THE LANCHESTER STRATEGY FOR MANAGEMENT

■Introductuon●Lanchester’s laws were originally presented as laws of combat, but in Japanthey have been adapted into "laws of competition." If one appliesLanchester’s laws to business strategy, previously vague aspects of runninga business become clearer, so it becomes easy to apply them to actualbusiness situations. When these laws are applied to business, the followingthings become clarified.●First is the relationship between market share and profitability.Second, distinctions can be made between the "strategy of the strong" thatcan be implemented by the company fulfilling the conditions necessary tobecome top-ranked, and the "strategy of the weak" that must be implementedby those, including the second-ranked company, that have failed to meetthose conditions.●Third, specific weightings can be assigned to products, their marketingstrategies and tactics, and other such important factors and attendantprocedures comprising a business.I believe that these ideas, which until now seem to have escaped theattention of guru consultants in the United Kingdom and the United States,constitute a novel approach.