Sun Tzu’s strategic thinking

and contemporary business

Sun Tzu’s personal information

ƒWas born in Qi (Spring and Autumn period of

China, 722-481 BCE ), but later travelled to Wu
due to civil strife in Qi.
ƒWu Zixu recommended Sun Tzu seven times to
King Wu, finally the King appointed him to be his
general.
ƒWithin 30 years, Sun Tzu won numerous wars.
ƒ Sun Tzu had helped King Wu to achieve a sort
of hegemony.
ƒ The most famous victory, Sun Tzu used 30,000
troops to win against 200,000 troops of King
Chu.
ƒ Sun Tzu had been regarded as a genius of
military strategy.
Taoism
Introduction:
ƒ Not only deal with the truth of Oneness, but
also propensity for change of the Oneness.
ƒ All things in this world originated at one source;
they are different but also interrelated.
ƒ Example, there is essentially no difference
between goodness and devil, between ease and
difficulties, etc.
ƒ There is no absolute good or bad thing.
ƒ One should use one’s strong point against weak
points in others.

Example in Business:
ƒ A successful computer company named
Lingxiang in China.
ƒ Their products neither advanced nor
sophisticated.
ƒ They are selling the computers with a relative
low price.
The principle of strategies
ƒ Sun Tzu always emphasized the importance of avoiding
bloody conflicts as much as possible.
ƒ To win a battle by fighting and killing is not the best
strategy.
ƒ As Sun Tzu said “to win a hundred victories battles is
not culmination of skills. To subdue the enemy without
fighting is the supreme excellence!”
ƒ According to Sun Tzu also, “know your enemy, know
yourself, and you can fight a hundred battles with no
danger of defeat.”
Moral influence
ƒ Sun Tzu meant if the ruler is wise, he must acquire the
moral support of his subjects.
ƒ The ruler should take care of his subjects as his own
family members.
ƒ Principle “fight as a man” means the Generals and
soldiers share the same goal and difficulties.
ƒ So, the soldiers will fight for the generals until death,
that means they are willingly to fight by themselves and
not because they are forced to fight.
ƒ In compatible to business strategy, if the boss takes
good care of his employees, his employees would willing
to work over time when they are needed to do so.
The ability of Generals
ƒ Properties of a good general: wisdom(zhi),
sincerity(cheng), benevolence(ren), courage(young) and
strictness(yan).
ƒ These quality mainly refers to the ability to discern and
judge situations.
ƒ In contrast, the main five negative qualities: if reckless,
he can be killed; if cowardly, he can be captured; if quick
tempered, he can easily be provoked; if sensitive to
honor, he can easily be insulted; if overly compassionate
to the people, he can easily be harassed.
The ability of a CEO
ƒ Should have broad knowledge.
ƒ Should be able to establish mutual trust
between management and employees.
ƒ Must be able to delegate power.
ƒ Should be a benevolent leader.
ƒ Should not be afraid of making risky decisions.

A good CEO should be able to combine strict

discipline and rewards.
Climate and terrain
ƒ Means changing season, weather, temperature and
hours.
ƒ A good general should know how to utilize these
uncontrollable components to his advantages.
ƒ For example of war histories:
™ The Russian general Kuznetzov, defeated Napoleon’s
troops with the help of a severe Russian winter.
™The great military strategist Zhuge Liang, borrowed
the east wind at one night to burn down his riyal Cao
Cao’s camp.
ƒ In business field, a CEO should grapple with climatic
conditions, such as the “economic climate” and the
“business climate” which include:

™Political situationsÆ stability, ethic conflicts and civil wars.

™Economic cycles Æ recessions, stagnation.
™Investment climate Æ government policies, regulations,
incentives.
™Other related social and cultural factor Æ changes in
demography and in consumer attitudes.
Strengths
ƒ For Sun Tzu, strength is a relative concept, which means
there is neither absolute superior nor inferior strength.
ƒ A small army maybe small in number, but if it knows how to
concentrate its small force, it may took large and eliminate
the big armies.
ƒ Another way to enhance strength according to Sun Tzu:
™When able to attack, we must pretend to be unable
™When employing our forces, we must seem inactive
™When we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far and
vice versa.
ƒ An enterprise should also hide its own real strength.
™Make its competitors do not know its real situation and direction.
Then it can prepare stealthily and launch an sudden attack.
Summary
ƒ Sun Tzu emphasized the importance of moral
influence within an organization.
ƒ He also stated the importance of a broadly defined
generalship for military leaders as opposed to
merely using their technical background.
ƒ There is no absolute superiority and interiority in
competition.
ƒ However, the strategies of one company could be
not only strategies of how to compete with others
but also for example how to cooperate or
collaborate with others.
 Thank you
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