Strategic Management Chapter 1 analysis

Q1)Please give summary on Chapter 1(Please find attached PPT's)-2-3 paragraphs

Q2)Please give two replies to the posts (each reply 1-2 paragraphs) for the discussions given by class mates. 

Post 1: (Give 1-2 paragraph reply to this Post)

Good afternoon,

I am eager to share my thoughts on the introduction and Chapter 1 of Vivek Ramaswamy’s book, Woke, Inc. So far, I find the book captivating. As a devoted fan of Vivek Ramaswamy, I was thrilled to delve into a work penned by him.

The introduction chapter introduces himself to the reader. He is a first generation American to Indian parents. He grew up in Ohio and eventually graduated from Harvard University and majored in molecular biology. After Harvard he ventured into to the finance world joining a hedge fund. Later, he pursued law studies at Yale. Post law school, Vivek formed a successful biotech company called Roivant Sciences as well as several other successful tech companies.

Within this chapter, he introduces the term Wokeness. Wokeness is a term that encapsulates progressive politics relating to societal identities. Vivek contends that companies use the idea of wokeness - simultaneously using terms/concepts/buzz words such as diversity, equity, inclusion, and sustainability - to profit under the guise of being social justice warriors. Regardless of political belief, both sides of the aisle get easily sucked into this divisive vacuum which continues to erode us as a country. Eventually Vivek resigns as a CEO in corporate life because of his overall belief that business and politics should separate. It is commendable that Vivek (regardless of political belief or affiliation) stood up for what he believes in in the face of this new age of cancel culture. It is even more commendable that he decided he wanted to do even more by running for President of the United States.

In Chapter 1 - The Goldman Rule, Vivek describes his internship at Goldman Sachs. Goldman Sachs in the early 2000s was a key player in the financial sector in the United States and was viewed by many including Vivek at one point as "the most elite financial institution in America". He describes early on that the goal that was relayed to him was to turn a pile of money into an even bigger pile of money which is a typical goal for many companies. Later, during his internship, he recalls a service day which typically involved employees going to volunteer event somewhere outside of work. That lasted a very a brief time and turned into a social event at the bar. Eventually, a coworker asks if he had ever heard of the Golden rule (which is Treat others as you would want to be treated). Instead, the coworker says it’s actually, "He who has all of the gold makes the rules". Clever Vivek describes this phrase as the Goldman Rule but would prove to be true for Vivek in his future corporate experience running his own companies.

Later, the chapter introduces a key concept called Stakeholder Capitalism which is a concept that states that companies should not only serve the shareholders of the company but also interests in society beyond maximizing its own profits. By 2020 this was the philosophy that most corporations in the United States had adopted. In that same year, the tragic death of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer became a pivotal event which fueled companies in shaping the Stakeholder Capitalism way of corporate life.

The chapter then transitions into another concept: Wokenomics. Wokenomics closely intertwines with stakeholder capitalism. Wokenomics seems to merge critical race theory, wokeness, and stakeholder capitalism. Companies use this fusion as a vehicle to pursue profit. This however has consequences such as influencing legislation, manipulating consumers, and silencing dissent while companies laugh their way to the bank.

Vivek does an excellent job at articulating these complex ideas of which the average American, like me has a challenging time presenting or articulating in basic causal conversation. In both of our opinions, companies need to disassociate themselves from this type of progressive ideology. The entanglement of business and politics systemically divides our country in ways that could be dangerous in the future. While, Companies should continue to let employees volunteer and contribute to their own communities, they should not adopt an agenda under the guise of social responsibility.

I am looking forward to reading the rest of this book and am particularly excited to explore it during an election year. Vivek’s potential candidacy for Vice President adds an intriguing layer the reading as well!

I hope everyone has a Blessed Easter weekend!

Thank you,

Casey Nabb

Post 2:(Give 1-2 paragraph reply)

The woke -industrial complex and Goldman rule is about the concerns of the author who is called (Vivek Ramaswamy). It shows how the coming of social changes in the American culture or democracy has affected the lives of the American corporate effectiveness.  It is the woke industrial complex that divides the Americans by mixing morality and consumerism.

Also, the author speaks of corporate bureaucracy, that is the complexities in the corporate sphere as a scam of his time.  The goal of the book is to unveil the dirt secrete underlined the corporate America, and its prestige. The author addresses that the group of industries and CEOs have Promoted the social values that are more dangerous, and have power over every other facet of the Americans lives. It is dividing the country and determining American values in the hands of small groups of capitalists. He uses the words “to pretend like you care about something like other than profit and power, precisely to gain more power”. They are the ones who determine democracy and pretend to carry justice in order to make money. He calls this a major cultural shift in America.

However, Vivek went for internship at “Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.” This is American multinational investment bank and financial service company. Things weren’t well going there, and he said at first he had learnt nothing, except during summer when he learnt something.  “He who has gold makes rules”. He came to understand that the boss makes the rules even if he does differently from what is expected. So Vivek called it a Golden rule. But later. He related it to social diversity and recalled January 2020 during the World Economic forum, David Solomon the CEO “refused to take companies public unless they had at least one diverse member”. Vivek believed concerning diversity that the company with diverse leadership performs better.  He supported the diversity of thoughts, but on the contrary, was diversity of corporate opportunism that resulted to ceasing of social values.

Then, he mentions the activities that were done by the companies like Coca Cola and Apple, that the latter taught the employees to be less white due to the event of 2020 about the death of George Floyd. He calls this a racial violence. He said that the new model of capitalism that existed during that time, was a dangerous expansion of corporate power that threatened to suppress American democracy. He says “America was found on the idea that we make our most important value judgements through our democratic facets where each citizens voice is weighted equally rather than the small group”.  He said the economists make moral rules rather than market rules.  Also, he says “the democratically elected leaders and other public leaders not CEOs and portfolio managers, should lead the debate about what values define America”. He suggests/wants the government leaders to play their role in the lives of the Americans.  

Personally, when I look at the ideas of industrial complex and the Goldman rule, I look at the history of my home country in Tanzania. The impact of the people and their credos that have led the country to change its social-economic and political systems. The leaders have greatly affected the national economic standard by disrupting its economic values, and by introducing social based projects of little output. This is also can be traced from the result of the external forces since the regime of colonialism up to now.  So, the people have accepted, either by knowing or not knowing) the things that have negatively impacted our society. For example, incomplete and false projects that come in the name philanthropy, the divisions among the citizens that is caused by alliance of the national leaders with the people from outside, and the influence of external forces during the national elections. All these, have changed many social, economic and political aspects of the nation.