Reflection #1

ECON 490 LA Prompt for Reflection
Spend some time talking about your circumstance as it pertains to the course. How might the course benefit you? What experiences do you have to bring to the table in organizations other than the U of I? Also comment a bit about your expectations for the course and how the first couple of class sessions either met your expectations or departed from them.


My interest in this course was brought about the “Organizations” portion in the title. When I see “organizations” I immediately link it to entrepreneurship. My inspirations for entrepreneurship come from my grandfather, who started various businesses in China before, during, and after the difficult times of the Cultural Revolution. Successful organizations require the input, initiative, and productivity of many people working toward the same goal, but in reality it is never that simple. I am particularly interested in analyzing such complexities, simplifying them to solvable states, and applying them in the real workplace. I want knowledge to be able to think: “If I am running a business, what decisions can be made in the best interests of my business and why?” Thus, I am more interested in a microeconomic perspective versus a macroeconomic one. The example given in the first week of whether teaching of U of I is better kept in-house as opposed to outsourced through contracting is one of the aspects I would need to consider from that point of view, and one I was delighted to consider. From the view of running a business, one would have to know when it’s best to keep production or services internally and when to outsource to other firms or individuals. Of course, a better understanding is achieved if I have greater knowledge of the actual behind-the-scenes workings of the industry, but I still believe that understanding the applicable concepts can be just as valuable. Learning about various forms of efficiency that can be applied to real-life firms is very worthwhile. If done correctly, such optimizations can be likened to art, and I think that’s where the beauty and fun lies.