Dear precious readers:
Today, we will continue our exploration of the British Sugar Islands business model from the 17th and 18th centuries. Initially, we thought of formulating a unique business model for the sugar plantations. However, we were interrupted in our discovery journey. The trade of the British Atlantic was not following a unique recipe of functional activities. We analyzed the differences in relation to four variables. These variables are time, land & slave trade ownership, slave labor, and access to credit for paying for the slaves. In general, we have discovered that Britain stimulated different models, because all these variables were changing over time. However, the most relevant of them depended on the degree of financial access to credit. This credit was needed to pay for African slaves. We also decided to concentrate our efforts on two islands: Barbados and Jamaica. Initially, with Barbados, the British Empire kicked off its model during the 17th century. Then it was the turn of Jamaica, which was not designed as a monocultivation model, as it was Barbados. We want to clarify that our strategic house is against any form of human slavery, and we are studying this topic “just” to comprehend the philosophical roots utilized in the past to create the current business modeling tools.

Our strategic reflections from last week were postponed last Monday. We aimed to be fully ready with a better overview of the sugar trade situation in the West Indies region. Our students need to be aware that our approach to teaching is in “fast-track mode”. We are advancing higher, every episode over episode. When we are searching for all the information, we discover a plentiful set of clues. Our quest is to find more answers to the facts described by historians and economic specialists of the epoch. We spend many hours finding and filtering the right information. My academic peers have made this information available. They have done incredible research about the sugar trade by each colonial empire. This has been done despite the lack of all the historical data that assists us in understanding what truly happened. Our mission with this saga is to unfold and discover the philosophical roots of the mistakes of our current theoretical business model frameworks. These have been taught to all of us at the top business schools since the 1980s. We intend to change them little by little for the next generations.

Our agenda for today:
1. The supply of sugar produced in the British West Indies was global
2. A snapshot of the British Overseas Trade
3. The liaisons of sugar partnerships
4. The resources of British sugar plantations
5. The sugar trade circuit originated in Britain
6. Access to Credit to buy African Slaves
7. How did Barbados Planters access credit to buy slaves?
8. The Sugar Production Center of Barbados

As usual, we encourage our students to read our slides. This package of information aids our study. It helps us prepare for our Monday strategic reflections. These are always uploaded then. Feel free to download these slides in PDF. Print them out and write your notes and questions on paper. Discuss with your professors, friends, colleagues, peers, and family. Let´s do it with dedication and lots of energy.

We kindly ask that you return next Monday, February 2nd, 2026, to review our extra strategic reflections on this chapter.
We encourage our readers to familiarize themselves with our Friday master class by reviewing the slides over the weekend. We expect you to create ideas that are or are not strategic reflections. Every Monday, we upload our strategic inferences below. These will be discussed in the next paragraph. Only then will you be able to compare your own reflections with our introspection.

Additional strategic reflections on this episode. These will be in the section below on Monday, February 2nd, 2026.

Strategic reflections of this episode:
Dear readers, we will publish the accumulated strategic reflections from the last episode and this one next Monday.

Closing words.
This episode is the second dispatch about the British business model for sugar production in the West Indies territories during the 17th and 18th centuries. We have dedicated a lot of time to our quest to integrate all the elements of how the Barbados business model for sugar production was probably operating. There is more analysis coming with the Jamaican production next week, which will be our last episode about Britain sugar trade. We are nearing the point where we can display all the elements of business modeling, preserved from the time of the sugar transatlantic trade. This trade was rooted in African slavery. These elements persist (subtly hidden in our economic foundations of today) and are used whenever we “currently” build business models. This is especially true for issues with AI and the most recent technologies. The Generative AI is eliminating all the jobs that allowed humans to leave poverty. The roots of all our current business problems started from the time of sugar plantations. We do business still today, using the same philosophical premises of low cost for highest productivity. You will be astonished to uncover all these roots with me.

Announcement. Next week, we will continue with the last episode of the British West Indies sugar model, focusing on Jamaica.

Musical Section.
During our closing bonus season V, we will return to the symphonic, philharmonic, or chamber orchestra compositions. Today, we have chosen the Barbados National Youth Symphony Orchestra – a Christmas Performance at ‘Jukwaa’ JB Simpson’s Complex. Joy Knight leads as the director of NYSO of Barbados.
Enjoy!

Thank you for reading http://www.eleonoraescalantestrategy.com. It is a privilege to learn. Blessings.

Sources of reference and Bibliography utilized today. All are listed in the slide document. Additional material will be added when we upload the strategic reflections.

Disclaimer: Eleonora Escalante paints Illustrations in Watercolor. Other types of illustrations or videos (which are not mine) are used for educational purposes ONLY. All are used as Illustrative and non-commercial images. Utilized only informatively for the public good. Nevertheless, most of this blog’s pictures, images, and videos are not mine. Unless otherwise stated, I do not own any lovely photos or images.