MGCR 423 || All Correct.

Mintzberg - "Crafting Strategy" correct answers -Equates the process of strategy making to the process of making pottery. -strategies are patterns that are put into action over time; but strategies may emerge in a different direction than tradition has previously held -strategy making must be a deliberate process; thought must precede action. But "strategies can form as well as be formulated" -strategies can emerge any time and at any place; errors themselves may become chances for opportunity. The image of a craftsman is someone who is dedicated, passionate, intimately involved with the materials, has a personal touch, has mastered the detail of their art, and is experienced. The strategist must also be someone who is involved and connected with their industry and who is personally involved with the industrial processes (rather than a detached manager). Finally, just as a craftsman may see things that other people miss, the strategist must be able to see emerging patterns and guide them into place as strategies. "Management and Magic" - Gimpl and Dakin correct answers -Paradox: the more unpredictable the world becomes, the more we seek out and rely upon forecasts and predictions to determine what we should do. -Planning and forecasting are a manifestation of anxiety-relieving superstitious behavior, and have the same function that magical rites have. -"Illusion of Control"; the belief that events are causally related when objectively they are not. These are easy to establish under conditions of uncertainty and are highly resistant to change. -Improving Decision Making: Logical Incrementalism: Be vague and imprecise in your decisions in ambiguous situations, and constantly refine and reshape your strategy as new information appears. Take adequate precautions by ensuring a sufficient number of alternative courses of action. Taleb: the prophet of boom and doom correct answers -Black Swans: the world is random, intrinsically unknowable. You will never be able to control randomness. -Most economists and almost all bankers are subhuman and very, very dangerous. They live in a fantasy world in which the future can be controlled by sophisticated mathematical models and elaborate risk-management systems. Why the A**holes are Winning: Money Trumps All - Pfeffer correct answers -Corporate performance and reputation are not that highly correlated (Amazon ex.) -numerous behaviors suggest that it seemingly doesn't matter what an individual or a company does, to human beings or the environment, as long as they are sufficiently rich and successful -Moreover, because money can serve as a signal of competence and worth, no amount of money is ever enough -The motivation for people to believe that the world is a just and fair place is from people's desire for a sense of controllability. The acceptance of the unacceptable: -People who experience a misfortune often have negative traits attributed to them by others as a way of explaining why they 'deserved' their misfortune.