The Influence of Military Strategies on Business Planning

The parallels between war and business planning are numerous. The important distinctions between war and business planning involve the ultimate ends of a given conflict. War involves physical destruction and death. When a business conducts operations, economic utility is generated and employees, stakeholders and society on the whole derive some benefit. The nature of competition is generally regulated by law and if disputes arise among rivals, either market place conditions or legal systems will make a binding decision over corporate life and death, victory or defeat. Introducing the analogies of either war or sports into the business environment is complex and may arouse emotions and an ethos that is contrary to the culture of commerce. As multinational businesses expand their reach they can be engines of wealth generation and peace. However, if global corporations adopt a martial ideology, then the hopes for human progress and cultural evolution will be dashed.