excellent source of conventional knowledge regarding strategy. However, the current external environment of business is unpredictable and marked by constant volatility which requires a breadth of perspectives to master profitably. The following writing assignment requires that you consider some ideas that are relevant albeit unconventional or even contrarian to the dominant paradigm. To be successful in global business, you must possess a diversified wisdom portfolio that can evolve with emerging data trends that are often not explained by conventional narratives.

INSTRUCTIONS FROM PROFESSOR: “Your textbook is an excellent source of conventional knowledge regarding strategy. However, the current external environment of business is unpredictable and marked by constant volatility which requires a breadth of perspectives to master profitably. The following writing assignment requires that you consider some ideas that are relevant albeit unconventional or even contrarian to the dominant paradigm. To be successful in global business, you must possess a diversified wisdom portfolio that can evolve with emerging data trends that are often not explained by conventional narratives.
For each part of the assignment, please know that I have seen and read all the assigned content many times. Your writing should focus on original critical thinking rather than narration or summarizing or plagiarizing. Put another way, I already know what the assigned authors think… I want to know what you think! You will prepare each part described below and combine all four (4) parts into one (1) Microsoft Word Document
When referencing text book please do so as such:
“In the text book on page [inster page number], the important concept of [insert concept from text]…”
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PART 1: Orlov
Dmitry Orlov is the author of the award-winning book Reinventing Collapse: The Soviet Example and American Prospects and numerous essays published on his blog, ClubOrlov.com. Born in Russia, he moved to the US while a teenager, and has traveled back repeatedly to observe the Soviet collapse during the late eighties and mid-nineties. He is an engineer who has worked in many fields, including high-energy Physics research, e-commerce and Internet security. Recently, he has been experimenting with off-grid living and renewable energy by giving up the house and the car. Instead, he has been living on a sailboat, sailing it up and down the Eastern Seaboard, and commuting by bicycle. Dmitry believes that, given appropriate technology, we can greatly reduce personal resource consumption while remaining perfectly civilized. Given that his views and his lifestyle are not very common in the United States, Dmitry Orlov may just seem like a weird Russian dude living in a boat. Or is he? A transcript of his provocative presentation is posted in the Documents module in Canvas for your careful review.
**Which specific parts of his presentation are wrong or right? Identify and explain your overall opinion of Orlov. Also, clearly connect your ideas about the presentation to at least two main ideas from any portion of the textbook. Write at least 1000 original words.
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PART 2: Martenson
Chris Martenson founded the Peak Prosperity firm after years of success in the corporate world. He saw so many changes in the external environment of business (e.g. Chapter 3 in your textbook… especially the PESTEL factors) that he felt compelled to change directions professionally and personally. His interesting and provocative video presentation is an accelerated “crash course” covering the main topics that led him to make his strategic choice, and the video can be viewed at this link: http://www.peakprosperity.com/crashcourse/accelerated
(Longer and more developed versions of each topic are available at his Web site, but this assignment requires only that you watch the accelerated version.)
**From your perspective as a future CEO, and given the information and opinions presented in the video, what strategic changes might firms need to make to achieve better positioning for future success? If the ideas presented about potential future scenarios turn out to be accurate, do you view that as a primarily positive development or a primarily negative development? Why do you think so? Also, clearly connect your ideas about the video presentation to at least two main ideas from any portion of the textbook. Write at least 1000 original words.
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PART 3: Friedman
Thomas Friedman had already won a Pulitzer Prize before writing the 2005 New York Times best-selling book The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century. He has sold millions of copies of this book as well as his other books, and he has become even more famous and influential. How could a presentation about global economic issues and technological progress relate to a strategy course? Well, it is a theme of our course that affects everything we think about. His interesting and provocative video presentation can be viewed at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53vLQnuV9FY
**From the vantage point of 2021, which parts of his presentation are wrong or right? Why? Also, clearly connect your ideas about the video presentation to at least two main ideas from any portion of the textbook. Write at least 1000 original words.
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PART 4: Sargent
Thomas J. Sargent, Ph.D. (a macroeconomist at New York University) was awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize in Economics, shared with Princeton University’s Christopher Sims, for his empirical research on cause and effect in the macroeconomy. (He knows what he is talking about.) Back in 2007, he was invited to give the commencement address at UC Berkeley (his alma mater). The speech was the shortest and most thought-provoking of any speech I have ever heard. A full transcript (less than two pages!) of the speech is posted in the Documents module in Canvas for your careful review.
**Out of the twelve major ideas that he mentions, which three are most compelling to you personally? For each of those three compelling ideas, describe how your life might change if you were to put that idea into practice, or describe how your life already resembles the truth or falsity of that idea. Write at least 1000 original words.
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Link to textbook: https://newconnect.mheducation.com/