H. Matsuda discusses strategy
Japanese Strategic Mind Set
Strategic thinking is an inexorable fact for today's management and marketing leaders. lt has its deepest roots in military strategy as developed by Carl von Clausewitz [1] and A. T. Mahan [2]. Clausewitz, s soldier by training, saw war as an unpredictable conflict, while Mahan, the naval captain and historian, emphasized the primal and historical role of sea power and geostrategy. Without the deep thoughts and writings of these two strategists, today's market strategist, operating in the business sphere, would be much less well-armed.
ln China, Korea and Japan, there is the additional contribution of Sun Tzu [3] who made much of the key role of the "psychological maneuver" to gain intelligence about opponents' intentions.
While strategic thinking is a global, universal phenomenon, one cannot ignore the strong influence of local factors. ln the case of Japan for instance, the "bushido" tradition of martial arts training has had a deep influence on both military and business planners. Native Japanese interpretation of "bushido" [4] holds that a warrior stands in the state of
preparedness of defeat. In this sense companies such as Toyota and Panasonic have survived and prospered by following a "strategy without clear strategy".
Notes:
- C. von Clausewilz. 1780 - 1831. Soldier during the Napoleonic wars and author of On War(1832)
- A. T. Mahan. 1840 - 1914. U.S. naval lieutenant during the U.S. Civil War, president of the U.S. Naval College and prodigious author of books on naval history and sea power theory. See his The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783, published in 1890.
- Sun Tzu. c. 544 - 496 B.C. Nominal author of "The Art of War", the earliest Chinese book dealing exclusively with strategy and tactics. V.H. Mair's translation: The Art of War: Sun Zi's Military Methods (Columbia University, 2007) is an excellent place to begin.
- Regarding the bushido tradition see Thomas Clearly translations including Soul of the Samurai: Modern Translations of 3 Classics Work of Zen & Bushido (Tuttle, 2005), The Book of Five Rings, Miyamoto Musashi (Shambala, 1993), Code of the Samurai: A Modern Translation of "Bushido Shoshinshu" of Taira Shigesuke (Tuttle, 1999).
