Week 12 Reading Reflection

Strategic Entrepreneurial Growth

1. I'm surprised that entrepreneurs perceive the costs associated with planning to be high. After taking so many business classes, I certainly realize the importance of planning and the risks of starting a business without a solid plan.
2. I'm a little confused about the fatal vision of pursuing an unattainable competitive position. I'm not sure if it means to slow down and think some more about protecting their competitive advantage so they don't lose it, but that's what I took from that.
3. Question 1: Which component of the SWOT analysis do you think is the most important? Or does it depend on the industry? Question 2: When companies strive to innovate during their decline phase to continue their growth, is it recommended to innovate a similar product? Or frequently do firms innovate widely new products from what they currently produce?
4. Concerning the fatal vision in strategic planning, I slightly disagree with the author about creating no real competitive advantage by copying the strategy of other competitors. I like that idea...to begin with; to get started I think it's a decent strategy to do what has been successful in other companies and once you get your foothold, then you branch out and come up with your own competitive advantage.