Art of War, by Sun

¶ … Art of War, by Sun Tzu, as Applied to Business Strategy Today Several key themes, developed many centuries ago, by the ancient Chinese military general Sun Tzu, may be successfully applied to business situations and markets today. For example, the first chapter of Sun Tzu's The Art of War suggests importance of, and various ways of analyzing, one's competition, including evaluating chances for success against that opponent or competitor.

Further, many subjects discussed in The Art of War occur continuously, although perhaps differently than Sun Tzu literally describes, in business (and walks of life) in today's world. These include: strategic planning; analysis; information gathering, sorting, and processing, seizing the advantage; deceiving one's competition, etc. Sun Tzu stresses the key importance of knowledge, wisdom, and understanding: of oneself and others. That, in fact, often seems the dominant underlying theme of each chapter of The Art of War.

All other issues and strategies discussed are connected by the author, explicitly or implicitly, to that theme. In this essay, I will analyze key aspects of Sun Tzu's The Art of War, and explore ways that many of these can be advantageously used, within competitive business environments today. First, Sun Tzu's The Art of War suggests the strategic importance of gathering and effectively processing the best, most thorough, most reliable information available. Having done that, one must then also protect one's sources of information.

Even within that context, one must take time to know oneself, and one's opposition, authentically (e.g., what does this information mean to me, and to my strategic planning and tactics; who else might want (or already have) this information; who (including oneself) might be capable of misusing, abusing, or misinterpreting this information? Moreover, within The Art of War, Sun Tzu recommends carefully and analytically studying the past, in order to best learn from one's own mistakes, and from mistakes that have been made by others.

Further, in order to best develop and maintain advantage over one's competitors, one must also study social attitudes and trends (in war terms, this might mean, for example, analyzing rather or not a particular war is a "popular" one, and why or why not; in today's business environment it might mean analyzing one's own as well as competitors stronger and weaker markets, in order to then be able to exploit weaknesses of market competitors.

(A good example of this might be how Microsoft has beaten out all other competitors and cornered the software market, or how both Fed Ex and UPS have bitten into current U.S. Postal Service profits). Such careful analysis, of competitors' strengths, weaknesses, environmental atmospheres, and markets, can lead, Sun Tzu further suggests, to knowledge that, when then used properly, reflectively, and in a focused way, may bring about war (or business) victory.

Next, Sun Tzu further suggests the importance of becoming a superior (to one's opposition or competitors) entity, not just in terms of numbers (e.g., the biggest army, or company, but also in terms of knowledge, experience, and wisdom. A good example of this concept in operation might be that of Wal-Mart, which has effectively combined size with advantageous business practices, over many years, in order to become, and remain, one of the most profitable retailers in the world.

Such knowledge and wisdom are obtained through combined study and observation of people; situations, environments, and occurrences, and through recalling, comparing, and contrasting this with other past, present, and future observations. Knowledge gained through such observations may then be strategically applied. Overall, Sun Tzu suggests, one must study, observe, focus, and compare, in order to optimally know oneself, one's opposition (competition), and one's own and one's competitors' respective environments, in order to both consider their strengths and exploit their weaknesses.

In addition, as Sun Tzu suggests within The Art of War, in order to maintain optimal advantage over one's competition, one must carefully protect personal sources of knowledge (e.g., advisors; informants; spies, or simply those in one's service or employ who are skilled at ferreting out and/or processing useful information, from being captured, betrayed, or in any way compromised or endangered, as best one can.

Careful, well-considered, and disciplined application of knowledge gained from experience, observation, and study can combine to create optimal conditions for success, in war and in business. Further, according to Sun Tzu, commitment to remaining focused on one's strategic objectives is also very important. Toward that end, attention from those strategic objectives should not be dissipated. One should therefore avoid petty distractions from the goals and tasks at hand, or building unnecessary complexities into one's strategic tactics and operations.

However, it is also important, according to Sun Tzu, to match suitability of one's strategies and tactics to the environment and atmosphere (i.e., market conditions) within which one operates. One must try to understand, and to guard against any inherent disadvantages (and there generally always are some of these) contained within every positive competitive situation.

In business, an example of this might be that of a company that becomes successful enough to expand its operations (which is positive), but then spreads its resources too thin, and then needs to cut back (or even, if too overextended, goes out of business. Sun Tzu implies that within every good advantage or opportunity, there is also the seed of something less advantageous, so one must beware of disadvantages contained within advantages.

In the same vein, though, one must also always be on the lookout for situations that are advantageous because of another's misfortune or disadvantage. Situations like these might be, for example, buying a business at a good price because it is going bankrupt, or buying once inflated but now "beaten up" stock at a low price, and then allowing the stock's value to increase again before selling it. While practicing such strategies and tactics, however, one must always endeavor to behave morally and ethically in all areas and ways.

One must always be prepared, not simply hope one's opposition will arrive unprepared. One must also acquire well-balanced skills and resources, so they may be summoned whenever needed, e.g., within a typical business environment, one must find and optimally train and prepare managers; marketing experts; budget handlers; human resources personnel; liaisons with other businesses and the community, etc. In.