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The Thunderbird Emerging Markets Laboratory (TEM Lab) combines an on-campus Organizational Consulting Practicum prerequisite course with a team-based international consulting assignment. Below is a list of current TEM Lab projects that are blogging from the field. Click here to learn more about TEM Lab.
CURRENT PROJECT:
 ANGOLA – EXXONMOBIL / ESSO – NOVEMBER 2012
Our purpose is to gain an understanding of the development work of our client organizations in Angola, including their impact, goals, challenges and successes. We aim to use our analytical skills, personal experience to practice authentic consulting, through active listening, to work through each phase of consulting, and to keep the client in mind when making actionable recommendations. Our objective is to determine the metrics that will be used to evaluate the return on investment. This will include a Master Plan that provides details on actions/accountability of each stakeholder, a communication framework between those shareholders, and a Monitoring and Evaluation toolkit for the shareholders (with definitions). |
PAST PROJECTS:
 CHINA 3 – ANYUE LEMON – JULY 2012
Anyue county is located in Sichuan province and produces the majority of Chinese lemons. Thunderbird has partnered with the Lemon Bureau of Anyue and Southwest Jiaotong University in Chengdu to develop a series of strategies to improve cooperation and the value chain for Chinese lemons. As the final phase of Thunderbird’s first endeavor in China our team will be building on the efforts of the first two teams to make Anyue a competitive player in the international lemon market. We will work closely with the Anyue Lemon Bureau to find attractive new export markets, create a sustainable marketing program, and implement the recommendations of the prior two teams. |
 LIBERIA 2 – JULY 2012Given the sensitive nature of our project and agreements with our client systems, we will be using this space to mainly share our thoughts, adventures and many lessons learned over the course of the next 5 weeks as we delve into the nuances, colors and sounds of Liberia. |
| CHINA 2 – ANYUE LEMON – MAY 2012 The county of Anyue in Sichuan province produces approximately 80% of China’s total lemon output. However, challenges remain in the standardization of production methods, product development, and quality control that have prevented Anyue from seizing on this global branding opportunity. In this second stage, we will perform market and consumer analysis to aid the Anyue Lemon Bureau in their marketing venture. The scope of this project will involve sourcing international clients and assessing opportunities for processed lemon products in the domestic market. |
 VIETNAM – VNN PLUS – MAY 2012Given the sensitive nature of our project and agreements with our client systems, we will be using this space to mainly share our thoughts, adventures and many lessons learned over the course of the next 5 weeks as we delve into the nuances, colors and sounds of Liberia. |
| LIBERIA – MAY 2012 Given the sensitive nature of our project and agreements with our client systems, our blog posts will be slightly unconventional for the TEM Lab program. Throughout the course of our work here in Liberia we will be highlighting experiences and relationships we believe will offer the Thunderbird Community and those following this blog, insight into the opportunities and challenges that a resurgent Libera offers. |
 KENYA – LESIOLO GRAIN HANDLERS – MAY 2012Lesiolo Grain Handlers Limited (LGHL) is the largest grain processing company in Kenya. The company’s grain cleaning, drying, transport, and storage services have been critical to the business of its largest client, East African Breweries, but even more so for the region’s farming community, which depends on LGHL to purchase the local farmers’ annual yield. Incorporated in 2003, LGHL has grown and now arrived at the brink of its first major corporate expansion. Enter Thunderbird’s select group of TEM Lab consultants. Our five-person outfit will be on the ground, operating out of the town of Nakuru, for five weeks to assist LGHL in framing its development activities. |
| CHINA – ANYUE LEMON – MARCH 2012 Lemon production in China is highly concentrated in Anyue County, within the western province of Sichuan. Production is localized here because the soil and sub-tropical weather conditions are optimal for growing lemons. However, the industry is fragmented and suffers from some critical voids in soft infrastructure that prevent it from being more competitive in the global market. The purpose of this first project is to assist the Anyue lemon industry to analyze and benchmark their industry with competitor countries. This will include developing recommendations for local government actions and programs that will enable companies to improve production and exporting capabilities, and allow them to take advantage of growing demand in international markets. |
 INDIA – INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR RESEARCH ON WOMEN – MARCH 2012Prevention of Gender-Based Violence Among Adolescent Girls: Harnessing collective action to address gender-based violence and promote social and economic development in a low-income community of Mumbai, India. Based in Mumbai, India, this TEM Lab team will work with the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), as well as other strategic partners focusing on gender issues in the city’s M-Ward. This collaborative opportunity provides a prime platform to mobilize the collective action of key non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community-based organizations (CBO)s seeking to improve the quality of life in this community, and hence affords opportunity for increased impact on our stated goal to address the unmet needs of adolescent girls. |
 PERU – ACURIO RESTAURANTES & ANPE – JANUARY 2012TEM Lab is partnering with Acurio Restaurantes and ANPE (La Asociación Nacional de Productores Ecológicos del Perú) to develop marketing strategies for the farmers of ANPE so that they can improve their sales, develop direct client relationships with restaurants, and create a market for specialty native produce. ANPE is an organization of over 12,000 producers from 22 regions of Peru that decided to unite efforts and initiatives around the national development of agroecology. Since the ANPE farmers are focused on sustainability and improving the farmers’ social impact, assisting the ANPE farmers will promote many social enterprises in the supply chain and also increase the number of restaurants that purchase from the social enterprise farmers as opposed to the middlemen, whom are normally not socially conscious. Acurio Restaurantes is led by the internationally famous chef Gaston Acurio and is a pioneer in developing socially responsible supply chains and using unique ingredients from small farmers. This project is part of an effort to implement social enterprise practices industry-wide. |
 MEXICO CITY – HOVDE FOUNDATION – JANUARY 2012The Hovde Foundation is a Washington, D.C. based NGO whose mission is to help abused and neglected children around the world by providing them with consistent shelter, food, and general necessities usually provided by family members. The Thunderbird team will focus on identifying potential businesses that the Hovde Foundation could start, or buy, and operate as a social enterprise with the profits being used to support the operations of the Hovde House in Mexico City. The target business should not only be profitable, but provide skill-building employment for youth living in the Hovde House. Thus this TEM Lab team will be performing deep financial and social evaluations of potential businesses. |
 GHANA – PALMS – EXXONMOBIL – JULY 2011Thunderbird’s team of student consultants are working on the ground in Ghana with Christian Volunteer Service International (CVSI) through their Productive Agricultural Linkages and Marketing Systems (P.A.L.M.S.) program, to successfully establish an organizational system capable of producing and distributing the moringa plant for the social and economic benefit of the local community. |
 INDONESIA – KOPERNIK – JULY 2011The Thunderbird TEM Lab Team is in the field to assess the social impact of the technologies that are being distributed to these women and identify economic opportunities that have resulted from the use of the cooking stoves and the water purifier. |
| GHANA – GLOBALRESOLVE – MAY 2011 In a TEM Lab first, the Ghana team is collaborating with Arizona State University’s GlobalResolve and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology to help create and implement a sustainable solution to the issues associated with wood burning stoves. |
 UGANDA – SMALLSOLUTIONS – MARCH 2011smallsolutions disseminates energy technologies such as solar lamps and energy efficient stoves to energy impoverished communities at the grassroots level in Africa. |
| UGANDA – SOLAR SISTER – MARCH 2011 Solar Sister operates a pilot project in Uganda to build a network of Solar Sister entrepreneurs, women who sell solar lamps to their communities. |
 CAMBODIA – DIGITAL DIVIDE DATA – FEBRUARY 2011The TEM Lab Cambodia team will work with DDD to expand their market presence in Cambodia, targeting key growth industries such as healthcare and banking. Follow us as we work with DDD, employing the hard and soft skills we have learned through our Thunderbird MBA. |
 GUATEMALA – IDB – MINECO – JANUARY 2011The Thunderbird TEM Lab Guatemala team will provide assistance to the Guatemalan Ministry of Economy (MINECO) to help build export capacity for Micro, Small, and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs). |
| ALBANIA – LINCOLN CENTER – JULY 2010 In thirteen years, the Lincoln Centers have served nearly 50,000 students of all ages and skill levels. The organization is at a cross roads; while Lincoln continues to fulfill its original mission, the management team believes that significant growth opportunities exist in geographic expansion of its core offerings in Albania and the Balkan region. Our team is working with Lincoln to develop transformation and expansion strategies that will meet their current and future goals. |
| VIETNAM – YASAKA SAIGON NHATRANG – MAY 2010 Charged with working for the province’s tourism board in order to create a marketing plan that will help to properly brand the province, increase awareness among domestic and international travelers and in turn yield a measured increase in the number of tourists and tourism Dong spent. |
| PERU 2 – MIBANCO – MAY 2010 The program will provide tools and resources specific to the MYPE segment that will help them grow their businesses, which will in turn lead to a stronger long-term relationship with Mibanco. |
| PERU – MIBANCO – MARCH 2010 The program will provide tools and resources specific to the MYPE segment that will help them grow their businesses, which will in turn lead to a stronger long-term relationship with Mibanco. |
| VIETNAM – SHARP IDEAS INC – FEBRUARY 2010 The TEM Lab in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, pairs a team of Thunderbird MBA Consultants with Sharp Ideas, Inc. The consulting engagement will last one module (six weeks). |
| RWANDA – RD TECH – JANUARY 2010 A team of four Thunderbird MBA candidates is assisting RD Tech to re-engineer its supply chain throughout East Africa and determine the costs and benefits of implementing a new supply chain strategy. |
| VIETNAM – K-BIZ – JANUARY 2010 The TEM Lab in Nha Trang, Vietnam, pairs a team of Thunderbird MBA Consultants with K-Biz, a local consulting practice squarely focused on small and medium sized enterprises primarily in the tourism industry. The consulting engagement will last one module (six weeks). |
