Strong Military heritage underlies the study of strategic management.

Terms “Objectives” , “Mission”, “Strengths” & “Weaknesses” were first

formulated to address problem on battle field.

Webster’s new dictionary Strategy is

“the science of planning & directing large-scale military operations, of maneuvering

forces into the most advantageous position prior to actual engagement with the
enemy”

Strategy comes from Greek STRATEGOS, which refers to a military

general and combines STRATOS (the army) and AGO (to lead).

Military & business strategy’s key aim is “TO GAIN COMPETITIVE

ADVANTAGE”

Both use their strengths to exploit competitors’ weakness.

Business & military success is not the result of accidental strategy

Rather, success is the product of: 

Continuous attention to changing of external & internal conditions 

Formulation & implementation of insightful adaptations to those changes 

Fundamental Difference between the strategy of both is: 

Business Strategy is based on an assumption of COMPETITION 

Military strategy is based on an assumption of CON FLICT 

Superior strategy formulation & implementation can overcome an opponent’s superiority in

numbers & resources. 

Both business & military must adapt to change and constantly improve to be successful

War is vital important state, matter of lie & death. Survival or ruin.

Based on deception, when near to enemy, make it seem like far away, & when far away
make it seem like near.

Strike when disorder, avoid when stronger, if troops are well prepared, wear them down,
attack when he’s unprepared. 

Speedy victory is the main object, if it prolongs morale depresses. 

Best is to intact a state.

To capture enemy’s entire army is better than to destroy it. Subdue enemy without fighting
is excellence. 

Art of using troops: 

10 to enemy’s one > Surround him 

5 times strength > Attack him 

If double his strength > Divide him 

If equally match > Engage him with a good plan 

If weaker < Be capable of withdrawing 

If all aspect unequal - Elude him

Know your enemy, know your self = will never be defeated Know yourself, ignorant of
enemy = chances are equal to win & lose Know neither side = You are sure to be defeated 
One who occupies field first will be at ease, better to occupy field first & wait for opponent
to come. Analyze enemy’s plan to know his shortcomings & strong points. 

Army should be likened water, avoids heights & hastens to the lowlands, avoid strengths &
strike weaknesses. 

If you decided to go in battle, don’t announce. Project “business as usual” 

Unskilled leaders solve conflicts in courtrooms, brilliant strategists achieve through tactics
in advance to any confrontation. 

Before challenging any company, do much computing, analyzes & estimation. Little
computing brings defeats. 

Skillful leaders don’t amend strategy if face creative counter-movement. 

When got an advantage over enemy, don’t press on. Give option to surrender to
opponents. 

Create the appearance of confusion, fear so that opponent helplessly drawn toward this
illusion of advantage

Summary: business and military strategy are similar in many respects.

Many of the ideas developed in business strategy were first formulated as
military strategy. Both military and business organizations have
competitors. A fundamental difference between military and business
strategy is that business strategy is formulated, implemented, and
evaluated with the assumption of competition, while military strategy is
based on an assumption of conflict.

The term "strategy" was first used in the military to describe the grand
plan for winning a war. It is usually distinguished from "tactics" which are
the plans for winning individual battles. Businesses use strategic plans to
contend with their environments. These plans provide the fundamental
direction of purposes and policies that define the cooperative.

Military strategy is a policy implemented by military organizations to

pursue desired strategic goals. Military strategy deals with the planning
and conduct of campaigns, the movement and disposition of forces, and
the deception of the enemy.

Business strategy is a long term plan of action designed to achieve a

particular goal or set of goals or objectives. Strategy is management's
game plan for strengthening the performance of the enterprise. It states
how business should be conduct to achieve the desired goals.

There are similarity and difference between the strategy of the business
and the military.

Similarities

The essence of the strategy used by businesses and the military are
similar or almost the same.

 Similar terminologies, such as goals, mission, strengths and

weaknesses.
 The major goal is to gain a competitive advantage.
 One of the common practices is to use its own forces in attacking
opponents weaknesses.
 Information gathering and analysis of opponent or competitor is
very important.
 Need to adapt to changes and must always improve.
 Similar procedure of strategic planning, such as fact gathering,
evaluation, plan definition, and reevaluation.

Differences

Despite having some similarities, the strategy of the business and the
military have a fundamental difference between the two. Like,
formulation, implementation and evaluation strategies of the business is
done by competitive circumstances, while the military strategy based on
conflict situations and conditions. Strategic business planners can get
valuable experience and insights that have been developed by the
thinkers of the military from time to time, and not vice versa.

Business strategy / Military strategy: by Richard Martin

Apple introduced the iPad in April and, most recently, a new version of the iPhone.
Both of these products have been acknowledged as category leaders in the
consumer (and increasingly business) IT space.
First in 2007 and now in 2010, Apple has completely reinvented two product
categories by combining previously disparate features into single devices. The iPad
and iPhone can be called breakthrough products. Why breakthrough? Because
Apple went completely around the competition by inventing new product categories.
They didn’t bother trying to imitate others or to compete on their terms.
This is a perfect example of some of the interesting parallels between military and
business strategy. The military equivalent of a breakthrough product (or service) is to
completely outflank a defensive position in order to wreak havoc behind enemy lines.
When truly successful, the entrenched forces must leave the relative strength and
safety of their defences to fight off the attacker’s breakthrough.
As for the attacking force, they must be capable of exploiting the breakthrough by
staying continually ahead of the defenders, disrupting and dislocating their efforts at
stabilizing the defence. The equivalent in business is the ability to stay at least one
step ahead of the competition and to keep the pressure on them.
The way to do this is to keep innovating new products and services and also to
continually upgrade the breakthrough product. This is because imitators will
eventually be able to replicate the main features of the original breakthrough product.
They may even surpass it in some respects. However, as long as the company that
introduced the breakthrough product can keep innovating and improving it, they can
keep the competition off balance and maintain – even reinforce – the temporary
advantage gained at product introduction.
The evolution of the iPhone is a great illustration of the parallels between business
and military breakthroughs. When the iPhone was first introduced in 2007, it was
acknowledged immediately as a new type of product, even though many of its
features already existed and its capabilities were still embryonic. However, other cell
phone makers were thrown off balance. Apple has kept one step ahead of the
competition since then by introducing annual upgrades.
However, what really allowed Apple to keep the competition off balance was the
creation of the App Store in 2008. Up to that point, the battle for the smart phone
could have gone another way. But the App Store gave a marked advantage to Apple,
because it allowed the company to consolidate its position by solidifying the loyalty of
early adopters. This is equivalent to breaking through enemy lines then setting up a
fortification to defend your advantage. It also leverages the know how of many other
companies by letting them develop apps and profit from the iPhone ecosystem. This
is equivalent to multiplying your fighting strength by digging in and using air power
and artillery to break up counterattacks.
The iPad is still in its early days, but it has benefited greatly from the pre-existing
application ecosystem by building on the iPhone’s operating system. The
combination of capabilities it has introduced to the market has led many other
manufacturers to abandon their tablet projects, or to go back to the drawing board. In
either case, however, Apple has once again broken through to another level of
technical proficiency and is wreaking havoc behind enemy lines.

http://www.alcera.ca/leaders-edge-newsletter-july-2010.php