Abstract

The field of business strategy has been enriched by learnings from various disciplines of knowledge. The greatest influence can be credited to economics, in spite of the conflicts between strategists and economists. This paper attempts to find out whether we can draw object lessons from the great thinkers of philosophy and whether they can be applied for betterment in the field of strategic management. A lot of learning can actually be taken up from philosophy. For example, heraclitus, considered to be the most prolific thinker among the philosophers of Pre-Socrates era, had said that the universe is in a flux and you can't step in the same river twice. Relating this to strategy, we can say that the same strategy will not work for a firm infinitely. We cannot take anything for granted and from time to time, it is necessary to change strategy. Object lessons like this can be drawn from the tenets of philosophy into strategic management. Some striking similarities can also be found in the writings of the gurus of strategy and philosophers. This paper tries to develop an idea to bring the disciplines of philosophy and strategic management together, so as to raise the interest for further studies in this field.