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.

许多城邦、国家和帝国都是通过利用其独特的历史、地理和资产来控制其环境而建立起来的。因此，他们得以生存，实现稳定，并最终繁荣了数百年。

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.

与国家一样，企业也有独特的历史和一系列资产。但是如何判断一个企业是否成功呢?西方的观点是，企业的存在主要是为了为股东提供投资回报。相比之下，亚洲人的观点是，企业的存在主要是为了为员工提供就业机会。尽管两种观点不同，但它们之间有一个共同点:为了实现任何一个目标，企业必须生存和繁荣。因此，成功的企业，就像成功的国家一样，可能一开始规模很小，但最终在很长一段时间内生存和繁荣。

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

如果一个企业的目标是生存和繁荣，那么它的战略目标是什么?孙子给出了这样的建议:

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.

你的目标必须是完整地夺取天下万物。这样，你的军队不致疲乏，你所得的也必成全。这就是进攻战略的艺术。

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.

商业战略的目标必须是“完整地占领天下万物”——占领你的市场。你必须明确你要追求的市场，并致力于在这些市场中取得相对的市场主导地位。通过这样做，你的公司将确保它的生存和繁荣。

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.

有很多公司都这样做过。他们开始是幼苗，但使用创造性的策略为市场带来价值，迅速成长，并继续成功地经营了很多年。他们必须能够在他们的行业或利基中获得一个位置，使他们能够保护自己，并在行业中形成对他们有利的力量。他们取得了相对的市场主导地位。

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.

市场主导地位可以以多种形式出现;技术领先、品牌认知度或成本领先是其中的一些标志。市场主导地位也可以用市场份额来考虑。在某一行业或整个行业中拥有主导市场份额的公司，更有能力影响行业，指导行业的发展，建立良好的竞争地位。他们的强势地位使他们能够制定行业标准并定义竞争环境。获得主导市场份额的公司很可能还享有更高的客户忠诚度、更大的销量、更好的规模经济和强大的分销能力等优势。此外，大量数据和研究表明，在许多行业环境中，市场份额和盈利能力是密切相关的。这些同样的优势倾向于增加收入和降低单位成本，从而增加盈利能力。如果一个公司能够适当地获得相对的市场主导地位，繁荣终将到来。

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.

上世纪七八十年代，日本企业以其长期的战略眼光，强调竞争和生存，相信商业就是战争，支持了这种想法。日本公司非常成功地夺取了市场份额，并在许多行业占据了主导地位。无论该行业涉及汽车、消费电子产品还是办公设备，它们在美国、欧洲和亚洲市场取得的进展都是显著的。这为这些日本公司提供了影响其各自行业并确保其生存的能力，即使美国和欧洲公司开始成功应对他们的攻击。

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.

在美国，通用电气的约翰•韦尔奇(John Welch)要求他的业务部门成为行业第一或第二，否则将面临被出售的局面。微软在个人电脑操作系统软件市场上的主导地位，使其能够成为其他电脑系统公司、应用软件公司和个人电脑硬件公司过去十年的主旋律。微软的首席执行官兼首席策略师威廉·h·盖茨三世(William H. Gates III)已经能够有效地影响这个行业，任何一家公司都很难不考虑微软的反应就采取行动。微软和通用电气利用这一战略都取得了成功。通用电气，一个价值600亿美元的公司，在1994年以60亿美元的收入成为美国最赚钱的公司。微软也做得不错;从1990年到1994年，它的销售额增长了47%，利润每年增长了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.

有人可能会说，相对的市场主导地位对于生存和繁荣是不必要的，并以小型“企业瑞士”为例。瑞士这个国家已经生存了几百年并且繁荣昌盛;它做到这一点不是通过寻求扩张和统治，而是通过建立一个强大的防御地位。瑞士将一支训练有素的公民军队与其令人生畏的地形结合在一起，因此，进攻它的成本超过了征服它的收益。瑞士也利用他们的中立为世界上的交战国家服务，作为谈判地点和敌对国之间的中间人，瑞士发挥了关键作用。瑞士利用其被赋予的资产和独特的战略，在世界上找到一个可以防守的位置。

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.

同样地，市场份额较低的公司在其行业中找到了稳固的地位，并持续盈利。它们也是通过了解自己的优势和劣势，并运用战略创造一个可以生存和繁荣的地方而做到这一点的。

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，这些企业，就像瑞士一样，是由主导玩家的心血来潮决定的。就像世界主要强国一样，任何时候市场领导者都可能认为这些小“瑞士”在行业中已经达到了他们的目的，并选择消灭他们。虽然一个小公司在离开之前可能会给一个占主导地位的玩家带来很多问题，但最终它会被淘汰。因此，控制公司命运的唯一真正方法就是争取相对市场主导地位。这一定是你的目的。