Business

Comparing business to warfare examples is, I believe, a correct assumption. When a competitor loses business or has to close, other businesses in that market doesn't weep for the fallen, they rejoice. It is all about getting ahead in business, and it can be very brutal if a competitor gets in the way of another.

The article mentions that war and business competition are both fighting for a "better state of peace," but I am not sure that I agree with that. Though some companies may just be trying to survive, I do think that there are those that do try to totally annihilate others (but they do it wisely as it is illegal). There are many that believe that Wal-Mart is out to destroy its competitors, large or small. When Wal-Mart comes into an area, there can be a lot of resistance, especially from owners of "Mom and Pop" stores. I work at Arvest Bank, and I have had several people in different occasions say that they wouldn't open an account with us solely because they believe Arvest is affiliated with Wal-Mart (we're not) and they didn't want to support them.

Position Defense and Mobile Defense reminds me of investing- "you don't keep all your eggs in one basket" you instead diversify. Wal-Mart used Position Defense by moving from just Wal-Mart stores to Supercenters, Neighborhood markets, and Sam's Club. By doing this, the company covers more peoples' needs. Sam's Club stores are for small business owners, Supercenters for people who lead busy lives and need to shop for many things including groceries, and the Neighborhood markets for those who just need groceries and doesn't want to go to a huge supercenter.

In investing, you can reduce even more unsystematic risk by diversifying your investments in different fields. This is more like Mobile Defense. I believe that this defense is an extremely smart thing that companies can do because they can protect themselves in case one market isn't profitable anymore or diminishes. The best example that I can think of is Procter and Gamble. Not only does this company produce dog food, hair products, soap, food items, and too many others to mention, Procter and Gamble produced and sponsored the first soap operas on the radio in the 1930's