1. What is Chapter 1’s main point?
Chapter 1 primarily talk about the art of Decision Making. Different types of audience employ different types of decision criteria in different scenarios. It also touches base with the similarities & differences of the decision making criterias among the different types of audience members.
Another very interesting factor that this chapter brings up is the Audience expectations. In the words of author – “Expert audiences expect professionals to address their decision criteria.” He illustrates & make his point using the smartphone MBA case.
The first chapter also introduces the concept of Decision matrixes. That’s one tool using which audiences decide what information they want from professionals and the information that will fill their decision schemata.
2. Fill in a decision matrix that describes one of the schemas you use to make decisions on your job.
I use the following decision matrix to make decisions on my job.
Decision Criteria Benchmark
Meets the requirements Proposed solution should meet the stated business needs within the stated boundaries.
Operational feasibility Proposed solution should fit in well in the organization. It is also a measure of how people feel about the system/project.
Technical feasibility Proposed solution should be practically considering a specific technical solution and the availability of technical resources and expertise.
Schedule feasibility Proposed solution should be reasonably achievable with the project timetable is.
Economic feasibility Proposed solution should be cost-effective.
Return on investment (ROI) Benefits from proposed solution should be equal to net cash receipts of the project divided by the cash outlays of the project.
3. What benchmarks are mentioned in the “Revised Executive Summary of a Business Plan” on pages 14-16? Would the revision have benefited from the addition of more benchmark information? Please