CPU – Go Lean…Caribbean

Tag: CPU

BHAG – Caribbean Media: Learning from Netflix et al

Posted on March 29, 2020 in Economics, Social, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

All stakeholders in America – and other countries – must act now to “flatten the curve” with this Coronavirus crisis:

There is the role for doctors, nurses and other clinicians in the delivery of medical best practices; then there is also the role for the general public. Yes, the Public Health prescription for America to get past this Coronavirus crisis is abbreviated to these 3 words:

Netflix and chill …

Yep, it is that simple; the country needs to Shelter-in-Place and practice Social Distancing, so the best option is to stay home and occupy your time with streaming video and other online media.

That is it! That is the heavy-lifting that Americans need to do to sustain their economy. (Overall, “Hollywood” has been severely impacted by this COVID-19 pandemic – see Appendix VIDEO).

Netflix, as the market leader – as of April 2019 … over 148 million paid subscriptions worldwide, including 60 million in the United States, and over 154 million subscriptions total including free trials^[12] – is being presented here as a “metonym“ …

[Metonym = a word, name, or expression used as a substitute for something else with which it is closely associated; like Wall Street for American Capital Markets or Hollywood for American Movie-TV-Game industries].

… an icon that symbolizes the rest of the media industry delivered by Internet & Communications Technologies (ICT). While Netflix is #1 – as a financial opportunity, early adaptors have seen an amazing 15,460% return on their investment – there are other streaming sites that deliver the same functionality. According to Wikipedia, this whole industry is referred to as:

Over-the-top media service
An over-the-top (OTT) media service is a streaming media service offered directly to viewers via the Internet. OTT bypasses cable, broadcast, and satellite television platforms, the companies that traditionally act as a controller or distributor of such content.^[1]

The term is most synonymous with subscription-based video-on-demand (SVoD) services that offer access to film and television content (including existing series acquired from other producers, as well as original content produced specifically for the service). Examples include:

Amazon Music, Apple TV+, Disney+, Google Play Movies & TV, HBO Max, Hulu, iTunes, Netflix, Prime Video, SiriusXM, and YouTube Premium.

OTT also encompasses a wave of “skinny” television services that offer access to live streams of linear specialty channels, similar to a traditional satellite or cable TV provider, but streamed over the public Internet, rather than a closed, private network with proprietary equipment such as set-top boxes.

Over-the-top services are typically accessed via websites on personal computers, as well as via apps on mobile devices (such as smartphones and tablets), digital media players (including video game consoles), or televisions with integrated Smart TV platforms.

Due to the public assimilation of these OTT services, the traditional American television networks have responded to the competition – for public eyeballs – with streaming products of their own. Consider these two examples:

CBS All Access – [This] American over-the-top subscription streaming video on demand service owned and operated by CBS Interactive, a subsidiary of ViacomCBS. It offers original content, content newly aired on CBS’s broadcast properties, and content from CBS’s library. In the United States, many markets offer a live stream of the local CBS affiliate’s main channel.
The service is noted for streaming the Grammy Awards and Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Picard,^[1] among other original shows. As of February 2019, it has more than 4 million subscribers.^[2][3]

Peacock (NBC) – an upcoming American over-the-top subscription video on demand streaming service by NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Named after the logo of NBC, the service is set to launch on July 15, 2020, with early availability for Xfinity customers starting on April 15, 2020.^[1][2][3]
… [The new service will feature] content from its entertainment brands. It was also announced that the service would be free and ad-supported for customers of NBCUniversal pay-TV, Comcast, and eventually Sky; viewers without a pay-TV subscription or viewers who do not want advertisements can also subscribe to an ad-free version of the service. … [The service will] also include new original programming.

There is a lesson in this directive for us in the Caribbean; we must design, develop and deploy our own Caribbean streaming network, our own Netflix. This is a Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) for Caribbean society; we must do what America has done with Netflix and do it better. The extra effort is tied to the fact that we are more pluralistic with a multilingual society. The Caribbean solution must accommodate 4 languages: Dutch, English, French and Spanish so as to cover the 42 million in the 30 member-states.

No one language is to be considered the default or preferred over the others.

Every month, the movement behind the 2013 book Go Lean…Caribbean presents a Teaching Series on a subject germane to Caribbean life. For this March 2020, our focus is on BHAG efforts that are too big for any one member-state alone. This is the final entry for this series, 6-of-6, which addresses live-work-play activities for all economic engines in society: economic, security and governance.

The full catalog of the series for this month – under the BHAG theme – is listed as follows:

BHAG – The Audacity of Hope – Yes, we can!
BHAG – Regional Currency – In God We Trust
BHAG – Infrastructure Spending … finally funding Toll Roads
BHAG – One Voice – Foreign Policy and Diplomatic Stance
BHAG – Outreach to the World – Why Not a Profit Center
BHAG – Netflix, Hulu, CBS, Peacock è Caribbean Media

In addition to the 42 million people in the Caribbean member-states, there is also the Diaspora, estimated in some circles to be 20 – 26 million people; (the disparity is due to the status of first generation “legacies”; only “some” identify with the homeland). Any network that emerges from this Caribbean effort would have the Diaspora included in the target market. This is a familiar theme for this movement behind the Go Lean book. In addition to the direct references to Internet & Communications Technologies (ICT) in the 2013 book, there have been a number of previous Go Lean commentaries that elaborated on this theme of deploying a new ICT-based Caribbean network; consider this sample list here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=17822	Caribbean Youtuber providing a Role Model with Expanded Audiences
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=17250	Way Forward – Caribbean ‘Single Market’ for Media
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=15858	Network Mandates for a New Caribbean
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=14224	How the Youth are Consuming Media Today
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13321	Making a ‘Pluralistic Democracy’ – Multilingual Realities
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6464	Sports Role Model – ‘WWE Network’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3244	Sports Role Model – espnW.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2171	Sports Role Model – Turn On the SEC Network

In the Go Lean book and these previous blog-commentaries, this movement asserts that the market organizations and community investments to garner economic benefits of ICT is within reach of our people, with the proper technocracy. As related in a previous blog-commentary, the eco-system for streaming videos – i.e. Netflix, Hulu, WWE, ESPN-W, Amazon Prime, etc. – is inclusive of the roadmap’s quest to make the Caribbean region a better place to live, work and play.

Yes, we can …

… build our own Caribbean streaming network. We have the successful model to emulate in the deliveries of the company Amazon. They are an e-Commerce company that processes fulfilment services and ICT media services as well. We have previously (October 1, 2018) elaborated on this Amazon role model:

Amazon: ‘What I want to be when I grow up’
This one company is worth US$1 Trillion. The whole Caribbean’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is [far] less; it is our plan to elevate the economic engines in the region to get the economy’s output up to $800 Billion.

Amazon is a model for e-Commerce, logistics, media and innovation. This is the role model we want for our Caribbean Postal Union and the aligning online portal, www.myCaribbean.gov. It is good to have a roadmap to follow to duplicate the successful journey of Amazon.

This commentary concludes this March 2020 series on our Big Hairy Audacious Goals for the Caribbean. Many people are able to consume Netflix and other streaming services now, though the networks and programming is not really intended for us in the Caribbean. It is time now to design, develop and deploy our own. This will be a good investment for the future of media (TV and Movies) and ICT in our region.

This vision of our own streaming network is conceivable, believable and achievable. We urged all Caribbean stakeholders to lean-in to this Go Lean roadmap. This is how we make our homeland a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

About the Book
The book Go Lean…Caribbean 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 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.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines, including a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies.

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

Who We Are
The movement behind the Go Lean book – a non-partisan, apolitical, religiously-neutral Community Development Foundation chartered for the purpose of empowering and re-booting economic engines – stresses that reforming and transforming the Caribbean societal engines must be a regional pursuit. This was an early motivation for the roadmap, as pronounced in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 12 – 14):

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.

xx. Whereas the results of our decades of migration created a vibrant Diaspora in foreign lands, the Federation must organize interactions with this population into structured markets. Thus allowing foreign consumption of domestic products, services and media, which is a positive trade impact. These economic activities must not be exploited by others’ profiteering but rather harnessed by Federation resources for efficient repatriations.

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.

xxviii. Whereas intellectual property can easily traverse national borders, the rights and privileges of intellectual property must be respected at home and abroad. The Federation must install protections to ensure that no abuse of these rights go with impunity, and to ensure that foreign authorities enforce the rights of the intellectual property registered in our region.

xxx. Whereas the effects of globalization can be felt in every aspect of Caribbean life, from the acquisition of food and clothing, to the ubiquity of ICT, the region cannot only consume, it is imperative that our lands also produce and add to the international community, even if doing so requires some sacrifice and subsidy.

xxxii. Whereas the cultural arts and music of the region are germane to the quality of Caribbean life, and the international appreciation of Caribbean life, the Federation must implement the support systems to teach, encourage, incentivize, monetize and promote the related industries for arts and music in domestic and foreign markets. These endeavors will make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play.

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

——————

Appendix VIDEO – Coronavirus – Covid-19: film industry counting the cost of ongoing crisis – https://youtu.be/h-ZW6OU6tIU

FRANCE 24 English

Posted March 26, 2020 – The film industry, like many others, is affected by the coronavirus pandemic. FRANCE 24’s culture editor Eve Jackson tells us more.

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Category: News & Politics

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5 Years Later – They can hear you now about the Post Office – ENCORE

Posted on December 15, 2018 in Government, Implementation, Industries

5 years ago, the book Go Lean … Caribbean was introduced; the publication date was November 2013.

The book scanned the landscape in the Caribbean and found a lot of deficiencies in the economics, security and governance in the region. For example, for those 5 years the movement behind the Go Lean book have been telling people that there is an overriding need for a technocratic postal solution in the Caribbean region. This is how to keep up with the demands of globalization.

People – the audience – have only yawned.

Now the Caribbean member-state of The Bahamas has a crisis with their postal facility. The people there should now be ready, willing and able to consider alternatives and improvements to their regional governance.

Title: Wells confirms “undeliverable” mail was shredded
NASSAU, BAHAMAS – Addressing allegations that mail at the General Post Office had been shredded, Minister responsible for the post office, Renward Wells, confirmed on Thursday that the most recent and deliberate destruction of “undeliverable” mail was on November 1 and 2, upon the authorization of the Postmaster General.
…
The Bahamas has membership in the United Postal Union (UPU) and it is therefore required to ensure that delivery of mail among countries follows consistent rules and standards.
…
The General Post Office is in the process of being relocated to the Town Centre Mall in early 2019.

Wells outlined in his statement that the standards of the Post Office will be restored to one that will regain the respect of international partners.

“Postal workers and the Bahamian public have been in excess of three years without an adequate means for providing this essential service,” he said.
…
Source: Posted December 14, 2018; retrieved December 15, 2018 from: https://ewnews.com/wells-confirms-undeliverable-mail-was-shredded

This commentary is the first of a 4-part series from the movement behind the Go Lean book in consideration of the 5 year anniversary of the book’s publication. The theme on these 4 submissions is “5 Years Later and what is the condition now“. The focus here is on the Agents of Change that the book identified: Globalization, Climate Change, Technology and the Aging Diaspora.

Have the problems lessened, or have they intensified? The other commentaries in the series are cataloged as follows:

5 Years Later: New Post Office Eco-system – Globalization issues ‘loud and clear’ now.
5 Years Later: Climate Change – Coming so fast, so furious.
5 Years Later: Technology – Caribbean fully on board.
5 Years Later: Aging Diaspora – Finding Home … anywhere.

The Go Lean book was written 5 years ago as a 5 Year Plan to reform and transform the Caribbean region. Had the plan been adopted by the regional stakeholders, then the Agents of Change would have been mostly assuaged. The plan, or roadmap, to introduce and implement the Caribbean Union Trade Federation is still outstanding to even start. We now need to push the leaders – Top Down – and the subjects – Bottoms’s Up – to execute the strategies, tactics and implementation prescribed in this book.

This approach – rebooting the postal eco-system – had been relayed in a previous blog-commentary from January 23, 2018; it is appropriate to Encore that blog-commentary here-now:

——————–

Go Lean Commentary – First Steps – A Powerful C.P.U.

The movement behind the book Go Lean … Caribbean wants to deploy an “apolitical technocracy” in the Caribbean. What is an apolitical technocracy?

Quite simply, an organizational structure designed to just deliver.

Sounds familiar? Frankly, the Post Office is a powerful example of an apolitical technocracy:

They just deliver the mail …

… “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds”.

(While the Postal Service has no official motto, the popular belief is that these words are tribute to America’s postal workers).

Technocracies are supposed to be automatons, a machine that just chugs-and-chugs. Think computers; think C.P.U.. But in the case of this Go Lean scheme, C.P.U. does not mean Central Processing Unit, no, it means Caribbean Postal Union.

The book Go Lean book – available to download for free – serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) and the Caribbean Postal Union, for the elevation of Caribbean society – for all member-states. This CU/Go Lean roadmap has these 3 prime directives:

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy and create 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.

This commentary is Part 6 of 6-parts; it completes the series from the movement behind the book Go Lean … Caribbean in consideration of the First Steps for instituting a new regime in governance for the Caribbean homeland. The other commentaries in the series are cataloged as follows:

First Steps: EU: Free European Money – To Start at Top
First Steps: UK: Dignified and Efficient
First Steps: US: Congressional Interstate Compact – No Vote; No Voice
First Steps: CariCom: One Man One Vote Defects
First Steps: Deputize ‘Me’!
First Steps: A Powerful C.P.U.

All of these commentaries relate to “how” the Caribbean can finally get started with adapting the organizational structures to optimize the region’s societal engines. Whereas all the previous submissions addressed the need for reform at the Top. This commentary addressed the automation, the technocratic C.P.U.. This is designed to affect every man-woman-child in the Caribbean region, to just deliver. This simple functionality will do wonders for the quest of this roadmap: make the Caribbean member-states better places to live, work and play.

The Go Lean book stresses that reforming and transforming the Caribbean societal and postal 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):

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.

xv. Whereas the business of the Federation and the commercial interest in the region cannot prosper without an efficient facilitation of postal services, the Caribbean Union must allow for the integration of the existing mail operations of the governments of the member-states into a consolidated Caribbean Postal Union, allowing for the adoption of best practices and technical advances to deliver foreign/domestic mail in the region.

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 “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 the book is entitled “10 Ways to Improve Mail Service … in the Caribbean Region“; this detailed the best practices for postal mail and logistics; (Page 108). See this Bottom Line introduction:

The Bottom Line for the Caribbean Postal Union
Without a regional hub-and-spoke system, mail from one island to another can take weeks – such a business climate cannot breathe success with this lack of efficiency. The purpose of the CU is to facilitate the economic engines of the region. Therefore postal communications between individuals, households, businesses and governmental institutions must be efficient and effective – establishments must be able to connect with their customers and governments to its constituents. The Caribbean Postal Union (CPU) will operate as a private business, a multi-national corporation, owned by CU member-states, chartered to employ best practices and world class methods in the execution of the fulfillment side of the e-Delivery model. A mark of success: delivery of first-class mail in 3 – 5 days.

Improving the postal mail eco-system in the Caribbean can have a transformative effect on regional society. CPU is mostly an e-Logistics enterprise. Imagine the following (global) trends that wait in the balance:

Imagine a Caribbean reality with flat-rate envelopes and flat-rate boxes. Imagine the automation, the robotic technologies, the scanning and sorting. The brand CPU would really be apropos – more software, e-Commerce and Internet Communications Technology – as opposed to the neighborhood mail-carrier. See this industrial shift in the related news article in the Appendix below. In fact, the company www.Stamps.com provides a model for the CPU to emulate. See this Introductory VIDEO here:

VIDEO – Welcome to Stamps.com, USPS Postage Software Overview – https://youtu.be/wCCAkRkUWE0

Stamps.com

Published on Apr 23, 2013 – Welcome to Stamps.com, USPS Postage Software Overview This video shows new customers how Stamps.com software works. Highlights include how to buy and print postage stamps and shipping labels, e-commerce shipping features, postage spending reports plus many more features.

Category: Howto & Style

License: Standard YouTube License

In addition, previous Go Lean blog-commentaries detailed the width-and-breadth of the mail-logistics business model for the Caribbean; see these prior submissions here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13627	Amazon as a Role Mode: Then and Now
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9839	Alibaba Cloud stretches global reach with four new facilities
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7991	Transformations: Caribbean Postal Union – Delivering the Future
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3187	Amazon Role Model – Robots helping tackle Cyber Monday
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2488	Alibaba – A Chinese Role Model for the C.P.U.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1416	Amazon – An American Role Model for the C.P.U.

Forging change is heavy-lifting for the CU/Go Lean roadmap, but conceivable, believable and achievable? Why because so many other entities have executed these action plans before. We do not need to “re-invent the wheel”; we only need to conform to the published best-practices. This applies to the Caribbean Postal Union and all other societal engines.

Yes, we can succeed in forging change and assuaging the crises in the Caribbean. We have the existing organizations constructs of the CariCom, British Overseas Territories, US Territories and the EU. We can use these to “touch” every country-establishment-person in the region. This will lead to the success of our goals, to make 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 Title: Important: USPS making changes to First-Class Mail International Flats

January 21, 2018 Update: Stamps.com has launched a new International Flat service. Get more info on how to ship merchandise with International Flats.

Merchandise No Longer Allowed in First Class Mail International Flats
If you ship merchandise abroad using USPS First Class Mail International Flats, there’s a new rule going into effect soon that you need to know about. Effective Sunday, January 21, 2018, First Class Mail International Large Envelope/Flat service for merchandise will NO LONGER be available from the USPS. First Class Mail International Flats will only be approved for use when sending documents. This change is occurring to comply with Universal Postal Union requirements.

Here are some examples of what USPS considers a document (still OK to ship using First Class Mail International Flats):

Audit and business records
Personal correspondence
Circulars
Pamphlets
Advertisements
Written instruments not intended to be resold
Money orders, checks, and similar items that cannot be negotiated or converted into cash without forgery.

Here are examples of items that will NO LONGER be allowed to be shipped as First Class Mail International Flats, effective Jan. 21, 2018:

CDs, DVDs, flash drives, video and cassette tapes, and other digital and electronic storage media (regardless of whether they are blank or contain electronic documents or other prerecorded media)
Artwork
Collector or antique document items
Books
Periodicals
Printed music
Printed educational or test material
Player piano rolls
Commercial photographs, blueprints and engineering drawings
Film and negatives
X-rays
Separation negatives

These goods are dutiable and must be must be shipped using First Class Package International Service. Once this change goes into effect, shippers will need to include Customs Forms and the recipient could pay a duty or tax to receive the product.

Cost Savings Using First Class Mail International Flats
Moving from First Class Mail International Flats to First Class Package International Service will have a big impact on shippers.

Source: Posted December 26^th, 2017; retrieved January 21, 2018 from: http://blog.stamps.com/2017/12/26/important-usps-making-changes-first-class-mail-international-flats/

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[Top]

Retail Apocalypse and Sears – Another One Bites the Dust – ENCORE

Posted on October 16, 2018 in Economics, Industries, Strategy

Another one bites the dust …

Sears has filed for Bankruptcy protection. This may be more than just reorganization; this might be complete dissolution.

See the VIDEO and excerpt of the news article here:

VIDEO – Sears files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection – https://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/nation/2018/10/15/sears-files-chapter-11-bankruptcy-protection/38160609/

—————–

Title: Sears files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, to close 142 more stores
By: Charisse Jones and Nathan Bomey, USA TODAY

October 15, 2018 – Sears Holdings, whose presence permeated American life for generations, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection early Monday in a last-ditch attempt to avoid entombment in the graveyard of once-great retailers that failed to adapt to the digital age.

For Sears — which was the largest retailer in the nation before the rise of Walmart and, later, Amazon — bankruptcy marks the culmination of years of decline defined by store closures, sales declines, cost cuts and borrowing.

The company, which also owns discount retailer Kmart, has fallen into disrepair amid a perilous retail landscape in which customers increasingly shop online or seek out more-appealing alternatives.

For Kmart, known for its one-time “blue-light specials,” catchy jingles, and collections created by celebrities, the case marks a second brush with death. Kmart merged with Sears in 2005 after surviving bankruptcy once before.

Sears Holdings will close another 142 stores by about the end of the year, on top of a recently announced round of 46 store closures, as part of the bankruptcy. The company has 687 stores and about 68,000 employees.

See the remaining news story here (retrieved from this source on October 16, 2018):https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2018/10/15/sears-bankruptcy/1595399002/?csp=chromepush

This was predicted. This is the dreaded, feared Retail Apocalypse. Truth be told, this is relevant for the Caribbean as well. This assertion was made in a prior commentary on April 18, 2017. See an Encore of that submission here-now:

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

Go Lean Commentary – Retail Apocalypse – Preparing for the Inevitable

Remember the dream … of 7 Fat Cows and 7 Skinny Cows?

The articulation of the dream was that the 7 Fat Cows represented 7 prosperous years while the 7 Skinny Cows represented 7 years of famine with poverty and distress. – The Bible; Genesis Chapter 41.

In that Bible drama of Joseph in ancient Egypt, those circumstances were more than just in a dream; it was a prophecy of prosperity and famine. It came true!

Joseph was able to use the foresight to prepare that kingdom for adversity, after first exploiting the opportunities.

Here it comes again.

There is feast and famine “in the cards” as related to the retail eco-system. On one end of the spectrum , there will be prosperity for electronic commerce stakeholders, but on the other end, for brick-and-mortar establishments, there will be a Retail Apocalypse.

Will be? Actually, the threat has already manifested!

This is the assertion in this news article by the financial-economic magazine Business Insider:

Title: The retail apocalypse has officially descended on America
By: Hayley Peterson

Thousands of mall-based stores are shutting down in what’s fast becoming one of the biggest waves of retail closures in decades.

More than 3,500 stores are expected to close in the next couple of months.

Department stores like JCPenney, Macy’s, Sears, and Kmart are among the companies shutting down stores, along with middle-of-the-mall chains like Crocs, BCBG, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Guess.

Some retailers are exiting the brick-and-mortar business altogether and trying to shift to an all-online model.

For example, Bebe is closing all its stores — about 170 — to focus on increasing its online sales, according to a Bloomberg report.

Some are going out of business altogether, like The Limited which recently shut down all 250 of its stores.

Others, such as Sears and JCPenney, are aggressively paring down their store counts to unload unprofitable locations and try to stanch losses.

Sears is shutting down about 10% of its Sears and Kmart locations, or 150 stores, and JCPenney is shutting down about 14% of its locations, or 138 stores.

According to many analysts, the retail apocalypse has been a long time coming in the US, where stores per capita far outnumber that of any other country.

The US has 23.5 square feet of retail space per person, compared with 16.4 square feet in Canada and 11.1 square feet in Australia, the next two countries with the most retail space per capita, according to a Morningstar Credit Ratings report from October.

Visits to shopping malls have been declining for years with the rise of e-commerce and titanic shifts in how shoppers spend their money. Visits declined by 50% between 2010 and 2013, according to the real-estate research firm Cushman & Wakefield.

And people are now devoting bigger shares of their wallets to restaurants, travel, and technology than ever before, while spending less on apparel and accessories.

As stores close, many shopping malls will be forced to shut down as well.

When an anchor store like Sears or Macy’s closes, it often triggers a downward spiral in performance for shopping malls.

Not only do the malls lose the income and shopper traffic from that store’s business, but the closure often triggers “co-tenancy clauses” that allow the other mall tenants to terminate their leases or renegotiate the terms, typically with a period of lower rents, until another retailer moves into the anchor space.

To reduce losses, malls must quickly find a replacement tenant for the massive retail space that the anchor store occupied, which is difficult — especially in malls that are already financially strapped — when major department stores are reducing their retail footprints.

That can have grave consequences for shopping malls, especially in markets where it’s harder to transform vacant mall space into non-retail space like apartments, according to analysts.

The nation’s worst-performing malls — those classified in the industry as C- and D-rated — will be hit the hardest by the store closures.

The real-estate research firm Green Street Advisors estimates that about 30% of all malls fall under those classifications. That means that nearly a third of shopping malls are at risk of dying off as a result of store closures.
Source: Business Insider e-Zine. Posted 03/21/2017; retrieved 04/17/2017 from: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-retail-apocalypse-has-officially-descended-on-america-2017-3

Related:

1. Monday Market Mayhem – The Retail Apocalypse – Look out Wall Street

2. Dollar General is defying the retail apocalypse and opening 1,000 stores

See the related AUDIO Podcast below here:

———–

AUDIO Podcast – Wal-Mart battles Amazon with discounts for online ordering and store pickup – https://www.marketplace.org/2017/04/14/business/its-battle-amazon-walmart-offers-discounts-ordering-online-and-picking-store

Published April 14, 2017 – Big Box giant Wal-Mart battling e-Commerce giant Amazon for New Economy fulfillment.

As noted in the foregoing, the Retail Apocalypse is affecting the news in the United States. It’s only the news today, tomorrow will be jobs, the next day the finance apparatus holding the debt (mortgages and security instruments on Wall Street) for the many shopping malls and then soon, the rest of the economy will be impacted.

This is so familiar. Remember the housing-real estate bubble in 2003 to 2010. This previous blog-commentary identified the following 5 steps of a bubble:

1.   Displacement

2.   Boom

3.   Euphoria

4.   Profit Taking

5.   Panic

Here we go again! Sounds like a crisis is imminent.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) and Caribbean Central Bank (CCB); it declares that a crisis is a terrible thing to waste – quoting famed American Economist Paul Romer. Though the impending crisis is slated for the US, the actuality of economic contagions mean that the Caribbean member-states will be affected as well.

Where do the tourists come from that drive the Caribbean region’s primary economic driver?

The question is rhetorical; the answer is obvious!

The Go Lean book seeks to prepare the Caribbean region for the change dynamics impacting the world. The “Agents of Change” at play in the foregoing news source are as follows:

Technology
Globalization

The underlying issue with the Retail Apocalypse is not the demand for retail products, it is the supply. Consumers are still demanding and consuming fashion and commodities, just not at shopping malls; e-Commerce is “all the rage”.

Consider the experience of this commentator:

I went to buy 3 pairs of slacks.

I was only able to find one – with the brand, make, size and color – at a Big Box retail store. So then I went home and matched the brand, model, size with the e-Commerce merchant Amazon.com and acquired the same pants in 2 divergent colors that the Big Box retailer did not have in inventory. 3 days later, the whole shopping expedition was over; I acquired 3 pairs of slacks, primarily from the online merchant and delivered by the shipping company United Parcel Service (UPS).

The quest of the Go Lean/CU roadmap is to elevate the Caribbean’s societal engines – not the US – starting first with economics (jobs, commercial developments and entrepreneurial opportunities). In fact, the following 3 statements are identified as the prime directives of the CU:

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 protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance – as e-Commerce alters sales & border taxes – to support these engines.

The changes taking place in the US with the Retail Apocalypse will eventually traverse the Caribbean member-states as well. This is the parallel with the opening Bible Drama. A crisis is coming and we have the opportunity to exploit the prosperous years and prepare for the famine. The Caribbean region – all 30 member-states – needs to better exploit e-Commerce. There are so missing ingredients, fully detailed in the Go Lean book; see this sample advocacy on Page 198:

10 Ways to Foster e-Commerce

1	Leverage the full population – 42 million people in all 30 member-states to deploy the CU and the CCB.
2	Regional Currency (Caribbean Dollar or C$)
3	Card Culture The CU will seek to foster the eco-system for e-payments beyond government activity. To assimilate this change, a card culture, on Main Street, will entail utilizing debit/credit cards, benefits pay cards, and even smart cards on cruise ships. The CU will collectively bargain with the cruise lines to deploy C$ electronic “purses” to facilitate port-side and onboard retail commerce. All of these changes will garner a better monetary multiplier on the CU economy, by expanding M1.
4	CU Social Media The CU web portal www.myCaribbean.gov will grant free access, email, IM, and profile pages for CU stakeholders, even normalizing communications thru social media sites. This will facilitate internet commerce activities in the region, as the CU will have hot data on profiles, habits and previous activities, thereby creating opportunities for measured marketing.
5	A Market for the Downloads of Intellectual Properties
6	Remittance Methods (Card & Email)
7	Mobile Apps – *Hi-Density Wi-Fi*
8	Regional Postal Services – CPU The CU will assume the responsibility for mail services in the region; (all member-state postal employees will become federal civil servants). The embrace of the Caribbean Postal Union allows for parcel mail to be optimally shipped and delivered throughout the region, with Customs considerations in place. The CPU will therefore ensure the fulfillment side of e-commerce, even allowing for computer applications for printing electronic stamps/barcodes for value savings.
9	Turnpike Logistics
10	Customs and Import Optimizations

The missing ingredients for this new marketplace – electronic commerce – are not just banking-related, the full eco-system must be enabled: electronic (technology), commerce (trade) and fulfillment (logistics). The implementation of these provisions will constitute a New Day for the region. Overall, the Go Lean book stresses the community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to reboot, reform and transform the economic engines of Caribbean society, so as to benefit from changes coming due to the Retail Apocalypse, this New Day.

Though not directly mentioned in the Go Lean book, this Retail Apocalypse is planned for in the roadmap. A comprehensive view of the technocratic stewardship for the region’s economic engines, including the banking eco-system, is presented early in the book with these opening pronouncements in the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 13 and 14):

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.

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.

The points of effective, technocratic banking and retail stewardship were further elaborated upon in previous blog/commentaries. Consider this sample:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=11184	Big Bank investing $Billion on ‘Fintech’ for e-Commerce positioning
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8823	Lessons from China – WeChat: Model for Caribbean Social Media
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8704	Lesson from MetroCard
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7991	Transformations: Caribbean Postal Union – Delivering the Future
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7034	The Future of Money
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6635	New Security Chip in Credit Cards Unveiled
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5668	Move over Mastercard/Visa – Time for Local Banking Cards
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4425	Cash, Credit or iPhone …
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3889	Royal Bank of Canada’s EZPay – Ready for Change
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3881	The Need for Regional Cooperation for Cyber-Security & e-Security
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3858	Model of Central Banking Technocracy: ECB 1 trillion Euro stimulus
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2488	Model of an E-Commerce Fulfillment Company: Alibaba
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1416	Model of an E-Commerce Fulfillment Company: Amazon
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1350	PayPal’s model to pay for e-Commerce
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=906	Bitcoin model to pay for e-Commerce
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=528	Facebook to pay for e-Commerce

Warning to all retail stakeholders – buyers, sellers and governments: Change is coming!

This is a familiar stance – preparing for the inevitable – for the Go Lean movement; there have been previous warnings of disruptive changes; see this sample here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7847	To the Personal Computer industry: Cloud Computing, Smartphones and Tablets are making actual laptop and desktop computers inconsequential.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6151	To the regional government’s Revenue Officials: 3-D Printing is coming and will change fabrication to local rather than import. This will disrupt border taxes revenue expectations.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6016	To the Infrastructure Planners: Climate Change is making Caribbean summers hot-hot-hot and northern winters milder; there must be cooperative refrigeration to provide relief, otherwise people will leave for northern destinations.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5784	To Jamaica’s Public Safety Officials: Human Rights protections must be extended to people who identify as LGBT. Whether you agree or not, the international community will force you to respect their rights for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5210	To the Cruise Line industry: The Caribbean region’s collective bargaining will extract greater benefits and protections for port city commerce.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5155	To the Caribbean Power Grip: Home-based batteries will allow for successful deployments of solar/wind power generation and require less power from the grid.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4767	To the regional government’s Revenue Officials: Under the WTO regime, customs duties must eventually be eliminated; same too with conditional property taxes. VAT or Sales Taxes are OK.

As for the Retail Apocalypse, now is the time for all stakeholders of Caribbean banking, retail and governments to lean-in for the empowerments for e-Commerce described here-in and in the book Go Lean … Caribbean. This is where the marketplace is going, not just tomorrow, but already here today. We can do this; we can elevate our communities and our retail eco-systems. We can be 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 the roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

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Amazon: ‘What I want to be when I grow up’

Posted on October 1, 2018 in Economics, Implementation, Industries

Go Lean Commentary

For the planned entity, Caribbean Postal Union, the question should be asked:

What do you want to be when you grow up?

The answer should be:

Amazon

It turns out that Amazon was only founded in 1999, so this is less than 20 years. It is that quickly that an enterprise can have a transformative effect on society. We need transformations in the Caribbean and we are hoping to follow the Amazon business model as the solution for our regional postal-logistical needs.

How successful is Amazon as a model for success?

Well, now Amazon market capitalization has exceeded $1 Trillion. See the VIDEO and news story here:

VIDEO – Amazon 2nd company to top $1 trillion valuation – https://www.usatoday.com/videos/tech/nation-now/2018/09/05/amazon-2nd-company-top-1-trillion-valuation/37720169/

Sep 4, 2018 – Amazon has become the 2nd publicly traded company to be worth $1 trillion, after Apple. Amazon has cemented customer loyalty through its devices and fast, free shipping as well as music and video streaming perks. AP

————-

Title – Amazon’s stock value tops $1 trillion, joins Apple in trillionaire club

Amazon’s meteoric stock surge briefly pushed its market value above $1 trillion, a milestone that makes the online retail giant only the second publicly traded company in the U.S. to pass that mark – following Apple.

Amazon topped $1 trillion for the first time Tuesday when its shares climbed past $2,050.27 in late-morning trading and hit an intraday record high of $2,050.50. Shares pulled back to $2,039.51 for a gain of 1.3 percent for the day.

The accomplishment comes after Amazon’s per-share price crossed $2,000 for the first time last week.

Under CEO Jeff Bezos, who is now the richest person in the world with a net worth of an estimated $166 billion, Amazon has emerged as the most powerful force in the e-commerce business, capturing roughly 50 percent of the online retail market, according to eMarketer.

But it’s not just Amazon’s disruptive force in retail that has attracted investors on Wall Street. The company has diversified its sales and profit streams, from a public cloud-computing business to paid subscription services like Amazon Prime, and advertising revenue on its website.

Some Wall Street pros see the stock climbing even higher.

Citing Amazon’s improving business mix, rapid growth and profit potential, Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak last week upped his price target for Amazon shares to $2,500, which is the highest on Wall Street, according to Bloomberg. If that fresh target is reached, it would boost the company’s market capitalization to more than $1.2 trillion.

In the race for most valuable U.S. company, Amazon now trails Apple by roughly $100 billion.

….

See the rest of the news article in the Appendix below.

This one company is worth US$1 Trillion. The whole Caribbean’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is [far] less; it is our plan to elevate the economic engines in the region to get the economy’s output up to $800 Billion.

Amazon is a model for e-Commerce, logistics, media and innovation. This is the role model we want for our Caribbean Postal Union and the aligning online portal, www.myCaribbean.gov. It is good to have a roadmap to follow to duplicate the successful journey of Amazon.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as such a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) and the Caribbean Postal Union (CPU). These entities are designed to address the “Agents of Change“ in modern society, but for a Caribbean scope only. The “Agents of Change” at play in the foregoing news sources, according to the book (Page 57), are defined as follows:

Technology
Globalization

Asking the question: “What I want to be when I grow up?” is emblematic of future planning. This exercise is important for the region if we truly want to have a future. Though our people may survive, such an eventuality is not guaranteed for our culture. Ghost Towns do happen!

Our Caribbean region cannot continue with the status quo in terms of business operations and societal outworking. We must now reboot our industrial landscape to foster new opportunities (jobs, entrepreneurism and industrial development). This is the charter of the Caribbean Postal Union effort. In fact, the following 3 statements are identified as the prime directives of this CU charter:

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 protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.

In a previous Go Lean blog-commentary, it was related that …

… what Amazon did and does, is the epitome of what the CU/CPU needs to do to reboot Caribbean society. The company disrupted the status quo in so many industries – think: book retailers & movie rentals – and transformed markets to exploit opportunities and derive profits. This is the “Sum of All Caribbean Dreams“.

This reference to Caribbean Dreams is presented early in the Go Lean book with these opening pronouncements in the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 13 and 14):

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.

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.

Monitoring and analyzing the business model of Amazon has been a frequent occupation for these Go Lean blog-commentaries; consider these previous submissions, as follows:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=14316	Forging Change: Soft Power – Clean-up or ‘Adios Amazon’ Amazon is proving that people and communities will be motivated to change in order to have the prospect of acquiring money or to prevent losing money. This “soft power” is now emerging as the preferred way to forge change on society. The summary statement is: “Clean-up your societal defects or else … face the loss of an economic bonanza”.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=14191	Scheduling in the ‘Gig Economy’ Amazon is proving that there is always “honorable” work available in the service industry. Any reference to the Post Office of 1987 can now be replaced with the *Gig Economy*. Amazon is very prominent in the Gig Economy in the US.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13627	Amazon: Then and Now It has only been 18 years ago (1999 – 2017) since Amazon launched in Seattle, Washington USA. Now today, they are huge … and transforming how America shops … and consume media; even their digital assistant – Alexa – is transformative.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13091	Amazon Opens Search for HQ2 Amazon is accepting bids for a 2nd headquarters in North America. The city that lands HQ2 will have a lot to celebrate, as this enterprise can create many high-paying direct jobs – 50,000 – and have an indirect stimulus on the rest of the economy. This is a feature of Amazon that “we” want to model in the Caribbean.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=12291	Big Tech’s Amazon – The Retailers’ Enemy Big Tech companies like Amazon have the treasuries, talent and temperament (culture, values and commitment) to change the world, for good and for bad. The Amazon threat had been “all things internet”, but now they are attempting to dominate the physical retail space as well, with their acquisition of Whole Foods grocery stores.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=11358	Retail Apocalypse – Preparing for the Inevitable There is feast and famine “in the cards” for the retail eco-system. On one end of the spectrum , there will be prosperity for electronic commerce stakeholders, but on the other end, for brick-and-mortar establishments, there will be a Retail Apocalypse. This is not just a future problem as the threat has already manifested!
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9839	Alibaba and Amazon’s Cloud allows for global reach This model, with cutting-edge data centers, is the new colonialism.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7297	Death of the ‘Department Store’: Exaggerated or Eventual Modern technology and electronic commerce has transformed many aspects of society; much has been added and much taken away. Just consider: cameras, watches, pagers, maps, calculators, calendars, payphones, books, music and more. The related industries have also been affected: travel agencies, music retailers, book retailers, newspapers, travel agencies and Big Box retailers. Amazon is to blame for many of the transformations.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7023	Thanksgiving & American Commerce – Past, Present and Amazon To better understand American commerce, one must understand Cyber Monday and its dominant player Amazon. This company demonstrates how to be lean and technocratic as it employs cutting-edge automation and robotics. They are a great model for a new Caribbean.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1416	Model of an E-Commerce Fulfillment Company: Amazon Amazon is the model for the Caribbean Postal Union (CPU): our means for delivering the mail. Considering the US, one might think that the American model would be the US Postal Service (USPS). No, the Go Lean book relates how the USPS is a failing enterprise, while Amazon flourishes with growth, capital and profits.

One Trillion Dollars …

… this sounds great! This is what is meant by the old encouragement: Reach for the stars!

Can we pursue such a quest in the new Caribbean?

Yes, we can!

Consolidating and integrating the existing postal agencies in the Caribbean, should be “low hanging fruit”. Currently, these entities are just inefficient, ineffective cost centers, but here is the opportunity to transform them to this new vision: the CPU functioning as a job-creating profit center.

We cannot ignore this win-win possibility.

We hereby urge all Caribbean stakeholders to lean-in to the empowerments in the Go Lean/CU/CPU roadmap. Whether we pursue this roadmap to make a trillion dollars or just to optimize the mail, the end-result will be a positive benefit. This quest can 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 the roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

—————-

Appendix – Amazon’s stock value tops $1 trillion, joins Apple in trillionaire club – Cont’d

By: Adam Shell, USA TODAY

…
Amazon’s stock, which is up nearly 75 percent this year, has been one of Wall Street’s top performers in the bull market that began in March 2009, gaining more than 3,000 percent, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices.

Amazon is also pushing into new businesses, such as groceries, a move highlighted by its purchase last year of upscale grocer Whole Foods Market for $13.7 billion. It also entered the health care space in June, with the purchase of online pharmacy PillPack.

The only other U.S. stocks within striking distance of a $1 trillion market value are Microsoft and Google-parent Alphabet, both of which are valued at roughly $850 billion.

Tuna Amobi, an analyst at Wall Street firm CFRA, sees Amazon’s stock price rising as high as $2,200 a share. Amazon’s suite of businesses, he says, act as “building blocks” that give it a diversified stream of revenue and will help it deliver “consistent” earnings results in the quarters ahead. “A lot of investments are starting to pay off,” he says.

Still, like any stock, Amazon is not risk free. Despite reporting a profit of $2.5 billion on $52.9 billion in sales in the quarter ended in June, and forecasting year-over-year sales growth of 23 percent to 31 percent in the current quarter, Amazon is not a cheap stock.

It currently trades at nearly 100 times its expected earnings over the next 12 months, which is about five times the broad market’s price-to-earnings ratio of 21, according to Bloomberg.

Another potential risk that could derail Amazon is a potential regulatory crackdown from Washington, D.C., which could look to counter its clout in online retailing, Amobi says.

Amazon is one of the popular and strong-performing “FAANG” stocks – Facebook, Apple, Netflix and Google parent Alphabet are the others – that have come under increased scrutiny from President Donald Trump and lawmakers because of their growing dominance. Executives from Facebook and Twitter will testify Wednesday before the Senate Intelligence Committee regarding interference of foreign nations on social-media platforms.

Amazon also faces increasing competition in online retailing from big players like Walmart and Target that are fighting to regain lost market share. It is also facing challenges from Microsoft and Google in the competitive cloud-computing business.

Source: USA Today – Posted September 4, 2018; retrieved October 1, 2018 from: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2018/09/04/amazon-tops-1-trillion-market-value/1191141002/?csp=chromepush

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Scheduling in the ‘Gig Economy’

Posted on February 8, 2018 in Economics, Tactical

Go Lean Commentary

“There’s work at the Post Office Too” – Grandmother character in 1987 Movie Hollywood Shuffle; see Appendix.

That iconic line from this 30-year movie is mindful of the transformation taking place in the modern American economy. Despite all the changes in technologies and habits, there is always “honorable” work available in the service industry. Any reference to the Post Office of 1987 can be replaced today with the Gig Economy.

Gig Economy?

Oh yes, this is all the rage! This is the future! This is now! The Gig Economy refers to …

… an environment in which temporary positions are common and organizations contract with independent workers for short-term engagements. The trend toward a Gig Economy has begun. A study by [financial software company] Intuit predicted that by 2020, 40 percent of American workers would be independent contractors. – Source

This trend now needs to come to the Caribbean as we need jobs …

Full-time jobs
Part-time jobs
Gigs

See the Press Release here of the planning and organization dynamics needed to manage the Gig Economy. This Press Release is from the American company Aspect Software; they are the world’s leading enterprise cloud contact center & workforce optimization solution. See an excerpt here:

Title: Scheduling in the Gig Economy
By: Mike Bourke, Aspect Software SVP & General Manager for Workforce Optimization

In 50 cities across the U.S., Amazon is supplementing their USPS deliveries at times of peak demand using drivers contracting directly with Amazon in a program called Amazon Flex. Tapping for-hire drivers, each batch of deliveries is essentially a “gig” in the quickly growing trend of the Gig Economy. Popularized by Uber and Lyft, the Gig Economy pairs independent, on-demand contractors with organizations for short-term engagements. With Amazon Flex, the company uses a mobile app for drivers to post their personal preferred schedules, which can include very short availability windows. Amazon then displays available “blocks” of time for making deliveries. The driver selects a block, and at the designated time, goes to the local pickup location to start deliveries.

Other industries are quickly catching on for services such as furniture moving, dog walking and at-home makeup styling and the contact center isn’t far behind.

In the contact center, you can think of customer contacts as representing the work to be done (or the packages to be delivered in the case of Amazon). The times when customer contacts arrive and are completed create the opportunities when Gigs are available for contact center employees. Historically, most contact center agents have been employed as regular 40 hour/week full-time employees, even though their schedules might be erratic as call volumes rise and fall throughout the week. However, that history is yielding to pressures from many different directions that point to a very different future for a sizeable percentage of the agent population. Consider the following factors that make the Gig Economy attractive for agents and businesses.

Mutual Benefits of the Gig Economy

Businesses Reduce Expenses – Using independent contractors in the contact center or any other type of business, can reduce the cost of employees by 30% because the employer is not required to pay benefits such as payroll taxes, worker’s comp insurance, unemployment insurance, vacation time or health benefits.

Employees Can Work-at-Home – The Gig Economy is already in full swing in some segments of the contact center industry. The 25% annual growth of work-at-home (WAH) agents is nothing short of spectacular and is a bellwether for the future of the contact center industry. Offering both the ability to work remotely and part-time, WAH could be the future of the contact center industry. With the growing adoption of telecommuting in many businesses, why not for agents? WAH also creates part-time work for a whole segment of the population with physical disabilities, childcare issues or poor commuting options. With more part-time workers, contact centers also have a more agile workforce that can ramp up and down quickly, matching contact center staffing to call volumes WAH has huge momentum, and its growth will help make part-time contact center work commonplace.

Businesses Can Access Specialized Skills – In the past few years, technology has finally advanced to the point where it is a good substitute for a human conversation. And since 81% of customers prefer self-service to agent assisted service, the simpler work will eventually go to automated self-service, and only the more complex tasks will go to agents. Studies show that 95% of agents are only willing to drive up to 30 minutes to work. For more specialized skills, contact centers may need to reach out beyond that current geographic boundary, further stimulating the need for part-time work-at-home agents.

Employees Get Flexible Schedules – Millennials have surpassed Baby Boomers as the nation’s largest living generation, and contact centers are rife with them. It’s well known that Millennials dearly value their work-life balance, and that means that they want to easily flex their work schedules around their personal lives. Many value complete control over their work schedule above a higher income and/or benefits, and that’s the perfect profile of an Uber driver or part-time contact center agent.

Businesses Can Manage Volume Spikes – Millennials are also, “always on”. They literally sleep with their cell phones, and their need to be always connected makes them perfectly accessible for notifications about unpredictable contact center “gigs” when volumes spike. The contact center can reach out to them anytime concerning a few hours of potential work with a good chance that the receiving Millennial got the message on his or her cell phone and read it.

Implications for Workforce Management Software
To empower agents with this flexibility and control while still meeting the needs of the business, the contact center needs to adopt new WFO tools, training, infrastructure, recruiting and management practices. This new model for labor participation especially requires a new set of contact center workforce management processes and associated technologies optimized for the quality of the service you want to deliver to customers.

The forecasting portion of WFM remains essentially the same in the Gig Economy. We still need to accurately predict the level of demand for staff for each type of work. But scheduling of individuals for the work predicted is quite different. We need new work rules such as:

What is the minimum length of a work session? It takes a few minutes to connect to contact control and CRM and other necessary systems, and some amount of time to successfully resolve a customer’s contact as well as do any wrap up work. For example, if your average contact handling time is 14 minutes, you won’t want to allow employees to end up with a work session that is only 10 minutes long.

How much time-off must be allowed between work sessions? There is a cost to disconnecting from systems and connecting again and mentally getting up to speed to successfully work with customers.

What is the maximum allowable time that can be worked per day and week? In the Gig Economy, we must manage this issue as well based on regional employment limitations.

These rules then determine the inventory of blocks of time (or gigs) that can be offered to each agent.

In the traditional world of agent scheduling, agents have wanted predictable schedules with fixed shifts. Schedules would remain the same every day for a known period of time. Usually, customer volumes would change faster than the ability of these inflexible blocks to adapt, so contact centers would often need to overstaff to preserve SLAs. In the Gig Economy world, the workforce management system makes available shorter schedule blocks with a wider range of start times from which agents can choose. An agent can likely find some blocks that work well for his or her desired flexible schedule. On the flip side, if an agent wants a full 40 hour week, he or she will likely have to pick schedules from some unpopular times. Likewise, if the business allows agents to work shifts that are irregular and unconventional, there are likely to be gaps in coverage that will need to be filled by requiring inconvenient shifts to be worked by some agents. Of course, these unpopular times could be more highly compensated if labor laws allow, or they can be gamified, awarding tokens that can be traded in for vacation days or other awards. Also, peak times may be a target for incentives, and some companies may even require some selection of peak times before selecting other more flexible gig times.

See the remainder of the article here:

http://blogs.aspect.com/scheduling-in-the-gig-economy/ posted January 12, 2018; retrieved February 7, 2018.
——–
About the Author
Mike Bourke is Aspect’s Senior Vice President and General Manager of Workforce Optimization. Mike is responsible for charting the strategic direction, and continuing the momentum of Aspect’s global workforce optimization suite and continuing the solution’s availability in the Aspect Cloud.

This Press Release identified Amazon … again. They are one of the “early adopters”, movers-and-shakers of the art-and-science of the Gig Economy. Amazon is also a mover-and-shaker in many other areas of job creation. As related in a previous Go Lean commentary, the Amazon model should really be studied by the economic stewards for a new Caribbean. That blog related:

Amazon is not just a giant on the internet, in the areas of electronic commerce. No they are emerging as a giant in the real world as well. The company has over 380,000 employees worldwide and 40,000+ at their Seattle, Washington USA headquarters. That is a BIG corporate presence. In fact, economic analysts had tabulated the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contribution to Seattle at $US 38 Billion. Wow!

There is always work at the Post Office (USPS) and now Amazon is supplementing their USPS deliveries at times of peak demand by using drivers who contract directly with their Amazon Flex program.

We now have a “clear path” of what we need to do to optimize the Caribbean economic and job-creation engines. “Clear paths” are important ingredients for roadmaps. The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) and also the Caribbean Postal Union (CPU), which is modeled after Amazon.

The Go Lean/CU roadmap is designed to elevate the Caribbean’s societal engines starting first with economics (jobs, industrial development and entrepreneurial opportunities). In fact, the following 3 statements are identified as the prime directives of the CU:

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 protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these other engines.

As related in the foregoing Press Release, to embrace the Gig Economy there is the need to keep an eye on Technology. In the Go Lean book, this dynamic is identified as an “Agent of Change“ in modern society. The Go Lean roadmap also seeks to introduce the tactical use of incubators. This is explained in the book (Page 28) as the process and engagement of programs to support the successful development of entrepreneurial companies through an array of business support resources and services. We need more expressions of the Gig Economy in our Caribbean region.

Amazon is embracing the Gig Economy. The Caribbean needs to embrace the Gig Economy. The Caribbean needs to follow Amazon’s model and incubate these arts-and-sciences. While Amazon’s modus operandi is not to be an incubator, they have invested heavily in many other tech-related companies and technical concepts, including the Workforce Management products from Aspect Software (highlighted in the foregoing Press Release). While Aspect is not the only provider, following their lead means assimilating advanced concepts, strategies, tactics and implementations. This assimilation means adopting a new “community ethos”. This is what is defined in the Go Lean book as “community ethos”:

The fundamental character or spirit of a culture; the underlying sentiment that informs the beliefs, customs, or practices of a group or society; dominant assumptions of a people or period.
The character or disposition of a community, group, person, etc.

We need this community ethos – and the accompanying technocratic stewardship – in the Caribbean so that we can incubate more and more jobs, especially in the Gig Economy! In total, we can create 2.2 million new jobs.

The 370-pages of the Go Lean book stresses some specific community ethos that the region needs to adopt, plus the strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to reform and transform the economic engines of Caribbean society. The required technocratic stewardship for the region’s economic engines was presented early in the book with these opening pronouncements in the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 13 and 14):

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.

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.

The points of effective, technocratic stewardship were further elaborated upon in previous blog-commentaries. Consider this sample of submissions that stressed the eco-systems of job-creation, gigs and incubation:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13916	Model of ‘Gig Economy’ – Mother’s Love in Haiti
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13420	A Lesson in History – Community Incubation for Whaling
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8262	UberEverything in Africa – Model of ‘Gigs’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7991	Transformations: Caribbean Postal Union – Delivering the Future
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2857	Model of ‘Gig Economy’ – Entrepreneurism in Junk
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2571	AirBnB ‘Gig Economy’ Options Materializing
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=528	Facebook’s advances for e-Commerce payments

In addition, previous blog-commentaries also elaborated on the business model of Amazon. See these samples as follows:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13627	Amazon: Then and Now
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13091	Amazon Opens Search for HQ2
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=12291	Big Tech’s Amazon – The Retailers’ Enemy
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=11358	Retail Apocalypse – Preparing for the Inevitable
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7297	Death of the ‘Department Store’: Exaggerated or Eventual
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7023	Thanksgiving & American Commerce – Past, Present and Amazon
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1416	Model of an E-Commerce Fulfillment Company: Amazon

For the Caribbean, let’s pay attention to Amazon, and the development of the Gig Economy. Let’s do the Gig Economy. Let’s incubate!

Let’s lean-in and learn how incubator programs are structured by community stewards to create jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities. We need them … here at home! We need them now!

The lessons we learned will help us elevate from our past dysfunctions and build a better future. We must learn, if we want to make our homelands better places to live, work and play. This is our quest! 🙂

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

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

———-

Appendix VIDEO – Movie: Hollywood Shuffle (1987) Clip – https://youtu.be/XXaZQ5tlY40

Published July 24, 2015 – About the movie

An actor limited to stereotypical roles because of his ethnicity, dreams of making it big as a highly respected performer. As he makes his rounds, the film takes a satiric look at African American actors in Hollywood. Written, produced, directed and starring Robert Townsend, – Source: IMDB.com

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First Steps – A Powerful C.P.U.

Posted on January 23, 2018 in Government, Implementation, Industries

The movement behind the book Go Lean … Caribbean wants to deploy an “apolitical technocracy” in the Caribbean. What is an apolitical technocracy?

Quite simply, an organizational structure designed to just deliver.

Sounds familiar? Frankly, the Post Office is a powerful example of an apolitical technocracy:

They just deliver the mail …

… “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds”.

(While the Postal Service has no official motto, the popular belief is that these words are tribute to America’s postal workers).

Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy and create 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.

First Steps: EU: Free European Money – To Start at Top
First Steps: UK: Dignified and Efficient
First Steps: US: Congressional Interstate Compact – No Vote; No Voice
First Steps: CariCom: One Man One Vote Defects
First Steps: Deputize ‘Me’!
First Steps: A Powerful C.P.U.

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.

xv. Whereas the business of the Federation and the commercial interest in the region cannot prosper without an efficient facilitation of postal services, the Caribbean Union must allow for the integration of the existing mail operations of the governments of the member-states into a consolidated Caribbean Postal Union, allowing for the adoption of best practices and technical advances to deliver foreign/domestic mail in the region.

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 Bottom Line for the Caribbean Postal Union
Without a regional hub-and-spoke system, mail from one island to another can take weeks – such a business climate cannot breathe success with this lack of efficiency. The purpose of the CU is to facilitate the economic engines of the region. Therefore postal communications between individuals, households, businesses and governmental institutions must be efficient and effective – establishments must be able to connect with their customers and governments to its constituents. The Caribbean Postal Union (CPU) will operate as a private business, a multi-national corporation, owned by CU member-states, chartered to employ best practices and world class methods in the execution of the fulfillment side of the e-Delivery model. A mark of success: delivery of first-class mail in 3 – 5 days.

VIDEO – Welcome to Stamps.com, USPS Postage Software Overview – https://youtu.be/wCCAkRkUWE0

Stamps.com

Published on Apr 23, 2013 – Welcome to Stamps.com, USPS Postage Software Overview This video shows new customers how Stamps.com software works. Highlights include how to buy and print postage stamps and shipping labels, e-commerce shipping features, postage spending reports plus many more features.

Category: Howto & Style

License: Standard YouTube License

In addition, previous Go Lean blog-commentaries detailed the width-and-breadth of the mail-logistics business model for the Caribbean; see these prior submissions here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13627	Amazon as a Role Mode: Then and Now
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9839	Alibaba Cloud stretches global reach with four new facilities
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7991	Transformations: Caribbean Postal Union – Delivering the Future
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3187	Amazon Role Model – Robots helping tackle Cyber Monday
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2488	Alibaba – A Chinese Role Model for the C.P.U.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1416	Amazon – An American Role Model for the C.P.U.

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 Title: Important: USPS making changes to First-Class Mail International Flats

January 21, 2018 Update: Stamps.com has launched a new International Flat service. Get more info on how to ship merchandise with International Flats.

Here are some examples of what USPS considers a document (still OK to ship using First Class Mail International Flats):

Audit and business records
Personal correspondence
Circulars
Pamphlets
Advertisements
Written instruments not intended to be resold
Money orders, checks, and similar items that cannot be negotiated or converted into cash without forgery.

Here are examples of items that will NO LONGER be allowed to be shipped as First Class Mail International Flats, effective Jan. 21, 2018:

CDs, DVDs, flash drives, video and cassette tapes, and other digital and electronic storage media (regardless of whether they are blank or contain electronic documents or other prerecorded media)
Artwork
Collector or antique document items
Books
Periodicals
Printed music
Printed educational or test material
Player piano rolls
Commercial photographs, blueprints and engineering drawings
Film and negatives
X-rays
Separation negatives

Cost Savings Using First Class Mail International Flats
Moving from First Class Mail International Flats to First Class Package International Service will have a big impact on shippers.

Source: Posted December 26^th, 2017; retrieved January 21, 2018 from: http://blog.stamps.com/2017/12/26/important-usps-making-changes-first-class-mail-international-flats/

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Amazon: Then and Now

Posted on November 28, 2017 in Economics, Implementation, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

Time flies when you are …

Time just flies … PERIOD!

18 years can go by real fast.

It was only 18 years ago (1999) that Amazon was this small budding company in Seattle, Washington USA. Now today, they are huge … and transforming how America shops … for Christmas and beyond!

Notice the graphic here:

In a previous blog-commentary by the movement behind the book Go Lean … Caribbean, it was asserted that the retail industry – the greatest benefactor of the Christmas holiday shopping tradition with the estimate $107.4 Billion for 2017 – is being threatened by the Retail Apocalypse of e-Commerce in general and the internet-based mover-shaker company of Amazon in particular.

See the story here on Cyber Monday 2017 in the related VIDEO here:

Title – Cyber Monday: Who won online shopping’s biggest day?

VIDEO – CNET Surveys Holiday Shopping Trends – https://www.cbsnews.com/videos/cnet-surveys-holiday-shopping-trends/

Published November 28, 2017 – Monday [(November 27)] broke shopping records, becoming America’s largest-ever online shopping day. Some $6.6 billion in sales were generated, according to Adobe Analytics, which tracks 80 percent of online shopping activity. By 10 a.m. Monday, $840 million had already been spent online, Adobe said — a jump of 17 percent from the year before.

Spending on Cyber Monday typically peaks in the evening, between 8 and 11 p.m., and shopping activity during that time on Monday exceeded that of a typical 24-hour day, according to Adobe Analytics.

So where are we spending all that money? In a word: Amazon (AMZN). The e-commerce giant accounts for somewhere between 45 percent and 50 percent of all sales by volume, according to separate estimates from SunTrust Robinson Humphrey and GBH Insights.
….
See the rest of the news article in the Appendix below.

How did they – Amazon – get here … so quickly?

Amazon: Then and Now

See here the width-and-breath of Amazon.com in 1999 in this 60 minutes Interview/Story:

VIDEO – What they said in 1999 about Amazon.com – https://youtu.be/6cTjhzSgdwE

Startup Cat

Published on Nov 20, 2017 – Interview look the year when the internet dotcom bubble burst dramatically. What they were saying about Amazon.com and Jeff Bezos?

Category: Science & Technology

License: Standard YouTube License

Now see the width-and-breath of Amazon today … with this CNBC Feature/Story:

VIDEO – Inside Amazon Empire Documentary 2017 – https://youtu.be/_JnRzt8_YQc

Interesting Facts

Published on Sep 28, 2017 – Inside Amazon Empire Documentary 2017

Category: Film & Animation

License: Standard YouTube License

———-

The Go Lean movement pays more than the usual attention to this “Amazon” business enterprise. We want to copy their good examples … and avoid their bad examples.

This company is a model for the Caribbean’s own venture into e-Commerce. The Go Lean book describes the design for the Caribbean Postal Union and the www.myCaribbean.gov web-portal so as to perform a lot of the same functionality that Amazon does in the USA.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) and the Caribbean Postal Union (CPU). These entities are designed to address the “Agents of Change“ in modern society, but for a Caribbean scope only. The “Agents of Change” at play in the foregoing news sources, according to the book (Page 57), are defined as follows:

Technology
Globalization

Amazon and its CEO Jeff Bezos are role models that we can copy in the Caribbean. It is our assessment that one person can make a difference in society. Look at the impact of this one man – Jeff Bezos – in the fast-time of 18 years, since 1999. These above Agents-of-Change have disrupted Caribbean life in the past; now we need to be our own Change Agents. We need to forge our own change in our society so that we can survive as a culture on the world stage.

The future is not assured if we do not take a hold of our societal engines. We must reboot our industrial landscape to foster new opportunities (jobs, entrepreneurism and industrial development). This is the charter of the CU. In fact, the following 3 statements are identified as the prime directives of this CU charter:

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 protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance – as e-Commerce alters sales & border taxes – to support these engines.

What Amazon did and does, is the epitome of what the Caribbean Union Trade Federation needs to do to reboot Caribbean society. Amazon disrupted the status quo in so many industries – think: book retailers & movie rentals – and transformed markets to exploit opportunities and derive profits. This is the “Sum of All Caribbean Dreams“.

This reference to Caribbean Dreams is presented early in the Go Lean book with these opening pronouncements in the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 12 – 14):

xv. Whereas the business of the Federation and the commercial interest in the region cannot prosper without an efficient facilitation of postal services, the Caribbean Union must allow for the integration of the existing mail operations of the governments of the member-states into a consolidated Caribbean Postal Union, allowing for the adoption of best practices and technical advances to deliver foreign/domestic mail in the region.

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.

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.

The business models of Amazon have been further elaborated upon in previous blog-commentaries, as follows:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=13091	Amazon Opens Search for HQ2 Amazon is accepting bids for a 2nd headquarters in North America. The city that lands HQ2 will have a lot to celebrate, as this enterprise can create many high-paying direct jobs – 50,000 – and have an indirect stimulus on the rest of the economy. This is a feature of Amazon that “we” want to model in the Caribbean.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=12291	Big Tech’s Amazon – The Retailers’ Enemy Big Tech companies like Amazon have the treasuries, talent and temperament (culture, values and commitment) to change the world, for good and for bad. The Amazon threat had been “all things internet”, but now they are attempting to dominate the physical retail space as well, with their acquisition of Whole Foods grocery stores.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=11358	Retail Apocalypse – Preparing for the Inevitable There is feast and famine “in the cards” for the retail eco-system. On one end of the spectrum , there will be prosperity for electronic commerce stakeholders, but on the other end, for brick-and-mortar establishments, there will be a Retail Apocalypse. This is not just a future problem as the, the threat has already manifested!
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9839	*Amazon and Alibaba’s Cloud* allows for global reach** This model, with cutting-edge data centers, is the new colonialism. Amazon and Alibaba are people-intensive companies – lots of employment – but Information Technology (I.T.) companies too.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7297	Death of the ‘Department Store’: Exaggerated or Eventual Modern technology and electronic commerce has transformed many aspects of society; much has been added and much taken away. Just consider: cameras, watches, pagers, maps, calculators, calendars, payphones, books, music and more. The related industries have also been affected: travel agencies, music retailers, book retailers, newspapers, travel agencies and Big Box retailers. Amazon is to blame for many of the transformations.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7023	Thanksgiving & American Commerce – Past, Present and Amazon To better understand American commerce, one must understand Cyber Monday and its dominant player Amazon. This company demonstrates how to be lean and technocratic as it employs cutting-edge automation and robotics. They are a great model for a new Caribbean.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1416	Model of an E-Commerce Fulfillment Company: Amazon Amazon is the model for the Caribbean Postal Union (CPU): our means for delivering the mail. Considering the US, one might think that the American model would be the US Postal Service (USPS). No, the Go Lean book relates how the USPS is a failing enterprise, while Amazon flourishes with growth, capital and profits.

Understanding the Amazon business model is very important for the Caribbean’s effort to reform and transform the region. Creating the CPU and the Caribbean Cloud is “Step One, Day One” in the Go Lean roadmap. This will be a direct result of assembling and integrating the governmental agencies for postal mail for all 30 Caribbean member-states. The strategy calls for a separation-of-powers between the CU entities, like the CPU and the entities of the Caribbean member-states.

This is a win-win approach. Imagine the jobs! (See the indirect jobs production in the Appendix VIDEO below).

These postal agencies, under the current models, are inefficient, ineffective and unprofitable. But following the Amazon model can be transformative. We can do this; we can impact our communities and retail eco-systems in such positive ways.

We urge everyone in the Caribbean – citizens, businesses and governments – to lean-in to the empowerments in the CU/Go Lean roadmap. We can make our region better places to live, work and play. 🙂

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

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

———-

Appendix – Cyber Monday: Who won online shopping’s biggest day? – Cont’d

By: Irina Ivanova, MoneyWatch

…

Amazon’s revenue take is somewhat smaller, thanks to the large number of third-party sellers on its platform. Amazon will have about 24 percent of the online shopping share this holiday season, STRH estimated, up from 20 percent last year.

eBay (EBAY), the online auction site, is the second-largest online shopping site, but its share of sales is in the “high single digits,” said Youssef Squali, managing director and senior analyst at STRH. Walmart (WMT) is No. 3.

Other factors feed into making this an exceptionally strong season for Amazon, not least of which is the availability of the Echo speaker and other “smart home” devices, which funnel shopping through the giant cybermerchant.

“Given a record breaking Prime Day in 2Q, continued momentum in 3Q, and the fact that this is just the second holiday season offering monthly Prime memberships (a service we view as most compelling during the holidays), we expect a record breaking holiday season for the company,” STRH analysts wrote in a note. Amazon’s market share typically peaks in the fourth quarter, they added.

The breakneck pace of Cyber Monday shopping comes on the heels of a strong retail showing over Thanksgiving day and Black Friday, the latter of which set an online sales record. Macy’s (M), JCPenney (JCP) and Kohl’s (KSS) each reported strong or record-setting sales over the weekend. Foot traffic in stores on Black Friday fell only about 1 percent from last year, according to ShopperTrak — less than many had feared.

Shoppers are bolstered by record stock market highs and soaring home values, analysts said.

“The economy is doing well, and when consumers feel confident, they’re going to spend,” said Aaron Shapiro, CEO of Huge, a digital marketing company.

“So far it’s been a really strong holiday season. The biggest winner has been the internet,” said Shapiro. “Combined with the fact that people tend to shop at the last minute, that portends a really strong holiday shopping season.”

Big as it may get, Cyber Monday is no match for the world’s largest shopping holiday. That would be China’s Singles’ Day, on Nov. 11, which this year generated a whopping $25 billion in sales (not to mention some 300,000 tons of carbon dioxide). Not bad for a holiday that’s less than a decade old.

———-

Appendix VIDEO – Amazon Last Mile – https://www.cbsnews.com/videos/amazon-program-hires-self-employed-couriers/

Amazon’s FLEX, a little-known program to get your package to your doorstep.

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Amazon Opens Search for HQ2

Posted on September 27, 2017 in Economics, Government, Industries

Go Lean Commentary

Amazon is not just a giant on the internet, in the areas of electronic commerce. No they are emerging as a giant in the real world as well. The company has over 380,000 employees worldwide and 40,000+ at their Seattle, Washington USA headquarters. That is a BIG corporate presence. In fact, economic analysts had tabulated Amazon’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contribution to Seattle at $US 38 Billion. Wow!

Now, the company has decided to open a new supplemental headquarters facility – with the promise of another 50,000 job opportunities. Where will they place this second HQ facility – HQ2? They are open to offers.

Let the bidding begin …

See the Press Release in the Appendix below and the related VIDEO here:

VIDEO – American cities vie to be site of Amazon’s second headquarters – https://www.today.com/video/american-cities-vie-to-be-site-of-amazon-s-second-headquarters-1055053379904

Many U.S cities are competing fiercely to show Amazon why they should become home to the online giant’s second headquarters. NBC business correspondent Jo Ling Kent reports for TODAY from one of them: Los Angeles.

As related in this VIDEO, Amazon HQ2 would be a “serious jolt to any local economy”. Consider these prospective cities that are lining up:

Atlanta	El Paso, TX	Nashville, TN
Baltimore	Gary, Indiana	Pittsburgh, PA
Birmingham, AL	Houston, TX	Phoenix, AZ
Boston, MA	Las Vegas, NV	Portland, OR
Chicago	Los Angeles	St Louis, MO
Cincinnati, OH	Miami, FL	Toronto, Canada
Denver, CO	Minneapolis, MN	Tucson, AZ

The Caribbean is not represented on that list; notwithstanding the frontier city of Miami. (Miami thrives due to the presence of the Caribbean Diaspora).

But that’s OK…this time. We have our own plans.

As related in previous blog-commentaries by the movement behind the book Go Lean … Caribbean, Amazon is a model for the Caribbean’s own venture into electronic commerce. We have the design for www.myCaribbean.gov web-portal and the Caribbean Postal Union to perform a lot of the same functionality that Amazon does in the USA.

Technology
Globalization

As related in the foregoing VIDEO, the business dynamics of Amazon will have a huge impact on some local community. That American city that lands HQ2 will have a lot to celebrate, as their societal engines will be elevated. An enterprise that can create that many high-paying direct jobs – 50,000 – will have a stimulating effect on the rest of the economy. This too is a feature of Amazon that “we” want to model in the Caribbean. The Go Lean/CU roadmap is designed to elevate the Caribbean’s societal engines starting first with economics (jobs, industrial development and entrepreneurial opportunities). In fact, the following 3 statements are identified as the prime directives of the CU:

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 protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these other engines. Governance will not grow the economy, commerce will.

One addition feature of Amazon that bears disclosing is their effect on stimulating other businesses. According to these words from the Press Release below, the home community of Amazon’s current headquarters – Seattle, Washington – has incubated many other Fortune 500 companies in the wake of Amazon’s rise and dominance:

Increase in Fortune 500 companies with engineering/R&D centers in Seattle: From 7 in 2010 to 31 in 2017

Incubation is a primary tactic addressed in the Go Lean book. It is explained (Page 28) as follows:

The Bottom Line on Incubators
Business incubators are programs designed to support the successful development of entrepreneurial companies through an array of business support resources and services, developed and orchestrated by incubator management. Incubators vary in the way they deliver their services, in their organizational structure, and in the types of clients they serve. Successful completion of a business incubation program increases the likelihood that a startup company will stay in business for the long term: studies found 87% of incubator graduates stayed in business, in contrast to 44% of all firms. [Incubators are common in the US, Canada and Europe]. In 2005 alone, North American incubation programs assisted more than 27,000 firms that provided employment for more than 100,000 workers and generated annual revenues of $17 billion.

Incubators differ from research and technology parks in their dedication to startup and early-stage companies. Incubators also differ from the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Small Business Development Centers in that they serve only selected clients. Most common incubators provide these services:

1. Help with business basics

2. Networking activities

3. Marketing assistance

4. Help with accounting/financial management

5. Access to bank loans, loan funds and guarantee programs

6. Help with presentation skills

7. Links to higher education resources

8. Links to strategic partners

9. Access to angel investors or venture capital

10. Advisory boards and mentors

11. Technology commercialization assistance

12. Help with regulatory compliance

13. Intellectual property management.

Amazon’s modus operandi is not to be an incubator, though they have invested in many other tech-related companies. No, the Seattle incubation resulted from more community synergy than direct planning. This is what is defined in the Go Lean book as “community ethos”:

1. The fundamental character or spirit of a culture; the underlying sentiment that informs the beliefs, customs, or practices of a group or society; dominant assumptions of a people or period.

2. The character or disposition of a community, group, person, etc.

We need this community ethos in the Caribbean!

Overall, in its 370-pages, the Go Lean book stresses the community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to reform and transform the economic engines of Caribbean society. The required technocratic stewardship for the region’s economic engines was presented early in the book with these opening pronouncements in the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 13 and 14):

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.

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.

The points of effective, technocratic stewardship were further elaborated upon in previous blog-commentaries. Consider this sample:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=12291	Amazon – The Retailers’ Enemy
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8823	Lessons from China – WeChat: Model for Caribbean Social Media
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7991	Transformations: Caribbean Postal Union – Delivering the Future
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3187	Robots help Amazon tackle Cyber Monday
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2488	Model of an E-Commerce Fulfillment Company: Alibaba
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1416	Model of an E-Commerce Fulfillment Company: Amazon
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=528	Facebook’s advances for e-Commerce payments

Congratulation to the selected city – whoever is selected – for Amazon’s HQ2.

For the Caribbean, let’s pay attention to this bidding process. Let’s lean-in and learn how the economic incentives were structured by the winning city to attract this “whale” of a corporate investor – Amazon commits to spending $5 Billion to enhance local infrastructure in the selected city. This chosen city will make great progress in their attempts to elevate their city … to live, work and play.

The lessons learned can help the Caribbean in our solicitations of Direct Foreign Investors. We can learn so much from this process, since it is also our desire to make our homelands better places to live, work and play. 🙂

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

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

————-

Appendix Title: Amazon Opens Search for Amazon HQ2 A Second Headquarters City in North America

New headquarters will be a full equal to Amazon’s headquarters in Seattle, and is expected to grow to 50,000 employees as part of the company’s ongoing job creation

Amazon plans to invest over $5 billion in construction and operation of Amazon HQ2

In addition to Amazon’s direct hiring and investment, construction and operation of Amazon HQ2 is expected to create tens of thousands of jobs in construction and related industries, and generate tens of billions of dollars in additional investment in the city where Amazon HQ2 is located

SEATTLE — (BUSINESS WIRE)

(NASDAQ: AMZN) — Amazon today announced plans to open Amazon HQ2, a second company headquarters in North America. Amazon expects to invest over $5 billion in construction and grow this second headquarters to include as many as 50,000 high-paying jobs. In addition to Amazon’s direct hiring and investment, construction and ongoing operation of Amazon HQ2 is expected to create tens of thousands of additional jobs and tens of billions of dollars in additional investment in the surrounding community. Amazon is opening the Amazon HQ2 Request for Proposal (“RFP”) now, and local and state government leaders interested in learning more about how they can bring Amazon to their community can visit www.amazon.com/amazonHQ2.

Amazon estimates its investments in Seattle from 2010 through 2016 resulted in an additional $38 billion to the city’s economy – every dollar invested by Amazon in Seattle generated an additional 1.4 dollars for the city’s economy overall.

Details of Amazon’s Seattle Headquarters:

Direct¹ Number of buildings 33

Square feet 8.1 million

Local retail within Amazon headquarters 24 restaurants/cafes + 8 other services

Amazon employees 40,000+

Capital investment (buildings & infrastructure) $3.7 billion

Operational expenditures (utilities & maintenance) $1.4 billion

Compensation to employees $25.7 billion

Number of annual hotel nights by visiting Amazonians and guests 233,000 (2016)

Amount paid into the city’s public transportation system as employees’ transportation benefit $43 million

Indirect² Additional jobs created in the city as a result of Amazon’s direct investments 53,000

Additional investments in the local economy as a result of Amazon’s direct investments $38 billion

Increase in personal income by non-Amazon employees as a result of Amazon’s direct investments $17 billion

Other Increase in Fortune 500 companies with engineering/R&D centers in Seattle From 7 in 2010 to 31 in 2017

¹ From 2010 (when Amazon moved its headquarters to downtown Seattle) to June 2017.

² From 2010-2016. Calculated using Input-Output methodology and multipliers developed by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

With more than 380,000 employees worldwide, Amazon ranks #1 on Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies, #2 on Fortune’s World’s Most Admired Companies, #1 on The Harris Poll’s Corporate Reputation survey, and #2 on LinkedIn’s U.S. most desirable companies list. Amazon was also recently included in the Military Times’ Best for Vets list of companies committed to providing opportunities for military veterans.

“We expect HQ2 to be a full equal to our Seattle headquarters,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO. “Amazon HQ2 will bring billions of dollars in up-front and ongoing investments, and tens of thousands of high-paying jobs. We’re excited to find a second home.”

In choosing the location for HQ2, Amazon has a preference for:

Metropolitan areas with more than one million people
A stable and business-friendly environment
Urban or suburban locations with the potential to attract and retain strong technical talent
Communities that think big and creatively when considering locations and real estate options

HQ2 could be, but does not have to be:

An urban or downtown campus
A similar layout to Amazon’s Seattle campus
A development-prepped site. We want to encourage states and communities to think creatively for viable real estate options, while not negatively affecting our preferred timeline.

Amazon HQ2 will be a complete headquarters for Amazon – not a satellite office. Amazon expects to hire new teams and executives in HQ2, and will also let existing senior leaders across the company decide whether to locate their teams in HQ1, HQ2 or both. The company expects that employees who are currently working in HQ1 can choose to continue working there, or they could have an opportunity to move if they would prefer to be located in HQ2.

To learn more about Amazon’s current Seattle headquarters, plans for Amazon HQ2, and to submit a proposal, visit www.amazon.com/amazonHQ2.

———-

About Amazon

Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements that are inherently difficult to predict. Actual results could differ materially for a variety of reasons, including, in addition to the factors discussed above, the amount that Amazon.com invests in new business opportunities and the timing of those investments, the mix of products and services sold to customers, the mix of net sales derived from products as compared with services, the extent to which we owe income taxes, competition, management of growth, potential fluctuations in operating results, international growth and expansion, the outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment, sortation, delivery, and data center optimization, risks of inventory management, seasonality, the degree to which the Company enters into, maintains, and develops commercial agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, payments risks, and risks of fulfillment throughput and productivity. Other risks and uncertainties include, among others, risks related to new products, services, and technologies, system interruptions, government regulation and taxation, and fraud. In addition, the current global economic climate amplifies many of these risks. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com’s financial results is included in Amazon.com’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings.

———-

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170907005717/en/

Amazon.com, Inc.
Media Hotline
Amazon-pr@amazon.com
www.amazon.com/pr

———-

Source: Posted September 7, 2017; retrieved September 26, 2017 from: http://www.nbc-2.com/story/36308962/amazon-opens-search-for-amazon-hq2-a-second-headquarters-city-in-north-america

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Retail Apocalypse – Preparing for the Inevitable

Posted on April 18, 2017 in Implementation, Industries, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

Remember the dream … of 7 Fat Cows and 7 Skinny Cows?

The articulation of the dream was that the 7 Fat Cows represented 7 prosperous years while the 7 Skinny Cows represented 7 years of famine with poverty and distress. – The Bible; Genesis Chapter 41.

In that Bible drama of Joseph in ancient Egypt, those circumstances were more than just in a dream; it was a prophecy of prosperity and famine. It came true!

Joseph was able to use the foresight to prepare that kingdom for adversity, after first exploiting the opportunities.

Here it comes again.

Will be? Actually, the threat has already manifested!

This is the assertion in this news article by the financial-economic magazine Business Insider:

Title: The retail apocalypse has officially descended on America
By: Hayley Peterson

Thousands of mall-based stores are shutting down in what’s fast becoming one of the biggest waves of retail closures in decades.

More than 3,500 stores are expected to close in the next couple of months.

Department stores like JCPenney, Macy’s, Sears, and Kmart are among the companies shutting down stores, along with middle-of-the-mall chains like Crocs, BCBG, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Guess.

Some retailers are exiting the brick-and-mortar business altogether and trying to shift to an all-online model.

For example, Bebe is closing all its stores — about 170 — to focus on increasing its online sales, according to a Bloomberg report.

Some are going out of business altogether, like The Limited which recently shut down all 250 of its stores.

Others, such as Sears and JCPenney, are aggressively paring down their store counts to unload unprofitable locations and try to stanch losses.

Sears is shutting down about 10% of its Sears and Kmart locations, or 150 stores, and JCPenney is shutting down about 14% of its locations, or 138 stores.

According to many analysts, the retail apocalypse has been a long time coming in the US, where stores per capita far outnumber that of any other country.

The US has 23.5 square feet of retail space per person, compared with 16.4 square feet in Canada and 11.1 square feet in Australia, the next two countries with the most retail space per capita, according to a Morningstar Credit Ratings report from October.

Visits to shopping malls have been declining for years with the rise of e-commerce and titanic shifts in how shoppers spend their money. Visits declined by 50% between 2010 and 2013, according to the real-estate research firm Cushman & Wakefield.

And people are now devoting bigger shares of their wallets to restaurants, travel, and technology than ever before, while spending less on apparel and accessories.

As stores close, many shopping malls will be forced to shut down as well.

When an anchor store like Sears or Macy’s closes, it often triggers a downward spiral in performance for shopping malls.

Not only do the malls lose the income and shopper traffic from that store’s business, but the closure often triggers “co-tenancy clauses” that allow the other mall tenants to terminate their leases or renegotiate the terms, typically with a period of lower rents, until another retailer moves into the anchor space.

To reduce losses, malls must quickly find a replacement tenant for the massive retail space that the anchor store occupied, which is difficult — especially in malls that are already financially strapped — when major department stores are reducing their retail footprints.

That can have grave consequences for shopping malls, especially in markets where it’s harder to transform vacant mall space into non-retail space like apartments, according to analysts.

The nation’s worst-performing malls — those classified in the industry as C- and D-rated — will be hit the hardest by the store closures.

The real-estate research firm Green Street Advisors estimates that about 30% of all malls fall under those classifications. That means that nearly a third of shopping malls are at risk of dying off as a result of store closures.
Source: Business Insider e-Zine. Posted 03/21/2017; retrieved 04/17/2017 from: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-retail-apocalypse-has-officially-descended-on-america-2017-3

Related:

1. Monday Market Mayhem – The Retail Apocalypse – Look out Wall Street

2. Dollar General is defying the retail apocalypse and opening 1,000 stores

See the related AUDIO Podcast below here:

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AUDIO Podcast – Wal-Mart battles Amazon with discounts for online ordering and store pickup – https://www.marketplace.org/2017/04/14/business/its-battle-amazon-walmart-offers-discounts-ordering-online-and-picking-store

Published April 14, 2017 – Big Box giant Wal-Mart battling e-Commerce giant Amazon for New Economy fulfillment.

This is so familiar. Remember the housing-real estate bubble in 2003 to 2010. This previous blog-commentary identified the following 5 steps of a bubble:

1.   Displacement

2.   Boom

3.   Euphoria

4.   Profit Taking

5.   Panic

Here we go again! Sounds like a crisis is imminent.

Where do the tourists come from that drive the Caribbean region’s primary economic driver?

The question is rhetorical; the answer is obvious!

The Go Lean book seeks to prepare the Caribbean region for the change dynamics impacting the world. The “Agents of Change” at play in the foregoing news source are as follows:

Technology
Globalization

Consider the experience of this commentator:

I went to buy 3 pairs of slacks.

I was only able to find one – with the brand, make, size and color – at a Big Box retail store. So then I went home and matched the brand, model, size with the e-Commerce merchant Amazon.com and acquired the same pants in 2 divergent colors that the Big Box retailer did not have in inventory. 3 days later, the whole shopping expedition was over; I acquired 3 pairs of slacks, primarily from the online merchant and delivered by the shipping company United Parcel Service (UPS).

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 protect the resultant economic engines.
Improve Caribbean governance – as e-Commerce alters sales & border taxes – to support these engines.

10 Ways to Foster e-Commerce

1	Leverage the full population – 42 million people in all 30 member-states to deploy the CU and the CCB.
2	Regional Currency (Caribbean Dollar or C$)
3	Card Culture The CU will seek to foster the eco-system for e-payments beyond government activity. To assimilate this change, a card culture, on Main Street, will entail utilizing debit/credit cards, benefits pay cards, and even smart cards on cruise ships. The CU will collectively bargain with the cruise lines to deploy C$ electronic “purses” to facilitate port-side and onboard retail commerce. All of these changes will garner a better monetary multiplier on the CU economy, by expanding M1.
4	CU Social Media The CU web portal www.myCaribbean.gov will grant free access, email, IM, and profile pages for CU stakeholders, even normalizing communications thru social media sites. This will facilitate internet commerce activities in the region, as the CU will have hot data on profiles, habits and previous activities, thereby creating opportunities for measured marketing.
5	A Market for the Downloads of Intellectual Properties
6	Remittance Methods (Card & Email)
7	Mobile Apps – *Hi-Density Wi-Fi*
8	Regional Postal Services – CPU The CU will assume the responsibility for mail services in the region; (all member-state postal employees will become federal civil servants). The embrace of the Caribbean Postal Union allows for parcel mail to be optimally shipped and delivered throughout the region, with Customs considerations in place. The CPU will therefore ensure the fulfillment side of e-commerce, even allowing for computer applications for printing electronic stamps/barcodes for value savings.
9	Turnpike Logistics
10	Customs and Import Optimizations

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.

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.

The points of effective, technocratic banking and retail stewardship were further elaborated upon in previous blog/commentaries. Consider this sample:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=11184	Big Bank investing $Billion on ‘Fintech’ for e-Commerce positioning
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8823	Lessons from China – WeChat: Model for Caribbean Social Media
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8704	Lesson from MetroCard
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7991	Transformations: Caribbean Postal Union – Delivering the Future
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7034	The Future of Money
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6635	New Security Chip in Credit Cards Unveiled
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5668	Move over Mastercard/Visa – Time for Local Banking Cards
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4425	Cash, Credit or iPhone …
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3889	Royal Bank of Canada’s EZPay – Ready for Change
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3881	The Need for Regional Cooperation for Cyber-Security & e-Security
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3858	Model of Central Banking Technocracy: ECB 1 trillion Euro stimulus
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2488	Model of an E-Commerce Fulfillment Company: Alibaba
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1416	Model of an E-Commerce Fulfillment Company: Amazon
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1350	PayPal’s model to pay for e-Commerce
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=906	Bitcoin model to pay for e-Commerce
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=528	Facebook to pay for e-Commerce

Warning to all retail stakeholders – buyers, sellers and governments: Change is coming!

This is a familiar stance – preparing for the inevitable – for the Go Lean movement; there have been previous warnings of disruptive changes; see this sample here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7847	To the Personal Computer industry: Cloud Computing, Smartphones and Tablets are making actual laptop and desktop computers inconsequential.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6151	To the regional government’s Revenue Officials: 3-D Printing is coming and will change fabrication to local rather than import. This will disrupt border taxes revenue expectations.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=6016	To the Infrastructure Planners: Climate Change is making Caribbean summers hot-hot-hot and northern winters milder; there must be cooperative refrigeration to provide relief, otherwise people will leave for northern destinations.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5784	To Jamaica’s Public Safety Officials: Human Rights protections must be extended to people who identify as LGBT. Whether you agree or not, the international community will force you to respect their rights for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5210	To the Cruise Line industry: The Caribbean region’s collective bargaining will extract greater benefits and protections for port city commerce.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5155	To the Caribbean Power Grip: Home-based batteries will allow for successful deployments of solar/wind power generation and require less power from the grid.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4767	To the regional government’s Revenue Officials: Under the WTO regime, customs duties must eventually be eliminated; same too with conditional property taxes. VAT or Sales Taxes are OK.

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

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

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Logical Addresses – ‘Life or Death’ Consequences

Posted on March 8, 2017 in Government, Implementation

Go Lean Commentary

There is the need to reform and transform the Caribbean, with strategies and tactics for modernization of street addresses.

Why is this subject important?

It could mean Life-or-Death.

It is that serious!

Question to a Caribbean man: So where do you live?

Answer: Go down the main street and turn at the corner of the Catholic Church, go two side corners past the mango tree, turn left by the pink house; go down two more houses pass Auntie Mae’s yard, and my house is facing hers.

This is no joke; this is our sad reality. Imagine if the inquirer in this case is an Ambulance Dispatcher. They must send paramedics urgently or a sufferer can die; (think heart attack, stroke, poisoning episode, etc.). Yet still, this above address standard is the Caribbean norm.

We can – and must – do better.

Verily the book Go Lean…Caribbean details a mission to re-organize the addressing scheme in the region for all 30 Caribbean member states. This book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU); this includes a subset institution, the Caribbean Postal Union (CPU). The end result, according to the book Page 78:

The CPU will collaborate with member-states in remapping all residential and commercial addresses for unique house numbers and street names.

There are a lot of advantages for an optimized postal eco-system, none more vital than Life-or-Death. The resultant address from the CU/CPU effort will allow emergency operations to have a consistently logical-sequential-directional address. Yes, this is the standard for North American 911 Emergency operations with their Enhanced 911 (E911) system, which provides both caller location and identification; see the reference here:

Location determination depends upon the Automatic Location Information (ALI) database which is maintained on behalf of local governments by contracted private third parties generally the Incumbent Local Exchange Carrier (ILEC).
…
A 911 address contains a uniform number, the street name, direction (if applicable), and the city. The address number is assigned usually by the grid of the existing community. Each county usually has their own policy on how the addressing is done, but for the most part National Emergency Number Association (NENA) guidelines are followed. These guidelines are expressed by the Master Street Address Guide (MSAG). The exact 911 addresses and associated phone numbers are put into the ALI database. – Wikipedia.

This effort was just recently completed in the Caribbean territory of the United States Virgin Islands; see the Information Sheet on the relevant webpage – published beforehand … circa 2012 – in the Appendix below. This reference depicts the effort for the USVI, the last of the continental American States & Territories to comply. From a Caribbean perspective, this project is now complete for Puerto Rico and the USVI – see the complete Postal Addressing Standard for PR & USVI here. We now need to model it in the rest of the Caribbean, as part of the CPU initiative. But Postal is not our primary motivation; the quest to mitigate Life-or-Death emergencies is a BIGGER concern.

With this empowerment in place, the opening dialogue would go differently; consider this now:

Question to a Caribbean man: We have your address at 5407 Guava Berry Drive. Is there anything blocking access for the ambulance?

Answer: No. Please hurry.

Postal mail efficiency is secondary in this discussion; it is only “gravy”.

With optimized addresses, the CPU will be able to deliver logistical solutions for Caribbean modern commerce. This implementation can transform Caribbean society for the people and institutions.

The Go Lean book details the quest to transform the Caribbean; it features a 370-page how-to guide, a roadmap for elevating the region’s societal engines of economics, security and governance. It leads with economic issues, not administrative ones! But there must be logistical solutions – infrastructure – before many of the economic empowerments can manifest, such as electronic commerce. The book details a www.myCaribbean.gov Marketplace.

The opening dialogue would go differently now:

Question to a Caribbean man: What is your address for your package delivery?

Answer: I’m at 5407 Guava Berry Drive.

The Go Lean/CU/CPU plan calls for the regional consolidation of the postal operations on Day One/Step One of the roadmap, during the Assembly phase. In order to enjoy the infrastructural benefits of the CPU plan, there must be some heavy-lifting in regional governance: the political transformation of member-states vesting their authority to a deputized CU federal agency. This vision is defined early in the Go Lean book (Page 12) in these pronouncements in the Declaration of Interdependence:

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.

xv. Whereas the business of the Federation and the commercial interest in the region cannot prosper without an efficient facilitation of postal services, the Caribbean Union must allow for the integration of the existing mail operations of the governments of the member-states into a consolidated Caribbean Postal Union, allowing for the adoption of best practices and technical advances to deliver foreign/domestic mail in the region.

The Go Lean book details the series of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to foster the best practices in infrastructure so as to usher in the delivery of the CPU in the region. Consider this sample:

Tactical – How to Grow the Economy to $800 Billion – Trade and Globalization	Page 70
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Postal Services	Page 78
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Interstate Commerce Administration	Page 79
Implementation – Year 1 / Assemble Phase – Establish CPU	Page 96
Implementation – Anecdote – Mail Services – USPS Dilemma	Page 99
Implementation – Ways to Optimize Mail Service & myCaribbean.gov Marketplace	Page 108
Implementation – Ways to Deliver	Page 109
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Emergency Management	Page 196
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Urban Living	Page 234

Issues related to the CPU business model have previously been detailed in these Go Lean blog-commentaries, listed here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9839	CPU Model – Alibaba stretches the globe with 4 new Data Centers
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7991	Transformations: Caribbean Postal Union – Delivering the Future
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3187	Robots help Amazon tackle Cyber Monday
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2488	CPU Model – Alibaba Comes to America
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1416	CPU Model – Amazon’s new FIRE Smartphone

The need for address standardization is indisputable; there are so many benefits, none greater than Life-or-Death scenarios in emergency situations. The motivation of the Go Lean book is economic empowerment; yet still so many mitigations are presented to optimize the “art and science of Emergency Management”. In a previous blog-commentary, the full details of the 911 Emergency Telephone Number system were examined; consider these quoted excerpts:

The Go Lean book embarks on the strategy to consolidate the Emergency Management (preparation and response) for the entire Caribbean region. Therefore the issue of Emergency Telephone Numbers is of serious concern; sometimes it’s a life-or-death matter.

… everyone expects to pick up a phone and dial a 3-digit code – like 911 – and within short order be able to talk with an Emergency Management First-Responder for Police, Ambulance and Fire incidences. …

The Go Lean book posits that communication technologies must be regulated at the regional level for the Greater Good of the Caribbean. There are too many instances with overlapping spectrum from one member-state to another. Citizens should not need to worry about border considerations during emergency incidences. …

The region needs this delivery; it makes the Caribbean a better place for emergencies.

Issues related to regional coordination of Emergency Management have been detailed in these previous Go Lean blog-commentaries:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=9334	Hurricane Categories – The Science
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7896	The Logistics of Disaster Relief
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7449	‘Crap Happens’ – So What Now?
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5002	Managing a ‘Clear and Present Danger’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4308	911 – Emergency Response: System in Crisis

Now is the time for all of the Caribbean, the people and governing institutions (like Postal Operations), to lean-in for the empowerments in the book Go Lean … Caribbean. The CU/CPU will deploy the logistical efficiencies and innovative products-services to impact its prime directives; identified with the following 3 statements:

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.
Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines, including the consolidation of the state-ran postal operations.

(A quick note on jobs: a previous blog-commentary identified that the Uber-Everything business model can emerge in the Caribbean region once there is address standardization).

The VIDEO here demonstrates how the E911 program works in North America; this is a model for the whole of the Caribbean region:

VIDEO – How E9-1-1 Works – https://youtu.be/MZwBZYyOybI

Uploaded on Dec 14, 2010 – Avaya Emergency Services Product Manager Mark Fletcher, explains how E911 calls and location information in PBX systems gets to the 911 dispatcher at the PSAP. Learn more at http://www.avaya.com.

This CU/CPU roadmap is an important plan for streamlining the addresses in the region. But this is not just a plan for delivering the mail; it is more important than that; it can deliver Life-or-Death solutions. This is our plan for delivering a new Caribbean: a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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

———-

Appendix – USVI Street Addressing Initiative

What is the Street Addressing Initiative? Who is involved? The Street Addressing Initiative (SAI) is a project spearheaded by the Office of the Lieutenant Governor, and involving many agencies and departments of the Virgin Islands Government, including the Tax Assessor, GIS, Public Works, Planning and Natural Resources, WAPA, Historic Preservation, VITEMA (Emergency Management/E-911), Police, Health, viNGN and others. In addition, Innovative and other private companies are assisting the Government with the Project. The Government has partnered with the University of the Virgin Islands – Eastern Caribbean Center, Applied Geographics (AppGeo) and Spatial Focus, Inc. to develop the addressing system, and to conduct a pilot study that will test methods for assigning address numbers throughout the Territory.

The SAI will ultimately create a street address for every home, business, and other building within the U.S.V.I. At present, the pilot project is underway to test the addressing system and street naming processes. Small areas on each of the 3 major islands (STT, STX, STJ) are included in this pilot program.

I like my current address. Why do I need a new address? Current addresses are based on Estate Names and Plot numbers. These numbers were not assigned in an orderly manner, and have resulted in a confusing pattern of numbering that makes finding an individual house or business difficult. Addresses work because they are arranged in logical, sequential patterns, with well-identified street names, and posted numbers. The SAI will provide a new address number that will conform to a logical and well documented system of numbering. This type of addressing will provide broad benefits such as improved E-911, efficiency for utility service providers and delivery companies like UPS and Fedex. In general, logical addressing helps ensure that others can find you more quickly in an emergency and/or to deliver services or goods.

Why is my new address number so high? Why is my new address so different than my plot number? Your new street address is based on a numbering system developed for the U.S. Virgin Islands. Each island has two numbering systems. For St. Croix, these are centered on the towns of Frederiksted and Christiansted. For St. Thomas, these are centered at Government House in Charlotte Amalie, and at Red Hook. For St. John, they are centered in CruzBay and CoralBay. Lower numbers are used in the towns, and increase as you travel further from these centers. Your new number reflects the relative distance from these starting points.

Plot numbers were created when the land in your Estate was subdivided into lots, or when the original lots were re-subdivided. The numbering does not necessarily follow the street pattern, or maintain a logical sequence. This makes it difficult for emergency responders, service providers, and others to find your home or place of business. These numbers are not useful as addresses. They are, however, useful as property identifiers, and will be maintained for that purpose.

I thought that I lived on a different street than I have been assigned. Why do I have to change my street name? To the greatest extent possible, where streets have existing, official names that have been in use, the SAI will use those names. However, many streets were never officially named when they were created, and the SAI will be working with neighborhood groups and Homeowners’ Associations to designate names for these streets. In a small number of cases, where there are duplicate names, the SAI will need to change one of the names. The Addressing Team will try to minimize the disruption caused by these street name changes.

Now that I have been assigned a new address, what are the next steps? The first, most important step is to post your new address on the front of your house or business in a location that is visible from the street (see next question below). The project team will be communicating your new number and street name to WAPA, Innovative, and VITEMA/E-911 and to the US Postal Service, and other governmental agencies so that these agencies know what your new address is.

Are there any guidelines for putting my new number on my house or business? Numbers should be at least 4” tall, and should be in a contrasting color from the background color of your house. For example, if your house is a light color or white, please use black, dark blue, brown or dark green numbers. If your house is a dark color, please use white, or light colored numbers. Please be certain that your number is completely visible from the street. If your home or building is not visible from the street, the number can be placed on a sign located at the driveway leading to your home or building. Again, the numbers should be a contrasting color to the sign’s background. The examples below show good posted address numbers. Remember that your number must be visible from the street. If your home or business is not visible from the street, you should use a free-standing sign on a post at least 30 inches in height. Numbers should be on both sides of the sign.

Post Style:

House Styles:

What date is my street address effective? New addresses are effective as of July 1, 2013. There will be a public announcement through radio, television and other media to let you know that you should begin using your new number and street name. You may post your new number as soon as it has been assigned.

Can I still use my old address? Many people will continue to use their old address for historic reasons. However, for purposes of US Mail, E-911, and utility services, you are strongly encouraged to use your new SAI address. The existing number is most likely your lot number for tax purposes, and will be retained by the Tax Assessor to identify your property parcel for tax assessment and billing.

When will I see a street sign on my street? The SAI is working with the Government and Department of Public Works to develop a street signage program.

What is my COMPLETE ADDRESS? What is my ZIP Code? What should I write on letters? Your complete address includes your address number, street name, Estate name, plus the Island and ZIP Code. If you currently have a ZIP Code, please keep using it. We will be working with the U.S. Postal Service to identify areas which may need new or additional ZIP Codes.

Example of a complete address:

5407 Guava Berry Drive, Mon Bijou
St. Croix, USVI, 00850

Is my plot number still the same? Yes, there is NO change to your plot number.

I was assigned a provisional road name. What should I do to be assigned a permanent, official road name? In some cases, where a neighborhood has unnamed streets, the SAI will be using a provisional street name. These names will include the name of the Estate and a number to identify the specific “unnamed” road in the Estate. For example, “Contant Provisional Road 10”. The SAI is asking the property owners along each of the streets to suggest a name for the street, and submit it to the SAI for confirmation and approval. If your property is on one of these streets, you will find further information about this process in the addressing packet left on your property.

For further information on the street naming process, please visit the top of the page.

Alternatively, contact the Street Addressing Initiative by telephone or mail at the addresses on your door hanger.

Will my new address affect my utility service? Will my electricity and phone provider use my new address? Will there be loss of service? Your utility services, phone services, etc. will not be affected. The SAI is providing each of the utilities with a listing of all existing and new addresses, so that they may update their records. This does not require any action on your part. Once updated, the providers will use your new address as a service address. If you use a P.O. Box or other mailing address, these will not be changed.

When will the rest of the islands get new addresses? The current pilot project is expected to be finished in July, 2013. The U.S.V.I. Government is currently seeking funding for addressing for the remainder of the Territory as well as for street signage. The Government is hopeful that the remaining areas of the Territory can be addressed within the next 2-4 years.

Source: Retrieved March 7, 2017 from: http://ltg.gov.vi/street-addressing-initiative.html

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