Case Study: Dave Armstrong

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Dave Armstrong is about to graduate from Harvard Business School and is facing three career options. The decision problem that Armstrong should be considering is not which of these three jobs should he take, but rather what job will satiate his career goals. By asking this, Armstrong can gain a complete perspective of his options instead of being confined to three career options that may not be in his best interests. His objectives are not clearly outlined in the case; however, we can infer from the manner in which he is describing the jobs that he would like to have ownership in a company, enjoys thrilling non-office jobs, and wants to grow his network. Also, he has to take into consideration his wife’s objectives for him of having a job …show more content…

The potential repercussion that he could face from taking either Job A or B is that the ventures could become unprofitable and Armstrong may continue to invest futile capital in an attempt to rectify it. Job C may also become filled by another person. With Jobs A and B, he is trading off the potentially enormous profit for the possibility of losing all his capital. In his perspective, Job C would provide him with job security at the exchange of amusement. The uncertainties he is facing with Job A and B are their profitability and whether he would be to create prosperous connections. Due to the fact that he would be willing to invest $300K, it can be said that Armstrong is risk-loving, but his wife’s comments suggest she is risk-averse. It could be possible that in the future by choosing Job A or B, he would lose all his capital and make it difficult to invest in other …show more content…

One way of doing this is by considering the jobs individually instead of comparing them to one another. By contrasting them, Armstrong is convinced that Job C returns the least amount of amusement. By considering it individually, he may begin to see aspects of this job that will bring him the same level of amusement as Jobs A and B. Furthermore, from his wording choice and tone, it appears as if Armstrong is overconfident that Jobs A and B will yield a high bonus. However, the chance of a high return on investment is slim due to the competition in those fields. He may be overconfident because of he has seen Mr. Thorne’s achievements, but Armstrong may only be witnessing his recent and notable accomplishments and not his failures. Lastly, Armstrong may be heavily inclined to accept Job A and view it as more favorable because Mr. Thorne is only giving him until the end of the month to consider the position. This impulsive thinking only serves as an impediment to weighing all his alternatives fairly. Perhaps, Armstrong could ask for an

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