Lessons for our entrepreneurial ecosystem from a 15th century
Portuguese discoverer
7/2/2016
Entrepreneurship has been pointed as the factor
that breaks the economic ceiling and opens up previously non-existing
opportunities for economic growth. One of the historically best known enterprises
was Portuguese discovery of the Indian Trade Route in 1499, started in 1434 by
Infant Dom Henrique. What kind of ecosystem provided the right conditions to
set sails towards an unknown sea? How can we learn from the factors that
boosted that endeavour to foster entrepreneurship in our present-day
territories?
Along the 15th and 16th
century, Portuguese explorers achieved a major milestone in Universal History.
From a World divided in isolated parts that hardly communicated among each
other, the initiative, innovations and perseverance of some Portuguese
entrepreneurs enabled humanity to cartography Africa for the first time, and
found a maritime route towards Indian spices market. A new way for customary communication was
consolidated as a result, linking Europe through Portugal with Sub-Saharan,
Indian and Far East markets at a cheaper cost along a more securised route.
Portuguese discoveries resulted in a remarkable
development opportunity for the city of Lisbon -to the detriment of the rest of
the country. In return for the onerous, long and dangerous trip to India, Portuguese
traders obtained exotic products in distant markets at a low price, and sold
them at a highly profitable rate in Lisbon, still lower than the price European
markets used to pay to Silk Route traders. War and political instability in
transit territories also favoured success of an alternative maritime route
guaranteeing regular supplies.
Portuguese discoveries were possible in an ecosystem
that favoured entrepreneurship of a small group. One man endeavoured a
challenge that ultimately entailed economic and employment growth, and further
opportunities for an emerging social scaling-up at the twilight of Medieval Lisbon.
The initial setting included political peace
and stability in the kingdom, a paramount geographic position relevant to the
enterprise, war against Islam in Northern Africa and the accessibility to
knowledge: navigators covering the maritime route between Southern and Northern
Europe, or different sciences such as mathematics and astronomy from advanced
medieval Islamic societies that had been recently pushed back to Africa. Furthermore,
the traditional Silk Route was by war and political instability. This crisis upraised
a military need to ally Christian kingdoms against Islam, and a market
opportunity for establishing a more secure maritime route for which wealthy European
estates were willing to pay.
The influential Infante Dom Henrique, the king’s
3rd son, was the responsible of propelling discoveries beyond the
Western known world, that was, Bojador Cape in present Western Sahara, from
1434 onwards. As a prince, he had access to education that stimulated his knowledge
and curiosity. His determined character is evidenced by the fact that no other
prince risked their capital in such an uncertain enterprise. Furthermore, Infante
Dom Enrique had a military interest to build alliances with Christian African
kingdoms (modern Ethiopia) against Islam, and the motivation of expanding
Christian faith.
 |
| Infante D. Henrique (1394-1460) |
Probably like many others at that time, Infante
Dom Enrique knew how to appreciate the potential gains in opening trade to
African and ultimately, Indian markets. But, unlike private traders and
navigators, he had the right position and the reasons to persuade nobles to
raise sufficient funds for the enterprise. Private initiative only followed the
prince’s pioneering progressive discoveries of trade opportunities in Africa,
with a much lesser risk.
As an entrepreneur, Infante Dom Henrique had
the attitude and knowledge to frame a profitable enterprise adapted to the
market needs of his time. He transformed the Silk Route crisis into a new
opportunity by innovating in the route chosen, and taking the financial risks
of daring. Although he struggled for raising the necessary funds and support, the
institutional setting provided the prince the right political scenario and a
social position that empowered him to reach his objective in a rigid medieval
society. He followed his vision, surrounded himself of proficient navigators or
naval engineers attaining progressive partial gains with every ship that went
further through incremental innovations, and persevered even though he died
before India was reached 65 years after the first attempt.
Most of these elements can be still
distinguished in modern entrepreneurs. Fortunately for us, empowerment for
attaining one’s objectives is way more accessible in present-day Europe,
although family educational and financial circumstances may make it way easier.
An entrepreneurial-friendly ecosystem would be able to let people with the
right attitude jump from an element to another, until each individual finds her
or his way to the next groundbreaking discovery.
Fostering Employment in the Region of Valencia
The role and potential of Local Development Agents
Employment is currently the main concern for Valencian society. Finding a job
opportunity is rooted to a large extent in the characteristics of diverse local contexts. Hence, beyond international or state
level factors such as the economic juncture or the Spanish Strategy for
Employment, a number of local items exert a great impact on jobs generation:
high-skilled workers, territory resources, economic activity sustainability
over time, entrepreneurial network, connectivity or local development public
policies.
Local
Development and Employment professionals work from
municipalities and supra-local institutions towards social cohesion and
economic development in their territories, privileging the creation of job
opportunities through appropriate local conditions-setting. What are the main
tasks of Local Development and Employment managers in the Region of Valencia,
and how can they improve their contribution to enlarged employment
opportunities?
 |
| Conferència a la Universitat de València IUDESCOOP |
Their embededness to local contexts places Local Development and Employment
managers in an advantageous position between public
regulation and social, environmental and economic contexts at the local level. On the one hand, they
are responsible for the implementation of employment and development policies
enacted at the central and regional level. On the other hand, they also undertake
the monitoring of human capital and local resources in order to unblock
elements that could generate added-value and enhance local economic potential. In this vein, they
promote a range of activities oriented to economic growth, emphasising
innovation, entrepreneurship, and social and environmental sustainability.
Local Development and Employment managers’ activities have been steered by the
regulatory framework, and the central state assessment on their outcome on
territories turned to be particularly positive. Indeed, public spending on local development constitutes
one of the most gainful sectors in terms of employment generation. Among the
wide range of legally established areas of promotion we find entrepreneurship guidance,
vocational training delivery, communication and information society promotion,
tourism development, declining industrial sectors restructuring or recovery and
valorisation of historical, cultural and cottage industry heritage.
Despite the smooth line transmission existing from public regulation to
local implementation, the way back reveals somehow obstructed. Certainly, the
new Spanish Strategy for Employment 2012-2014 has made substantial steps
forward concerning decentralisation and citizen participation during its design
process, approaching the regional level and embracing the contributions of entrepreneurs
and trade unions. However, this institutional structure broadly bypasses the contributions of local actors that could have a remarkable value, considering
that employment issues are to a large extent locally-based and
context-dependent. Namely, the professionals of Local Development and
Employment attached to the local level who undertake employment policy
implementation are excluded from this process, entailing an avoidable and
deeply undermining lack of knowledge on both local fitness of state regulations
and the local needs, weaknesses and potential for development within different territories.
Local Development and Employment professionals stand as key actors in
fostering jobs generation at the local level, and they could also play a key
role in employment policy-making by steering a better fit of regulations with
local economic, social and environmental reality. Besides the relevance of their
implementation role, the standarised participation of
Local Development and Employment agents in the
design and assessment of employment policies would allow a more
efficient and effective management of scarcer public economic resources,
through the establishment of strategic objectives based on local practise
knowledge.
II Conferences on Educative Innovation in Cooperative and Social Economy
"ADLYPSE:
L'ocupació des de l'àmbit local i el paper dels AEDL"
May 29th,
2012
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