The Art of Strategy: Sun Tzu, Michael Porter, and Beyond

Description

When it comes to strategy, how should we define victory? For centuries, Eastern and Western thinkers have grappled with this question, offering different answers. What can we learn from this difference? In The Art of Strategy, Moon provides a novel and systematic integration of the two dominant frameworks of the East and West: Sun Tzu's military strategy and Michael Porter's business strategy. This unlikely combination of thinking suggests an innovative extension of our understanding and practice of strategy, which will appeal to scholars, students, practitioners and general readers with an interest in strategy. By aligning the perspectives of these two great thinkers, Moon argues that true winning is about maximizing and optimizing overall value for all engaged stakeholders, and this requires a more efficient approach to strategy.

Hwy-Chang Moon is Professor at the Graduate School of International Studies, Seoul National University. Dr Moon has consulted many Korean and multinational companies, international organizations (e.g. UNCTAD) and governments (e.g. Korea, Malaysia, Dubai, Azerbaijan, Guangdong Province of China, and India). He has published numerous articles and books on topics covering International Business Strategy and Economic Development, including The Strategy for Korea's Economic Success (2016).

'This is a great book with historical, cross-cultural, and comparative perspectives.' Jeng Liu, Dean of College of Social Sciences, Tunghai University, Taiwan 'With an excellent synthesis of leading strategists of the East and West, this landmark study provides a fascinating, thought-provoking read for experts, students, and members of the larger business community who are looking for new ideas and strategies.' Gi-Wook Shin, Tong Yang, Korea Foundation, and Korea Stanford Alumni Chair of Korean Studies and Stanford University 'There could not be a better time for reading such a book where the West meets the East, the Ancients meet the Moderns, the generals meet the businessmen, and Sun Tzu meets Michael Porter. Brilliantly written and well structured around thirteen main themes, The Art of Strategy delivers a wealth of original perspectives, messages and questions that readers will want to return to again and again.' Patrick Messerlin, Professor Emeritus of Economics and Director, Groupe d'Economie Mondiale (GEM), Sciences Po, Paris 'Few people have conducted a comparative study of military and business theories as insightfully as Moon who, in this theoretically inspiring and empirically grounded study, provides a rigourous theoretical comparison between Sun Tzu, the most renowned ancient military strategist in the East, and Michael Porter, the leading contemporary business thinker in the West. With clear examples of respective military and business cases including Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and Sony's experience with the Walkman, this brilliant and remarkably mind-opening book will become an essential reading for anyone who wishes to pursue a more sophisticated wisdom of strategic thinking.' Jong-Ho Jeong, Seoul National University 'Dr Moon does a great job integrating Sun Tzu's military strategy with Michael Porter's business strategy. This book offers new, broad, and profound insights into the essence of strategy.' Kazuhiro Asakawa, Mitsubishi Chaired Professor of Management, Graduate School of Business Administration, Keio University, Tokyo 'Professor Moon's path-breaking synthesis of Sun Tzu and Michael Porter moves beyond the two great minds' respective strengths and renders a masterpiece on how to strive for success through win-win solutions, which is so timely and much needed for a world with increasing confrontation and zero-sum mentality.' Lu Zheng, Tsinghua University, Beijing