Term Paper on "Art of War"

Term Paper 4 pages (1300 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Art of War, by Sun Tzu, as Applied to Business Strategy Today

Several key themes, developed many centuries ago, by the ancient Chinese military general Sun Tzu, may be successfully applied to business situations and markets today. For example, the first chapter of Sun Tzu's The Art of War suggests importance of, and various ways of analyzing, one's competition, including evaluating chances for success against that opponent or competitor. Further, many subjects discussed in The Art of War occur continuously, although perhaps differently than Sun Tzu literally describes, in business (and walks of life) in today's world. These include: strategic planning; analysis; information gathering, sorting, and processing, seizing the advantage; deceiving one's competition, etc. Sun Tzu stresses the key importance of knowledge, wisdom, and understanding: of oneself and others. That, in fact, often seems the dominant underlying theme of each chapter of The Art of War. All other issues and strategies discussed are connected by the author, explicitly or implicitly, to that theme. In this essay, I will analyze key aspects of Sun Tzu's The Art of War, and explore ways that many of these can be advantageously used, within competitive business environments today.

First, Sun Tzu's The Art of War suggests the strategic importance of gathering and effectively processing the best, most thorough, most reliable information available. Having done that, one must then also protect one's sources of information. Even within that context, one must take time to know oneself, and one's opposition, authentically (e.g., what does this information mean to me, and to my strategic planning and tactics; who else might want (or already have) this information; who (including oneself) might be capable of misusing, abusing, or misinterpreting this information? Moreover, within The Art of War, Sun Tzu recommends carefully and analytically studying the past, in order to best learn from one's own mistakes, and from mistakes that have been made by others. Further, in order to best develop and maintain advantage over one's competitors, one must also study social attitudes and trends (in war terms, this might mean, for example, analyzing rather or not a particular war is a "popular" one, and why or why not; in today's business environment it might mean analyzing one's own as well as competitors stronger and weaker markets, in order to then be able to exploit weaknesses of market competitors. (A good example of this might be how Microsoft has beaten out all other competitors and cornered the software market, or how both Fed Ex and UPS have bitten into current U.S. Postal Service profits). Such careful analysis, of competitors' strengths, weaknesses, environmental atmospheres, and markets, can lead, Sun Tzu further suggests, to knowledge that, when then used properly, reflectively, and in a focused way, may bring about war (or business) victory.

Next, Sun Tzu further suggests the importance of becoming a superior (to one's opposition or competitors) entity, not just in terms of numbers (e.g., the biggest army, or company, but also in terms of knowledge, experience, and wisdom. A good example of this concept in operation might be that of Wal-Mart, which has effectively combined size with advantageous business practices, over many years, in order to become, and remain, one of the most profitable retailers in the world.

Such knowledge and wisdom are obtained through combined study and observation of people; situations, environments, and occurrences, and through recalling, comparing, and contrasting this with other past, present, and future observations. Knowledge gained through such observations may then be strategically applied. Overall, Sun Tzu suggests, one must study, observe, focus, and compare, in order to optimally know oneself, one's opposition (competition), and one's own and one's competitors' respective environments, in order to both consider their strengths and exploit their weaknesses.

In addition, as Sun Tzu suggests within The Art of War, in order to maintain optimal advantage over one's competition, one must carefully protect personal sources of knowledge (e.g.,… READ MORE

How to Reference "Art of War" Term Paper in a Bibliography

Related Term Papers:

Art of War by Sun Tzu Research Paper

Art of War:

Composed by Sun Tzu in the 6th century B.C.E., The Art of War is basically a Chinese military manual which instructs the reader on how to wage… read more

Research Paper 1 pages (424 words) Sources: 0 Topic: Military / Army / Navy / Marines

---

Art Development of Artistic Concepts Essay

Art Dev

Development of Artistic Concepts and Skills Across Grade Levels

The concept of sings, symbolism, and style in artworks is something that requires advanced critical thinking skills to fully… read more

Essay 4 pages (1014 words) Sources: 3 Topic: Art / Painting / Sculpture

---

Art Exhibition Essay

This also translates into the way that art can "become" community historically. For instance, in a number of the pieces previewed, we are meant to understand either a snapshot of… read more

Essay 3 pages (1212 words) Sources: 0 Topic: Art / Painting / Sculpture

---

Work of Art in the Age of Its Technological Reproducibility Term Paper

Art in the Age of Its Technological Reproducibility

Walter Benjamin was a critic of the arts; he made some proofs on the transformation of fine arts to modernized interpretation of… read more

Term Paper 3 pages (1030 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Art / Painting / Sculpture

---

Art Italian Renaissance Term Paper

Art

Italian Renaissance Art

This report is a summary and a comparison between two works from one of my favorite Italian Renaissance artists. The works were taken from the 1987… read more

Term Paper 5 pages (1456 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Art / Painting / Sculpture

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>