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Chapter 4 Disposition of
the Army ( Jn xng)
UBMM1011
Sun Zis Art of War and Business
Strategies

Chapters
1. Detailed Assessment and Planning ()
2. Waging War ()
3. Strategic Attack ()
4. Disposition of the Army ( Jn xng)
5. Forces ()
6. Weaknesses and Strengths ()
7. Military Maneuvers ()
8. Variations and Adaptability ()
9. Movement and Development of Troops ()
10. Terrain ()
11. The Nine Battlegrounds ()
12. Attacking with Fire ()
13. Intelligence and Espionage ()
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Chapter 4: Disposition of the Army ()
Outline:
Introduction
Invincible in defence
Need to attack to win
2 important principles in defence and offence
Hallmark for great strategies
5 stages of evaluation process
Business application:
Introduction
War as expounded by Sun Zi in the first 3
chapters of his treatise, was something to be
avoided at all cost.
To ensure that it would not happen, each nation
state has it own responsibility too.
Thus Sun Zi began chapter 4 on the Disposition
of the army ( Jn xng) with a very practical
recommendation :
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4.1 Sun Zi said: Those who were skilful in warfare
ensured that they WOULD NOT BE DEFEATED, and
then WAITED for opportunities to defeat the enemy

(The need to build an invincible defence as
a deterrent against any overly ambitious
enemy)
Invincible in Defence
Doctrine of relative superiority (according to Sunzi) 5:1
attack the enemy, 2:1 divide him
The invulnerability to attack by enemy will greatly
enhanced if a strong defence force is in place
No enemy will dare contemplate taking on such strong
defence
By ensuring that one is not vulnerable, it is then possible
to look for opportunities to defeat the enemy

Foundation for conventional military doctrine
the best offence is a strong defense
Need to attack to win
4.2 The ability to prevent defeat depends on oneself, while the
opportunity for victory depends on the enemy.
4.3 Those who are skillful in warfare can ensure that they will not be
defeated by the enemy, but will not be able to ensure victory over
the enemy.

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Strong defence will ensure that one will not be
defeated by enemy but cannot guarantee victory
over the enemy
To defeat the enemy, there is a need to attack
To defence or attack will depend on the relative
superiority of forces and resources of your
enemy
2 important principles on defence and
offence
1. Secrecy in defence
2. Creativity in offence
The is to assured security as well as be certain of
victory
Able to create the element of surprise and
unpredictability
4.9 the adept in defence is able to conceal his forces in the
most secretive ways and places on earth.
4.10 the adept person at offence is able to deploy his troops
in ways that are beyond the imagination of anyone.
Hallmarks of a Great Strategist
1. Capable of doing extraordinary things:
- Picking enemies who are easily conquered,
extremely vulnerable.
- Very careful in planning, only adopts measures and
strategies that ensure victory.
- Skillful in exploiting any momentum created as a
result of his skill in deploying his force.
2. Remain relatively unknown, not known for his
wisdom, reputation, courage and valor.
3. Has high moral code and a great disciplinarian -
role model for his troops
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5 Stages of Evaluation Process
Now in warfare, evaluation must be made as
follows to determine the chance for victory:
1
st
, The degree of difficulty (of the military campaign)
based on the terrain
2
nd
, Assessing the scope of military operation based
on the estimation on the degree of difficulty.
3
rd
, calculation of own forces (to be committed to the
military campaign) based on assessment of military
operation).
4
th
, comparison are evaluated against your enemy
based on calculation of your own forces
5
th
, Based on the comparisons of forces from both sides,
the chances for victory can be established
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Summary


Dispositions of army explains:
the importance of defending existing positions until you can
advance them,
how you must recognize opportunities, not try to create them
A great general in warfare will ensures that he creates a disposition
in such a way that it ensures victories

4.35 the person adept at warfare is able to command and
direct his troops to fight like the accumulated gush water
that plunges down mercilessly from thousands feet high.
Such is the disposition of a powerful and
victorious army
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Business Application
"The difference between failure and success is doing a thing nearly
right and doing a thing exactly right." -Edward Simmons
Concentration Strategy
Entrench the product so as to resist all attacks; view
the market from a high level, rapidly moving into
new market opportunities as you see them.
By doing this, you can protect the company while
gaining market share.
Vertical growth achieved by taking over a
function previously provided by supplier or a
distributors
Horizontal growth expanding products into
other geographic locations and/or increasing the
range of products and services it offer to current
markets
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There are two parts to this approach
1. Focus on defending your market share against all
comers.
Look for ways to so entrench your product and technology with customers that
they will resist all competing solutions.
The classic examples of this approach are IBM (mainframes in the 1960s),
Microsoft (operating systems and applications in the 1990s), and Apple (digital
music in the 2000s).

2. Looking for additional opportunities.
New market segments and niches open up on a regular basis, and
its often a while before anyone notices.
Keep thinking of new ways to apply existing technology, or new
technologies that can be developed to coincide with the opening of
a future market.
IBM pretty much failed at this and Microsoft now appears to be
failing as well; time will tell whether Apple can avoid their
mistakes.
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Evaluation Strategies



Example: Bad/Poor Evaluation???
Initially, in 1987, Blue Arrow acquired Manpower (a
company which is twice Blue Arrows size) which was
then the World's largest temporary employment agency,
for the price of $1.3bn.
In 1987, Blue Arrow was at the centre of a financial scandal
when employees of National Westminster Bank's investment
arm, County NatWest, covered up a failed issue of 873m of
new stock (intended to finance the takeover of Manpower Inc.).
in 1994 the Company was acquired by Corporate
Services Group for 47.8m.
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In ancient time, those adept in warfare
gained victories by conquering those
enemies that are easily conquered.
~Sun Zi
Evaluation Strategies
Either company plans for M&A, JV, penetrating new
foreign market, or introducing new product in the
market, company need to evaluate its
strategies.
Bad strategy supported by good tactics can be a fast route
to failure.
Success requires a balance of strategy and tactics.



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Evaluating
Business
Qualitative
Quantitative
Forecasting
Method
Mathematical
/Computer
Based
Models
Hybrid
Models
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Tools for business evaluation
Secrecy in Business
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The Colonel's own handwritten recipe is tucked away in a safe
equipped with two combination locks at KFC headquarters, with
portions locked away in safe deposit boxes at undisclosed locations
as backup.
Only 2 company executives
at any time have access to it.
it uses multiple suppliers who
produce and blend the ingredients
but know only a part of the entire
contents.
"We fortified the ceiling and the floor around here
with concrete bricks two feet thick," Dietl said. "We
put in motion sensors also CCTV that's hooked up to
security downstairs. They have 24/7 armed guys
downstairs, so in the amount of 30 seconds you'll
have somebody up here. Once in here, you have to
have two people with two keys and two different PIN
numbers, and that's what you have to have. This
safe is bolted down and there is no way anybody can
get in here unauthorized without us knowing about
it."
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Apple Steeped in
Culture of Secrecy
Secrecy at Apple is not just the prevailing communications
strategy; it is baked into the corporate culture.
Employees working on top-secret projects:
must pass through a maze of security doors
swiping their badges again and again and
finally enter a numeric code to reach their offices
work spaces are typically monitored by security cameras
Employees working in critical product-testing rooms:
must cover up devices with black cloaks when they are working on them
turn on a red warning light when devices are unmasked so that everyone
knows to be extra-careful.
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Apple Steeped in
Culture of Secrecy
I was at the iPod launch, said Edward Eigerman, who spent
4 years as a systems engineer at Apple and now runs his own
technology consulting firm. No one that I worked with saw
that (iPod) coming.
Mr. Eigerman was fired from Apple in 2005 when he was
implicated in an incident in which a co-worker leaked a
preview of some new software to a business customer as a
favor. He said Apple routinely tries to find and fire leakers.
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