely because it is not a policy platform or a doctrinal definition, instead it is a timely restatement—an aggiornamento, to use the language of the Second Vatican Council—of core Christian beliefs about the love of one’s neighbour in a time of profound upheaval and conflict. Determining what is real and what is true may be a painful and terrifying process, but the pontiff is right: it is the only way forward.

Let us pray to the Holy Trinity to use the Catholic Church on Earth to further this Social Kingship of Christ!

Pope Francis has a way of throwing us off track. He did so with Evangelii Gaudium. He did it again a few years later with Laudato si! And on October 4, the feast of St. Francis, he continued along the same line with his Fratelli tutti! As the bishop of Rome, Pope Francis has accumulated a sizable repertoire of writings and documents with a style of writing that will surely mark the future writings of the Church. Gone are the lengthy, complicated doctrinal encyclicals with its technical jargon. Pope Francis’ letters are not from on high trying to persuade by their authority; these writings have authority because they seek to convince by their arguments. And if the argument is not convincing, no one is held to account for not accepting it, except perhaps in the current letter on the death penalty and just war.

In Fratelli tutti as well as in Pope Benedict’s social encyclical, Caritas in veritate, the central issue was the same. What happens if humans were to insert love – the biblical agape – in their social relations and encounters. What would happen to the internal economic, social and political relations in a nation or internationally, if we considered the earth as truly belonging to all equally, if we acted toward all earth’s inhabitants as our sisters and brothers, if the relations between humans were not determined by economic power and “right” but by love. Pope Benedict had already explored how we might pass beyond a notion of justice to include the notion of sibling in my relations with others. He had even dared to propose that society would benefit in their social relations if they took the word of Jesus to mind: “Love one another as I have loved you”, to allow us to consider gratuity and graciousness as a measuring stick of our social relations.

This is also the task that Pope Francis gave himself in the latest encyclical. He encourages all of humanity to explore – the encyclical is addressed to all not only to the Catholic community – what the Gospel imperative of love would mean for what Cardinal Czerny has called the “world on the brink”. Many might ask, “Is it not a bit late in the day when the coronavirus pandemic is ravaging the world’s population, when the world economy is imploding under the weight of inequality, and the world’s ecology is threatened by questions of habitability, when politically humans are more and more divided and incapable of hearing one another.” It is indeed a daunting task. Pope Francis provided us with an image of this mission when amid the pandemic he stood alone in St. Peter’s square praying for and blessing the world. Behind him is the massive architecture of St. Peter but empty of people. The institutional power seems broken, the imperial, post-Constantinian framework divested of its symbolic attraction. In a moment of a breakdown of human power relations, is it time to go back to the drawing board? We all might wonder: Is it not too late?

Marcello Neri in his Giustizia della Misericordia (2016) concluded that with the papal ministry of Francis in 2013 a new era in the Church seems to have been inaugurated. He called it the end of the Church as a separated reality. It ended what he called “a Catholic occupation of public space.” This time, with the pandemic stalking us from all sides, it feels like the end of an era. Pope Francis is warning us: “Don’t even think of trying to go back to a time prior to COVID-19.” If one wishes to go back, he advises us, then go back to the Gospel, the joy of the Gospel and drop all the unnecessary what we accumulated. Let us use this time to rethink how we take care of one another economically, how we live together politically, how we relearn to welcome one another, how we learn to speak “charitably” with one another to create neighbours of one another as did the good Samaritan. The message of the encyclical is as unrealistic and farfetched as the Gospel. However, it is the only viable option by going back in order to find our way for the future.

Five things you need to know to really get started.

Setting up and making money from your own business is one of the most rewarding ways to earn a living and also the most challenging. You are in complete control of your own destiny and the power is in your hands to increase your chances of success and outwit the competition. That also means you handle all your decisions and for tackling whatever challenges arise along the way. So, it is vital you get your business on a firm foundation. Better that, than quit your day job straight away! Here are five key steps you should take.

1.       Decide what type of business to start

When deciding on your business idea, it really helps to be familiar with the market that you are interested in and also that you are absolutely clear about what you can add and how you can serve customers differently. Many entrepreneurs know what type of business they wish to start because they have identified a gap or come up with a unique idea for a product or service. You may have several ideas that you want to pursue and do not know how to whittle them down – in which case you can use the resources of the SME Toolkit Caribbean and the Ministry of Trade and Industry websites to assess which ones have the greatest chance of success. You may be an aspiring entrepreneur looking for a business idea and, again, these sites are a great place to draw inspiration. Whatever you choose, make sure that your business idea is something that you feel passionate about. This way you can be sure that the passion and enjoyment of running your own business will never waver, even when times get tough.

2.       Find out if you can protect your idea

One of the first things you should investigate as an entrepreneur is how you can protect and future-proof your business idea. It may be possible to trademark your business name: something to remember is to check that your name is unique in your sector does not mean something completely different or negative in another language, since you may wish to trade abroad in the future. You should also make sure that any business with a name similar to the one you have chosen does not have a poor reputation or trade in an area that is counter to your business ethics.

If you are developing a product that you believe to be new to the market, search for patented works to see whether that is actually the case, it could be very costly if you are infringing any rights held by another business. And if you are planning to make money from photography, writing, fashion, or other creative works you need to look at asserting your copyright and possibly registering your designs.  If you are unsure how to go about this and which element of intellectual property applies to you, attend our ‘How can I protect a business idea?’ workshop. This way, you can ward off the copycats and make sure that you are in pole position to take advantage of future growth opportunities through, for example, licencing and franchising your ideas or inventions. Protecting your intellectual property can also increase the value of your business when you are looking for investors or planning to sell it.

3.       Make sure your idea has legs

A fundamental aspect of setting up any new business is ensuring that there is a gap in the market and that your product or service resonates well with your potential customers. Can they afford to pay the price you need to charge after all of your costs are covered? What are your customers or clients already doing to solve the problem your new idea solves? How does your idea compare? Thorough market research and competitor analysis gives new businesses like yours the ability to make informed decisions about the way you position your products and services and identify your niche.

4. Develop a business plan

A business plan is an absolute necessity for any business aiming for long-term success and growth. It is also good discipline as the key headings in a business plan really make you think hard about all the areas you need to cover for your business to be sustainable, mid- to long term. Write the plan for yourself primarily. It is the perfect opportunity to create a roadmap for the coming months and years and it does not have to read like ‘War and Peace’. A 2–3-page executive summary, a 10–20-page plan and any appendices you want to add should be sufficient. Having a plan will help you keep on track and is essential when you approach potential partners and investors – and will give them the confidence they need to invest in you.

Naturally, any business plan needs to be flexible and fluid, with the ability to change and adapt over time as your business grows. Many businesses of all sizes find the Business Model Canvas an effective and flexible tool to mapping out what their business can do now and where it could be in the future. You can get help with writing your business plan by attending our ‘How to write a successful business plan’ workshop.

5.       Do not run before you can walk

As a new business amid new product development it is important not to a) put all your eggs in one basket and b) spend all of your resource on something without proof of its market potential.

The Lean Start-up method is an excellent approach to finding out whether your product or service will attract real customers before you invest too much time and money. Some people spend months, even years, developing and refining a product without ever testing the product in their target market. It is then a tremendous shock for a potential business owner to find out that the product is not fit for purpose, resulting in the business’s failure before it has even taken off.

Defining a minimum viable product to get the opinions of target consumers is a great idea. It is a skeleton of the final product you would take to market, but it allows you to understand its potential and make any necessary changes before investing maximum resource.