Strategy, Part III

War is a struggle between two forces that can be formulated into discrete formulas until irrationality and human emotion enter the fray.  As such, the study of warfare can be broken down into a series of geometries that face off against each other, exerting force on one another.
Concentration:  This is a number more suited towards the density of forces on the battlefield and can be measured when the application of force is being planned against an enemy’s own concentration of forces.  From a metaphorical standpoint, where are your assets, and how are they arranged relative to those things that you must conquer prior to reaching your goal?  Concentration is the brother to Economy of force.
Economy of force:  You have an idea what the densities of your forces are, but each of your assets have economical values.  For instance, fuel trucks are more economical for logistics (fueling vehicles) than they are in mechanized combat.  In the corporate warfare sense, you need to make the same kind of assertions about what you can do, what you’re up against.  When you’re going for strategy over brute force, economy of force is a key factor in a success.
Maneuver:  In a strategy-over-brute-force battle, maneuver is the pal of force economy, which will save the day.  You may have everything else arranged correctly, but if you can’t utilize the assets properly in the heat of battle, you will lose.  Losing is bad.

Cooperation:  You have planned arrangement of assets to include density and economical considerations, and how they will move to contact their intended targets.  Now, you must ensure that all the elements of this system interact as they should.  They need to cooperate well with each other.

Security:  And, certainly, you cannot maintain initiative in any sense if your forces—your assets—aren’t protected.  This could mean anything from securing your intellectual advantage by not letting out trade secrets to making sure you or yours are not hurt.

Next, we will start to look at strategy through the eyes of the great strategic thinkers and begin to produce a grand picture of strategic thinking and winning the war.