The Marine Corps Way: Using Maneuver Warfare to Lead a Winning Organization

When examined together, the examples raised to illustrate this fourth guiding principle of maneuver warfare offer several key insights. In the cases of the German invasion of France, Nelson at Trafalgar, and Harrah s, we see the selective application of strength against opponents weaknesses and the use of overwhelming local superiority to overcome an overall resource disadvantage . In the cases of Lexus and Harrah s, we see a heavy reliance on information to guide the commitment of resources. In the two warfare examples, both Guderian and Nelson willingly exposed a weakness in an effort to achieve focus. In the two business examples, Harrah s made a disproportionately large commitment to information-based activity with an immeasurable outcome, whereas Lexus made a disproportionately large commitment to a particular market opportunity. Finally, Chairman Toyoda and Admiral Nelson directed the focused deployment of resources from the top down, while focus pervaded the German ranks and the Harrah s organization at all levels.