Each time has its own peculiar forms of war… Each of them will also possess their own theory of war -General Karl von Clausewitz
Summary
Companies that want to remain profitable over time, must find a way to participate in the global market, respecting the competition. Understanding this respect, on the basis of competing with principles, values and ethics, away from unfair and dishonest practices. In this context, the present investigation was developed, contrasting two apparently antagonistic positions for the current business market: competition and loyalty. For this, two key categories of analysis were selected: art of war and postmodernity, both framed in the managerial context of strategic planning, concluding that it is possible to be profitable without destroying the opponent.
Abstract
The companies that want to remain in the time being profitable, should look for the form of participating in the global market, respecting to the competition. Understanding this respect, on the base of competing with principles, securities and ethical, far from practical disloyal and immodest. In this context the present investigation was developed, contrasting two seemingly antagonistic positions for the current managerial market: competition and loyalty. For they were selected it two key categories of analysis: art of war and postmodernidad, both framed in the managerial context of the strategic planning, being concluded that he / she is possible profitable being without destroying to the opposer.
Introduction
Starting any serious study of strategy or strategic planning forces the researcher to consider the contributions made by Sun Tzu, who lived in the fourth century BC, and his main manifesto is known today as "The Art of War."
Sun Tzu's work got its notoriety and relevance in current strategic planning, when in China, the struggles changed from feudal family fights, to battles between States. Of all the scholars of his time, Sun Tzu is by now the first consultant to write a book that offers practical solutions, which in turn promise wealth and power to those who adopt them, understanding their complex schemes and philosophical vision of doing war.
The idea raised with this documentary research is to retrieve the contributions of Sun Tzu and transfer them to the present day, so that his treaties serve as a guide for organizations and their managers, to help them make decisions and confront this great «war »Daily that implies living in the global market; seeking to achieve better results in contrast to the competition.
Likewise, this research sought to contrast two apparently antagonistic positions and highlight in them their meeting points rather than their disagreements: competition and loyalty. For this, two key categories of analysis were selected: art of war and postmodernity, both framed in the managerial context of what is now known as strategic planning.
On this approach and considering the simplicity of the content of the art of war, it could be understood, taking Sun Tzu's words verbatim when saying: "The art of war is based on deception", that the way to compete lies in confusing competition; but if the study in the philosophy that involves this art is sharpened, it can be read in the words of the same author that: "The supreme excellence in the art of war is to attack the plans of the enemy", it does not say to attack the enemy, on the contrary states: ¨ Treat the captives well and care for them. This is called winning a battle and becoming the strongest. Each of these approaches discover a different view of deception as a form of competition.
Now, to this new vision, we add the fact that today, human beings are taking up the beginnings of knowledge, turning their faces to art, science, and philosophy.
That segmentation that was made of knowledge, under Descartes's theory, has been insufficient to respond to knowledge and the way of knowing; for this reason, the integration of knowledge has been entered and the primary essences of things are being retaken. These are the postulates that postmodernism defends.
In this rediscovering the essence of things and returning to the real study of the philosophy that they contain, the intertwining of the two proposed study dimensions becomes effective, because they allow us to rediscover in the art of war, not a vision of destruction of competition., but the creation of strategies for fair competition, which allows survival in the complex business and managerial world; guaranteeing profitability through achieving the largest market share.
Additionally, when opening the possibility of understanding this philosophy of the art of war under the postmodern approach, which seeks the legitimate essence of things; A valuable strategic treaty is visualized, which can help current managers define maneuvers based on winning the market and increasing profitability, competing with legitimacy and honesty, without having to destroy the rival or annihilate him, but strategically overcome him, which according to the words of Sun Tzu, is what a manager should do; Verbatim it says: ¨The commander adept at war enhances moral influence and adheres to laws and regulations. Therefore, it is capable of controlling success¨ Michaelson, G. and Michaelson, S. (2003).
After breaking down the approaches on which the present documented research was developed, a new postmodern vision of the art of war is opened, presenting it as a strategic management tool that, respecting the competition, fights in the business market, in a context of domination of the medium, without eradicating the contenders, but anticipating their actions.
1. Sun Tzu and his Treaties on Strategy:
The collection of essays on the art of war attributed to Sun Tzu, is the oldest known treatise on the subject. Despite their seniority, their boards continue to be relevant in the modern business world. The essence of its philosophy is based on the following:
The art of war focuses on deception, therefore, it is necessary to consider the following 7 elements when planning a battle:
1. When you are able, pretend disability; active, passivity.
2. Make believe that you are far when you are close; and close when away. Simulate clutter to your enemy and surprise him.
3. Irritate your general and disorient him. If the general is angry, his authority can easily be broken. Its character is not stable.
4. Pretends to be in inferior conditions, stimulates his arrogance.
5. Put him on the spot and harass him. If he is at rest, tire him. When you go to the right to help, attack to the left; when you go to help on the left, attack on the right; leave him breathless by constantly running him from one place to another.
6. If it is united, divide it. Enmist him with his allies.
7. Attack him where he is not ready, make an exit where he is not expected. There is one thing that is of great importance in war, and that is to be quick as lightning; the occasion cannot be missed¨. Sun Tzu.
At first glance, this vision seems to be a cruel and unethical way of understanding competition, but deepening the analysis, the same author states: "Therefore those who are skilled in the art of war, attract the enemy to the field battle and do not get carried away by it »Sun Tzu. In other words, he points out that the elements outlined are nothing more than knowing how to take advantage of the advantage and make the competition face each other at the time and place chosen. Dominating the competition in this way is what Sun Tzu means when it comes to cheating.
The strategy must seek to attack not only the resources of the competition, but, above all, the minds of its managers and strategists, its thought processes and the will of its management team. Therefore, the use of direct and indirect actions is required; as key tools to influence the perception, emotions and actions of competition executives.
The purpose is to win on the ground known to the company being led, and not to destroy the competitor. This summarizes the seven elements that Sun Tzu raises, attracting competition to compete on familiar ground, and not applying unfair and unethical actions.
Sun Tzu would later say: ¨War is a doctrine in which we have to trust that we have shaped our unthinkable position¨ Michaelson, G. and Michaelson, S. (2003). It does not speak of having ended the competition, nor of unfair practices, but of competing in a field that guarantees to remain profitable and attractive to customers over time.
The main focus of Sun Tzu and its postulates is on strategy, understood as a body of recurring objective phenomena that arise from human conflict. Most definitions of strategy are exclusively normative, as if it were assumed that this objective phenomenon did not exist or that it is so obvious that it is not worth defining.
As in the case of many other scientific terms, the term strategy, whose indirect derivation comes from the Greek word strategos which means: army general, does not have the connotation of the modern word. The Greek word equivalent perhaps to our current understanding of what strategy is, possibly derives from Strategike episteme meaning the vision of the general, or strategon sophia referring to the wisdom of the general.
For his part, Sun Tzu allows us to glimpse his definition of strategy as "the supreme refinement in the art of fighting the enemy's plans". He further stated that: ¨ Those who are experts in the art of war subdue the enemy army without combat. They take the cities without carrying out the assault and overthrow a State without prolonged operations »Sun Tzu.
It is certain that Sun Tzu did not know the term strategic planning, he spoke of the offensive strategy and among the steps he said ensured the way to victory were the following:
- Know the enemy and know yourself, and in a hundred battles you will never be in the slightest danger. When you don't know the enemy, but you know yourself, the chances of victory or defeat are equal. everything from the enemy and from yourself, it is sure that you are in danger in every battle¨. (Sun Tzu).
This vision focuses on knowledge of oneself or of the company itself and knowledge of the competition, as secrets of success. It does not imply at any time eradicating it, but knowing it in order to overcome it.
In this approach, the strategy is presented as a paradoxical logic, an objective phenomenon in which the conditions arise, whether or not their participants want them, whether or not they realize its scope. In it circumstances come together, they can turn against; being able to be favorable today but tomorrow to have become unfavorable. In other words, the strategy according to Sun Tzu, are potential discontinuities that could pose threats or opportunities for companies, based on real knowledge of the organization itself, the market and the competition.
Therefore, according to the approaches analyzed so far, of the art of war and strategy, the invitation to managers today is to come out of their ivory tower, and look at their surroundings, to immerse themselves in realities. from the market, interact with your internal and external clients and create a strategic intention, which is no different than creating a point of view regarding the future; in addition to inviting the competition to participate in known terrain to ensure success, without engaging in dishonest or unfair practices.
2. Postmodernism and its Vision of Strategic Management:
Initially, the concept of postmodernity according to Lyon, D. (2000), was cut to designate the tendencies towards overcoming some modern ways of building, but later it was filtered to all what to do of humanity. The postmodern formula was transferred from aesthetics to the social sciences, with the beginning of the eighties.
The concept of postmodernity according to Reyes, R. (1988), citing Honneth, A., presupposes a precise and convincing fixation of some special characteristics, by means of which the contrast must be highlighted as a historical epoch of modernity.
Postmodernity refers to those forms of society in which all the ways of acting and forms of cultural exteriorization can exist side by side with the same rights. Reyes, R. (1988) quoting Honneth, A.
Postmodernism not only presupposes a huge fluidly communicative universe, it also harbors contradictions and conflicts, and above all new power to do things. Reyes, R. (1988) quoting Negri, A.
In a broad sense, postmodernity designates the cultural model, which began to rule the world from the 1960s on. This postmodern term aims to express, as stated by Reyes, R. (1988) citing Olabuenaga, A., the way of knowing and power of this new era.
According to Reyes, R. (1988), citing Sábada, J., postmodernism does not seek an epistemology that places it in an area from which, lying down, it can understand the world, whether it is comfortable or not. On the contrary, he seeks from the recognition of a real nothing, to relativize his ideas and actions, in addition to understanding others as beings, from the difference in approach and opinions. There is no dialectic or dialogic in it, there is plain dialogue.
In him postmodernism, science, art, power or any other thing to do with the human being has no more force than chronological validity. The postmodern vision refers to the liberation of the thoughts still tied in modernity.
In this release of postmodern thoughts, the strategic focus of Sun Tzu's art of war focuses on the thesis that avoiding combat will be achieved if the appropriate strategy is conceived before the battle.
According to Michaelson, G. (2003), the strategic lessons of the art of war, in the postmodern context, have become a general construction of mental synthesis, to solve a variety of problems, including business problems. His in-depth study and careful analysis, reveal insights that lead to victory.
3. The Art of War and Postmodernism:
According to Martínez, M. (2001), the science model that originated after the Renaissance has served as the basis for the scientific and technological advancement of subsequent centuries. However, the same author points out, the explosion of knowledge, disciplines, specialties and approaches that has occurred in the twentieth century and early twenty-first, in addition to epistemological reflection, have found this traditional model of science, not only insufficient, but, above all, inhibitor of what could be a true progress, both particular and integrated, of the different areas of knowledge.
Over the last three decades, according to Martínez, M. (2001), the necessary and sufficient conditions have been given so that every serious and deep-thinking researcher can climb on the shoulders of dozens of eminent thinkers, and from this perspective, to discern the great coincidences of ideas and marked converging lines of a new way of thinking, of a new way of looking at things, of a new scientific rationality and, in short, of a new science, which presents notable differences with the traditional, classic, logical-positivist way of thinking.
The end of mainstream science is coming, says Prigogine, I. (1994); that is, of deterministic, linear and homogeneous science, and we are witnessing the emergence of an awareness of discontinuity, nonlinearity, difference and the need for dialogue. Not only is there a crisis of the foundations of scientific knowledge, but also a philosophical one, and, in general, a crisis of the foundations of thought.
The problem that Pico, J. (2002) is experiencing, lies in the fact that the classical conceptual apparatus that was thought rigorous, due to its objectivity, determinism, formal logic and verification, is proving short, insufficient and inadequate to symbolize or to model the new realities, especially those that have emerged throughout this century that begins and ends of the XX. Well, both in the subatomic world of physics, as in the life sciences, in the social and managerial sciences, to represent them properly, concepts very different from the current ones and much more interrelated, capable of giving global explanations, are needed. and unified.
In this context, the philosophy of Sun Tzu, who left in his legacies, a strategic form that postmodern managers can adopt to manage their organizations, where they must take into account different factors to achieve victory, as well as virtues, can be taken up today. and talents to dominate your organizations and market. Sun Tzu said:
"And for this reason the general who does not seek personal glory when he advances, nor worries about avoiding punishment when he retreats, but whose only purpose is to protect the population and promote the best causes of his sovereign, is the precious jewel of the State … Few are found in this temple…..Because he protects his men as if they were children, they will follow him to the bottom of the most intricate valley. Because he cares about his men, as if they were his own beloved children, they yearn to die by his side.
As you can see, the essence of Sun Tzu's strategy is to instill love and respect among the workers of the company itself and inquire about the weaknesses and strengths of the enemy. Strengthening the fact of being aware of all your own movements and those of the competition, since your own growth and that of the company will depend on it, making victory even more possible.
Postmodernism is facing new managers with a role to compete on the basis of excellence and real knowledge of their company, market and competitors; all this if the philosophical principles of Sun Tzu in the art of war are taken as a starting point.
Finally, the essence of the postmodern strategic manager focused on the Sun Tzu philosophy is that they are people attached to their values, personnel and company, with the disposition to put the needs of others before their own; with a strong and temperate character, ready to:
1. Lead by example, not just with words.
2. Share the tribulations of the employees, not only the triumphs.
3. Motivate emotionally, not only in a material way.
4. Entrust clearly defined missions to all, preventing missions from overlapping and confusing.
5. Make your strategy drive the organization and not the other way around.
Conclusions
The Art of War is a treatise that teaches about the essence of a leader's nature. It is not a book about war; it is a philosophical source for understanding the roots of a conflict and seeking a solution. As one of his maxims shows, "The best victory is to win without fighting," Sun Tzu tells us, "and that is the distinction between the prudent and the ignorant man."
Sun Tzu's Art of War is a philosophy of survival focused on successful strategies of the state, or in the current context, of the business organization that assumes it, and is not based on the destruction of the enemy or competition, understood this last within the same context, but in the victory achievement centered on a good management strategy.
Strategy in today's company is the most important management issue and will remain so until another reality emerges. Business strategy has shifted from the classic struggle for the largest market share, to shaping dynamic scenarios of wealth-generating business opportunities, to proposing bold strategic approaches to stay in a new world of business ecosystems that we constantly have to explore. and analyze.
Managers who are able to understand the art of war to compete, will be able to obtain victory, since the invitation in the postmodern context is to understand and know the essence of things, and only the one who knows himself already the others ensures success.
Bibliographic references
Various Authors, In Reyes, R. (1988): Scientific-social terminology. Barcelona: Anthropos, Pp. 630-648.
Lyon, D. (2000). Postmodernity. Editorial Alliance. Spain.
Martinez, M. (2001). Need for a New Epistemic Paradigm. In AA. VV. Social Sciences: End of the Century Reflections. Trópikos Publishing Fund, Commission for Postgraduate Studies, FACES, Central University of Venezuela.
Michaelson, G. (2003). Sun Tzu. The Art of War for Executives. Ediciones Gestion 2000, SA Spain.
Michaelson, G. and Michaelson, S. (2003). Sun Tzu for Success. Deauso editions, Barcelona - Spain.
Pico, J. (2002). Modernity and Postmodernity. Editorial Alliance. Spain.
Prigogine, I. (1994). The end of science?. In: Fried Schnitman D., 1994.
Reich, R. (2004). The Reindustrialization of America.
Sun Tzu. The Art of War. Ediciones Alfadil, Editorial Biblioteca Nueva, Madrid - Spain, (2005).
Von clausewitz, K.. Of the War. Editorial Distal, SRL, (2003)
