Sun Tzu and Machiavelli Business

¶ … Sun Tzu and Machiavelli

Business is war, and the tactics of warfare and diplomacy make good business. Long before modern business leaders gave advice breaking down a market into different strategic target areas or segmenting competitors into a 'Strengths/Weaknesses/Opportunities/Threats' framework known as SWOT, the Chinese warrior Sun Tzu wrote the "art of war, then, is governed by five constant factors, to be taken into account in one's deliberations, when seeking to determine the conditions obtaining in the field. These are: (1) the Moral Law; (2) Heaven; (3) Earth; (4) the Commander; (5) Method and discipline." (I.3-4)

In other words, a leader in a military or a business environment must have a full and accurate appraisal of him or herself as a leader. He or she must have an accurate internal and external appraisal of the characters of the individuals he or she is leading, as well the environment into the army or product proceeds. Likewise, Machiavelli's classic the Prince is broken down into a series of analytic rubrics of different environments to show a leader must proceed in different ways, depending on how a principality was acquired, if by force, for example, or by democratic means.

Both Machiavelli, and to a lesser extend, Sun Tzu have been criticized for their ruthlessness. But they were not amoral philosophers. Sun Tzu wrote in "The Art of War" that without ethics, or moral law, "people will not be in complete accord with their ruler, so that they will follow him regardless of their lives, undismayed by any danger," as they must in a combative situation. (I.5) Loyalty is key when entering a competitive environment, from a practical perspective. People must fight for someone and something they believe, else their loyalty to the leader and to the cause will be in doubt. Hence the need for basic training in the army today, and corporate orientations that stress the philosophy of the company, as well as technical aspects of work. Yet this sense of loyalty is not enough -- heaven and earth must also be strong, that is the leader must also have an accurate appraisal and a calculate response to the seasonal needs, of the market, the environment of the outer lying word, to be able to show wisdom as a commander, and infuse discipline in his troops. (I.6) a leader moves differently when he or she has lesser troops at his or her command than the enemy, just as small company may adopt a more specific and targeted strategy when releasing a new product in a market dominated by a larger corporation.

This stress on morality as well as tactical strategy may seem antithetical to Machiavelli's advice to the Prince, which is often read as a purely strategic text. But both leaders counsel not higher aims, but what is tactically practical, and having a rallying cause is necessary to inspire the troops, ad well as to know one's enemy. Both leaders also give advice as to how to win over different nations, and stress the need to stay in power, as well as to purely acquire power. And Machiavelli notes, it "cannot be called talent to slay fellow-citizens, to deceive friends, to be without faith, without mercy, without religion; such methods may gain empire," in the short run, "but not glory," and long-lasting security for the ruler. (IIV)

Of course, in employees in a corporation today are paid for their labor, much like mercenary soldiers, and they do not simply serve loyally to a leader, like they owe loyalty as soldiers to their nation. The contemporary employee's loyalty is bought like the mercenary soldiers Machiavelli calls the mercenaries of his day "useless" for these soldiers are "disunited, ambitious and without discipline, unfaithful, valiant before friends, cowardly before enemies; they have neither the fear of God nor fidelity to men, and destruction is deferred only so long as the attack is; for in peace one is robbed by them, and in war by the enemy." (XII) but even if employees are paid, they must still be loyal for other reasons, as quite often talented employees can just find a job elsewhere. "Therefore, "the arms with which a prince defends his state" must be "his own," counsels the author of the Prince still ads that "the chief foundations of all states, new as well as old or composite, are good laws and good arms; and as there cannot be good laws where the state is not well armed, it follows that where they are well armed they have good laws." (XII) Likewise a good product must deliver on its promised quality to the consumer, and no puffery or rapaciousness on the part of the leader can ensure a market permanently acquired by force alone, its claims must be backed up with some substance.

When the enemy or competitor is finally engaged, Sun Tzu advises a leader to always move quickly, "There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare. (II.6) "Whoever is first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy, will be fresh for the fight; whoever is second in the field and has to hasten to battle will arrive exhausted." (IV.1) Be a first mover in a market, a strategic manager might say, before demand has been exhausted. "If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles." Be true to your principles and strengths as a company, rather than be all things to all people. "If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle." (III.18)

Thus, to apply the principles of both Sun Tsu and Machiavelli, above all, a strategic assessment of the situation at hand is required. A good leader must be quick and decisive in battle, deliver on his or her promises of attack to the enemy, or be eaten alive, and deliver upon his or her promises of principle and rewards to his or her troops, or they will desert. The necessity of strategy has made Sun Tzu extremely popular in business classes, and Machiavelli, although the latter less so, partly because of the negative attributions given to the Italian philosopher's name.