Because of the notion of competition in business many business concepts have a military connotation.

The word strategy is derived from the ancient Greek word strategos which means the art of the general. The Art of War written more than 2,000 years ago by Sun Tzu a Chinese philosopher warrior has been long held as a strategic approach for savvy entrepreneurs or business owners to outperform their competitors.

We thought it would be interesting and fun to revisit the principles contained in The Art of War and review them in the context of what would be helpful to apply following several years of major disruptions and an economic reset.

Sun Tzu wrote that to achieve advantage five things are to be assessed. In a modern application where does your business sit relative to your competitors on the five criteria of, the way, the weather, the terrain, the leadership, and discipline.

Learning Objectives:
1. Understand that the word strategy is derived from ancient Greek word strategos which means the art of the general
2. Learn what are the critically important “five things” described by Sun Tzu in The Art of War
3. Understand how the “five things” are relevant in 2023 and beyond.

Learning Outcomes: 
1. Become more strategic in your business thinking – to achieve an objective you have to set a target (goal) and have a strategy (actions to be taken)
2. Improve your competitive advantage by conducting a Competitor Analysis, a business advisor can provide you with a Competitor Analysis tool
3. Establish a post disruption reset for your business by applying the “five things” from The Art of War in modern 2023 and beyond context.

About your presenter: Randall Walker
Randall has more than 20 year’s business development and consulting experience and a Master of Business Administration (Marketing).

He has specialised in strategic marketing and branding & positioning, strategic planning and stakeholder engagement, destination and economic development, entrepreneurship and innovation, and hospitality & tourism management.

He is passionately committed to businesses and organisations realising their full potential by adopting a customer orientation and embracing an innovative and sustainable approach.
Randall has facilitated high-performance teambuilding programs with many top 200 Australian companies, including the major banks, Goldman Sachs, Nokia, Vodafone, Westfield, and the Department of Defence.

He has held industry roles, including Chairman of the Forum Of Regional Tourism Organisations, Director of the Tourism Industry Council, and Chairman and CEO of Blue Mountains Tourism, working closely with Tourism Australia, Parks Australia, and Destination NSW. The Blue Mountains was identified in a 2012 NSW Government Report as the number one regional destination for recognition among domestic visitors.

Randall has been a lecturer for marketing and entrepreneurship at BMIHMS, the number one hotel school in the Asia Pacific region (Blue Mountains, Sydney, and Canberra), and a guest speaker at industry events, including Choice Hotels Australasia Annual Conference and Australasian Hotel Industry Conference and Exhibition.

This Business Connect event is funded by the NSW Government.