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As the key to value creation, construction firms should treat quality as a strategic issue. However, strategic quality management (SQM) is still a relatively new concept for construction firms. This paper aims to examine the application of the strategic treatise, Sun Tzu's Art of War with SQM in the construction industry.

Two sets of 20 statements each from SQM principles and Sun Tzu's Art of War were identified. A pilot survey and a questionnaire survey of construction project managers in Singapore were conducted to establish the relative ratings as well as correlations in the rankings of these two sets of statements.

The findings suggested that Sun Tzu's Art of War appears relevant for SQM thinking and practices for construction where appropriate lessons may be drawn.

There are, however, limits to the analogy between war and construction. Warfare represents an extreme situation that demands exceptional responses, espionage and sacrifice of human lives, which could lead to unethical practices in construction.

Nevertheless, this study helps to prompt construction firms into thinking about SQM through drawing appropriate lessons from Sun Tzu's Art of War.

The value of this paper is to synthesize the strategic issues encapsulated in Sun Tzu's Art of War with SQM principles in the construction industry.

The Art of War, by the ancient Chinese military theorist Sun Tzu, is the most famous work on military operation in ancient China and the books have been repeatedly translated, investigated and discussed. Today, Sun Tzu’s The Art of War remains a compulsory text in major military schools around the world and its influences on twentieth century military thinking is undisputed. Also in recent times, the use of military strategies in the business and management contexts is increasing. This paper proposes a set of criteria based on Sun Tzu’s philosophy for evaluation of business management strategies against the world class business excellence models. The total quality management models of the European Quality Award and the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award are used to compare with Sun Tzu’s business management strategy model developed under the quality function deployment (QFD) methodology. The results of the QFD methodology can be used as performance indicators showing organisations’ improvement priorities for self‐assessment.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the ancient, 2,500 years old The Art of War by Sun Tzu from a system of systems engineering perspectives. The aim is to show that even for an emerging discipline in engineering the underlying concepts may be much more deeply rooted.

The author approaches the subject by an in‐depth analysis of recent conceptualizations of system of systems engineering. The author relates by analysis these concepts back to business strategy. He illustrates from his own empirical work how corporate strategy is but an equivalent to “system” of systems. From original writings of Sun Tzu in The Art of War he then develops a generic model of system of systems.

Ideas in system of systems engineering, an emerging multi‐discipline are far more deeply rooted in history, at least 2,500 years or even more. Using the cockpit of as an illustrative metaphor, the author argues for a research agenda to design an The Art of War boardroom information system.

In this paper, the author argues why in the design of information system, it is useful to take a system of systems perspective. He draws upon the example of cockpit design of aircraft as inspirational design in modeling a futuristic The Art of War boardroom.

In this paper, the author illustrates how cross disciplinary researches between engineering, business and history may be so enriching. That in designing information systems for an The Art of War boardroom it is useful to use metaphorical equivalences. In this case, it is from the informational design of cockpits in fighter aircraft.

This is a wholly theoretical paper to explore the idea of implementing Sun Tzu’s Art of War to reduce the tendencies toward groupthink, which deals with the over‐cohesiveness of a group that causes defective decision‐making. The quality function deployment methodology was applied to measure the relationships between groupthink and the Art of War. The findings of this paper indicated that a possible weakness of the Art of War is that it is a powerful strategic planning instrument, but is not geared toward internal communicative problems.

Career development involves how employees manage their career advancement. This study aims to investigate the relevance of Sun Tzu's Art of War to career development of construction professionals with the aim of suggesting strategies that may be adopted for career development.

The data collection technique was in‐depth interviews with 32 subjects who are Singapore‐based construction professionals. The subjects were asked 13 open‐ended questions which were developed based on the Art of War.

The main findings on the effective career development strategies are: outperforming peers by developing deep job experience and delivering excellent performance; adopting a team member posture before moving on to a team leader stance; handling office politics and conflicts effectively; maintaining flexibility and manoeuvrability in one's career; networking; and acquiring foreknowledge.

The study is qualitative in nature, thus, the actual effectiveness of the recommendations for career development is not known. There may also be some more strategies undisclosed by interviewees as sharing them may cause them to lose their competitive advantage.

The effective strategies for career development are found. Construction professionals may adopt some military strategies that may help them in their career development.

The relevance of military strategies to career development in construction firms suggests that career progression is akin to war, where winning is important and strategizing to win is necessary.

In this paper military strategies are mapped onto career development, and relevant career advancement strategies are identified.

The mundane and expanded marketing mix concept has an important role in Western marketing literature for both tangible products and intangible services. The nine Ps – namely promotion, product, price, place, process management, personnel, physical facilities, public relations and power – are now the foundation for strategic planning in many companies. While the marketing mix concept remains an important framework for the Western world, its contribution towards the latter′s declining economic prowess in recent years appears minimal. On the other hand, the East Asian economic powerhouse has grown from strength to strength. This can be attributed in no small way to certain oriental traditions and philosophies – not the least of which is Sun Tzu′s The Art of War. Although The Art of War is now more than 2,000 years old, it remains the cornerstone for strategic planning in the East. Attempts to integrate the Western marketing mix concept with The Art of War from the East using examples drawn from the construction industry in Singapore. The lessons to be learned therefore should be useful for strategic planners in the Western marketing community.

This paper's aim is to compare and contrast two ancient philosophies to determine their contribution to leadership. Fresh aspects to inclusiveness and resilience in leadership are to be examined.

The paper uses a conceptual analysis as the basis for future empirical testing. The respective contribution of Sun Zi's Art of War and the Bhagavad Gita to academic and practitioner literature is examined before key traits on leadership that are common in both documents are collated. These features are then investigated on their practical application to business. Based on the research gaps and shortcomings identified, new areas for further research are recommended.

These two ancient texts have contrasting ideas, yet there are areas of complementarity to suggest that Indian and Chinese leaders can learn from each other.

Future research may explore how in different forms of ownership including joint ventures or host country operations the perspectives of leadership can impact on the behaviour of managers towards employees of a different culture.

Both Chinese and Indian cultures are growing in importance. This paper helps leaders from each culture to better understand the different mind‐sets.

Previous research has focused on the contrasts whereas this research focuses on the synergies between the Art of War and the Bhagavad Gita.

Organisational survival in these volatile times is akin to the understanding of the organisation’s external environment, outsmarting its competitors and leveraging on its competitive advantage. First, the organisation needs to focus on the inward strengths, that is, the collective power of its constituents ‐ the employees ‐ to face the outward challenges. According to Chinese philosopher, Sun Tzu, the key to over coming the turbu ent external environment is to first understand the art of war: Handle your people well and you (organisation) will fight the war (competition) as one unified force.

The purpose of this paper is to use principles from Tzu's The Art of War to develop a conceptual framework for the exploration of brand persuasion and the manufacturing of consumer consent and consumption.

The conceptual framework is based upon formal theoretical links between Tzu's concept of engagement and the political economic aspects of Herman and Chomsky with regard to manufacturing consent and consumption engineering via use of the mass media.

Within the framework the consumer is simultaneously the enemy, the manipulated target for consumption engineering and the protected people in the sales “war”. The business culture and ethical considerations of such a position are examined and hence the paper offers a novel insight into how theoretical concepts link political, social and commercial paradigms in order to gain an insight into market interventions, consumption engineering and marketing leverage.

The paper contributes to the body of knowledge examining the relationship between Chinese and Western theoretical concepts whilst providing insight for executives seeking to leverage marketing strategy.