Week 12 Reading Reflection

1)                  What was the biggest surprise for you in the reading? In other words, what did you read that stood out the most as different from your expectations?

What really struck me was the section on fatal visions in strategic planning. There were so many different scenarios, a fatal five actually. What really caught my eye about them was that for one there can be misunderstandings in how productive an industry may seem. Following that, there can also be the mistake of pursuing an unattainable goal. That may sound pessimistic, hence it made me take a double take, but it rings truth as to not wasting time on something not feasible in the business world.

2)                  Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you.

The area that was confusing to me was about the entrepreneurial strategy matrix model. An interesting description of how innovation requires risk, yet too much risk accounts for possible financial loss. So then the author goes off saying that it is all up to the entrepreneur to decide what is best for the venture being contemplated. The diagrams used were a little difficult to understand and to interpret what they were explaining about the appropriate strategies which exist in the strategy matrix.

3)                  If you were able to ask two questions to the author, what would you ask? Why?

Question one: What is an example of a new-venture development activity?

Question two:  How can we gain control over opportunities?

4)                  Any disagreements:

The whole bureaucratization versus decentralization argument was debatable. Once again a majority of these things are opinion based and vary from case to case. So to say as to which is right and which is wrong is illogical to deem as such.