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A strategy is a plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal.

Strategy is different from tactics
Tactic (method)

A tactic is a conceptual action. In military usage, a military tactic is used by a military unit of no larger than a Division to implement a specific mission and achieve a specific objective, or to advance toward a specific goal....
. In military terms, tactics is concerned with the conduct of an engagement while strategy is concerned with how different engagements are linked. In other words, how a battle is fought is a matter of tactics: whether it should be fought at all is a matter of strategy.

Strategy is relevant to many areas of life, from getting the right date for the school disco to running a business.






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Quotations


Business strategy is a battle plan for a better future.

Patrick Dixon - Building a Better Business (2005)

In real life, strategy is actually very straightforward. You pick a general direction and implement like hell.

Jack Welch, Winning (2005)

Change is the (occasionally) skilful redirecting, renewing, and reconnecting of stuff (like time, money, things, jokes, knowledge, hopes, passion, and dreams) into something better for us, for someone, even for everyone.

Max Mckeown - 2007, Management Issues - www.unshrink.org

All strategy is executed through common people. If they don't work with the strategy then it will fail however clever, visionary, or insightful. When people work to make a strategy a success then it may succeed even if it is flawed.

Max Mckeown - '2006, Management Issues'





Encyclopedia


A strategy is a plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal.

Strategy is different from tactics
Tactic (method)

A tactic is a conceptual action. In military usage, a military tactic is used by a military unit of no larger than a Division to implement a specific mission and achieve a specific objective, or to advance toward a specific goal....
. In military terms, tactics is concerned with the conduct of an engagement while strategy is concerned with how different engagements are linked. In other words, how a battle is fought is a matter of tactics: whether it should be fought at all is a matter of strategy.

Strategy is relevant to many areas of life, from getting the right date for the school disco to running a business. For example, the goal of a company may be to increase profits: the strategy chosen might be to undertake an advertising campaign; invest in a new computer system; or adjust pricing.

Strategies in game theory

In game theory
Game theory

Game theory is a branch of applied mathematics that is used in the social sciences , biology, engineering, political science, international relations, computer science , and philosophy....
, a strategy refers to one of the options that a player
Player (game)

A player of a game is a participant therein. The term 'player' is used with this same meaning both in game theory and in ordinary recreational games....
 can choose. That is, every player in a non-cooperative game
Non-cooperative game

In game theory, a non-cooperative game is a one in which players make decisions independently. Thus, while they may be able to cooperate, any cooperation must be self-enforcing....
 has a set of possible strategies, and must choose one of them.

Strategies in game theory may be random or deterministic. That is, in some games, players choose mixed strategies, which means choosing probabilities
Probability

Probability, or wikt:chance, is a way of expressing knowledge or belief that an Event will occur or has occurred. In mathematics the concept has been given an exact meaning in probability theory, that is used extensively in such areas of study as mathematics, statistics, finance, gambling, science, and philosophy to draw conclusions about t...
 for a set of possible actions. In other games, players choose pure strategies, which means choosing one action with certainty. A pure strategy can be thought of as a special case of mixed strategies, in which only probabilities 0 or 1 are assigned to actions.

Noted texts on strategy


Classic texts such as Chanakya
Chanakya

Chanakya was an adviser and a prime minister to the first Maurya Empire Emperor Chandragupta Maurya , and architect of his rise to power. Kautilya and Vishnugupta, the names by which the ancient Indian political treatise called the Arthasastra identifies its author, are traditionally identified with Chanakya....
's Arthashastra
Arthashastra

The Arthashastra is an ancient Indian treatise on Public administration, economics policy and military strategy which identifies its author by the names Kautilya and , who are traditionally identified with Chanakya , who was a professor at Taxila and later the prime minister of the Maurya Empire....
 written in the 3rd century BC, Sun Tzu
Sun Tzu

Sun Tzu , also called Sun Wu , is traditionally believed to be the author of The Art of War, sometimes called the Sun Tzu, an influential ancient China book on military strategy considered to be a prime example of Taoism strategy....
's The Art of War
The Art of War

The Art of War is a China military science treatise that was written during the 6th century BC by Sun Tzu. Composed of 13 chapters, each of which is devoted to one aspect of warfare, it has long been praised as the definitive work on military strategy and Military tactics of its time....
, written in China 2,500 years ago, the political strategy of Niccolò Machiavelli
Niccolò Machiavelli

Niccol? di Bernardo dei Machiavelli is the philosopher, writer, and Italian politician considered the founder of modern political science. As a Renaissance Man, he was a Diplomacy, Political philosophy, musician, poet, and playwright, but, foremost, he was a Civil Servant of the Florence....
's The Prince
The Prince

Il Principe is a politics treatise by the Florence Civil service and Political philosophy Niccol? Machiavelli. Originally called De Principatibus , it was originally written in 1513, but not published until 1532, five years after Machiavelli's death....
, written in 1513, or Carl von Clausewitz
Carl von Clausewitz

Carl Philipp Gottlieb von Clausewitz was a Prussian soldier, military historian and military theorist. He is most famous for his military treatise On War, translated into English as On War....
's On War
On War

Vom Kriege is a book on war and military strategy by Prussian general Carl von Clausewitz, written mostly after the Napoleonic wars, between 1816 and 1830, and published posthumously by his wife in 1832....
, published in 1832, are still well known and highly influential. In the twentieth century, the subject of strategic management
Strategic management

Strategic management is the art, science and craft of formulating, implementing and evaluating cross-functional decisions that will enable an organization to achieve its long-term objectives....
 has been particularly applied to organisations, most typically to business firms and corporations.

The nature of historic texts differs greatly from area to area, and given the nature of strategy itself, there are some potential parallels between various forms of strategy (noting, for example, the popularity of the The Art of War as a business book). Each domain generally has its own foundational texts, as well as more recent contributions to new applications of strategy. Some of these are:

  • Political strategy
    • The Prince
      The Prince

      Il Principe is a politics treatise by the Florence Civil service and Political philosophy Niccol? Machiavelli. Originally called De Principatibus , it was originally written in 1513, but not published until 1532, five years after Machiavelli's death....
      , published in 1532 by Niccolò Machiavelli
    • Arthashastra
      Arthashastra

      The Arthashastra is an ancient Indian treatise on Public administration, economics policy and military strategy which identifies its author by the names Kautilya and , who are traditionally identified with Chanakya , who was a professor at Taxila and later the prime minister of the Maurya Empire....
      , written in the 4th century BC by Chanakya
      Chanakya

      Chanakya was an adviser and a prime minister to the first Maurya Empire Emperor Chandragupta Maurya , and architect of his rise to power. Kautilya and Vishnugupta, the names by which the ancient Indian political treatise called the Arthasastra identifies its author, are traditionally identified with Chanakya....
    • The Book of the Courtier by Baldassare Castiglione
      Baldassare Castiglione

      Baldassare Castiglione, count of Novilara , was an Italy courtier, diplomat, soldier and a prominent Renaissance author....
  • Military strategy
    Military strategy

    Military strategy is a policy implemented by military organizations to pursue desired Strategic goal s. Derived from the Greek language strategos, strategy when it appeared in use during the 18th century, was seen in its narrow sense as the "art of the general", 'the art of arrangement' of troops....
    :
    • The Art of War
      The Art of War

      The Art of War is a China military science treatise that was written during the 6th century BC by Sun Tzu. Composed of 13 chapters, each of which is devoted to one aspect of warfare, it has long been praised as the definitive work on military strategy and Military tactics of its time....
      , written in the 6th century BC by Sun Tzu
      Sun Tzu

      Sun Tzu , also called Sun Wu , is traditionally believed to be the author of The Art of War, sometimes called the Sun Tzu, an influential ancient China book on military strategy considered to be a prime example of Taoism strategy....
    • Strategikon
      Strategikon

      The Strategikon is a Byzantine military manuals by written in the late 6th century and usually attributed to Byzantine Emperor Maurice ; it is moreover a practical manual, "a rather modest elementary handbook," in the words of its introduction, "for those devoting themselves to generalship." There is debate in academic circles as to the...
      , written in the 6th century AD by the Byzantine emperor Maurice
      Maurice (emperor)

      Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus , known in English as Maurice and in Greek as Maurikios, was a Byzantine Emperor who ruled from 582-602....
    • Taktikon, by the Byzantine emperor Leo VI the Wise
      Leo VI the Wise

      Leo VI "the Wise" or "the Philosopher" , was Byzantine emperor from 886 to 912 during one of the most brilliant periods of the state's history...
    • On War
      On War

      Vom Kriege is a book on war and military strategy by Prussian general Carl von Clausewitz, written mostly after the Napoleonic wars, between 1816 and 1830, and published posthumously by his wife in 1832....
      , by Carl von Clausewitz
      Carl von Clausewitz

      Carl Philipp Gottlieb von Clausewitz was a Prussian soldier, military historian and military theorist. He is most famous for his military treatise On War, translated into English as On War....
       (19th century)
    • Strategy, by Basil Liddell Hart
      Basil Liddell Hart

      The England military historian and theorist Sir Basil Henry Liddell Hart , usually known before his knighthood as Captain B. H. Liddell Hart,...
    • On Guerrilla Warfare, by Mao Zedong
      Mao Zedong

      Mao Zedong was a China military and politics dictator. Mao led the Communist Party of China to victory against the Kuomintang in the Chinese Civil War, and was the leader of the People?s Republic of China from its establishment in 1949 until his death in 1976....
    • The Influence of Sea Power upon History
      The Influence of Sea Power upon History

      The Influence of Sea Power Upon History is an influential treatise on naval warfare written in 1890 by Alfred Thayer Mahan. It details the role of sea power throughout history and discusses the various factors needed to support a strong navy....
      , by Alfred Thayer Mahan
      Alfred Thayer Mahan

      Alfred Thayer Mahan was a United States Navy flag officer, Geostrategy, and educator. His ideas on the importance of sea power influenced navies around the world, and helped prompt naval buildups before World War I....
    • The Air Campaign, by Colonel John A. Warden, III
      Warden's Five Rings

      Colonel John A. Warden III, a former United States Air Force officer and theorist of air power, established a theory of strategic attack based on five levels of system attributes....
    • Makers of Modern Strategy, edited by Peter Paret
    • Strategy, by Edward N. Luttwak
  • Economic strategy
    • General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, published in 1936 by John Maynard Keynes
  • Business strategy
    • Competitive Strategy, by Michael Porter
      Michael Porter

      Michael Eugene Porter is a University Professor at Harvard Business School, with academic interests in management and economics. He is the founder of a nonprofit organization called the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City and one of the founders of The Monitor Group....
    • Strategy Concept I: Five Ps for Strategy and Strategy Concept II: Another Look at Why Organizations Need Strategies, by Henry Mintzberg
      Henry Mintzberg

      Professor Henry Mintzberg, Order of Canada , National Order of Quebec , Ph.D. , D.h.c. , Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada is an internationally renowned academic and author on business and management....
    • Winning In FastTime by John A. Warden, III
      Warden's Five Rings

      Colonel John A. Warden III, a former United States Air Force officer and theorist of air power, established a theory of strategic attack based on five levels of system attributes....
       and Leland A. Russell, 2002.
  • General strategy
    • Strategy Safari
      Strategy Safari

      Strategy Safari , subtitled "A Guided Tour Through the Wilds of Strategic Management" by Henry Mintzberg, Bruce Ahlstrand and Joseph Lampel is an overview of the full field of academic and business studies of strategy, based on a previous lecture series by Mintzberg....
      , by Henry Mintzberg
      Henry Mintzberg

      Professor Henry Mintzberg, Order of Canada , National Order of Quebec , Ph.D. , D.h.c. , Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada is an internationally renowned academic and author on business and management....
      , Bruce Ahlstrand
      Bruce Ahlstrand

      Bruce Ahlstrand is a senior faculty member in the Business Administration program at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario. A graduate of the University of Toronto, the London School of Economics and University of Oxford, Ahlstrand has been contributing to the field of strategic management for many years....
       and Joseph Lampel.
    • by Laure Paquette
  • Strategic Theory
    • by Frans Osinga
    • Strategy generative by Jean-Paul Charnay
    • by Laure Paquette
  • Others
    • Marcel Détienne
      Marcel Detienne

      Marcel Detienne is a Belgium history and specialist in the study of ancient Greece. Currently he is the Basil Lanneau Gildersleeve Professor of Classics at The Johns Hopkins University....
       and Jean-Pierre Vernant
      Jean-Pierre Vernant

      Jean-Pierre Vernant was a France history and anthropology, specialist in ancient Greece. Influenced by Claude L?vi-Strauss, Vernant developed a structuralism approach to Greek Greek mythology, tragedy, and society which would itself be influential among classical scholars....
      , Les Ruses de l'intelligence, Paris: Flammarion, 1993 (on the role of the Greek Metis
      Metis

      Metis meant "cunningness" or "craft, skill" in Ancient Greek.Metis may also refer to:* Metis , a Titaness and the first wife of Zeus...
      )


See also

  • American football strategy
    American football strategy

    American football strategy is the strategic deployment of players and assignment of tasks to offensive and defensive players of American football....
  • Morphological analysis
    Morphological analysis

    Morphological analysis or General Morphological Analysis is a method developed by Fritz Zwicky for exploring all the possible solutions to a multi-dimensional, non-quantified problem complex....
  • Nuclear strategy
    Nuclear strategy

    Nuclear strategy involves the development of military doctrines and strategy for the production and use of nuclear weapons.As a sub-branch of military strategy, nuclear strategy attempts to match nuclear weapons as means to political ends....
  • Odds algorithm
    Odds algorithm

    The odds-algorithm is a mathematical method to compute optimalstrategies for a class of problems which belong to the domain of optimal stopping....
     (Odds strategy)
  • Plan
    Plan

    A plan is typically any procedure used to achieve an objective. It is a set of intended actions, through which one expects to achieve a goal.Plans can be formal or informal:...
  • Poker strategy
    Poker strategy

    Poker strategy is a complex subject. This article only attempts to introduce basic strategy concepts....
  • Strategic planning
    Strategic planning

    Strategic planning is an organization's process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy, including its capital and people....
  • Strategic bombing
    Strategic bombing

    Strategic bombing is a military strategy used in a total war with the goal of defeating an enemy nation-state by destroying its economic ability to wage war rather than destroying its land or naval forces....
  • Strategic and Defence Studies Centre
    Strategic and Defence Studies Centre

    The Strategic and Defence Studies Centre is a university department in the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies at the Australian National University....
  • Strategy dynamics
    Strategy dynamics

    The word ?dynamics? appears frequently in discussions and writing about strategy, and is used in two distinct, though equally important senses.The dynamics of strategy and performance concerns the ?content? of strategy ? initiatives, choices, policies and decisions adopted in an attempt to improve performance, and the results that arise fro...
  • Strategy Pattern
    Strategy pattern

    In computer programming, the strategy pattern is a particular design pattern , whereby algorithms can be selected at runtime.In some programming languages, such as those without Polymorphism , the issues addressed by this pattern are handled through forms of Reflection , such as the native function pointer or function Delegation syntax....
  • Strategy games
  • Sustainable competitive advantage
    Sustainable competitive advantage

    Competitive advantage is, in very basic words, a position a firm occupies against its Competition .According to Michael Porter, the three methods for creating a sustainable competitive advantage are through:...
     "Strategic advantage"
  • Synergy
    Synergy

    Synergy is the term used to describe a situation where different entities cooperate advantageously for a final outcome. Simply defined, it means that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts....


External links