Customer Reviews

Corporate Combat: The Art of Market Warfare on the Business Battlefield

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You can learn more on Lanchester Strategy and in particular the mathematical basis of the warfare strategy in businessn based on Lanchesters equations of combat in books by Shinichi Yano, Dr Taoka, Dr Onoda and F. W. Lanchester by searching these names on the Amazon book site...regards

What an excellent read...Skellon applies the amalgamation of centuries of hard won experience in the battle fields of the nations of the world to the board rooms and market places of some of the world's best known brands and businesses. It's excellence as a read is in the skilful way that Skellon reduces the hype surrounding the art of business warfare and demonstrates how it can distilled into simple but powerful winning formulas that can be applied to businesses of any size. Do not be mistaken..the simplicity of the logic is disarming but it is equally potent. If I had one gripe with this book it would be the lack of case studies regarding the successes and failures of medium sized enterprises and also the lack of comment from the people behind all the "corporate combat"

War is capitalism with the gloves off -- Tom Stoppard says...Learn the three lessons of war but first you must know1) Wars can occasionally be won because one side runs out o either financial resources or simply the will to carry on 2) there is always the simple matter of incompetence (that famous Peter Principle is REAL). The three main reasons some armies (and companies) are more successful are 1) Superior weapons and tactics 2) A high force: space ratio -- focus on one segment and then dominate it -- thus the high force: space ratio....3) Strong defensive position -- think ToysRUs or Walmart versus etoys (reviewer's example -- not in book). The book includes lots of great examples...because it is published in Europe lots are European but many are not ie Sega versus Nintendo etc -- good for the American business guy or gal to see what's happening in the rest of the world. Nicely done. Take a gander at the MS Dos and IBM increasing returns section if nothing else. Men and women will love this -- men because they usually love war stories and women because they are often the victim of them in the corporate world and with this they can see the competing armies coming over the hill in advance!

If The Art of War graces your shelf, this book is for you. Author Nick Skellon argues that you can apply military lessons to corporate strategy. His theories make for fascinating reading. For instance, he draws parallels between the pitched head-to-head combat of the American Civil War and Burger King's battles with McDonald's. Like the Persians harassing the larger Roman forces with raids in 359, Honda attacked Harley-Davidson in the United States in the 1960s by grabbing the clean-cut college kids that Harley avoided. Sure, Skellon stretches the analogy too far, and by the time he gets to case studies such as Wal-Mart, there's barely a hint of military jargon. Still, we at getAbstract.com recommend this intriguing look at corporate successes and failures to readers who realize that brilliant strategy is brilliant strategy, whether on the battlefield or in business.

To win on the battlefield of business, Nick Skellon argues in Corporate Combat that organizations can do no better than to look to military history and the way that wars have been fought and won over the past 2500 years. Skellon interweaves actual business case studies and real military campaigns to demonstrate how centuries of military strategy can be used to build a modern-day competitive business strategy for the new millennium. Skellon draws on examples from companies as diverse as Wall-Mart, Nike, Nestle Buitoni, and Honda to illustrate how any business can compete with the giants, turn its competitors into followers, and thrive in any competitive market -- local, regional, national, or global. Corporate Combat is highly recommended reading for all corporate executives seeking to prosper their company in today's highly competitive, constantly changing business climate.