Strategic management lessons from the Mahabharata

Abstract

In the present day where the world is full of competition and corporate war, it is needless today that one should practice hardcore strategic planning to achieve and sustain success. The existence of competition was traced long before strategy. This paper makes an attempt to extract the various aspects of strategic management from Mahabharata and explains how the concept of management, the skills and techniques that were being practiced then are practiced even in today's corporate world. Analysis of the situation in light of position and resource approach to strategy formulation provide evidence that the massacre could have been avoided. The paper concludes by making available the confirmation that Mahabharata approved to be a two person non-zero sum game.