Strategic Intent

India can leapfrog our China-Pakistan issue and become one of the most powerful countries in the world by 2030.

- Rajeev Srinivasan

IT IS EVIDENT that military strategy is relevant for business: for instance, the book Business Wargames by Benjamin Gilad applies lessons from military campaigns to more mundane business situations. And for many CEOs, Kautilya’s Arthashastra is required reading (or should be), for its wealth of insights.

However, it is equally true that business strategy can be applied to military and geopolitical issues. For instance, the late management guru C.K. Prahalad’s classic essay “Strategic Intent” is worth revisiting in the context of power relations in Greater India and in the looming conflict with China.

Innovation is one of the best strategies for companies, especially if you create a culture that encourages it. In a dynamic environment, you win if you innovate, taking into account changing power equations and core competencies. For instance, business strategy guru Michael Porter’s Five-Forces Model focuses on the competition in deciding whether to enter a market. Translation for nations: understand your friends and foes before venturing on geopolitical adventures.

A deeper strategy perspective is the Resource-Based View, which looks at your long-term prospects based on what you are capable of, both today and in the future as you build up capabilities. Naturally, this applies equally well to nations: for instance, the views expressed by Prahalad’s The Core Competence of the Corporation can be applied almost wholesale to nations.

A third business concept of interest is that of Game Theory, and in particular the Prisoner’s Dilemma game. International relations can be modelled as a repeated Prisoner’s Dilemma game where both parties know that they will benefit from cooperation, but the temptation to fool the other side, betray it, and get the greater benefit is often irresistible.