http://knowledgenetwork.thunderbird.edu/tem-rwanda-rdtech-1_10 Thunderbird Emerging Markets Laboratory Thu, 20 May 2010 21:44:54 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en (Hillside in Kigali, Rwanda) Rwanda Dimension Technology (RD Tech), a refurbished computer retailer in Rwanda with partner operations in Burundi and Congo, purchases refurbished desktops from vendors in the US, ships them to Rwanda, and sells them to schools, businesses, individuals, and government customers. Management has recognized that vertical integration of ... http://knowledgenetwork.thunderbird.edu/tem-rwanda-rdtech-1_10/2010/01/14/urakaza/ [caption id="attachment_83" align="alignnone" width="80" caption="By Mike Byrne"][/caption] The first, and most obvious, leadership challenge has been what high school English teachers would categorize as man-versus-himself.  I suspect that this is no revelation to those who I have worked with before.  I enjoy being a workhorse and have often led groups by ... http://knowledgenetwork.thunderbird.edu/tem-rwanda-rdtech-1_10/2010/03/21/leadership-man-versus-himself/ [caption id="attachment_83" align="alignnone" width="80" caption="By Mike Byrne"][/caption] The last two weeks of the project, split between Kigali and Glendale, AZ, were perhaps the most intense despite having the between them weekend off.  While there was no doubt that our work and deliverables were valuable, we were compelled to endlessly check our ... http://knowledgenetwork.thunderbird.edu/tem-rwanda-rdtech-1_10/2010/03/19/week-5-6-the-homestretch-presentation/ [caption id="attachment_83" align="alignnone" width="80" caption="By Mike Byrne"][/caption] Gorilla Hangover Coming off the excitement of the gorillas and beginning our fourth week, I was concerned that the euphoric aura leftover from the trip would bleed into the first day of our last full week on the project.  The gorilla trekking was a unique ... http://knowledgenetwork.thunderbird.edu/tem-rwanda-rdtech-1_10/2010/03/02/week-4-gorilla-hangover-analysis/ Last week, our house was flooded in the middle of the night. Each of us had a very different perspective on the event, so we thought it would be interesting to share them all. Without further adieu... CARRIE'S STORY I still don’t know why I woke up. Perhaps it was because ... http://knowledgenetwork.thunderbird.edu/tem-rwanda-rdtech-1_10/2010/03/01/the-flood-a-story-in-four-acts/ [caption id="attachment_82" align="alignleft" width="80" caption="By Caroline Martin"][/caption] Nobody likes being sick. Besides all the uncomfortable – sometimes painful – symptoms that plague your body while your immune system wages war against the invading germs, being sick takes you out of the game. It forces you to move at a ... http://knowledgenetwork.thunderbird.edu/tem-rwanda-rdtech-1_10/2010/02/28/down-but-not-out/ [caption id="attachment_84" align="alignleft" width="80" caption="By Rob Farris"][/caption] At a school such as Thunderbird, where each student is more traveled than the next, Lee Abbamonte enjoys the unique status of being the most traveled of us all. Lee does not keep his ambition secret – he plans on becoming the youngest person ... http://knowledgenetwork.thunderbird.edu/tem-rwanda-rdtech-1_10/2010/02/24/tem-team-goes-gorilla-trekking/ [caption id="attachment_83" align="alignnone" width="80" caption="By Mike Byrne"][/caption] This past Wednesday our team hit the mid-point of the project. The following is an update of where we have been and a quick glimpse of where we are headed. As a reminder, RD Tech (the client) has contracted us to: Research and cost alternative ... http://knowledgenetwork.thunderbird.edu/tem-rwanda-rdtech-1_10/2010/02/22/mid-point-project-update/ [caption id="attachment_83" align="alignnone" width="80" caption="By Mike Byrne"][/caption] Tick-tock goes the croc! This is how I have increasingly found myself explaining the TEM Lab project over the past couple of weeks. In the famous story of Peter Pan, the villain, Captain Hook, is stalked by a crocodile that having once ... http://knowledgenetwork.thunderbird.edu/tem-rwanda-rdtech-1_10/2010/02/20/tick-tock-tick-tock/ [caption id="attachment_85" align="alignnone" width="80" caption="By Chadd Nyerges"][/caption] We pulled up to the small dock to find three of our host’s men animatedly discussing some matter in Kinyarwanda, the local language. As we disembarked our little motorboat, the only bit of English we picked up from the conversation was, "It's good.  It ... http://knowledgenetwork.thunderbird.edu/tem-rwanda-rdtech-1_10/2010/02/19/it-doesnt-spit/