MUNHUMUTAPA SCHOOL OF BUSINESS SCIENCES
Department of Management and Hospitality
Name:
Reuben Tamuka Chirata
Student No:
M251744
Programme:
Master’s in Strategic Management 1.1
Course:
MSM611 Strategic Information Management and e-business
Lecturer:
Dr J. Zimuto.
Question:
Individual Assignment no. 1
Critically evaluate the rationale of Sun Tzu strategies in business, giving detail to
information management? 40 Marks
Lecturers Comments:
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CONTENTS
Introduction
Information Management
Sun Tzu’s Strategies and Information Management
Deceiving your Enemy
Knowledge of yourself and of your enemy
Principle of adaptation to circumstances
Preparation
4.0. Critical Evaluation of Sun Tzu Strategies
4.1. Collaboration
4.2. Technological Advancement
5.0. Conclusion
6.0. References
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Critically evaluate the rationale of Sun Tzu's strategies in business giving detail to information
management
1.0. Introduction
We are in the fourth industrial revolution. In this era the biggest challenge for businesses is
disruptions. These are mainly in the form of technological advancement. These disruptions eat into
revenue lines that traditionally were set aside for a particular industry. A good example in Zimbabwe
is how Ecocash disrupted banks and related financial businesses when it was introduced.
Information management is key in mitigating disruptions.
2.0. Information Management
Professor I.K. Ravichandra Rao defines Information Management as below:
Information management is thus a means by which a centre maximizes the efficiency with which it
plans, collects, processes, controls, dissemination and uses its information and through which it
ensures that the value of that information is identified and exploited to the fullest extent.
Information Management is how an organisation collects, stores, analyses and generates reports on
transaction data over a period of time. The reports are used to make strategic decisions based on
customer trends as shown by the Key Performance Indicators in the reports.
Sun Tzu wrote a book entitled “The art of War”. It has strategies that can be applied to management
of business. This write up seeks to evaluate the rationale of Sun Tzu’s strategies in business with
particular emphasis on information management.
3.0. Sun Tzu’s Strategies and Information Management
Sun Tzu strategies are found in Art of War. Below is an analysis of the strategies extracted from the
book with a focus on Information Management.
3.1. Deceiving your Enemy
Sun Tzu wrote on page 3 and page 24 of the Classic E-text Series:
“Page 3: All warfare is based on deception.
Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive;
when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away, when far away we must make
him believe we are near.
Page 24: The Military devices, leading to victory, must not be divulged beforehand.”
In business management, you gain competitive advantage by managing information within your
organisation such that your competitors are not aware of your business plans. A good example is a
new product launch. If this information leaks into the public domain, competition can use it to
neutralise your product launch through a similar product. If the movement of information is well
managed you will keep your competition in the dark and out-manoeuvre them.
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It is also important to note the challenges associated with managing information in the 4th Industrial
revolution. This due to the dominancy of technology. The internet and social media can be used to
leak information. This poses a challenge in concealing information in this era.
Some business signs a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) at the beginning of engaging a potential
business partner so that as they will be discussing and negotiating deals no information is disclosed.
This helps to mitigate unlawful disclosure.
An information management policy can also help to give guidance to employees and stakeholders.
Investment in data protection through recruitment and training cybersecurity experts and software
will go a long way in ensuring that information is secure from hacking. The IT infrastructure needs to
be upgraded to modern standards in line with cybersecurity.
Competitive advantage
Sun Tzu advocated for deceiving of an enemy in warfare through disinformation.
This gives an advantage.
In Today’s business environment the same concept can be applied by using Technology to gain
competitive advantage over your competitors.
Information technology is of increasing importance in the financial services industry. An important
competitive advantage can be created by making the company distinguish itself from other service
providers by means of information technology (Galliers R.D., 2003)
3.2. Knowledge of yourself and of your enemy
Sun Tzu on the art of war page 11 of the Classic E-text Series:
“Hence the saying: If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a
hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer
a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
In business, it is vital for an organisation to fully know themselves. Be honest and do a proper
analysis that will show your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT).
Maximise on your strengths, exploit your opportunities, improve on your weaknesses and mitigate
your threats. Tied with this is understanding the business environment that you are operating in
including the laws of that land.
Competitors are a key stakeholder in business. The business must take time to understand
competition.
Craft your business strategy based on full information about your entity and its competition.
This is bound to achieve desired objectives for the business thereby adding value to the business.
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3.3. Principle of adaptation to circumstances
Sun Tzu on the art of war page 10:
“By employing the officers of his army without discrimination, through ignorance of the military
principle of adaptation to circumstances. This shakes the confidence of the soldiers.”
We are living in an age where economic circumstances change very fast. Businesses are expected to
respond in very short time frames. This can be achieved through use of technology which aids quick
response to changes.
Faced with a turbulent business environment, our best strategy may be to plunge in, accept change
as the new normal and improve our capacity for rapid response and adaptation. To ride the waves of
change, companies need to become more resilient. They need to be prepared for unexpected events
and bounce back quickly or better yet, “bounce forward” by improving their competitive posture
(Fiksel J., 2015).
Information management in the form of Big data analytics can help since they quickly process
information and produce reports. Businesses need to be agile to keep up with changes in
circumstances in real time.
Business that are slow in responding suffer and in some cases cease to exist.
3.4. Preparation
“He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared”
When venturing into a new market there is need for thorough feasibility studies that show an
extrapolation of how business is likely to turn out in the new market. Certain KPIs such as Return on
Investment are key in deciding whether to enter a new market or not.
Culture and spending patterns are also very essential.
Information management in the form of market research and other automated tools that are
available to use can assist achieve sufficient planning.
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4.0. Critical Evaluation of Sun Tzu Strategies
In as much as the Sun Tzu strategies in war are applicable and helpful in business and other areas in
life, they also fall short as shown below:
4.1. Collaboration
Morden businesses collaborate in joint ventures. An example in Zimbabwe are the three
construction companies who joined to form a partnership in order to take on the mammoth Mbudzi
Interchange project. These are: Tensor, Fossil and Masimba. They use the name TEFOMA taking the
first two letters from their actual names. The sheer size of the project requires more resources at
any one time to be delivered on schedule.
Collaboration may be considered a low-cost route for new companies to gain technology and market
access (Hamel et al., 1989). Many European companies have developed pan-European alliances to
help rationalize operations and share costs (Robert D et al.,2003)
Sun Tzu on the art of war, being a book on war strategies emphasizes on victory over your enemy.
As shown in the example given, in business there are times when they must work together and put
aside their competition.
4.2. Technological Advancement
From the time when the book was written up to now, technology has advanced so much that we
need to consider impact of technology when we apply Sun Tzu’s strategies.
For example, the issue of deceiving your enemy. Concealing information was much easier back then
compared with the current situation where someone can take a picture or scan a very important
paper and share with his/her friends. In a short space of time a critical information is now in the
public domain.
Management of information is affected by technology.
5.0. Conclusion
In conclusion, Sun Tzu’s strategies can be adapted and applied to business. The information
management, as shown in this write up, is indeed a key area within the Sun Tzu’s strategies. If a
business chooses to implement the strategies there is need to consider that times have changed and
therefore there is need to customise. Customisation here refers to adjusting the strategies in line
with technological advancements and new approaches to business such as collaboration.
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References:
1. I.K. Ravichandra Rao, Professor: DRTC Workshop on Information Management 6-8 January
1999. INFORMATION MANAGEMENT: Scope, Definition, Challenges & Issues.
2. Sun Tzu. On the art of war. Short pdf version. Translated from Chinese by Lionel Giles, MA,
1910. Allandale Online Publishing.
3. Robert D. Galliers and Dorothy E. Leidner (2003): Strategic Information Management
Challenges and strategies in managing information systems. Third edition.
4. Joseph Fiksel. (2015): Resilient by design.
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