Inside Looking IN (Thesis)
Inside Looking IN: Empowering Local Entrepreneurship for Puerto Rico
A society that talks about “creating jobs” as if that’s something only companies can do will not inspire the great majority of its people to create jobs, for themselves or anyone else. Nor will it appreciate its workers for their role in “creating profits.” (Meadows, 2015)
The Puerto Rican government’s strategy for economic growth has historically been focused around attracting foreign industries. This has led to the neglect of the local ones. Currently, Puerto Rico is experiencing a financial crisis and a 12.6% unemployment rate (McIntyre, 2015) that have led to 300,000 Puerto Rican migrating from 2011 to 2016 alone (Abel et al., 2016). In an effort to drive economic development, the government has started to incentivize entrepreneurship. Leveraging these efforts and integrating them to a systems thinking approach to local entrepreneurship can offer local communities the opportunity to develop local business networks.
Framing
Opportunity
To offer a strategy for Puerto Rican entrepreneurs and communities to build a network of local businesses that leverages the island’s resources and facilitates new opportunities.
How might we use design management methods to define a systems thinking framework that empowers local entrepreneurship for Puerto Rico?
Research
Secondary Research
This diagram describes the entrepreneurial journey including the elements that must exist and the environment they require.
Primary Research
Interviews
Entrepreneurial
Supports
Entrepreneurs
Academics
Local initiatives mapped
In this diagram, an overlap of the existing local initiatives and the previously outlined entrepreneurial journey is shown.
Insights
Emerging topics
“You say entrepreneurship and they think about the ‘major interests’ that are stepping on the workers”
“We need more
international connection for
export and it could be those
Puerto Ricans leaving outside that can serve as contacts to join different markets.”
“In Puerto Rico, there’s not a big orientation to propose ideas that break the norm. The ecosystem is more adaptive or reactive, than proactive.”
“He started to give this a taste of ‘this is happening and you want to be in’ [...] it
needed some sexyness or appeal for it to flow and take off..”
“It’s a small community
with many resources. I think everyone is clear on who’s doing what and on each other’s value proposition. Right now, I think the problem is that it is slightly segmented.”
“Having a business survive in Puerto Rico against the monsters the government is bringing with facilities and tax exemptions is heroic.”
This diagram shows insights as they relate to the entrepreneurial journey map for easier comparison.
Insights
Many consumers don’t’ trust entrepreneurs or local products.
Local context and differentiators are not being leveraged.
Ideas tend to be imported, there’s a lack of innovative thinking.
The entrepreneurial community lacks motivation, especially at early stages.
There is an opportunity to foster a better relationship with the local community by addressing the local context.
+
There is an opportunity to provide tools to identify impactful, longterm and profitable opportunities.
The Final Concept: CAPICÚ
Value Proposition
The Model
The Services
The Platform
The Opportunity Kit
Community Outreach
- Report and assess needs/concerns
- Provide idea feedback
- Contribute to projects
Knowledge Exchange
- Discover community needs
- Impactful discussions
- Multi-disciplinary exchanges
- Join committed individuals
Opportunity Identification
- Systems thinking
- Future visualization
- Path identification
Opportunity Development
- Co-working space
- Next steps orientation
- Community funding
The Users
The Interactions
Final Prototype and Testing
This study identifies ways to empower local entrepreneurship in Puerto Rico. Design management methodology and design thinking processes were used to research and analyze the local context. The research findings demonstrated a disconnect between entrepreneurs and the general community, lost opportunities pertaining to the local context, lack of an innovative forward thinking culture and a need for motivation. As a result a service that integrates community expression with entrepreneurial efforts and guidance was developed. This service aims to tackle these issues and foster the development of impactful, long-term and profitable business opportunities that serve Puerto Rico and its citizens.
