An invigorating reality check for anyone thinking about starting a business in a developing country.
The story of the trials of running a startup company in Africa.
“I never cared about Africa,” writes Alexander, a former executive editor of Variety and senior editor of People. “I never wanted to join the Peace Corps, raft the Zambezi, haggle in Fez or climb Kilimanjaro.” Nonetheless, he accompanied his brother, Whit, on one of his entrepreneurial quests there. Whit’s company, Burro, which rents batteries to people in villages in Ghana that lack electricity, aims to help the villagers save money while making a profit. It has been a worthwhile but arduous venture, and Alexander documents the many challenges of running a profitable business in an unfamiliar country. Burro is not Whit’s first company, however; he was also co-founder of the board game Cranium. Alexander notes that getting a startup off the ground is complicated even for the experienced entrepreneur, and sure enough, Burro ran into problems such as unreliable workers, faulty batteries and missed payments. There were two main issues underlying most of the complications: selling to a consumer base with extremely limited disposable income and working in a country without a viable infrastructure. Whit’s insistence that the company operate as a profitable business without handouts has made it an even more difficult, yet more rewarding, journey. After the author’s yearlong stay, Burro was still not breaking even, but it was closer to doing so with the help of a few interns and new advertising strategies. Alexander vividly describes the landscape of Ghana’s urban areas and villages; the portrait is beautiful at times, but the poverty is astonishing. Ultimately, the author’s colorful writing and humanitarian drive make the book well worth reading.
An invigorating reality check for anyone thinking about starting a business in a developing country.Pub Date: July 17, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4013-2417-9
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 27, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Though the administration may be remembered as the worst in American history, the people seem mostly silent. One wishes that...
New York Times columnist Rich delivers a savaging sermon on the US government’s “rampant cronyism, the empty sloganeering of ‘compassionate conservativism,’ the reckless lack of planning for all government operations except tax cuts”—and so much more.
Anyone who knows his work will know that Rich is no fan of either George Bush, a man “not conversant with reality as most Americans had experienced it,” or the Bush administration. In this blend of journalism and mentalités-style history—that is, the study of the mindsets that underlie and produce events—Rich looks closely and critically at the White House’s greatest hits, from the 2001 defense of gas-guzzling as essential to the American way of life to “Heckuva job, Brownie” to the ongoing morass of Iraq. By Rich’s account, of course, that parade of missteps is organic; Bush and company cannot help but err. In an effort to disguise that track record, the Republicans have exercised single-minded control of the grand narrative of the last five years, at least in part because they have exercised quasi-totalitarian control over the news media. (They are nearly forgotten already, but one needs to remember Judith Miller, Jeff Gannon, Karen Ryan and various columnists and commentators paid off to repeat the party line.) Not for nothing did a White House adviser reveal to one journalist that his bosses were set on creating their “own reality,” one that all Americans were expected to share; not for nothing did that reality include spinning amazing lies about everything from the death of football- and war hero Pat Tillman to the kidnapping of Jessica Lynch to the government’s preparedness for Katrina. And yet, and yet . . .
Though the administration may be remembered as the worst in American history, the people seem mostly silent. One wishes that Rich had explored that particular mentalité along with the others he so fluently discusses.Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2006
ISBN: 1-59420-098-X
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Penguin Press
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2006
Provides a framework, but could have pushed further.
A business-strategy tome heavy on generalizations.
There is an overabundance of books on business strategy. What tends to differentiate one from another? Truly new insights–which are admittedly hard to come by–or detailed case studies that demonstrate the strategies in action. Unfortunately, Rx for Business: Thinkivity lacks both. While Evans is clearly well-versed in business strategy, she covers little that’s new. Most of the information about strategic planning has been addressed elsewhere and with greater authority. Evans claims “Thinkivity” is “a revolutionary system that has helped top executives at S&P 500 companies turn strategy and long-term goals into tangible financial results for their organizations.” Yet none of these executives are quoted in the book and few companies are referenced. American Express and Hewlett-Packard, the only two firms used as examples, appear very briefly in anecdotal form. It would be generous to refer to them as case studies. The book offers a decent discussion of strategic planning, and the author is skilled at explaining the value of workflow design. Probably the most useful content in terms of innovation is the chapter on “What If” strategy. Here, Evans offers advice for becoming “pilot, navigator, and ground control”–as the business leader explores various “what if” ideas, he or she is guiding efforts, keeping things moving in the right direction and making pieces work together. In this section, Evans includes questions to ask, a sample idea-generation agenda and evaluation methodology for assessing each idea, all of which are helpful. The other useful tools in the book are sample mission statements, process flow diagrams, a strategic-planning worksheet and a sample strategic plan. Such tools are not uncommon in business-strategy books. This book follows Rx for Business: Qualitivity (2006), Evans’ first book about the synergy between quality and productivity. This second book in the series does a reasonably decent job of offering a structured approach to strategic planning, but it doesn’t present anything groundbreaking.
Provides a framework, but could have pushed further.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-595-47820-0
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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