The Art of the Advantage: 36 Strategies to Seize the Competitve Edge [Hardcover]

Kaihan Krippendorf (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 24, 2003

Art of the Advantage brings to life the centuries-old thirty-six Chinese stratagems and explains how they can be applied to corporate or personal strategy. Author Kaihan Krippendorf shows how in using Chinese philosophy, companies can create unfamiliar, cutting-edge corporate strategies that are often unfamiliar to Western companies allowing them to take their western competitors unaware and make them more competitive. Throughout the book, Krippendorf uses ten case studies from the world's top business schools to illustrate his points.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Kaihan Krippendorf, for the past two years, has worked at McKinsey & Co. as an engagement manager for strategy and marketing with an industry focus on media and retail. Previous to McKinsey, Kaihan held various senior management positions at Deloitte Consulting, Matsumoto Group and Calhoun Baker. Mr. Krippendorf received his MBA from Columbia University and his BSE in Finance and Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania¿s School of Engineering and Wharton Business School.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Texere; 1 edition (November 24, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1587991683
• ISBN-13: 978-1587991684
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,154,931 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kaihan is the author of "The Art of the Advantage: 36 Strategies to Seize the Competitive Edge" and President of The Strategy Learning Center. He helps large and small companies beat their competition and helps executives develop strategic thinking skills.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Business Strategists - =Must read book, February 6, 2005

By 

Tralvex Yeap "Visionary" (Singapore) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Art of the Advantage: 36 Strategies to Seize the Competitve Edge (Hardcover)

While most business-related Art of War books focused more on the theoritical aspects, this excellent book uniquely modelled each of the 36 strategems, followed by lucid visualisation and explanation. The case studies from Fortune 500 companies (about 60 companies such as Microsoft, Coke, Disney, Intel, Home Depot, Wal-Mart and more)are MOST useful in the illustration of applications of each strategem.

Appendix A on "Using the 36 Strategems as Brainstorming Tools" is a hidden gem, useful for those of us involved in the teaching of business strategies.

Appendix B on "List of Cases" is a good compliation of many other case studies in brief - each short case comes with (a) Strategy No. (b) Company and (c) Adversary/Description. [...]

One suggestion for Kaihan and team is to create a website for the books and cases. Very well done, Kaihan! I look forward to reviewing your future publications.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good introduction to the 36 strategies, July 21, 2008

By 

Mark Mills (Glen Rose, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Art of the Advantage: 36 Strategies to Seize the Competitive Edge (Paperback)

In 2008, this book was updated and repackaged as 'Hide a Dagger behind a Smile'. The new edition has an improved layout and minor expansions on the text.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book that ties Eastern Philosophy to Business, May 19, 2004

By 

Stacy E. Burrell "stacyburrell.blogspot.com" (Detroit, MI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Art of the Advantage: 36 Strategies to Seize the Competitve Edge (Hardcover)

I have long been interested in Taoism and Eastern Thought and enjoy reading books that present the concepts clearly. As a strategist, I have found most books that attempt to apply Eastern Thought to business to be either poorly written or with little practical application. I found this book to be concise, practical and an enjoyable read.

Each of the 36 Stratagems are easy to understand. The author provides both business and historical case studies as examples of how each stratagem were applied in the past. An appendix is included that is meant to help brainstorm ways to apply the stratagems in business.

The only downside to the book is that you could argue many of the business cases were selected to "fit" with each stratagem, meaning the companies did not consciously set out to use various stratagems. I would say that it speaks to the unwillingness of Western companies to learn and apply eastern business strategies. Also, it would have been nice if there were cases featuring Asian businesses that applied the principles in the book. However, this does not take away from the book's value.

Again, an excellent read strategists, managers, entrepreneurs or anyone interested in Eastern Philosophy.