Business Warfare: A framework for business strategy based on Clausewitz, Sun Tzu, Foch and Machiavelli by Paulo Cardoso do Amaral
Sun Tzu provides great teachings for battleground struggles, so why do we need more authors and insights? Because Sun Tzu deals with confrontation, and that’s not enough. There are now more factors influencing any entity’s strategic positioning than just fighting for consumers, customers, and clients-unexpected factors beyond eyesight at battleground level, like regulations and political moves unleashed by stakeholders.
Enter Clausewitz, delivering a broad inclusion of the factors currently influencing business. He invites the strategist to contemplate political level actions besides war, something not so extensively covered by Sun Tzu. And the wisdom in Clausewitz’s Trinity concept is a bedrock for a solid, encompassing, and enlightened strategic appraisal beyond traditional methodologies.
The book also covers Sun Tzu’s dynamic approach to struggle, on a substratum of situational awareness, which other others tend to miss when analyzing The Art of War. Situational awareness is critical in business strategy. And Sun Tzu’s strategic vision is bottom-up-refreshing because traditional strategic planning has been primarily top-down.
Then came Ferdinand Foch, the add-on for developing Sun Tzu’s framework. It acknowledges the need to measure tactical effectiveness, otherwise, how do you choose among different tactical choices?
Machiavelli pops up next. Whereas Sun Tzu deals with battle, Machiavelli specializes in what to do with victory. For businesses, that means profit. And how do you make a profit? By winning everybody’s hearts, and that is Machiavelli’s specialty.
Paulo Cardoso do Amaral
Paulo Cardoso do Amaral is an accomplished professional with an extensive background in engineering, information systems, and business management. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering Systems and Computers from Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal. Furthering his expertise, he earned a PhD in Information Systems from the University of Paris VI, France, and an MBA in International Business from CatólicaLisboa, Portugal. Learn more about the author here.
