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In chapter 6, weaknesses and strengths, 3 concepts chosen are:

6.1 Sun Zi said: Those who arrive first at the battleground will have sufficient time to
rest and prepare against the enemy.

Sun Tzu is advocating the advantages of being the first in the field. Those who are master
of the field will have enough time and preparations to select the ground, routes and so on. It also
allows you to determine the best way of dealing with your opponent, whether offensively or
defensively. Offensive operations by those who arrive first involves attacking opponents to prevent
them from being rested, while defensive operation involves making the field unassailable by
opponent without heavy cost.

In business, being the first to enter any market gives many advantages to a company. The
position also allows the entering company to gain competitive advantage by introducing
production, distribution channels and raw materials at lower costs than later entrants. This move
can be counted as firing the first shot against one’s opponents. The company gets to build a
definitive brand name for itself, making the product it sells synonymous with the company brand.
This high brand equity is one of the most important assets a company can have as consumers will
not think of other competing products. Besides, being a market leader in a particular field can also
help in building a strong market share among customers for one’s products, making it difficult for
newly arrived competitors to earn meaningful profits.

In portfolio management and risk management, this involves trying to position one’s
investment with option spreads and/or pre-established orders to enter based on confirmation. This
can also translate to avoid "chasing" a market to enter in obtaining a so-called good investment as
most of the good stocks have already been taken by others and any attempt to purchase them may
involve expenditures higher than the inherent value of the stock, making it a deficit to one’s
portfolio.
6.23 When I desire not to fight, even though I may be occupying any ground and not
erecting any defences (like merely drawing a demarcated line on the ground to defend it),
the enemy will still be unable to wage battle against me.

Sun Tzu is suggesting the use of deception, or the timely use of "bluff." An advancing army
is cautious in case of traps and deception. By suggesting deception, one can deceive the enemy.
The enemy will doubt the apparent transparency of your moves, and, filled with suspicion,
withdraw for the moment. In wartime, this enables a defending army to further rest its troops or to
perfect its defences. However, such bluffing requires daring audacity to succeed, or else the enemy
may read through the deception and attack with more ferocity.

In history, the use of bluff, or deception against an advancing army is widely used, ranging
from mediaeval times into the modern era. For instance, Mongol warlords made use of bluff tactics,
from lighting fires as a smokescreen to luring opponents into traps. In World Wars I and II, the
Allied forces used dazzle camouflage for its ships to confuse the enemy. The camouflage consisted
of complex patterns of geometric shapes in contrasting colours which was not meant to confuse
enemy submarines and warships so that he could not make an accurate judgment as to the vessels’
range, speed and heading.

The use of bluff in business includes making misleading publicity about products the
company does not even intend to promote, or project an image of wealth and size when actually it
is small. In this field, the use of media, especially social media, becomes paramount to achieving
the objective of the bluff, may it be chasing away competition, or increasing market share. Tactics
include flooding the medium with advertisements, or having a promotion video go viral, making
the product offered seem more in vogue than was originally supposed.

Shaping the competition is also performed by implementing strategic moves and sending
market signals that bait your competition into committing strategic mistakes—either leading them
to enter markets that will prove unprofitable or directing them away from markets you desire.
6.61 So, in the conduct of war, there is no fixed situation and condition, just like water has
no constant shape and configuration.

This can be interpreted as in any conduct requiring competition, be it a battle or a business

rival, there is no “fixed” strategy of conduct to use. As the nature of water is in itself fluid and
without shape, any plan or strategy should be likewise. Plans may and can change according to
current conditions so it would be deemed prudent and wise to have a flexible plan well able to
absorb or adapt to changing situations. A fixed and often used plan has the disadvantage of being
already known to one’s opponents, leading them to get the better of you. A fluid plan will keep
opponents guessing at one’s plans and divide their resources to combat all possible alternatives.

Many companies, adopting the Western mode of warfare, often make head-on, direct
attacks against their competitor’s strongest point. This type of competition leads to battles of
attrition, which tie up substantial resources for the parties involved, making it very costly for all
sides. Using Sun Tzu’s methods of teaching, a business is to focus on the competition’s weakness,
instead of strength. This enables the business to maximize its gains while minimizing the use of
resources, thereby increasing profit margins. Most businesses are under the illusion that by
launching direct attacks on their competitors, they can hope for profit. However, the reality is that
an obvious attack on a competitor cannot work well, according to Sun Tzu. By applying Sun Tzu’s
methods, what a company should do instead is to find the competition's weaknesses and capitalize
on attacking those. For example, instead of directly taking on the big retailers in cities, Walmart
started out in small towns. In this way the company was able to eliminate weaker local competitors
while simultaneously growing stronger. Then, when Kmart later launched a direct price war
against Walmart, it was unable to win against Walmart's strength, its low-cost model.

A book on Sun Tzu’s methods states that success is gained not just by grand plans but also
by adapting to the situation at hand, like the fluid nature of water. One should focus on the true
objectives regardless of the current situation. Like water, one must be flexible to ever changing
conditions in dealing with a dynamic market within the context of the plan. As such, one will learn
to become in tune with one’s surroundings and, thereby, continually improve one’s ability to
successfully understand and utilize market conditions to one’s advantage.