Sun Tzu and the Art of Business

Six Strategic Principles for Managers

by Mark McNeilly

Oxford UP, 1996

ISBN: 9780195099966
Pages: 261

Category: Leadership & Management

In this summary you will learn

• What Sun Tzu’s six main strategic war principles are
• How you can apply them to business

Why you should read Sun Tzu and the Art of Business

This book takes the metaphor, "business is war" as far is it can possibly go - and then pushes it a little bit farther. The writer, an amateur military historian, draws many examples of strategy and tactics from battlefield applications - none of them Chinese, interestingly enough, considering the inspiration for the book. He establishes indisputably that Sun Tzu’s observations in China, circa 400 BC, would have been equally valid in Imperial Rome or World War II. He falters somewhat when he attempts to apply these principles to business. The author struggles to make the connection and occasionally succeeds, most effectively when discussing price wars and hostile takeovers. If the premise that business is like war is questionable, the idea of using a Chinese military handbook as a business text is unusual enough to be stimulating. getAbstract.com recommends this intriguing book to business strategists and managers.

About the Author

Mark R. McNeilly is a strategist for IBM, an amateur military historian, and a former officer in the infantry and artillery.

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