flexible. In the
process, the management of change and learning how to
overcome changes will become an intrinsic part of your
behaviour and strategy development. This is what generals
in war and senior executives are trained to do!
Unfortunately, in actual operations or competitive
situations, many generals and senior executives fall short
of their training!
There are other reasons to focus on the competitors first
rather than oneself. Through detailed analysis of the
competitors, it is possible to win even if you are weak!
This can be done by avoiding the strengths of the
competitors. In fact, this was exactly what the Japanese
manufacturers did in the 1950s and 1960s.
After World War II, the Japanese economy was in ruins, and
its industries highly uncompetitive. It was simply not
possible to compete head-on against the large Western
business corporations. Instead, the Japanese manufacturers
chose to focus on making products that Western manufacturers
ignored. Thus, while these Western giants were strong in
making the big models of cars, refrigerators, appliances,
motorcycles, photocopiers, etc., they were weak in making
the smaller models. In fact, in many cases, they ignored
making the smaller and cheaper models completely.
Sensing the opportunities, the Japanese manufacturers
chose to focus on making smaller ranges of cars,
motorcycles, refrigerators, photocopiers, appliances, etc.
Here, it is important to point out that the Japanese
products were not only cheap but also inferior in the 1960s,
and even in the early 1970s. However, as the competition
was not strong in the market for the smaller range of
products, the Japanese manufacturers were even able to build
up their strengths over time.
Similarly, the Japanese manufacturers also went after
markets which the large Western business corporations were
weak in, or completely ignored. For example, the American
manufacturers completely ignored the South-east Asian market
as well as many other Asian markets in the 1960s and 1970s.
Instead, they chose to concentrate their strengths and
efforts largely at home, and in the Canadian and European
markets. Sensing the opportunities, the Japanese
manufacturers decided to penetrate these South-east Asian
and other Asian markets with their cheap range of products
as highlighted in the previous paragraph.
As there was hardly any serious competition in the smaller
products market, Japanese manufacturers were given ample
time to build up their strengths. They were also able to
improve their product quality substantially. Japanese
products are now known for their superior quality that
rival, and in many cases, even exceed the best that the
Western manufacturers can offer. Not surprisingly, Japanese
products are now able to command high prices!
Besides placing more emphasis on competitive analysis, it
is significant to note that Sun Zi placed it before
understanding the weather and terrain. This is clearly
illustrated in the first quotation cited at the beginning of
this paper. In fact, in the second quotation cited in this
paper, weather and terrain were not even mentioned!
The focus was entirely on understanding the enemy and
oneself. On closer reflection, it is not difficult to
understand the logic behind Sun Zi's writings. In the case
of war, if the enemy is far superior to
