First, the effectiveness of strategy.
Enterprises exist to achieve certain economic benefits. The entrepreneur's strategy is to actively participate in market competition with its strategic wisdom to obtain profits and gain its own interests as the starting point and ultimate goal. This utilitarian purpose is consistent with the purpose of other human activities. As Marx said, "Everything people strive for is related to their interests". Engels also pointed out in "Anti-Turin Theory" that "violence is only a means, on the contrary, economic interests are the purpose". Sun Tzu defined war as a profit-seeking activity of human beings. In this activity, soldiers and soldiers are also fighting for benefits. From a strategic point of view, he put "moving smoothly, not just benefiting" in the market economy. The purpose of winning in competition among enterprises is also utilitarian and "moving smoothly", that is, only when it is in line with the interests of enterprises and can obtain benefits.
There is always such a situation in market competition, that is, at a certain stage of competition, the total demand of consumers determines the total interest space of the market. Under the given conditions of general economic interests, the way for entrepreneurs to make profits can only be to re-divide the given interests, that is, to expand market share. In the face of competitors who also value interests, only through intelligent operation can we effectively expand the profit space of enterprises, defeat competitors, and make the interests of losers obey or turn into their own interests. Therefore, "commercial warfare is like military warfare, and competition is like military struggle." Market competition also needs great wisdom and resourcefulness, and only great wisdom and resourcefulness can win big profits. The so-called great ingenuity refers to the wisdom, that is, outwitting, rather than simply desperately. Both outwitting and fighting are ways to compete for profits, but fighting is a combination of two forces. Is outwitting fighting with wisdom or outwitting wisdom? Only by winning with wisdom can we maximize profits and minimize the loss of our own interests. Sun Tzu said, "It is good to defeat the enemy's soldiers without fighting. Therefore, it is the same to say that "the husband wins without fighting, and the temple is the winner." "Here's' to defeat the enemy without fighting',' to cut' and' to plan the temple' all refer to the maximum use of wisdom and strategy in order to defeat hostile forces or competitors, that is, to win with wisdom and profit with wisdom.
Sun Tzu's strategic utilitarian thought is of great significance for entrepreneurs to win market competition. First of all, entrepreneurs should grasp the utilitarian principle of strategy in market competition and take it as the starting point and premise of strategic choice. The utilitarian principle of strategy mainly includes the following aspects.
1. Non-profit fixed principle. This is the most direct application of the strategic principle of "following the interests and not stopping at the interests". When making strategic prediction and strategic planning, entrepreneurs should first make clear whether the strategic actions to be taken are in line with the ultimate goal and overall interests of enterprises in market competition, and whether they are truly profitable for a long time, and then consider the size of such interests. If it is unprofitable or even harmful in the long run and overall situation, don't act rashly, but stop fighting as soon as possible or wait for an opportunity to fight again.
2. The principle of seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages. In the whole process of winning competition, entrepreneurs should take the overall situation into consideration, look at the problem from a long-term perspective and correctly grasp the dialectics of competition. In the case of rising market business and promising situation, we should not only see the favorable side, but also see the unfavorable side, so as to nip in the bud; In the case of a depressed market and enterprises, we should not only see the unfavorable side, but also see the favorable side to boost morale and morale. Sun Tzu said, "It's a wise man's concern, and it's bound to be mixed with interests. Miscellaneous profits and reliable services; Harm is mixed, and it can be solved in pain. " This is a dialectical way to deal with competitive interests.
3. Beneficial right principle. Sun Tzu said, "He who gains power controls power for profit." The so-called power control based on interests means taking proactive strategic actions according to all favorable conditions and factors to win the competition, creating a more favorable competitive situation for ourselves and taking the initiative in the market competition. The right of interest control is not only applicable to the choice of military strategy, but also to the choice of winning strategy in market competition. Profit is the starting point of all strategic planning, otherwise, any strategic action will be futile if it is not based on profit.
While grasping the utilitarian principle of strategy, entrepreneurs should correctly analyze the benefits of various strategic choices according to the idea of seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages, and take this as the basis for determining strategic plans and implementing strategies. In the face of complex and changeable competitive situation, entrepreneurs generally have to make multiple alternative strategic plans at the same time. The conditions of these schemes are different, which may bring different benefits and harms to enterprises. Entrepreneurs should weigh the problems existing in the development of enterprises and the various interests that enterprises will face in the choice of competitive strategies at all stages of market competition. They should not only distinguish the nature of advantages and disadvantages, but also distinguish the size and weight of different interests, so as to truly know ourselves and know ourselves. Entrepreneurs should follow the following four criteria when using winning strategies to grasp interests:
(1) Two interests are the most important. In the process of enterprise strategic prediction and decision-making, if there are two or more options that are beneficial to me, I should not hesitate to choose the one with the greatest strategic interest, so as to get more profits and benefits. Only by taking the most important of the two interests can we "count more" and "count more". On the other hand, if both interests are taken lightly, it is bound to be "less" and "less is invincible".
(2) The lesser of the two evils. In the face of different strategic choices of enterprises, if two or more choices are unfavorable or harmful to me, or when analyzing the market situation of competitors, there are two or more unfavorable or harmful, then after weighing the disadvantages, risks and disasters, we should choose the one with the least disadvantages and the least risks.
(3) The two benefits are quite harmful. If the benefits and results of several strategic schemes faced by enterprises are not much different, then they should choose the scheme with the least harm or loss, which is the truth of seeking advantages and avoiding disadvantages. Sun Tzu said that "Tu (Lu) did something, the army did something, the city did something, and the land did something" to avoid harm.
(4) The lesser of the two evils. If the disadvantages, problems and disasters faced by various strategic plans of enterprises are similar, we must choose the one with the greatest benefit. In order to reduce losses, enterprises should seize the opportunity to break through from the most favorable aspects in order to save the crisis.
More importantly, entrepreneurs should correctly grasp the favorable fighters to win the competition and make the best strategic choice at the best time. In the market competition, due to the frequent changes in the relationship between supply and demand and the competitive situation, the best decision-making opportunity to achieve the strategic utility goal may appear randomly and fleeting in the process of competitive changes. Therefore, entrepreneurs should also learn to accurately grasp the best profit opportunities in sports and changes. People often lament that "one plan is hard to find", which not only means that a perfect strategic plan is difficult to find, but also means that it is more difficult to find an accurate and most favorable opportunity to implement the perfect strategic plan. If a perfect strategic plan is implemented at the wrong time, it may suffer the greatest failure.
The effective way for entrepreneurs to correctly grasp the best opportunity of strategic decision-making is to do their best to improve the feasibility and selectivity of strategic plans, and make adjustments and corrections according to changes in the market and various constraints. Figure 1 shows the general process of enterprise strategic choice change and adjustment. Figure 1 General process of enterprise strategic choice change and adjustment
The strategic thought of "moving with interests" fundamentally denies the uniqueness, static and invariability of strategic choice, so the alternative strategic plans made by entrepreneurs around the strategic objectives of enterprises in the process of winning market competition should be diversified and adjustable, and the optimal choice plan (even including the strategic objectives of enterprises) should also be adjusted according to market changes and strategic opportunities.
Second, strategic flexibility.
A notable feature of military strategy is the change of power. Sun Tzu said that "leading a decisive battle with the enemy" means that when implementing a strategic plan, it must constantly change with the changes of the enemy's situation in order to win the battle. For entrepreneurs, the "battlefield" to win by competition is a fickle market. Entrepreneurs' ability to cope with emergencies is manifested in correctly using their own wisdom and strategies, grasping the changing laws of the market, "practicing ink with the enemy", changing with competitors and market demand, so as to obtain the best economic benefits. "practicing ink with the enemy" embodies the principle of flexibility of strategy.
In the language of management, "practicing ink with the enemy" is to adjust the strategic plan and strategic deployment according to the changes in the market competition situation, and it can also be said to be a tracking decision-making model. This is because, in the process of winning market competition, the objectively reflected market supply and demand situation and competitors' activities are often not completely consistent with those envisaged in strategic forecasting and strategic decision-making, and even there may be great differences in some specific details and links. Therefore, in the process of strategy implementation, it is necessary to constantly adjust the strategic plan according to the market feedback information, or make new decisions in the process of tracking the market. Tracking decision-making is a common phenomenon in the implementation of actual enterprise competitive strategy and a normal state of scientific decision-making. The essence of this tracking decision-making model is to modify or replace the original outdated strategic plan with a new strategic plan that is more in line with the actual situation of market competition. When the original strategic plan can not adapt to the subjective and objective situation of market competition, continuing to implement the original plan may endanger the overall strategic goal of the enterprise. Therefore, entrepreneurs must be good at sizing up the situation, make strategic adjustments and follow-up decisions in time to avoid falling into a passive situation.
"Know yourself and know yourself" is the way to win all dynamic confrontation movements, including market competition. For the flexibility of the strategy, the key is to "know yourself and know yourself" and follow the decision according to market changes. In order to know ourselves and ourselves, we must establish and improve the market information feedback system and strengthen our understanding of market competition changes and competitors' activities. Sun Tzu emphasized the importance of understanding the enemy's situation in the process of strategic decision-making and implementation. He said: "Those who don't know the enemy's situation are ruthless, not generals of the people, not the help of the Lord, and not winners." Therefore, you are wise, you are wise, so you can win by moving. Success comes from many people, and so does the prophet. Prophets should not be taken from ghosts and gods like one thing, nor should they be measured by degrees, but from people. It can be seen that "knowing the enemy's situation" is an important prerequisite for realizing the correct strategic change and thus "practicing ink with the enemy."
In the case of "knowing the enemy's feelings", it is essentially tantamount to making new decisions on the original strategic issues so as to adjust the strategy at any time according to the changing situation. It goes without saying that this new strategic decision should be made repeatedly according to the decision-making procedure. However, this new decision-making model is not a simple repetition of "following the enemy", it has some important characteristics different from general decision-making.
1. Reverse retrospective analysis. Tracking decision-making should firmly grasp the word "change", follow the trail according to the changed situation, analyze the new problems reflected by market changes step by step, and find out the key to decision-making mistakes. Reverse traceability analysis must be based on sufficient and realistic market research. At the same time, retrospective analysis should not only find out where the decision-making mistakes are, but also find out the reasons and various related factors that can be reasonably explained. As the saying goes, "failure is the mother of success", these reasonable factors can provide a good foundation and basis for new successful decisions.
2. Non-zero starting point. Tracking decision is not a complete reinvention, because the original decision has provided the analysis objects and conditions needed for tracking decision. Moreover, after the implementation of the original decision-making scheme for a period of time, some subsequent decisions may be made, which consumes some resources of enterprise competition, has some practical impact on the surrounding market environment, and has caused new changes. Tracking decision should be based on the new situation after the change.
3. Double optimization. The re-selected strategic plan after the follow-up decision is superior to the original decision, otherwise it is not necessary to make the follow-up decision. If there are multiple schemes to choose from, it is necessary to further choose the best scheme among the many available schemes, so that the selected scheme is superior to the original scheme, so as to achieve the best decision-making effect and better realize the strategic objectives of the enterprise.
From this point of view, it is not a simple matter to realize strategic flexibility, because it greatly increases the complexity of enterprise strategic decision-making and requires stricter decision-making information. First, the information is required to be accurate, true and comprehensive. Second, information feedback is required to be very timely and rapid. Third, it is required to implement high-fidelity information transmission, especially to prevent the distortion of information transmission caused by telling lies.
While emphasizing that the winning strategy of enterprise competition needs "practicing ink with the enemy" and military confrontation strategy, we should always pay attention to maintaining strategic flexibility, and at the same time realize that the flexibility principle of entrepreneur's winning strategy is not exactly the same as that of strategist in war, and they are both related and different.
The principle of variation in the Art of War of Sun Tzu includes the following aspects: (1) treachery and variation. Sun Tzu said: "Soldiers are also cunning", and he also said: "Soldiers stand by and bully", which can be said to be synonymous with war. In the west, the word strategy is said to come from deception. The superficial truth covered up military deception. Sun Tzu's treacherous wars, such as "being able but not obvious, using but not obvious, being near and far, being far and near", all cover up his true intentions such as "not being able", "not being needed", "being far" and "being near" with seemingly observable actions. There is a saying in the army that "all is fair in war", because treacherous changes can confuse the other side, gain the trust of the other side, and make the other side make wrong judgments and take wrong actions. (2) changes in the situation. Sun Tzu said, "Water is made by the earth, and soldiers win because of the enemy. Therefore, the soldiers have no potential and are invisible. " This is an image summary of the uncertain battlefield. Military commanders should be good at grasping the changing laws of the situation and strive for the initiative in the war. In Sun Tzu's view, anyone who can actively use the external objective situation or make subjective efforts to create a favorable situation is a person who is good at knowing the changes in the situation. (3) changes in reality. Sun Tzu said, "If the soldiers win, they will be empty if they avoid reality." In most cases, the commander uses his strategy to make subjective efforts. Because of this, there have been many war cases in history that are good at using the change of reality and reality to win more with less. (4) the change of singularity. Sun Tzu said, "The war situation is just odd and positive, and the change of odd and positive can't overcome poverty." Odd and positive coexist, such as endless cycle, who can be poor? "In fact, strangeness is also a skill of using actual and false tactics, and strangeness includes various means of using actual and false changes. (5) Changes in separation and integration. Sun Tzu said, "Therefore, soldiers cheat the Lord, shift profits, and turn separation into change. "On-off is an effective skill in fighting. If the strategy has been decided, after considering the principles of changes in the situation, reality, singularity, etc., we will use the changes of separation and integration to weigh how to use troops, so that the strategic deployment will not cause "heavy troops are delayed and depressed." The art of war says: "Those who unify hundreds of thousands of divisions without collapse will also part ways." The combination of the military and the strong, divide and rule "(6) Number changes. Most of them are the conditions of "attacking less with more", and "few" is an opportunity to turn less into more and turn virtual into reality. The use of troops lies not in quantity, but in the change of quantity. Therefore, the change of the amount is a supplement to the actual situation. It can not only turn "more" into emptiness, lure the enemy to defeat, but also turn "less" into reality, avoid the enemy's sharp edge and attack the enemy's soft underbelly, so as to get the essence of quantitative change. (7) the change of offensive and defensive. Attack is an act of winning by moving, provided that we know the enemy's weakness and the enemy's penetrability. "Hundred Wars" said: "The winner can attack"; Defense is a passive behavior to win, provided that you know what you have is invincible. Defend by attacking, and attack can help defend; Take defense as the attack, and defense can take the place of attack. (8) the change of victory or defeat. Sun Tzu said, "It is fierce for a husband to defeat an attack without practicing merit." Therefore, "it is difficult to win easily, and it is difficult to keep winning." "Victory and failure can be transformed into each other." "Constant victory" can create an illusion and form an empiricism that sticks to the rules and stands still. Proper use of experience can lead to victory, while blindly adhering to outdated experience and creed may lead to fiasco. Xiang Yu defeated Liu Bang several times, but in the next battle, Gan Kun reversed, and Xiang Yu's death can be described as "the disaster of several victories." "
In short, the principle of contingency in war activities is a strategic means, and serving the effectiveness of strategy is the purpose of strategy. In this respect, the flexibility of entrepreneurs' winning strategy is consistent with the contingency principle in war.
However, because war and enterprise competition are two fundamentally different "dynamic confrontation" activities, there must be differences between the flexibility of entrepreneurs' winning strategy and the flexibility principle in war, which is manifested in:
First, enterprise competition is faced with a market where producers, competitors and consumers are interdependent and interactive. The reputation of enterprises, the quality and price of products and the quality of services are all evaluated by consumers. Only by winning customers can we occupy the market. Moreover, the means of winning customers must be "flexible", not the means of attack and killing for the purpose of destroying opponents in war. Therefore, the contingency strategy for entrepreneurs to win must consider the interests of customers, not just the interests of enterprises themselves.
Second, the object of enterprise competition is generally not unique. In the commodity market, whether it is the same industry or similar goods, it is often not one or two enterprises that participate in the competition. A large number of market competitors are competing with each other, unlike the uniqueness and certainty of the enemy in military operations. The entrepreneur's contingency strategy must consider the diversified characteristics of the market in order to win.
Third, even if only two companies compete one-on-one, competitors have to face two completely different strategic choices, one is the contingency strategy between competitors and the other is the contingency strategy between competitors and consumers. The former has more similarities with the principle of variation in the law of war (but it still cannot be equated directly), while the latter has less similarities with the principle of variation in the law of war, because facing consumers, honesty is the first principle that any merchant must follow. Otherwise, if enterprises treat consumers and competitors with contingency strategies, they will often adopt treacherous changes and do not stress honesty, so enterprises will not be able to win the trust of consumers, and the result can be imagined.
In short, only by correctly grasping the similarities and differences between the entrepreneur's contingency winning strategy and the contingency principle adopted by military strategists in war operations can we make good use of the strategic thinking in Sun Tzu's Art of War and grasp the initiative in market competition. Obviously, in the market competition, the interests of producers, competitors and consumers are not always opposed everywhere, but there are many aspects of interests that are consistent.