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RECENT PRESS |
Ancient Chinese War Strategies – The New Corporate Game Plan?
Hiranya H. Fernando WG04
We’ve all heard of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War (well you should have –
it is required reading before joining any b-school program, much in
the same vein as Liar’s Poker or Barbarians at the Gate).
Originally inscribed on bamboo strips around 500 BC, the Chinese
military leader’s advice in matters of war for emperors and generals
has the strength of timeless wisdom. Today, win without fighting,
know your battleground, maneuver to gain advantage, deceive your
opponent, and always seek the high ground is part of the everyday
vocabulary of corporate pop culture. We at business school are not
only well versed in this stuff but we live it every day in a manner
that would make our man Sun brim with tears of pride. How could we
have survived that noxious learning team retreat without knowing our
battleground or outwitted the competition during DIP without
deceiving our opponent?
Many a book has been written adapting these ancient adages not only
to mastering the challenges of the modern business world, but also
to accomplishing the important goals in one’s personal life. This
does not necessarily reduce the value of the original advice; it
simply means that you have to be careful when you pick and choose
among the hundreds of adaptations of the genre out there.
But I think I have found a gem, or at least one that appears to have
promise, in so far as it is a rather bold and creative take on the
old stuff. What if I told you to “Kill with a borrowed knife” or
“Beat the grass to startle the snake” or “Shut the door to capture
the thief” or “Shed your skin like the golden sacada”?
No, I am not mad. I am just “Feigning madness but keeping my
balance.” There are 36 of these proverbs or stratagems, and they
form the basis of a new book called The Art of the Advantage by
Kaihan Krippendorff. The author, who is a Columbia MBA and has a BSE
in Finance from Wharton, ran a workshop at Wharton last week to
explain the premise of his research.
Which is, essentially, that there are two traditional methods to
solving any business problem, both of which are at best adequate but
neither of which are particularly exciting. The traditional methods
are a) an options based framework such as the 4Cs or Porter’s 5
Forces, or b) a rule based approach such as the 7 Habits of
Incredibly Efficient MBAs or Mike Useem’s 12 Laws of Leadership.
Krippendorff claims these methods are limiting. The stratagems break
these inherited ways of thinking and “provide patterns for
navigating complex situations and competitive interactions”. That
the modern firm can use eastern philosophy and military tactics to
create unusual corporate strategies is not new... as discussed
above. What is new is this idea of patterns. Consider this: “To
catch something, first let it go”. What that means is that you let
your competitor get ahead and break costly new ground for you, but
only just ahead so that you can easily catch up. Think Coke and
Pepsi. Coke innovates, Pepsi copies. Pepsi innovates, Coke copies.
Or lets take the example of say a new soft drink company that has to
compete against Coke and gain 20% market share in 2 years. Well two
strategies come to mind. We can “Kill with a borrowed knife”,
meaning induce a third party to attack our enemy. For example, rile
up the anti-globalization movement against Coke or use government
regulation to restrict anticompetitive practices of large
corporations. Or we could “Borrow a corpse for the soul’s return”,
meaning gain advantage by readopting discarded models, ideas, or
technology. For example, we could go back to strategies discarded by
coke, such as a low price point or centralized distribution, which
will work for us but not for them. Then, using 2 to 3 strategems, we
come up with a set of options and then choose the one we want to
implement. In our example above, we eventually narrowed it down to
introducing our soft drink at a low price point.
Of course this begs the question how this result is any different
than if we had used a traditional method. It is quite probable that
we would have reached a similar conclusion with a simple 4Cs
analysis. Oh well, its just another 36 to add to the 4Cs and the 4Ps
and the 5 Forces then. But at least they have exotic names that
conjure up images a la crouching-tiger-hidden-dragon and fantastic
cloak and dagger tactics to put any modern day realty TV show to
shame.
For example….
Hide a Dagger Behind a Smile: means make the enemy trust you and
thereby slacken their vigilance, while plotting secretly for your
future actions. The author cites the “Intel Inside” campaign that’s
got Dell in a twist. I am thinking more like - be really helpful to
the OPIM professor and volunteer to be in his quality circle, all
the while preparing for when you have to grovel for that grade not
to be a QC.
Lure the Tiger Down from the Mountain: means to lure your adversary
out of his stronghold into unfavorable natural conditions and trap
him. Author cites Ben and Jerry’s damaging Haagen-Daz dominant
position, but you might prefer to think of it more like what you
might do at Tragos to unsuspecting visiting prospective students.
Deck the Tree with Bogus Blossoms: means if you are too weak to
attack on your own, coordinate elements within your environment to
give the appearance of power and might. Author cites the smaller
Ford and Chrysler against the larger GM in the 1980s. Or think of it
this way: WGA election slates and the coordination of these hitherto
virtually unknown individuals into overnight sensations with
campaign names to rival the national presidential campaign.
Exchange a Brick for a Jade: means you give your adversary something
you place relatively little value on in exchange for something from
the adversary that you value more. Author cites Microsoft and Sony
as having built their businesses on spinning consumer tendencies to
give up value. I was thinking more along the lines of giving someone
a lot of (free) attention in exchange for expensive meals, lovely
gifts, and a personal “assistant” to carry your school books and get
your lunch. |
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