Month: July 2018

Righting a Wrong: Re-thinking CSME

Posted on July 10, 2018 in Government, Locations, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

It could have been so good for the country, but the leaders had no vision and so the people suffered! 

The summary of the Caribbean Single Market & Economy (CSME) effort is that an integrated regional economy always grows! But the Bahamas suffered the malediction warned in the Bible scripture in Proverbs 29:18 (King James Version):

Where there is no vision, the people perish…

There is the need to look back at the Bahamas – and other Caribbean countries that waived off the initiative – and do a …

“Coulda, woulda, shoulda”.

What could have been accomplished had the progressive Single Market initiative gone forward, as it succeeded elsewhere?

How do we now Right that Wrong?

This is the continuation of a commentary series from May 2017 that considered how to “Right a Wrong”. Surely, missing out on the opportunity to transform Bahamian society is a “Wrong”. The ship (regional integration) sailed … without us! Other communities – think the European Union or EU – that integrated, grew, progressed and optimized – migrants are dying to get there – while the Bahamas regressed! So there are lessons that we need to glean from the effort to “Right our Wrongs”. Others can benefited, so can we! The full 2017 series were as follows:

As related in the first submission in the series, these “Wrongs” relate to bad actions and inaction by different actors. The Bahamas Intelligentsia was vocal in their opposition to CSME in 1993 – see a prominent White Paper at the time in the Appendix below. But since then, the societal indices in the Bahamas has only pointed to failure, regression and abandonment. The summary is that this country adopted a bad economic policy – by waiving off CSME – to preserve low-skilled jobs. “Righting that Wrong” would detour from this lack of economic planning and allow the country to finally reboot, reform and transform.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean addressed CSME from the beginning; starting with the opening assessment of the State of Caribbean integration. The book detailed CSME on Page 15 as follows:

What is the CSME?
The initials refer to the Caribbean Single Market & Economy, the attempted integrated development strategy envisioned at the 10th Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community which took place in July 1989 in Grand Anse, Grenada. The Grand Anse Declaration had three key features:

  1. Deepening economic integration by advancing beyond a common market towards a Single Market and Economy.
  2. Widening the membership and thereby expanding the economic mass of the Caribbean Community (e.g. Suriname and Haiti were admitted as full members in 1995 and 2002 respectively).
  3. Progressive insertion of the region into the global trading and economic system by strengthening trading links with non-traditional partners.

What was the hope for CSME?
Whereas CariCom started as a Common Market and Customs Union, to facilitate more intra-region trade, the CSME was intended to effect more integration of the economies of the member states. But this turned out to be mere talk, fanciful murmurings of politicians during their bi-annual Heads of Government meetings. No deployment plans ever emerged, even though up to 15 member-states signed on to the accord; (and 10 more as “Observers” only).

If this effort was started again, what would be done differently?
Make it real! There should have been funding first, then also a proposed constitution, an interstate compact for the US Territories participation, delivery schedules, implementation plans, and even project teams. Many “low hanging fruits” should have been “picked” and their successful deployment lauded throughout the region. Then there are the big projects, the heavy-lifting for the region: job creation, improved governance, security, emergency management, currency & monetary ascension, and support/promotion for many NGO’s in the region.

This Go Lean book was published in November 2013, projecting verbiage like “the Caribbean is in Crisis; alas a crisis is a terrible thing to waste” (Page 8). According to many observations in the Go Lean blogs-commentaries – see below – the Bahamas crisis is dire, in need of immediate remediation, yet the leaders are continuing to waive-off; see a news article here:

Title: Bahamas maintains stance against CSME
By: Royston James

The Bahamas will maintain its stance against joining the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME), despite increased pressure from certain regional heads to expand the initiative.

The CSME seeks to create a single, enlarged economic space by removing certain restrictions, the result of which would allow the free movement of goods and services, people and capital and technology.

“In spite of what you may read in the newspaper, we have discussed CSME, [but] The Bahamas is not and will not be a part of CSME,” Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis said upon returning from Jamaica on Saturday.

“The Bahamas will not allow the free movement of people within our boundaries. So we are not a part of CSME. That must be clear, so that you do not feel that [because of] what has transpired there that Caribbean nationals would be able to move into The Bahamas quite regularly.

“We have our rules, our laws, and they will continue to apply.”

Full implementation of the CSME was high on the agenda of the CARICOM meeting held last Thursday. At least three CARICOM heads called for a review of the program by its member states and for regional leaders to find the political will to see the program expanded and made more efficient.

Addressing CARICOM, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley opined that “psychological impediments and the closed mindsets in some quarters of officialdom” can be attributed to the slow progress of the CSME.

Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne and CARICOM Secretary General Irwin LaRocque also pushed for more to be achieved. CARICOM Chairman and Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness said at a press conference following the CARICOM meeting that a special meeting on CSME will be held in Trinidad and Tobago in November.

Under the first Christie administration, the CSME issue featured prominently in local debates with strong opposition to The Bahamas joining the initiative being expressed in many quarters. Debate died down only after the government at the time publicly announced that The Bahamas would not join any bloc that would lead to the free movement of people in the country.

Source: Posted July 9, 2018 retrieved July 10, 2018 from: https://thenassauguardian.com/2018/07/09/bahamas-maintains-stance-against-csme/

The recommendation of the movement behind the Go Lean book is to confederate now!

This is the purpose of the book Go Lean…Caribbean, to help reform and transform the societal engines of the Bahamas and all 30 member-states of the Caribbean region. The book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The Go Lean/CU roadmap applies best-practices for community empowerment and features these 3 prime directives, proclaimed as follows:

Had the CU Single Market been in force, the arguments among the people would have been “which of the 2.2 million new jobs would land in the Bahamas”. Rather, according to the foregoing news article, the topics du jour is how to keep poorer people away from the measly resources in the Bahamas. This is happening while more and more Bahamian professionals are fleeing the islands for foreign shores and organizing their affairs in the Diaspora. See related photo here:

According to the Bahamas Prime Minister, the overriding issue with CSME is the Free Movement of People. The country would rather maintain its independence than to succumb to a new “free movement” regime whereby people can freely move from one Caribbean member-state to another for any activity: live, work or play. This is the defect of CSME!

Lesson learned!

The Go Lean roadmap is designed to elevate the Caribbean region, to be better destinations to live, work and play. The movement therefore fosters strategies, tactics and implementation to better foment the regional workplace. The roadmap asserts that Caribbean communities need the Free Movement of People under controlled employment rules-conditions. This is why the CU Trade Federation is a graduation from the CSME – something better. We accomplish Free Trade and Free Movement of People for Domestic (Intra-region) Tourism, but controlled Freedom of Movement for jobs … based on Labor Certification. Here is how the Go Lean book describes the Certification process:

CU Labor Relations Board
This agency coordinates the activities of labor certifications, labor unions and other organizational dimensions in the region. This effort will be collaborated and in cooperation with member-state Labor Relations agencies. The CU‘s focus will be towards interstate activities and enterprises, as opposed to intra-state.

Labor Certification is an important role for this agency as it requires monitoring the labor needs of the region to ascertain where skills are needed and where and who can supply the skills. The certification role involves rating the level of expertise needed for job and rating workers skill sets. (Consider a 10-point grading system for positions and personnel, where “apprentice” level ranges from 1 – 3, “journeyman” level ranges from 4 – 6, and “master” ranges from 7 – 10). This certification role is vital to the strategy of preserving Caribbean human capital in the region, even if this involves some movement among the member-states.  [When a high skilled job becomes available, it has to be rated so that if no local talents are available, workers with qualifying ratings in other CU member-states can apply and be engaged].

When a labor union from one country wants to represent workers in another country, this union will have to be registered and administered by this agency for the CU.

Outside of the labor unions, this agency also marshals the causes of labor abuses, job discrimination and equal opportunities for minority groups, women and persons with disabilities; [in conjunction with related agencies in the member-states].

This agency also maintains a Project Management Office to deliver on regional labor-specific projects. This includes training programs, continuing education and e-Learning schemes among the non-matriculating population. This agency will therefore be the regional authority for “on-the-job” training schemes.

This approach is more technocratic than the status quo, and allows the Caribbean region to embrace the benefits of a Single Market without endangering low-skilled jobs. Sad, the Bahamas is suffering from decline trying to preserve low-skilled jobs!

This issue was also the underlying complaint for Great Britain / United Kingdom desiring to exit the EU; this refers to Brexit. See the aligning issue in the Appendix VIDEO below. Again, lesson learned!

The points of effective, technocratic stewardship for a regional labor market have been elaborated upon in previous blog-commentaries. Consider this sample:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=14954 Overseas Workers – Not the Panacea
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=14242 Leading with Money Matters – Follow the Jobs
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=14191 Scheduling in the ‘Gig Economy’ – The New Job Source
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8377 Fallacy of Minimum Wage
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5759 Pressed by Debt Crisis, Doctors Leave Greece in Droves
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5597 Wage-Seeking Principles – Market Forces -vs- Collective Bargaining
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1698 Professional STEM Jobs Are Filling Slowly

What should be the advocacy priority of a technocratic regional government? Low-skilled workers? Professional classes? High Net-Worth individuals? The answer: All of the above!

Overall, the Go Lean book stresses the community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to reform and transform the economic, security and governing engines of Caribbean society. This effort will be technocratic! It will preserve low-skill jobs, foster professional careers and invite High Net-Worth individuals to bring their Time, Talent and Treasures to our region. This vision was pronounced in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 12-14) with these statements:

xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.

xii. Whereas the legacy in recent times in individual states may be that of ineffectual governance with no redress to higher authority, the accedence of this Federation will ensure accountability and escalation of the human and civil rights of the people for good governance, justice assurances, due process and the rule of law. As such, any threats of a “failed state” status for any member state must enact emergency measures on behalf of the Federation to protect the human, civil and property rights of the citizens, residents, allies, trading partners, and visitors of the affected member state and the Federation as a whole.

xix. Whereas our legacy in recent times is one of societal abandonment, it is imperative that incentives and encouragement be put in place to first dissuade the human flight, and then entice and welcome the return of our Diaspora back to our shores. This repatriation should be effected with the appropriate guards so as not to imperil the lives and securities of the repatriated citizens or the communities they inhabit. The right of repatriation is to be extended to any natural born citizens despite any previous naturalization to foreign sovereignties.

xxiv. Whereas a free market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, the Federation must install the controls to better manage aspects of the economy: jobs, inflation, savings rate, investments and other economic principles. Thereby attracting direct foreign investment because of the stability and vibrancy of our economy.

xxvi. Whereas the Caribbean region must have new jobs to empower the engines of the economy and create the income sources for prosperity, and encourage the next generation to forge their dreams right at home, the Federation must therefore foster the development of new industries …. In addition, the Federation must invigorate the enterprises related to existing industries … – impacting the region with more jobs.

Yes, the purpose of this commentary is to project the better plan for reforming and transforming the Caribbean societal engines. Yes, we need jobs, but doubling-down on bad economic policy to preserve low-skilled job is bad for society … and the low-skilled worker. Automation and globalization would diminish those jobs further anyway as time and technology progresses; consider the eventual example of robots performing construction in this previous blog-commentary from the Go Lean movement.

Now is the time for all stakeholders – leaders, citizens, low-skilled workers and professionals – in the Caribbean to lean-in for the empowerments described here-in and in the book Go Lean … Caribbean. We must do better that in the past; we must Right the Wrong of past generations “missing the boat” and benefits of regional integration. This is how we can make the Bahamas and all of the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

—————

Appendix – No Caricom Without Referendum

By Sir Randol Fawkes – June 1993

I often wondered what The Caribbean Community’s Common Market (CARICOM) was up to. But now that I know, I wish to sound a warning to all true Bahamians to hold fast to the “Christian values and the Rules of Law” as enshrined in the Preamble to our Independence Constitution of July 10th, 1973, because some power-hungry politicians to the South are planning to invade our homeland and to steal our birthright away.

Simple enough? Dictatorship is always simple, monosyllabic and quick. Under a democracy we have a right to be properly briefed on CARICOM before being required to vote, “Yes” or “No” on whether the Bahamas should become a full Member State of the Caribbean Community’s CARICOM. The Rt. Hon. James F. Mitchell further expostulated, “One flag means we speak on the podium of the United Nations with one clear voice. One voice means one passport, one citizenship and all that flows from a single citizenship. Secondly, one Ministry of Finance is essential to provide the economic development which our people crave. This union will need to show results, and this authority which negotiates and secures financing must be responsible for the repayment of that finance.”

Make no mistake about it, these Caribbeans who will descend on Bahamian soil in July offering CARICOM as a panacea for all ills, intend to destroy our national flag: the Black, the Gold and the Aquamarine; silence our National Anthem, Lift Up Your Heads to the Rising Sun Bahama land, abolish Bahamian citizenship and our passports; eliminate Bahamian autonomy and thereafter superimpose upon us a leviathan dictatorship with a network of cells throughout the Caribbean – all done without first a people’s forum in which all voices – pro and con could be heard and ultimately expressed in a Constitutional Referendum.

…

Source: Retrieved July 10, 2018 from: http://www.sirrandolfawkes.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/No_Caricom_Without_Referendum1.216134242.pdf

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Appendix VIDEO – Brexit: UK-EU freedom of movement ‘to end in March 2019’- BBC News – https://youtu.be/qzlUNIJ0f_0

BBC News

BBC News
Published on Jul 27, 2017 – New immigration system will be in place by March 2019 when the free movement of people between the EU and the UK ends, a minister has said.
Immigration Minister Brandon Lewis was speaking as the government commissioned a “detailed assessment” of the costs and benefits of EU migrants.
That report is expected in September 2018, six months before Brexit.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd earlier reassured firms there would be no “cliff edge” on immigration. Writing in the Financial Times she said the UK would continue to attract “the brightest and the best” migrants from around the world – with the newspaper suggesting a work permit system for Europeans was being considered.
The CBI said businesses “urgently” needed to know what EU migration would look like, both in any “transitional” period after March 2019 and beyond. Ministers have also promised an “extensive” consultation to listen to the views of businesses, unions and universities.

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Should We Celebrate the ‘4th of July’? – ENCORE

Posted on July 4, 2018 in Government, Social

This is a good question.

Think about America’s closest Ally, England, Great Britain or the United Kingdom; (same country, 3 names): Do they celebrate this American Holiday in London?

Should they?

Of course not!

This good question was asked a year ago on July 4th, 2017 in a previous blog-commentary. It is so important that Caribbean people should ask it every year. The Encore of that previous submission follows:

==================================================================

Go Lean Commentary – A Lesson in History – ‘4th of July’ and Slavery

CU Blog - A Lesson in History - Slavery and the 4th of July - Photo 1Today is a special day in the United States, it is the 241st anniversary of their Declaration of Independence from Great Britain on July 4, 1776. This day will be celebrated all over the country with parades, picnics, music and fireworks.

The celebrations of this day is a BIG deal!

What is buried in this annual celebration is the stark and sharp contrast on the different sides in the conflict of July 4, 1776. There were the British loyalists on one hand and those seeking freedom from the British, the patriots, on the other hand; see the opposing sides here:

Title #1: What two sides emerged in response to the Declaration of Independence? What did each side favor?

Answer:
The Patriots and Loyalists; Patriots favored independence and Loyalists favored staying as a British colony.

Explanation:
Tensions were simmering prior to the start of the Revolution, and the Declaration of Independence, signed in 1776 formally broadcasted to all that the United States was a new and independent nation. This led to two factions being formed: Patriots and Loyalists.

Patriots believed that the United States should be an independent nation separate from Britain. They felt that they were being treated unfairly as a colony and that their basic rights were being trampled upon. It was their view that the time for compromises was over and that the colonies needed to leave the British Empire.

Loyalists thought that the colonies were better off staying with England. Some did this out of loyalty for the king, but others feared instability and anarchy in the event of a change in government. In addition, many feared that the economic fallout with the mother country would destabilize the American economy.

All in all, these were the two groups that were formed, and as you know, the Patriots emerged as successful and formed a new nation.

Source: Retrieved July 4, 2017 from: https://socratic.org/questions/what-two-sides-emerged-in-response-to-the-declaration-of-independence-what-did-e

The patriots get to celebrate the 4th of July every year. But as there were 2 sides of this conflict, we sometimes forget the loyalists side of the conflict. They did not simply go away; they remained vocal and loyal to the Britain’s Crown.

The category of loyalists have a big bearing on the history of the Caribbean. Of the 30 member-states that caucus as the Caribbean, 18 of them have British heritage. Many of these were impacted by the American Declaration of Independence; many loyalists fled America and relocated to these British West Indies. Consider these notes:

When their cause was defeated, about 15% of the Loyalists (65,000–70,000 people) fled to other parts of the British Empire, to Britain itself, or to British North America (now Canada). …

CU Blog - A Lesson in History - Slavery and the 4th of July - Photo 3a

CU Blog - A Lesson in History - Slavery and the 4th of July - Photo 2a

CU Blog - A Lesson in History - Slavery and the 4th of July - Photo 2b

The wealthiest and most prominent Loyalist exiles went to Great Britain to rebuild their careers; many received pensions. Many Southern Loyalists, taking along their slaves, went to the West Indies and the Bahamas, particularly to the Abaco Islands. – Source: Wikipedia

CU Blog - A Lesson in History - Slavery and the 4th of July - Photo 3b

Great Britain also responded … formally. See details of the response here:

Title #2: The British Reply

When Great Britain first received the Declaration of Independence, the country was silent. To them, this was another annoyance from the colonies. The colonists had sent previous letters to King George III that had been ignored, but this was the first time that they had declared themselves free from Great Britain. You know how you feel when a little child continues to ask you for the same thing over and over again, and eventually, you stop listening? This was how King George III viewed the colonies. They were a nuisance, but relatively harmless. Or so he thought.

The government hired John Lind, an English politician and pamphleteer, to write a rebuttal to the declaration. He wrote Answer to the Declaration of the American Congress, a reply that tried to pick apart the Declaration of Independence. Lind focused on the issue of slavery, saying that the colonists were actually angry that King George III had offered freedom to the slaves. Lind even mocked the writers for stating, ‘All men are created equal…’, yet they allowed slavery. Of course, all of this was just a distraction. The colonists really paid no attention to the pamphlet.

Following this, King George III officially declared the colonies to be in a state of rebellion. By August of 1776, the King ordered troops to the colonies.

Once the Revolutionary War began, the citizens of Great Britain became more concerned about the colonies and their fight for independence. In October, King George III addressed Parliament, hoping to ease some of the concerns. He opened the address wishing that he could inform them that the troubles were at an end and that the people had ‘recovered from their delusion’ and ‘returned to their duty.’ However, the colonists continued to fight and even ‘openly renounced all allegiance to the Crown.’ King George III accused the colonists of treason, but reassured the Parliament that England was still united.

The King ended his address singing his own praises saying, ‘No people ever enjoyed more Happiness, or lived under a milder Government, then those now revolted Provinces.’ Everything that the colonies have—their land, sea, wealth, and strength—was because of him. His desire was to return the colonies as a part of the British Empire and end the war.

As we know, King George III’s desire to end the war and keep the colonies did not go as planned. The Revolutionary War, the war for American Independence, continued until 1783, ending with more than 50,000 deaths, and the colonies freed as a new country, the United States of America.

…

Source: Retrieved July 4, 2017 from: http://study.com/academy/lesson/british-reply-to-the-declaration-summary-analysis.html

As related, slavery was not the cause of the US War of Independence … entirely. But the notion that “all men are created equal” was a laughable American hypocrisy. The continuation of slavery in the wake of a trend of liberalism in England became a boiling point of contention. In fact as reported here, many African Americans – 12,000 or so – fled to the side of the British for the promise of freedom:

Title #3: Slavery and Black Loyalists

As a result of the looming crisis in 1775 the Royal Governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore, issued a proclamation that promised freedom to servants and slaves who were able to bear arms and join his Loyalist Ethiopian Regiment. Many of the slaves in the South joined the Loyalists with intentions of gaining freedom and escaping the South. About 800 did so; some helped rout the Virginia militia at the Battle of Kemp’s Landing and fought in the Battle of Great Bridge on the Elizabeth River, wearing the motto “Liberty to Slaves”, but this time they were defeated. The remains of their regiment were then involved in the evacuation of Norfolk [(Virginia)], after which they served in the Chesapeake area. Eventually the camp that they had set up there suffered an outbreak of smallpox and other diseases. This took a heavy toll, putting many of them out of action for some time. There was a slave by the name of Boston King who joined the Loyalists and wound up catching smallpox. Boston King and other soldiers who were sick were relocated to a different part of the camp so that they did not contaminate the healthy soldiers. The survivors joined other British units and continued to serve throughout the war. Black colonials were often the first to come forward to volunteer and a total of 12,000 African Americans served with the British from 1775 to 1783. This factor had the effect of forcing the rebels to also offer freedom to those who would serve in the Continental Army; however, such promises were often reneged upon by both sides.[31]

African Americans who gained their freedom by fighting for the British became known as Black Loyalists. The British honored the pledge of freedom in New York City through the efforts of General Guy Carleton who recorded the names of African Americans who had supported the British in a document called the Book of Negroes which granted freedom to slaves who had escaped and assisted the British. About 4,000 Black Loyalists went to the British colonies of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, where the British promised them land. They founded communities across the two provinces, many of which still exist today. Over 2,500 settled in Birchtown, Nova Scotia, instantly making it the largest free black community in North America. However, the inferior grants of land they were given and the prejudices of white Loyalists in nearby Shelburne who regularly harassed the settlement in events such as the Shelburne Riots in 1784, made life very difficult for the community.[32] In 1791 Britain’s Sierra Leone Company offered to transport dissatisfied black Loyalists to the British colony of Sierra Leone in Africa, with the promise of better land and more equality. About 1,200 left Nova Scotia for Sierra Leone, where they named the capital Freetown.[32] After 1787 they became Sierra Leone’s ruling elite. About 400 to 1,000 free blacks who joined the British side in the Revolution went to London and joined the free black community of about 10,000 there.

Source: Retrieved July 4, 2017 from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loyalist_(American_Revolution)#Slavery_and_Black_Loyalists

Wow, what a notion! An argument can be made that for the Black population – the majority ethnicity for 29 of the 30 Caribbean member-states – their celebration of the 4th of July should have been … for the other side!

Intriguing!

This is the lesson in history for the Caribbean; American historic accomplishments are NOT historic accomplishments for the majority of Caribbean people. Poor race relations tarnished so much of American history, that the country continues with this societal defect … even to this day.

This lesson from America’s initiation is presented by the movement behind the book Go Lean…Caribbean – available to download for free – which serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), for the elevation of Caribbean society – for all member-states. This book features a declaration of its own, a Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 10 – 13):

Preamble: When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to unite with others so as to connect them together to collaborate, confederate and champion the challenges that face them, we the people of Caribbean democracies find it necessary to accede and form a confederated Union, the Caribbean Union Trade Federation, with our geographic neighbors of common interest.

While the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle us to form a society and a brotherhood to foster manifestations of our hopes and aspirations and to forge solutions to the challenges that imperil us, decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that we declare the causes which imperil us and incite us to unite to assuage our common threats.

And while our rights to exercise good governance and promote a more perfect society are the natural assumptions among the powers of the earth, no one other than ourselves can be held accountable for our failure to succeed if we do not try to promote the opportunities that a democratic society fosters.

As the history of our region and the oppression, suppression and repression of its indigenous people is duly documented, there is no one alive who can be held accountable for the prior actions, and so we must put aside the shackles of systems of repression to instead formulate efficient and effective systems to steer our own destiny. …

xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.

xvi. Whereas security of our homeland is inextricably linked to prosperity of the homeland, the economic and security interest of the region needs to be aligned under the same governance. Since economic crimes … can imperil the functioning of the wheels of commerce for all the citizenry, the accedence of this Federation must equip the security apparatus with the tools and techniques for predictive and proactive interdictions.

xxiv. Whereas a free market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, the Federation must install the controls to better manage aspects of the economy: jobs, inflation, savings rate, investments and other economic principles. Thereby attracting direct foreign investment because of the stability and vibrancy of our economy.

The Go Lean book provides 370-pages of turn-by-turn instructions on this roadmap, on “how” to adopt new community ethos, plus the strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to execute so as to reboot, reform and transform the societal engines of Caribbean society. This CU/Go Lean roadmap has these 3 prime directives:

  • Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs.
  • Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines.
  • Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines, including a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies.

“Lessons in History” are a familiar theme for these Go Lean blog-commentaries; consider this sample of previous submissions:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=12274 A Lesson in History – Spanish Caribbean
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=11870 A Lesson in History – Indian Termination Policy
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10933 A Lesson in History – White is Right – Not!
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=10733 150 Years of Historically Black Colleges & Universities
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9151 The New Smithsonian African – American Museum
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8767 A Lesson in History – Haiti 1804
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7769 History’s Effect of the Current Caribbean Disposition
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7738 A Lesson in History – Legacy of the Buffalo Soldiers
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5695 A Lesson in History – Repenting, Forgiving and Reconciling the Past
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4971 A Lesson in History – Royal Charters: Truth & Consequence
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=451 CariCom position on Slavery/Colonization Reparations

There are so many lessons that we, in the Caribbean, can learn from this history of the initiation of the United States; the role of slavery was integral to the whole fabric of American society. Repercussions and consequences of this societal defect reverberated from those events in July 1776 right down to our day. In many ways, these repercussions and consequences are responsible for our region’s poor performance in our economic, security and governing engines. Our society was created as parasites of the American- European (British) eco-system, rather than protégés  of these advanced economies.

It is time for this disposition to end! It is not 1776 anymore; we must make the societal progress that 241 years of lessons should have taught us. America has reformed and transformed … some, but still needs more progress. But our goal is not to reform and transform America; our target is the Caribbean … only. We hereby urge everyone in the region – people, institutions and governments – to lean-in to this Go Lean roadmap.

We can do this, we can declare our interdependence and make our homeland a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

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Industrial Reboot – Call Centers 101

Posted on July 2, 2018 in Economics, Industries, Tactical

Go Lean Commentary

There used to be a time … when you called a place:

Call me at home, at work, or the private club.

Now, with mobile and smartphones, you call a person, not a place.

Everything has changed, and with it the business models of organizations that depend on the telephony activity.

Need to ‘Call a cab’?!
Nope, use an app!

For industries that depended on phone calls; they now have to reboot their industrial landscape and business model. This is bad! This is good! As it opens the opportunity for jobs in the Call Center industry.

With modern Internet Communications Technology (ICT) – think Voice-over-IP – a phone call can originate or terminate around the globe, but feel/sound like it is next door. The premise of this business model for the Caribbean is simple: Why not make those calls / answer the phone here in the Caribbean?

Jobs are at stake.

According to the book Go Lean … Caribbean (Page 257) , there could be this many jobs:

Direct and indirect jobs at physical and virtual call centers: 12,000

The Go Lean book prepares the business model of Call Centers for consumption in the Caribbean. Yes, business model refers to jobs, entrepreneurial opportunities, trade transactions, etc. In addition to these industry jobs; there is also the reality of indirect jobs – unrelated service and attendant functions – at a 3.75 multiplier rate would add another 45,000 jobs.

This constitutes an industrial reboot.

There are a number of call center installations currently in the region – see Appendix; but this Industrial Reboot measure is doubling-down on this business model. This is a wise strategy!

Notice the fine experiences being enjoyed right now in the Caribbean country of St. Lucia, with this news article here about one company – KM2 Solutions – that has expanded their Call Center footprint in this island, adding an additional 400 jobs:

Title: KM2 Solutions opens second call center in St Lucia, plans to add 400 new jobs

(PRESS RELEASE VIA SNO) – KM2 Solutions, a leading US-based, contact center services provider has opened a new facility in St. Lucia, expanding their footprint of service locations to 9 centers in 6 countries.

The 12,000 square feet Massade facility opened officially on June 19 in a ceremony graced by the Honourable Prime Minister.

Site Director Marvin Bartholomew said the company’s expansion here is an “exciting one that creates significant opportunities for an additional 400 brilliant and talented Saint Lucians. The spillover effect that the increased employment has on the economy is tremendous, and we are thrilled to be able to contribute to the island’s economic growth”.

KM2 Solutions first introduced its services to Saint Lucia in 2004 and has since continuously operated from its 20,000 square-foot office space, with capacity for 500 agents. Its new facility is about 25 minutes from the original center and is located firmly within the island’s tourism belt and population centre, providing the double positive of being able to attract excellent talent in large numbers while also hosting clients in an area known for beautiful beaches and wonderful hospitality.

Prime Minister of Saint Lucia the Honourable Allen Chastanet, who was present at Tuesday’s ceremony, lauded the investment of KM2 and thanked its principals for having confidence in the island’s economic standing and its talent.

Speaking at the official opening on Tuesday, KM2 President & CEO David Kreiss, said, “This is truly a tremendous occasion and opportunity. Our productivity and quality here is excellent, our clients love the island and are always impressed with our operations and the wonderful agents and management team. To be able to create capacity to do more of that is something we’ve always wanted to do. Naturally we’re thrilled to be able accomplish our goal of exceeding our clients’ expectations while providing an engaging and rewarding career to so many.

KM2 Solutions continues to provide clients with support in the areas of customer service and care, sales, retention, technical support, loan processing (pre-funding, originations, verifications, welcome calls), loan servicing and first-party collections, back-office services, and other functions for clients in a wide range of vertical markets.

The opening ceremony was held in at the new location on Tuesday, June 19th.

Source: Posted June 22, 2018; retrieved July 2, 2018 from: https://www.stlucianewsonline.com/km2-solutions-opens-second-call-center-in-st-lucia-plans-to-add-400-new-jobs/

The book Go Lean…Caribbean – available to download for free – serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU); this is a confederation of all 30 member-states to execute a reboot of the Caribbean economic eco-system. This CU/Go Lean roadmap has these 3 prime directives:

  • Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
  • Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines.
  • Improvement of Caribbean governance to support these engines, including a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies.

The Caribbean economic landscape is in shambles!

The primary driver in the region – Tourism – is under assault; more and more visitors shift from stay-overs to cruise arrivals. This means less economic impact to the local markets. As a region, we must reboot our industrial landscape and add more job-creating options.

This commentary has previously identified a number of different industries that can be rebooted under this Go Lean roadmap. See the list of previous submissions on Industrial Reboots here:

  1. Industrial Reboots – Ferries 101 – Published June 27, 2017
  2. Industrial Reboots – Prisons 101 – Published October 4, 2017
  3. Industrial Reboots – Pipeline 101 – Published October 6, 2017
  4. Industrial Reboots – Frozen Foods 101 – Published October 6, 2017
  5. Industrial Reboots – Call Centers 101– Published Today – July 2, 2018

The Go Lean book stresses that reforming and transforming the Caribbean economic engines must be a regional pursuit. This was an early motivation for the roadmap, as pronounced in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 12 – 13):

xxiv.  Whereas a free market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, the Federation must install the controls to better manage aspects of the economy: jobs, inflation, savings rate, investments and other economic principles. Thereby attracting direct foreign investment because of the stability and vibrancy of our economy.

xxvi.  Whereas the Caribbean region must have new jobs to empower the engines of the economy and create the income sources for prosperity, and encourage the next generation to forge their dreams right at home, the Federation must therefore foster the development of new industries, like that of … the prison industrial complex. In addition, the Federation must invigorate the enterprises related to existing industries like tourism, fisheries and lotteries – impacting the region with more jobs.

xxvii. Whereas the region has endured a spectator status during the Industrial Revolution, we cannot stand on the sidelines of this new economy, the Information Revolution. Rather, the Federation must embrace all the tenets of Internet Communications Technology (ICT) to serve as an equalizing element in competition with the rest of the world. The Federation must bridge the digital divide and promote the community ethos that research/development is valuable and must be promoted and incentivized for adoption.

Accordingly, the CU will facilitate the eco-system for Self-Governing Entities (SGE), an ideal concept for Call Centers with its exclusive federal regulation/promotion activities. Imagine bordered campuses – with Internet Pop Hubs and backup power generations. The focus for the Go Lean roadmap is on Contact Center, not just Call Center. See the difference definition here:

The Bottom Line on Contact Centers
Contact Center refers to the next step in the evolution of Call Centers. With the advances in Internet and Communications Technologies (ICT), a service provider of tele-services functions can be located anywhere in the world. This is the case with the proliferation of this industry in the Philippines – employing 350,000 people in 2011, and India with 330,000 jobs.  (Jamaica and Antigua have a nascent industry). Contact Centers today do more than just phone calls, but rather business process outsourcing (BPO), including email, IM, web chat, social media and work flow processing on behalf of 3rd party clients.

Contact Centers require art and science! See the best practice described in the Appendix VIDEO below. (Though humorous, the strong point is made: there is an art to “blending in”).

The Go Lean movement (book and blogs) details the principles of SGE’s and job multipliers, how certain industries are better than others for generating multiple indirect jobs down the line (or off-campus) for each direct job on the SGE’s payroll.

This is the vision of an industrial reboot! This transformation is where and how the jobs are to be created.

The Go Lean book provides 370-pages of turn-by-turn instructions on “how” to adopt new community ethos, plus the strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to execute so as to reboot, reform and transform the societal engines of Caribbean society. One advocacy in rebooting the industrial landscape is to foster the Contact Center industry; consider the  specific plans, excerpts and headlines from the book on Page 212 entitled:

10 Ways to Promote Contact Centers

1 Lean-in for the Caribbean Single Market
Lean-in for the Caribbean Single Market & Economy and the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This will allow for the unification of the region of 30 member-states into one market of 42 million people, thereby creating the economies-of-scale to deploy technological infrastructure like fiber optics wire-line networks, broadband, wireless (WiMax), and satellite capability to generate a recognizable return on investment; this roadmap projects 12,000 new jobs. The CU will embrace e-Delivery for government services thereby becoming one of the Contact Center industry’s biggest clients.
2 Laissez-fare Utility Regulations – in SGE’s
3 Enterprise and Empowerment Zones
The CU will promote Self Governing Entities (SGE) as specific limited geographical areas (Industrial Parks, Corporate Campuses) as Enterprise and Empowerment Zones for this contact center industry. Traditionally, Enterprise Zones allow for certain tax rebates and access to grant monies or low interest loans. (Empowerment Zones go a step further in promoting revitalization of under-privileged and/or blighted areas). A concentration of multiple players in defined and controlled areas will allow for communications bandwidth, secondary power supply systems, parking and commuter express options as viable solutions. There is a realistic consequence of thousands of jobs at the same place/same time.
4 Underwater Cables
5 Outreach
The CU will send trade missions to foreign markets to solicit clients for this industry, in fact the implementation of the federation specifies create Trade Mission Offices in key international cities. This outreach includes participation in Trade Shows and industry events around the world; (similar to “Thailand-branded goods and services” global promotions).
6 Capitalize on Multi-lingual Society
7 Consumer Rights
8 Promote Work-at-Home Options
9 Big Data – Analysis and Business Intelligence
The practice of data analysis must be promoted as a fine art in the region. Certifications and accreditations at the CU level will add value and financial benefits to this skill set for industry participants. Economic incentives (grants, forgive-able loans, tax rebates) will be in place to promote the related industries and spin the wheels of commerce in this area.
10 Presidential Medal of Recognition

Contact Centers are not new for this Go Lean roadmap; there have been a number of previous blog-commentaries by the Go Lean movement that referenced economic opportunities embedded in the Contact Center industry. See a sample list here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=15075 e-Government 3.0 – Call Centers to engage citizens
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=14191 Scheduling for Call Centers & ‘Gigs’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13524 Future Focused – e-Government Portals and Call Centers
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13321 Making a ‘Pluralistic Democracy’ – Multilingual Realities
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=11184 JPMorganChase spent $10 billion on ‘Fintech’ for 1 year
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8262 Role Model: UberEverything in Africa

In summary, our Caribbean region need jobs. A better job-creation ability would help us to make our homeland a better place to live, work and play. In fact, one of the reasons why so many Caribbean citizens have emigrated away from the homeland is the job-creation dysfunction. Creating a new economic landscape will require rebooting the industrial landscape.

Yes, we can … reboot our industrial landscape, and create new jobs – and other economic opportunities.

We urge all Caribbean stakeholders to lean-in to this roadmap for economic empowerment. The fact that Call Centers currently exists amplifies the fact that this Go Lean roadmap is viable. Make that conceivable, believable and achievable. 🙂

Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

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APPENDIX – Company Profile: KM2 Solutions

Company KM² Solutions was founded on the idea that world-class outsourcing services could be conducted close to home.

KM2 Solutions was founded by David Kreiss (K) and Gary Meyers (M) in 2004 with its original facility in St. Lucia.

At the time, few companies were able to offer the diversified services at the competitive rates that KM2 was offering.  New business was quick to follow. By 2007 KM2 had opened facilities in Barbados and Grenada, utilizing the same model that had been so effective in St. Lucia.  As a small but growing company, KM2 Solutions was able to take on outsourcing ventures that the major players dismissed as too small or overly complicated.  The ability to adapt to client-specific needs while still delivering outstanding, industry-leading performance has been the cornerstone of the company’s success.

The Honduras and Dominican Republic sites were added in recent years to provide clients with technically adept, fully bilingual agents.  Today, KM2’s global footprint reaches 6 countries with over 3,000 employees, and continued plans for expansion into new geographic locations and business segments.

KM2 Solutions is privately held, thus eliminating the pressures of meeting shareholder and analyst expectations.  The company’s focus will always be on the client and developing long-term relationships through unparalleled service and attention to detail.

Source: Retrieved July 2, 2018 from: http://www.km2solutions.com/company/

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VIDEO – KM2 Solutions – Exceeding Your Expectations – https://youtu.be/k_7lBshw8IQ

Published on Jun 17, 2015 – About KM² Solutions KM² Solutions is a leading provider of nearshore business process outsourcing (BPO) services, specializing in the finance, telecom, media, and technology industries. With contact centers throughout the Caribbean and Central America (St. Lucia, Barbados, Grenada, Dominican Republic, and Honduras), KM² provides clients with cost-effective, bilingual solutions for customer care, sales and retention, collections, customer support, and back office processing, through voice, chat, mobile, and email.

For further information, please contact: Joe Wester VP Sales at (262) 790-2656 www.km2solutions.com

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Appendix VIDEO – White Voice – https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5688932/videoplayer/vi184531737

Scene from the 2018 movie Sorry to Bother You.
In an alternate present-day version of Oakland (California), telemarketer Cassius Green discovers a magical key to professional success – White Voice – propelling him into a macabre universe.

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