I.

INTRODUCTION

The Art of War is an ancient book written by Sun Tzu, a Chinese general, strategist and tactician. The book was created more than 2000 years ago, and it is by far one of the most influential writings in history. It was translated from Chinese to English in 1910 by Lionel Giles. The book is all about carrying out warfare, but it is also applied to many aspects of business because it focuses on the formulation of a successful strategy. The book is related to strategic management and business policy because it illustrates how a competitive world looks like, and provides the readers the basic idea on how to make the best strategy on specific situations that they would probably encounter in the world of business.

II.

BRIEF SUMMARY

The Art of War has thirteen chapters; each chapter is of relative importance to understand the whole idea of Sun Tzu. It can be summarized as follows: Chapter 1 (Laying Plans) defines the key elements to consider for you to have a competitive position; mission, climate, ground, command, and methods. The latter part of the chapter revealed that all warfare is actually based on deception. Chapter 2 (Waging War) is related to economics since it points out how much the operations of a war costs. Another important idea presented in this chapter is that when rewards are given to your soldiers they become more inspired to defeat the enemy. Chapter 3 (Attack by Stratagem) can be sum up in the saying presented by Sun Tzu: if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperilled in a hundred battles; if you do not know your enemies but do know yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperilled in every single battle. Chapter 4 (Tactical Dispositions) is about opportunities. To be a good fighter, you should not provide an opportunity for the enemy to defeat you, and at the same time you must be aware of the opportunity to defeat the enemy.

Chapter 5 (Energy) tells that creativity and knowledge when used together creates force or momentum. Chapter 6 (Weak points and strong) reveals that in war you should avoid what is strong and strike at what is weak. This chapter further explains the best use of every opportunity to take the enemy's fate in your hands. Chapter 7 (Maneuvering) brings to light that in war, you will succeed if you practice dissimulation. The one who will conquer, is he who has learnt the art of deviation, which is the key to the art of maneuvering. Chapter 8 (Variation in Tactics) uncovers that a wise leader take into consideration both the advantages and disadvantages that accompany variation of tactics. Sun Tzu also enumerated the five dangerous faults of a general; recklessness, cowardice, a hasty temper, a delicacy of honor and over-solicitude of his men. Chapter 9 (The Army on the March) depicts the different situations that a general and his army may face as they move towards battle. Each situation was explained by Sun Tzu and he provided the best response for each situation. Chapter 10 (Terrain) unveils the six types of field positions, its advantages and disadvantages for defense and attack. Chapter 11 (The Nine Situations) exposes the nine varieties of ground. It further elaborated the best tactic to use in managing your men for each type of ground. Chapter 12 (The Attack by Fire) outlines the five ways of attacking with fire and the preparation one should make for possible situations that may arise out of the attack. In the latter part of the chapter, Sun Tzu points out that one should not make a move unless it is to his advantage. A good general is always full of caution. Chapter 13 (The Use of Spies) is about how one can gather information to take advantage of the enemy. More specifically, the five classes of spies to whom you could get information were described. In this chapter, Sun Tzu wants the readers to realize, that success or defeat in war heavily relies on information.

III.

CRITICAL ASSESSMENT

The Art of War is an analysis of competitive systems. Although the terms used by the author actually relates to warfare, this terminologies can be translated to business. As we relate the author's ideas to business, we can appreciate the content of the book as young business professionals. Moreover, we can realize how it is connected to the subject Strategic Management and Business Policy. Sun Tzu said, "To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill. The idea is that you can win a battle without fighting, and that is much better because casualties results from fighting. But how can you win a battle without actual fighting? In relation to business, the key to winning is to have enough information and knowledge about your business, your environment, and most importantly about your competitors. A companys objective should be to conquer competitors by strategy, not by conflict because conflict may ultimately benefit no one. In the chapter Laying Plans, Sun Tzu enumerated the five key elements to consider in planning; Moral Law, Heaven, Earth, Commander and Methods & Discipline. These factors can be translated to business to which a strategist should be familiar with. According to Sun Tzu, he who knows them will be victorious and he who knows them not will fail. The moral law would be the mission and vision of a company; the heaven would be the business cycles; the earth is the business environment; the commander would be the strategist, manager or leader; the methods and discipline would be the policies and procedures implemented and followed in the company. A strategist should not only know these elements, he has to understand each factor and compare it against his competitor. In this way, a strategist can evaluate whether he is ahead of his competitor or its the other way around. If he is nevertheless left behind by the competitor, or if he found out that his strategy is no longer effective according to circumstances, he must be flexible and modify the company's game plan. Sun Tzu said, To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself. Sun Tzu teaches that others provide opportunities for us, we dont create our opportunities. Every competitor has its weakness, and this is an opportunity in improving the position of your business. To be successful we must learn how to best use the opportunity which others open to us. We must also be

watchful because we may be creating opportunities for our competitors. SWOT analysis, is aimed to appraise the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of your business. This management tool can help us to follow the teachings of Sun Tzu to use our strength at full capacity, fix our weaknesses, take advantage of every opportunity and be mindful of every possible threat in our business. Sun Tzu said, All warfare is based on deception. Deception also applies to business. One should do the unexpected. A strategist must look for ways to divert the attention of a competitor while carrying out his plan. On the other hand, you should also be careful so that you will not be deceived. You should not always presume that your insights are correct about your competitors and their strategy. You should always gather facts to prove your insights. Sun Tzu also teaches about leadership. He said that leaders must be honest. Your members will only follow you if they can trust you, this applies to war and in business. A good leader is someone capable of imparting the business mission and vision to his members and visualizes it with them; this can be done through effective communication. Effective communication plays a vital role to successful strategic management. Also, a good leader is able to unite his members and make them work as a team. In business and in war it is the combined efforts of the team that makes significant accomplishments. A good leader uses each member according to their capabilities, but do not require much individualism, meaning he encourages teamwork. Moreover, like a general in war, a leader should likewise avoid the five dangerous faults which can ruin the achievement of the company's objectives; recklessness, cowardice, hasty temper, a delicacy of honor and over-solicitude for his men. Sun Tzu teaches about making the initiative move. He said, Therefore, those skilled in war bring the enemy to the field of battle and are not brought there by him. In war, those who occupy the field of battle first and await their enemy are at ease and those who come later to the scene and rush into the fight are weary. In business, a better strategy is to make innovations. It gives one a first mover-advantage. To make innovations, a strategist must be aware of the trends in the market particularly technology. Acting with speed, will bring you ahead of the competition. To act with speed, doesn't mean you will do things hastily, of course when you make decisions it must be supported with good information.

In the last chapter, it was revealed that success in war heavily relies on information. The same idea can be applied in understanding the business world. The formulation of the best strategy that will bring the company to success likewise depends on information. A strategist must allocate resources to gain the information that he needs. Applying the knowledge of the use of spies by Sun Tzu, a strategist could invite someone who could be a source of information. Good information must be used to attain competitive advantage. Good information is a means of taking control of the competition.

IV.

CONCLUSION

The Art of War may have been created for war purposes by Sun Tzu, but his ideas still lives today through its application in many fields particularly to strategic management and business policy. Strategists can find great value in the teachings of Sun Tzu that they can apply in achieving the objectives of their respective organizations. In relation to strategic management and business policy, the bottom line is you have to know your own company, your competitor and your environment; take the best out of every opportunity; and strive hard to achieve and use information to your own advantage. Furthermore, Sun Tzu pointed out the importance of deception, how it can lead to triumph or failure. The book makes a strategist realize that he cannot control his whole environment but on the brighter side, he can turn these uncontrolled elements to his advantage. Most importantly, Sun Tzu stresses the role of a leader. Get your leadership right and your men will follow you. Generally, the whole idea of the book was not the destruction of the enemy, it was about preservation of life, making the situation better for the members of the community. The Art of War seeks to win without fighting. The Art of War is a must read because it provides a logical approach to conflict and competition. The lessons presented by Sun Tzu can make a business successful across all industries. It provides the key elements in creating a successful strategy which every organization aims to have.