1. Shakeh Akelyan Amy Dougan Hideki Saeki
King Lear
Shakeh Akelyan
Amy Dougan
Hideki Saeki

2. Agenda
Plot, Synopsis, & Theme Shakeh Scenario 1: Decision Making Shakeh Scenario 2: Creativity Amy Business Analysis Amy Conclusion Hideki

3. Cast/plot King Lear: King of Britain Goneril: Lear’s eldest daughter
Regan: Lear’s second daughter
Cordelia: Lear’s youngest daughter
Earl of Gloucester: Lear’s loyal friend
Edmund: Gloucester’s youngest illegitimate son
Edgar: Gloucester’s eldest son & legitimate heir

4. SYNOPSIS KING LEAR: A tragedy by William Shakespeare
"Greatest Dramatic Masterpieces"
Antagonist:
Goneril & Regan - King Lear’s older daughters
Edmund - illegitimate son of Gloucester
Protagonist:
King Lear of Britain 
Symbol:
Storm
Blind Eye

5. SOLILOQUY
Thou, nature, art my goddess; to thy law My services are bound. Wherefore should I Stand in the plague of custom, and permit The curiosity of nations to deprive me Legitimate Edgar, I must have your land. Our father’s love is to the bastard Edmund As to the legitimate if this letter speed, And my invention thrive, Edmund the base Shall top the legitimate. I grow, I prosper. Now, gods, stand up for bastards ---Edmund, the illegitimate son of Gloucester

6. THEME: Throughout the play
Authority versus Chaos
Justice
Communication
Power
 Reconciliation
Transition: 
King Lear’s maturation and change of values

7. Scenario #1 King Lear is ready to step down as King
Needs to divide his kingdom amongst his daughters
Must determine how to divvy up the land

8. Linked Decisions
“To make smart choices now, you need to think about what you might decide to do in the future.”
King Lear’s ignorance and impulsive methods led the play to a tragic downfall because he did NOT:
Define the problem
Specify objective
Generate alternatives
Identify uncertainties that influence the consequences 
Suppressed Evidence (III Fallacy) :
Occurs when an argument ignores important pieces of evidence that outweighs presented evidence and entails a different conclusion
"Unhappy that I am, I cannot heave My heart into my mouth. I love your majesty According to my bond; no more nor less," Cordelia

9. Psychological Traps Posing the wrong question:
The Framing Trap: King Lear
 King Lear commands his daughters to SAY which of them loves him the most, promising to give the greatest share to that daughter.
Being too sure of yourself:
The Overconfidence Trap: Goneril and Regan
Once their desire for power was satisfied they both desire Edmund
They destroy their alliance - Evil turns on Evil
Goneril poisons Regan and commits suicide  

10. Scenario #2
Edmund wants to become soul heir to the Earl of Gloucestor's estate
        

11. Fallacy of False Cause
"The fallacy of false cause occurs whenever the link between premises and conclusion depends on some imagined causal connection that probably does not exist."
Edmund writes a forged letter to the Earl of Gloucester
The letter proclaims that Edgar proposes to kill their father and split the wealth between them (Act I Scene II)

12. Fallacy of Slippery Slope
"This fallacy is a variation of the “false cause” fallacy.  It occurs when the conclusion of an argument rests upon an alleged chain reaction and there is not sufficient reason to think that the chain reaction will actually take place."
    Edmund writes false letter
    Convinces him that Edgar cannot be trusted
    Edmund wounds himself
    Gloucester promises to make Edmund is heir

13. Shakespeare in the Business World
WaMu: Suffered insolvency in 2008/sold to Chase
Filed Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
Too many bad home loans
Polaroid: Never adjusted to market trends/sold to Bank One
Reorganized in 2009
Mervyns: didn’t meet up to it’s competitors/filed bankruptcy in 2008
Wachovia: bad loans/ sold to Wells Fargo
Napster: Illegal business practices/sold to Roxio, then to Best Buy
Pan Am: Bad investments, bad security,
Fild bankruptcy in 1991
different companies have tried to reinstate pan am without success
Indymac: Bad loans/sold to OneWest Bank
The Sharper Image: bankruptcy in 2008/sold to a joint venture of hilco consumer capital, gordon brothers and bluestar alliance
Began selling to third party retailers
Borders: wasn’t innovative, made risky moves
bankruptcy in 2011
Enron:

14. But ultimately, it's due to poor decision making
Why do Businesses Fail?
Inadequate funds
Executives
Employees
Market
Competitors
But ultimately, it's due to poor decision making
    

15. Symbol: Death = Conviction
Cast of Characters
Shakespeare
King Lear
Cordelia
Regan
Goneril
Edmund
Edgar
Enron
Kenneth Lay, CEO
Business Ethics
Rick Causey, CAO
Andrew Fastow, CFO
Jeffrey Skilling, COO
Stakeholders
Symbol: Death = Conviction 

16. Enron Decision Making What should Enron executives do?
Continue cheating, blame others
4500 employees lost their jobs
Investors lost $60 billion
Eventually, file bankruptcy & pay for wrongdoings
Admit wrongdoings, plead guilty
Go to jail & pay reparations

17. Enron Creativity Collaboration 1985: Ken Lay becomes CEO
1990: Jeff Skilling and Andrew Fastow join Enron
2001: Scandal exposed
For roughly 10 years, these three top executives worked together
Allowed the scandal to continue and thrive during that time

18. Conclusion Bad decision making tragedy This can easily be solved by:
Impulsive decisions
Misunderstandings
Lack of research
This can easily be solved by:
Staying informed
Open line of communication
Maintaining ethical backing based on both laws and values

19. Questions?