ENGR 400 Corporate Dynamics for

Engineers

(16th July 2017)

Dr. Eşref Ünsal

(Lecture 9)
• An art piece, tested properly for
authenticity in many ways, presented to
Paul Getty Museum in California, was
proven to be fraudulent (Malcolm
Gladwell, Blink).
• The mimics done, the muscles on the
face and the eyes give away a lot about
the feelings and the thoughts of the person
involved (Blink, Malcolm Gladwell).
• Days of Our Live, TV Show, The
Producer/Cast selector had to do many
quick selections in which he was
successful, the magic of being able to
make a decision on a person in seconds.

Jonah Lehrer, How We Decide

• Rate of recovery is important (cardiology
and business life analogy, faster the
recovery from a load, the better it is)
Following simple instructions:

When somebody says ‘’walk 20 steps in this direction’’ and you face a
wall before you count the 20 steps, what are the options:
– Try to go through the wall
– Count steps where you are
– Maybe you comprehended the instruction not properly
– Maybe you should have taken smaller steps
– Perhaps you should consider walking around or jumping above
the wall
• The success rate is
– 30-35 % in hitting a ball in baseball
– 10-20 % in shots taken in football
– 30 % in corporate acquisitions
– Not more that 25-30 % in overall business
decisions
• Don’t be a whistle –blower (the person
who informs the system on wrong
behavior of others)
• In 2008 Bank Societe Generale had a
major fraud incident where Mr. Kerviel
was charged with 4.9 bil euro fraud(theft).

• Whose fault? Who should have prevented

it?
• In the Shell Refining Group in the 1980’s,
the work involved 3 major activities:
– Designing new units
– Trouble-shooting existing units
– Supporting the investors/planners, with
technical advice