StratSynth Group: Using Technology For Rapid Aid Delivery In East Africa

Background of StratSynth Group

Question:

What is the Mangement Establishing the  Stratsynth Aid Corpoation ?

The StratSynth Group is an aid delivery corporation formed by Melinda Gates and Priscilla Chan Zukerberg with the basic aim of stabilizing developing regions through various projects. In these projects the corporation distributes knowledge that will enable these countries to advance. Among the areas of interest in  the corporation is the spider light strike vehicle, pouncer drone and the Rokon two wheel driver  motorcycles that will be used in the rapid aid delivery.  In the same line it is important to note that aid corporation such as StratSynth Group are usually service oriented about their missions (McDonnell, 2016). Their main focus will be to use technological resources to fulfill their mission in a good manner without looking at the economic profit but ensure economic gains to the beneficiaries with whom they will work with.  StratSynth Group will be different from the normal corporate model since it will not have owners to please even though it will consist of the normal corporate structure than includes the management, the board, volunteers and staff and the ultimate audience who will be the groups that the organisation will serve.

Forming StratSynth Group was inspired by the current East African Drought crisis. This is the worst to hit the region for over a period of 60 years. According to report by the united nations, famine is officially declared in parts of Southern Somalia regions that include Southern Bakool and lower Shebelle (Mwangi, et al., 2016).  According to the current situation, it is estimated that the entire Somalia is bound to face famine in the near future. Several food aid organisations have been working tirelessly to assess the drought needs on the ground most of them focusing on water resources that are needed in places like Kenya’s Daadab refugee camp.  These camp is one of the largest catering for more than 1300 refugees daily from the war tone Somalia.  According to recent statistics, Daadab refugee camp is a home to almost 400,000 displaced people who are in three camps. The capacity of this camp was originally meant to cater for 90,000 refugees. As if this is not enough, other refugee countries in east Africa have also been severely affected by the ongoing drought. This is due to perennial failure of seasonal rains and the ever increasing food prices, limited human access and conflict (Detges, 2016). Other factors that come with this is food shortage, mass displacement in search of food and malnutrition among children. It is estimated that at least 1.5 million people have been displaced in the recent years and 10million are in need of food aid in East Africa (Opusa, 2017). With this in Mind, StratSynth aid corporation has  is an aid corporation formed by Melinda Gates and Chan Zukerberg with an aim of embracing technology as a means of ensuring fast delivery of aid in the drought torn East Africa.

while establishing the StratSynth aid corporation, it is important to understand that most countries in East Africa have many laws and regulations pass (Doyle & Stern, 2006). This is because like any other countries, politics of the day drive the policies and foreign support that is Enjoyed in Kenya, Somalia, and Sudan which are the worst hit countries with regard to drought. Some of the established Nongovernmental organisation working to support the drought situation have at times been forced to leave the region and work somewhere else due to political pressure. Also in the same line, it is important to note that the political situation in countries like Uganda and Kenya is somehow controlled with a working government, however it might still be explosive for new corporations such as StratSynth aid corporation.  This means that for the corporation to establish their activities in east Africa it will be important that Melinda and Chan understands the politics of the region  and the scope of what they will be allowed to cover and what will not be allowed by the government of the day (Baker & Anderson, 2010). Also it is important to mention law, corruption and business friendliness of the country as being controlled by the political factors only. In some cases this has led to the fight for resources and power where some of the aid organisations working in the country have seen aid programs meant for the people in need benefiting political elites as they demand the power to control the programs. 

Current Situation in East Africa

East Africa has a very high inflation rate when compared to the dollar in foreign exchange (Beardwell & Claydon, 2010). The countries’ GDP and employment rates are also at most time low. However there has been some improvement in countries like Rwanda and Kenya due to the change of governance in the most recent years. There are also other economic growth indicators who show strength in terms of expansion and good management of resources in some sectors. It is also important that StratSynth aid corporation know that they are dealing with developing nations that give them advantage of having strong economics in place due to their developing nature. However, there is also the risk of backwardness which makes economics of the countries in the region a challenge (Mwangi, et al., 2016). This means that east Africa as among developing nations will be able to attract more businesses and corporations that StratSynth aid corporation will have to compete with in terms of aid performance and finding support for their program.  One particular explanation why this happens is the economic status that favor some corporations which show positive regard to the countries’ developing nature (Doyle & Stern, 2006).

In this factors, StratSynth aid corporation will have to work on their image and reputation to penetrate its services to east Africa (Attar, 2016). Other aid organisation like Red cross, USAID and Action Aid already have a brand that refugees and people living in the drought stricken regions can identify with. This will be especially most important when the corporation will be penetrating hostile areas like the southern Sudan and Somalia. Given the fact that they corporation plans to use technology such as drones to deliver aid, war zones in Somalia may mistakenly thing the drones are meant to fight them and derail delivery of their actions. This shows that some social factors will always play that will either make or break the StratSynth aid corporation brand. in this manner, the corporation will need to do initial assessment meetings with authorities and local administration to clearly spell out their intention in working in the countries (Baker & Anderson, 2010). The other ways that they can be able to establish rapport is use their original brand names like Bill and Melinda foundation and Chan Zukerberg initiative. Such original brands have already established activities in some parts of east Africa which will enable them penetrate the regions. Social factors are in the countries are very important in the molding of the focus areas of the corporation.

The main inspiration behind the formation of StratSynth aid corporation is technology (Bernel, 2013). The corporation aims at using technology to speed up the delivery of aid in drought stricken regions of east Africa. With regard to information and communications technologies, the countries in East Africa are not left behind. However, the internet reach is still low in most of the drought stricken regions and some of the countries are still struggling with increasing the reach. One of the best performers with regard to technology is Kenya which is currently leading as the most internet connected society in east Africa. Technology will also affect the corporations e-platform and the control of their drones, meaning that the formulation strategy will have to be well positioned (Bernel, 2013).  The best option will be to set a country office in Kenya which is a pivot for most of the east African countries.

Political and Economic Factors Affecting Aid Delivery

This situation will happen when new entrants to the aid distribution technology will come in a desire to implement the same program with substantial resources than the ones StratSynth aid corporation currently has (Baker & Anderson, 2010). There could be other corporations that diversify through acquisition of government and international support which will leverage their resources and interrupt the current plan by StratSynth aid corporation. However this will depend on the present barriers and reaction from other implementors.

This will most look at the suppliers of the advanced technology system (McDonnell, 2016). The power of suppliers will also look at distributors and resource mobilizers. It is important that StratSynth aid corporation establish a good rapport with suppliers to ensure a good and smooth supply chains flow.

With regard to the nature of the work, StratSynth aid corporation will mostly deal with government organisations. However, the market is wide and will also spread to the non-governmental organisations world in aid support. In order to win the power of buyers, the corporation will have to come up with a good service and pricing strategy for their engagement (Doyle & Stern, 2006).

Substitute products will look at the alternative means of quick aid delivery apart from the technology that StratSynth aid corporation is suggesting. It will also look at factors such as pricing and efficiency of the technology propose. In this regard, StratSynth aid corporation will need to do an initial assessment visit to ensure that the technologies used are the best and cannot be substituted (Baker & Anderson, 2010).

 Rivalry is good in any operation, it ensure that services are done perfectly and to the best. Rivalry in this manner will come from other established groups in the region who would feel StratSynth aid corporation want to drive them out of operation. Such rivalries will include the red cross, action aid and the rest (Doyle & Stern, 2006).

Here the corporation will have to look at both the tangible and intangible resources that will enable the corporation work better. Some of the tangible resources include having enough personnel, administrative and branch offices in the east African region, warehouse for storing the drones and aid and vehicles. Intangible resources on the other hand will look at issues such as the knowledge and trust the company has in its human resources, the confidence it will create with authorities in east Africa, reputation it will create with beneficiaries of their program, the StratSynth brand name growth and suppliers (McDonnell, 2016).

1. Microsoft corporation
2. UPS
3. DHL
4. Red Cross
5. UAV Australia

 Rationale:  All of the above organisations need to be include in the corporation operations due to the fact that they all server different purposes. An organisation such as Microsoft corporation will provide required customized software that will help in the manipulation and monitoring of the corporations work. Also UAV Australia will be a good partner to provide the corporation with high tech drones while the other organisations will be vital in at the transport and delivery logistics level.  It is important that StratSynth considers a joint venture with these organisation when they are executing programs. This will see the organisation regulate cost of operations and increase its reach.  With regard to equity alliance, the corporation will have to do this on a needs basis. For example when seeking aid it can make alliances with Red cross and when moving to most report areas it can make alliances with organisations such as DHL and UPS. In  terms of non-equity alliances, this will depend on the terms of engagement with the organisation.

The interest of Melinda Gates in firms that produces spider light strike vehicle, pouncer drones and the rokon two wheel drive motorcycle is a great venture. This is because all the machinery mentioned are used  to increase efficiency in service delivery. In addition, given that she attended the conference, it is possible that she could  great a long term partnership with the owners of these technologies and enter into a long term deal with regard to their operations in the east African region.

The mission of the corporation is to expand its coverage to all the drought stricken nations in east Africa and through improved aid delivery. The vision will be to realize 95-100% reduction of drought related deaths and illnesses in the region within a period of  5 years.

References

Attar, M. A., 2016. Corporate Governance and Financial Statement Disclosure Quality in Jordanian Commercial Banks. International Journal of Economics and Finance, 8(10), p. 192.

Baker, H. K. & Anderson, R., 2010. Corporate Governance: A Synthesis of Theory, Research, and Practice (Robert W. Kolb Series). 1st ed. NY: Wiley.

Beardwell, J. & Claydon, T., 2010. Human Resource Management: A contemporary approach. 6 ed. Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall.

Bernel, J., 2013. Web 2.0 and Social Networking for the Enterprise: Guidelines and Examples for Implementation and Management Within Your Organization. s.l.:IBM Press; 1 edition.

Detges, A., 2016. Local conditions of drought-related violence in sub-Saharan Africa: The role of road and water infrastructures. Journal of Peace Research, 53(5), pp. 696-710.

Doyle, P. & Stern, P., 2006. Marketing Management & Strategy, 4th Ed. Edinburgh: Prentice Hall.

Kawar, T. I., 2012. Cross-cultural Differences in Management. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 3(6), pp. 2-7.

McDonnell, B., 2016. Benefit corporations and strategic action fields or. Seattle University Law Review, 39(2), p. 263.

Mwangi, E. et al., 2016. Forecasting droughts in East Africa. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, vol. 18, no. 2, pp. , 18(2), pp. 611-620.

Opusa, 2017. Drought Crisis in East Africa: Disaster Response. [Online]
Available at: https://www.opusa.org/drought-crisis-in-east-africa-disaster-response/
[Accessed 28 April 2017].