AKM Ziauddin Chowdhury, 216659179

Assignment 4
In the article (Betting on expectations-beating revenue growth is the new logic for corporate
strategy) written by Peter Cohan he claims, “Betting on expectations-beating revenue growth is
the new logic for corporate strategy”1. Along the article he provides numerous evidences for the
claim that he has made. The primary evidence being, amazon’s strong growth and the failure of
GE’s previously effective strategy. The underlying assumption of Peter Cohan is that risk taking,
profits, share prices and growth rates are important factors to consider whilst judging the success
and quality of the management of a corporation.
To Peter a business that doesn’t take risk is most likely to end up in a situation like GE’s. In the
article there is precise evidence that GE had a decline in both their profit and revenue. This was
not the only decline as their stocks also fell 32 percent in that devastating period2. According to
peter this was because CEO of GE Jeff Immelt had been following the same outdated model that
was developed decades ago. It is surprising that GE had ignored the need come up with
something new and failed to realize that the previous model was no longer relevant to the current
market conditions. Immelt had claimed that he had stabilized GE’s portfolio however clearly in
there are strong evidences against it. Peter clearly stands by his claim as he mentions in the
article that amazon could succeed because they had invented a new model. Peter assumes that
amazon is more successful because of the rise in their sales and profits as well as share prices.
Peters assumptions are underlying as it isn’t clearly stated anywhere in the article, however it
isn’t because he wants to hide this from the readers but since peter believes his reader will be
able to fill in the gap between his claim and the evidences provided. Thus, this is assumption is
taken for granted by both peter and the readers of the article.
There are two types of assumptions, value and reality assumptions. Reality assumptions are
based on beliefs about reality whereas value assumptions are based upon a preference of one
value over another3. The assumptions made by peter in my opinion falls under the category of
value assumption. Firstly, it is evident that peter values risk taking, profits, revenue, stock prices
more than perhaps non-financial aspects of a business such as worker motivation or corporate
social responsibility. It is because he had not mentioned or compared anything not related to the
finances and incomes of the business meaning he doesn’t feel that other factors are of important
values. For peter amazon is right and GE is wrong, and he has made this clear repeatedly with
the use of numerical data. It is also a value assumption as Peter’s opinion or value cannot be
changed. It will be very difficult to change his idea as for him his assumptions are factual, and
they cannot be contested.
After thorough analysis of the points made in the article I do agree that Peter’s assumptions. It is
because both GE and Amazon are in the private sector. The main incentive in the private sector
is to make money. With declining sales, profits and stock prices it is impossible to deem GE as
more successful. It is also concerning whether GE will continue doing business after such a
devastating financial period. I further agree with peter that a business needs to be using up to
date models whilst basing decisions or else it is likely to fail. In a dynamic market taking risks is
a requirement, if there are no risks there will be no rewards.

1
Cohan, P. (2017). Wall & Main: GE, Amazon, and the future of corporations.  
2
Cohan, P. (2017). Wall & Main: GE, Amazon, and the future of corporations.  
3
Teachers.sduhsd.net URL:http://teachers.sduhsd.net/mgaughen/docs/valueconflictsassumptions.pdf
AKM Ziauddin Chowdhury, 216659179
Assignment 4
BIBLIOGRAPHY
 Dyer, L. (2006). Critical Thinking for Business Students. Captus Press
 Roscoe, P. (2014). I Spend Therefore I Am: How Economics Has Changed the Way We
Think and Feel. Random House Canada. 
 Cohan, P. (2017). Wall & Main: GE, Amazon, and the future of corporations.