The goal of strategy: Win all without fighting

Mark McNeilly

Many city-states, countries and empires have been built by leveraging their unique history, geography and assets to control their environment. Thus, they were able to survive, achieve stability and ultimately prosper for hundreds of years.

許多城邦、國家和帝國都是通過利用其獨特的歷史、地理和資產來控制其環境而建立起來的。因此，他們得以生存，實現穩定，并最終繁榮了數百年。

Businesses, like countries, have a unique history and a set of assets. But how does one judge whether a business has been successful? The Western view is that a business exists primarily to provide a return on investment for stockholders. In contrast, the Asian view is that a business exists primarily to provide jobs for its employees. Although both views differ, there is one constant between them: To meet either goal, a business must survive and prosper. Therefore, successful businesses, like successful countries, are those that may have started small but ended up surviving and prospering over a long period.

與國家一樣，企業也有獨特的歷史和一系列資產。但是如何判斷一個企業是否成功呢?西方的觀點是，企業的存在主要是為了為股東提供投資回報。相比之下，亞洲人的觀點是，企業的存在主要是為了為員工提供就業機會。盡管兩種觀點不同，但它們之間有一個共同點:為了實現任何一個目標，企業必須生存和繁榮。因此，成功的企業，就像成功的國家一樣，可能一開始規模很小，但最終在很長一段時間內生存和繁榮。

If the goal of a business is to survive and prosper, then what is the goal of its strategy? Sun Tzu offers this advice:

如果一個企業的目標是生存和繁榮，那么它的戰略目標是什么?孫子給出了這樣的建議:

Your aim must be to take All- Under-Heaven intact. Thus your troops are not worn out and your gains will be complete. This is the art of offensive strategy.

你的目標必須是完整地奪取天下萬物。這樣，你的軍隊不致疲乏，你所得的也必成全。這就是進攻戰略的藝術。

The goal of business strategy must be "to take All-Under-Heaven intact" — to capture your marketplace. You must define the markets you are going after and commit to achieving relative market dominance in those markets. By doing so, your company will ensure its survival and prosperity.

商業戰略的目標必須是“完整地占領天下萬物”——占領你的市場。你必須明確你要追求的市場，并致力于在這些市場中取得相對的市場主導地位。通過這樣做，你的公司將確保它的生存和繁榮。

There are many examples of companies that have done this. They began as seedlings, but used creative strategy to bring value to the marketplace, grew quickly, and continued doing business successfully for a number of years. They had to be able to gain a position in their industry or niche that enabled them to protect themselves and shape the forces in their industry in their favor. They achieved relative market dominance.

有很多公司都這樣做過。他們開始是幼苗，但使用創造性的策略為市場帶來價值，迅速成長，并繼續成功地經營了很多年。他們必須能夠在他們的行業或利基中獲得一個位置，使他們能夠保護自己，并在行業中形成對他們有利的力量。他們取得了相對的市場主導地位。

Market dominance can appear in many forms; technology leadership, brand recognition or cost leadership are some signs of it. Market dominance can also be thought of in terms of market share. Companies with dominant market share in an industry segment or an entire industry are more able to influence the industry, direct its evolution and establish an excellent competitive position. Their powerful position allows them to set the industry's standards and define the playing field. Firms that have achieved dominant market share most likely also enjoy the advantages of higher customer loyalty, larger volumes, better economies of scale, and strong distribution capabilities. In addition, substantial data and research have shown that market share and profitability go hand-in-hand in a number of industry environments. Those same advantages tend to increase revenues and lower unit costs, thus increasing profitability. If a company can achieve relative market dominance properly, prosperity will eventually come.

市場主導地位可以以多種形式出現;技術領先、品牌認知度或成本領先是其中的一些標志。市場主導地位也可以用市場份額來考慮。在某一行業或整個行業中擁有主導市場份額的公司，更有能力影響行業，指導行業的發展，建立良好的競爭地位。他們的強勢地位使他們能夠制定行業標準并定義競爭環境。獲得主導市場份額的公司很可能還享有更高的客戶忠誠度、更大的銷量、更好的規模經濟和強大的分銷能力等優勢。此外，大量數據和研究表明，在許多行業環境中，市場份額和盈利能力是密切相關的。這些同樣的優勢傾向于增加收入和降低單位成本，從而增加盈利能力。如果一個公司能夠適當地獲得相對的市場主導地位，繁榮終將到來。

In the 1970s and 1980s, Japanese companies, with their long-term view of strategy, emphasis on competition and survival, and belief that business is war, supported this thinking. Japanese companies were very successful at capturing market share and achieving a dominant position in many industries. Whether the industry involved automobiles, consumer electronics or office equipment, the inroads they made in US, European and Asian markets were significant. This provided these Japanese companies with the ability to influence their respective industries and ensure their survival, even when American and European firms began to successfully respond to their attacks.

上世紀七八十年代，日本企業以其長期的戰略眼光，強調競爭和生存，相信商業就是戰爭，支持了這種想法。日本公司非常成功地奪取了市場份額，并在許多行業占據了主導地位。無論該行業涉及汽車、消費電子產品還是辦公設備，它們在美國、歐洲和亞洲市場取得的進展都是顯著的。這為這些日本公司提供了影響其各自行業并確保其生存的能力，即使美國和歐洲公司開始成功應對他們的攻擊。

In the United States, GE's John Welch charged his business units to be number one or number two in their industry or face being sold off. Microsoft's dominance of the software market for personal computer operating systems has enabled it to call the tune that other computer system companies, application software companies and PC hardware firms have danced to for the last decade. Microsoft's CEO and chief strategist, William H. Gates III, has been able to influence the industry so effectively that it is difficult for any firm to make a move without considering how Microsoft will react. Both Microsoft and GE have experienced prosperity utilizing this strategy. GE, a 60-billion-dollar company, became America's most profitable company in 1994 with earnings of 6 billion dollars. Microsoft has also done well; between 1990 and 1994, its sales grew 47 percent and its profits increased 53 percent per year.

在美國，通用電氣的約翰?韋爾奇(John Welch)要求他的業務部門成為行業第一或第二，否則將面臨被出售的局面。微軟在個人電腦操作系統軟件市場上的主導地位，使其能夠成為其他電腦系統公司、應用軟件公司和個人電腦硬件公司過去十年的主旋律。微軟的首席執行官兼首席策略師威廉·h·蓋茨三世(William H. Gates III)已經能夠有效地影響這個行業，任何一家公司都很難不考慮微軟的反應就采取行動。微軟和通用電氣利用這一戰略都取得了成功。通用電氣，一個價值600億美元的公司，在1994年以60億美元的收入成為美國最賺錢的公司。微軟也做得不錯;從1990年到1994年，它的銷售額增長了47%，利潤每年增長了53%。

One may argue that relative market dominance is not necessary for survival and prosperity, pointing to small "corporate Switzerlands" as examples. The country of Switzerland has survived hundreds of years and prospered; it has done this not by seeking expansion and domination but by creating a strong defensive position. Switzerland combines a well-trained citizen army with its forbidding terrain, thus making the costs of attacking it outweigh the benefits of conquering it. The Swiss also use their neutrality to serve the warring nations of the globe, playing a key role as a site for negotiations and a go-between for antagonists. Switzerland utilizes the assets it has been given and a unique strategy to find a defensible position in the world.

有人可能會說，相對的市場主導地位對于生存和繁榮是不必要的，并以小型“企業瑞士”為例。瑞士這個國家已經生存了幾百年并且繁榮昌盛;它做到這一點不是通過尋求擴張和統治，而是通過建立一個強大的防御地位。瑞士將一支訓練有素的公民軍隊與其令人生畏的地形結合在一起，因此，進攻它的成本超過了征服它的收益。瑞士也利用他們的中立為世界上的交戰國家服務，作為談判地點和敵對國之間的中間人，瑞士發揮了關鍵作用。瑞士利用其被賦予的資產和獨特的戰略，在世界上找到一個可以防守的位置。

Likewise, companies do exist with low market share that have found defensible positions in their industry along with sustained profitability. They too have done so by understanding their strengths and weaknesses and using strategy to create a place in which they can survive and prosper.

同樣地，市場份額較低的公司在其行業中找到了穩固的地位，并持續盈利。它們也是通過了解自己的優勢和劣勢，并運用戰略創造一個可以生存和繁榮的地方而做到這一點的。

However, these businesses, like Switzerland, exist at the whim of the dominant players. Like major world powers, at any time market leaders may decide that these little "Switzerlands" have served their purpose in the industry and choose to eliminate them. Although a small company might cause a lot of problems for a dominant player before going away, in the end it would be eliminated. Thus, the only true way to control your firm's destiny is to drive for relative market dominance. This must be your purpose.

然而，這些企業，就像瑞士一樣，是由主導玩家的心血來潮決定的。就像世界主要強國一樣，任何時候市場領導者都可能認為這些小“瑞士”在行業中已經達到了他們的目的，并選擇消滅他們。雖然一個小公司在離開之前可能會給一個占主導地位的玩家帶來很多問題，但最終它會被淘汰。因此，控制公司命運的唯一真正方法就是爭取相對市場主導地位。這一定是你的目的。