It has been a long summer break and our blog has been silent for almost 3 months now. No more!
We look to start this year with vigor and are excited to take a new journey together. At this year's club fair we had a record 60 new members sign up. They filled out a survey telling us their interests and aspirations.
However, at EMDC we hope to surpass their aspirations. I hope this year is beyond the ordinary and expected. Here's to more to come.
But before jumping into everything, I must pause to introduce the newest member of our club. I want to introduce you to GEORGE BALL, the sharing monkey. George loves to share. He shares his thoughts, ideas and skills and hopes that we do the same. Why did George join our group? Its because George is going to help us full-fill our vision for the coming year.
George is going to help us build a dialogue; a dialogue that is deeply needed across a broad swath of stake holders at Darden (See Exhibit 1.).
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| Exhibit 1: George Ball building a dialogue across a range of stakeholders |
So why is this dialogue important? Well it goes back to the purpose of EMDC.
EMDC cares about developing markets. These are markets that don't exist and should, or markets that are under-developed. These are the markets for food, water, security, finance, roads and even cellphones. Missing markets are relevant to everybody. Below are just a few examples.
The Career Folk
- Consultants will have to help their clients work in societies with no roads, building businesses in a places with no infrastructure.
- General managers will have to higher and develop talent when their local education system is limiting skilled labor.
- Financiers and investors will have to operate in a geography with non-existent capital markets and lack of legal frameworks.
- Marketers will need to understand the world's largest growing demographic and the range of challenges they face.
The Industry Folk
- Each of these represents a broken market.
- Education is either too costly or too inefficient. Skilled labor is hard to find in developing economies and as a result incomes stagnate
- Healthcare is not available in many rural economies, and even cities have over-extended healthcare systems
- Energy is an enabler of development, but oil-gas also are the root causes of many developmental challenges.
The Global Folk
- The issue extends across the globe and hence we need a global perspective
- These are conversations about what it means to be a civilization. Everyone must be at the table
The Thinkers and Doers
- Ultimately there are no clear answers. We need bright minds and willing hands.
- From academics to firms, each is part of the solution.
So ultimately, what is the missing ingredient?
The dialogue.
That is EMDC's purpose. We hope you will join us this year as we hope to build on our past foundations. Our goal is very simple. Let's start thinking. Let's start doing.
Best Wishes,
CJ - President 2013-2014
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