2 out of 4 stars
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For all of recorded history, human beings have waged war against one another. Ever since that first battle, we have studied that very act of war. It is, therefore, no surprise that Sun Tzu’s The Art of War is still studied today. M.D. White takes the study of war one step further and applies those strategies (and others) directly to business and business models in The Influence of Military Strategies to Business.
This book touches on many of the important aspects of running a business (as well as leading a company) and makes the parallels between them and military strategies. Many of the military concepts in
this book come from Sun Tzu’s famous work, but M.D. White also touches on some other aspects of warfare. He equates the strategies found in military doctrine to business planning, business models, market analysis, strategies for large and small companies, selling strategies, innovation, and more. By approaching the marketplace as your battleground/environment, your competitors as your enemy, and market research as intelligence gathering, it is easy to see how companies are able to apply the multitude of military strategies to their advantage.
As a military officer, I absolutely love the idea of equating military strategies to business practices. What many people forget is that, when you get down to it, a nation’s armed forces are a business as well. I love the concept that researching timeless texts could potentially give rise to revolutionary developments in the field of business. I really enjoyed that White was able not only to make the comparisons between warfare and business but also give relevant examples of real-life companies’ successes (and failures) based on the concepts presented. It brings the ideas that White is proposing down to the working level and makes them a reality for the reader. What I liked the most about this book was the particular chapters on offensive and defensive strategies. It was extremely interesting for me to see these particular concepts of warfare (e.g. shock and awe, flanking attack, strategic withdraw, etc) applied to a particular commercial sales approach.
Although I like the concept of this book in general, I found that it was poorly put together as a whole. I found that the flow from chapter to chapter didn’t really work to its advantage and, in fact, led to more confusion than clarification. As well, there was little consistency in both the syntax and the wording. For example, even in the table of contents, some chapters are all in capitals while others are not, the title of Sun Tzu’s work is both in quotes and not, and there is no consistency in chapter naming. In the chapters themselves, I would have expected there to always be a comparison between the military strategies presented and business, but this did not end up being the case. I found that some chapters would go on for pages at a time simply discussing business best practices (without any link to military strategy) and others simply discussed elements of Sun Tzu's work without making the appropriate business connection. Finally, and what I liked least about the book, is how the exact same quotes or examples were used many times over and in different chapters. One particular quote from Sun Tzu, regardless of its relevance, was used at least six additional times throughout the book. This repetition gives the book the impression that there is little material to work with if it is forced to reuse a single quote again and again.
I really wanted to enjoy this book. I was looking forward to a comprehensive and well-organized treaty on the translation of military strategies to business processes/tactics. Unfortunately, this book fell short of my expectations for the reasons outlined in the paragraph above. That being said, if you can get past the book bouncing between topics, it does have an interesting message and presents some thought-provoking ideas. For this reason, I will give this book 2 out of 4 stars. If you are a voracious consumer of business strategy literature, I honestly think that you will get some very good nuggets of information and food for thought from this book. If you are just a casual reader or a stickler for information flow in your non-fiction books, this one won’t be for you.
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The Influence of Military Strategies to Business
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