Business as War Battling for Competitive Advantage pdf

[...]... need for more conferences But in a post-9/11 world, I was now being asked to give speeches for some very nice fees These speeches were basically the same material and covered much of what I had said before for free—but now with much better PowerPoints and travel arrangements Organized under the general heading of Business as War, ” these talks usually covered three topics: the war abroad, the war at... the crash site for several seconds before being propelled toward a building that other people were rapidly f leeing As he recalled later: “I ran toward the building because that was what I was supposed to do.” Just inside the Pentagon, he made his first rescue of the day, a burned and dazed woman whom he led outside to safety As he returned the second time, he heard people sobbing and asking for his... your competitive universe look anything like this? • Has heightened security in the face of terrorism heightened your feeling that all these precautions may not make a difference? • Do you have an uneasy sense that business security—in all its aspects—is no longer something that business leaders can take for granted? From terrorists to power blackouts? • Forget about uneasiness: Do you have a pervasive,... to fight the new kind of war that everyone knew was coming Probably the ultimate honor—like being hanged—was becoming a regular on the Don Imus program, simulcast by MSNBC as well as reaching a national radio audience of over twenty million listeners I had been a fan of “the I-man” for years, and it was somewhat startling to realize that one of the toughest interviewers in the business now expected me... off thinking of it not as business but as war To help you cope, or even to survive, you need to understand the secrets of the warrior— things that probably were not a part of either your professional business education or all that other stuff you like to put on your resume So fasten your seat belt, because we’re in for a rough ride—but an interesting one And leave those other business books right there... series of educational and operating experiences, and which as they are embodied in the development of leaders—finally form the basis for advancement and promotion The objective is to produce what one historian has called “A Genius for War, ” in which leadership and warrior skills are seamlessly transferred from one generation to the next Think of it as a system consciously set up to bring about not profits,... first—but my occasional forays on television were beginning to look promising—and their checks didn’t bounce Based on my writings on Somalia, I became the technical advisor for what turned out to be a highly acclaimed PBS special called “Ambush in Mogadishu.” Because American military power was constantly being f lexed as the situation with Saddam’s Iraq deteriorated—I was regularly being asked for commentary... the basics and the need—before looking at new laws and regulations—to search for new models In this case, those models include not only applied behavioral standards, but new tools for competitive excellence in the twenty-first century The main issue this book examines is, What are the moral and professional lessons that today’s businesspeople and tomorrow’s business leaders can learn from their warrior... ways, my favorite is the one my pastor taught me many years ago: The real test of character is what you do when no one is looking PA RT I ଁଁ Business as War ଁଁ 2 ଁଁ Worlds Apart? ଁ ଁ I t may be startling to the average business reader to equate business with war After all, not many business leaders will ever find themselves facing anything like the Normandy landings as so grippingly illustrated in... were reinforced in more recent history by the decision at the end of the Vietnam War to end the draft and to set up a voluntary military force Highly controversial at the time, the WORLDS A PA RT? 21 subsequent building up of the professional uniformed cadre has since become an article of faith But, in return for the unquestioned increase in the capabilities of a professional force, there has also been . iii BUSINESS ଁ ଁ AS ଁ ଁ WAR ffirs.qxd 11/21/03 8:38 AM Page iv ffirs.qxd 11/21/03 8:38 AM Page v BUSINESS ଁ ଁ AS ଁ ଁ WA R ଁ ଁ ଁ ଁ ଁ ଁ ଁ ଁ ଁ ଁ ଁ ଁ ଁ ଁ Battling for Competitive Advantage. 1947– Business as war : battling for competitive advantage / by Kenneth Allard. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-471-46854 -1 (CLOTH) 1. Leadership. 2. Business.