Judo Strategy: Turning Your Competitors Strength to Your Advantage

Taking examples primarily from the high-technology business world of the past 7 years, Yoffie and Kwak use the sports of Judo and Sumo as metaphors to analyze small, new companies competing against large, entrenched companies. A brief introduction to the sport of Judo is followed by an overview of the Principles of Judo Strategy in business -- Movement, Balance, and Grip - with short examples of companies as varied as Amazon.com, Capital One, Charles Schwab, Dell, eBay, Frontier Airlines, Inktomi, Intuit, Juniper Networks, JVC, Netscape, People Express, Priceline.com, and Transmeta using these strategies (mostly) successfully. CNET Networks, Palm Computing, and Real Networks each get a chapter of their own discussing their use of Judo Strategy in detail. Of course the upstart company does not always win, so the authors introduce the sport of Sumo and then describe how to apply Sumo Strategy to deal with a Judo strategist, using examples of behavior by AOL, Cisco, Coca Cola, Du Pont, Intel, Microsoft, and Texas Instruments. I enjoyed the judo and sumo metaphors and especially all the stories about companies that had used these strategies successfully. The only suggestion for improvement I might offer the authors is to include more examples of companies (like Netscape) who violated these strategies and paid the price. Judo Strategy winds down with a list of five rules for the Judo Strategist, which I will summarize as: Focus, Execute, Be Nimble, Leverage Creatively, and Cut Your Losses Quickly. I was particularly impressed by the passion, energy, intellect and dogged determination required of a small company leader to compete successfully with a large company. The commitment over a long period of years by a single leader sets a very important tone for a company, and events like George Sheehan leaving WebVan [I wrote this review before WebVan folded!] or Peter Neupert kicking himself upstairs to Chairman at Drugstore.com should be seen as critical warning signs about the long-term viability of those companies.

In their Preface, Yoffie and Kwak explain that their book "is built on two broad metaphors that we hope readers will find compelling in thinking about the strategic challenges their businesses face. Our primary metaphor comes from the sport of judo, which originated in late nineteenth-century Japan. Judo requires quickness, agility, and the ability to outmaneuver the competition. Most important, in judo, unlike many martial arts, true strength comes from turning your opponent's weight and power to your advantage." The other principal metaphor is derived from sumo wrestling (i.e. making the most of one's strength and power") which the authors concede "can be a very sensitive topic for the very large companies that are most likely to profit from" techniques which such advantages permit.Yoffie and Kwak carefully organize their excellent material within three Parts: Principles of Judo Strategy (Chapters 1-4), Masters of Judo Strategy (Chapters 5-7), and Responding to Judo Strategy (Chapters 8 and 9). In the final chapter, they offer and then explain five "Rules" to follow when pursuing a Judo Strategy: (1) Maintain a deep focus on your core strategy, (2) Stay on the offensive but avoid frontal assaults, (3) Plan and be prepared to pivot, (4) Look for leverage in the strangest places, and (5) Face the music. While pursuing a Judo Strategy, it is also important to remember that "judo is ultimately a zero-sum game, and business, often times, is not. Moreover, in judo, you can focus solely on a single opponent, while in business, other groups, especially customers, require your attention."Clearly, Yoffie and Kwak fully understand the parameters of relevance of the two principal metaphors. Neither is a "bullet" (silver or otherwise) which always hits the designated target. Moreover, judo strategists may well find themselves in competition with judo strategists in another organization. In that event, those who move faster, are more agile, maintain better balance, apply greater leverage, and are better able to outmaneuver the competition will prevail. One of this book's greatest benefits is derived from what the authors learned during their interviews of various "masters" of judo strategy such as Jeff Hawkins and Donna Dubinsky of Palm Computing, Rob Glaser of RealNetworks, and Halsey Minor and Shelby Bonnie of CNET Networks. Not all of their circumstances and experiences are necessarily relevant to each reader's. For that reason, I urge those who read this book to focus on understanding the basic principles of judo strategy, then formulate a strategy (based on those principles) which will enable their specific organization (regardless of its size or nature) to move faster, be more agile, maintain better balance, and apply greater leverage so that it will outmaneuver its own competition. Together with those whom they interviewed, Yoffie and Kwak explain HOW.Those who share my high regard for this book are urged to check out Guy Kawasaki's How to Drive Your Competition Crazy: Creating Disruption for Fun and Profit, Adam Morgan's Eating the Big Fish: How Challenger Brands Can Compete Against Brand Leaders, Don Taylor and Jeanne Smalling Archer's Up Against the Wal-Marts: How Your Business Can Prosper in the Shadow of the Retail Giants, and Samuel B. Griffin's translation of Sun Tzu's The Art of War.

Judo Strategy uses Judo as an analogy for competing against a larger and more powerful competitor. The Columbia Encyclopedia defines Judo as in the following way: [Judo] depends for success upon the skills of using an opponent's own weight and strength against him, thus enabling a weak or light individual to overcome a physical superior opponent.Judo Strategy does a good job of successfully applying judo techniques to a business setting. What are these techniques (I am glad you asked)? 8~)Judo depends on a couple of main tenets that are listed below.MovementBalanceLeverageMovement is broken down into a couple of techniques such as not inviting attack, define your competitive space and following through fast. Balance techniques include gripping opponents (co-opting competitors), avoid head on conflict and pushing when pulled (e.g., accepting a competitors coupons). Leverage techniques include using an opponents assets (installed base), partners and competitors.The authors do a nice job of providing business examples of each of these judo disciplines. The examples include Real networks, Charles Schwab, Progressive, Cnet, eBay and others.As an additional bonus the authors include a section for companies that are sumos in a category. Sumo techniques include unnerving the opponent, and locking up an opponent (e.g., outspending, cutting of channel options). There is a nice section on sumo and anti-trust (with Intel and Microsoft as examples).This book is a fun read and extremely useful when consider how to deal with powerful competitors.

I'm only disappointed, because I thought the book was about judo.This book is a business book, and it would have been a great idea tomention it at some stage, either in the title or anywhere actually.It might be a good book about business, I don't know cause I'm not interested.