New Book From UVA Darden Emeritus Professor and Alumni Considers Eastern Philosophies to Solve Today’s Business Challenges

Today’s organizational strategists — including executives, managers, consultants and the business students who aspire to join their ranks — will encounter novel ways of solving complex problems. In a new examination of the wisdom of Confucius and the strategies of The Art of War, the mindfulness of the Buddha and the perspectives of the Bhagavad Gita, as well as the advice of The Tao Te Ching and the fun of playing the ancient board game of Go, The Tao of Strategy: How Seven Eastern Philosophies Help Solve 21st Century Business Challenges (University of Virginia Press, 2021), presents alternative, creative ways to open up one’s strategic thinking.

Authored by University of Virginia Darden School of Business Emeritus Professor L. J. Bourgeois III and alumni Serge Eygenson (MBA ’17) and Kanokrat (Mint) Namasondhi (MBA ’15), The Tao of Strategy highlights a range of companies, from earth-moving equipment manufacturers Komatsu and Caterpillar to technology providers Infosys and Sun Microsystems to financial institutions Bank of America and Goldman Sachs. Interviews with chief executives from China Steel, PTT Group, Bacardi, Rodale Press, Aston Martin, and other organizations reveal how insights from Eastern philosophy inform the strategic decision-making of organizations and leaders around the world.

By engaging with Eastern philosophy from the perspective of organizational strategy, The Tao of Strategy offers a novel approach to strategic thinking that can help readers navigate today’s increasingly complex strategic challenges and unpredictable global environment.

Bourgeois, who taught at Darden for more than three decades, is emeritus professor and senior fellow at the Center for Global Initiatives at the Darden School and author of Strategic Management: From Concept to Implementation. Eygenson is a Washington, D.C.-based consultant at a leading strategy consulting firm. Based in Bangkok, Namasondhi is a consultant at a global management consulting firm and a CFA charterholder.

Read Bourgeois’ 2017 article “Eastern Philosophies, Western Strategies,” and an excerpt from The Tao of Strategy on Darden Ideas to Action.