<\/p>\n
One of the greatest threats to businesses in the Western world is a culture that makes them unable to compete with countries that don\u2019t play by the same rules. A system has already changed the culture of businesses in the United Kingdom, and has recently been released in the United States.<\/p>\n
It began in 2005 when the British government was looking for a training program that could help U.K.-based companies continually improve. According to John Bradley, who at the time worked for the British government\u2019s National Skills Academy, \u201cWe were helping companies become globally competitive through learning new skills.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was around that time when Bradley was approached by Amar Manzoor, founder of 7Tao, a U.K.-based company that trains businesses on the art of industrial warfare<\/a>. Bradley decided to give Amar\u2019s program a shot, and he said, \u201cIt was transformational to businesses\u201d in the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n 7Tao was designed to replace and go far beyond Six Sigma, which is a set of techniques and tools for business improvement<\/a>. The system, designed in 1986, is the current standard used by most Western companies.<\/p>\n Many businesses are having trouble with Six Sigma, however, since the nature of global competition has changed dramatically since 1986. Bradley said in an interview, \u201c[7Tao] can outperform Six Sigma, completely, because it\u2019s looking at all the internal and external elements of a business. I don\u2019t think there is anything out there that even comes close to it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMost people don\u2019t even consider they\u2019re in the game, let alone a war of strategy,\u201d Bradley said.<\/p>\n According to Manzoor, in a new business environment shaped by the threats of Chinese espionage, cyberattacks, and cheap manufacturing, he and his team designed 7Tao to allow Western companies to stay in the game without sacrificing their values.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are in the center of an industrial war\u2014the war for industrial dominance,\u201d Manzoor said, in a phone interview.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The global economy has been in an unusual state for several decades, and this environment will soon change, according to British author and economic commentator Fred Harrison.<\/p>\n After World War II, the Western economy was able to dominate the global market because \u201cthey had no real competition,\u201d\u00a0Harrison said in a phone interview.<\/p>\n It was a global economy, which excluded Russia and Eastern Europe, which was then ruled by the Soviet Union, as well as communist China. Africa, South America, and Southeast Asia had very small footprints.<\/p>\n Western companies are faced with a new question, he said, \u201cHow are we going to defend against the Chinese low-cost production?\u201d Western companies are disadvantaged, since high costs and low production make it difficult to compete against an adversary that relies on low costs and high production, while not playing by any rules.<\/p>\n Harrison said, however, that 7Tao could change this dynamic, noting \u201cIt lives up to what\u2019s on the tin, as it were.\u201d<\/p>\n 7Tao works by changing the business culture<\/a>, and while it\u2019s designed to compete with modern Chinese business practices<\/a>, it ironically pulls its attack and defense methods from ancient Chinese martial arts.<\/p>\n Its founder, Manzoor, holds four black belts, including in Wing Chun Kung Fu and in Shaolin Kung Fu. In a way similar to how the classic book on Chinese military<\/a> strategy, \u201cThe Art of War\u201d is used by many to understand business competition<\/a>, Manzoor has used his knowledge of traditional martial arts to build a deeper system for industrial warfare.Amar Manzoor, founder of 7Tao, in the cockpit of an Embraer plane. Manzoor and his team\u00a0developed a system to train businesses on industrial warfare.<\/p>\n The world of global business has become a hostile place, and business leaders are likewise faced with a tough reality. Nation-states are stealing their intellectual property, foreign militaries are attacking their employees and networks, and state-run companies unbound by international law, are stealing their markets on an unprecedented scale.<\/p>\n Economic theft costs the United States an estimated $5 trillion each year, when the total economic value of innovation and lost jobs is factored in, according to Casey Fleming, CEO of BLACKOPS Partners Corporation, whose company provides intelligence and cyber strategy to the Fortune 500.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery American family feels the effects through lost jobs, higher prices, and lower stock prices. CEOs and boards are now dealing with a growing crisis they have no history or experience with,\u201d Fleming said. \u201cIt\u2019s an entirely hostile environment that has been rampant for years.\u201d<\/p>\n BLACKOPS operates Manzoor\u2019 s 7Tao exercises under its Spectre program, which it provides to C-level executives of Fortune 1,000 companies. Fleming said in their experience, 7Tao has been able to increase productivity, empower employees, build teams, and \u201cprovides 360 degree awareness.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Manzoor, the reality in global business is that many players \u201cfollow no rules, no regulations, and no laws\u2014they are out to destroy their competitors\u2019 transactions.\u201d<\/p>\n Manzoor notes the Chinese regime is one of the biggest players in industrial warfare, and the fact that it doesn\u2019t abide by international rules places unprepared businesses in a delicate state.<\/p>\n \u201cChina depends on industrial espionage, forced technology transfers, and piracy and counterfeiting of foreign technology as part of a system of \u2018innovation mercantilism,’\u201d states a report from the U.S.\u2013China Economic and Security Review Commission.<\/p>\n By using unethical means, the report states, the Chinese regime is able to \u201cavoid the expense and difficulty of basic research and unique product development by obtaining what it needs illegally.\u201d<\/p>\nThe Economic Dream<\/h2>\n
Industrial Warfare<\/strong><\/h2>\n