Sun Tzu and Business Strategy

Sun Tzu

Sun Tzu was a Chinese general who lived about 2,500 years ago. He wrote a booklet entitled "The Art of War". The booklet comprised thirteen brief chapters written on bamboo strips. It became a Chinese classic and was compulsory reading for all scholars and military officers. It was also studied by the Japanese and the Koreans and was used and applied extensively right up to modern times. About two hundred years ago the book was translated into various European languages and then became required reading in most western military academies.

Business Strategy

You may be wondering what help an ancient Chinese book about war could be in modern business strategy. There have been a number of books written by military personnel with apparent useful ideas for business but the majority are impractical because of the legislation with which the modern business has to comply. The Art of War is different in that it is succinct and needs to be translated from ancient Chinese to modern day English. The translation then needs to be interpreted to be useful in a business context.

By now you may be thinking this is going to be a waste of time but most Japanese, Korean and Chinese companies have used insights gained from the Art of War to recover from the effects of the second world war and to dominate a large variety of world markets. Ignore the lessons at your peril.