Mini strategy series @soerenbax: The #ThirtySixStratagems, a collection of ancient Chinese military thought and experience.
Characters of the third of Thirty-Six Stratagems: 借刀杀人(借刀殺人) – Jièdāoshārén. 借, Jiè: borrow. 刀, dāo: knife. 杀, shā: kill. 人, rén: people, person.
Meaning: Kill with a borrowed knife. One man’s loss is another man’s gain.
Business example: A factory may have the problem that the only reliable supplier for certain components has rather high prices and is a very tough negotiator. It seems impossible to lower the prices through negotiation.
In that case it is wise to add suppliers that are very keen to enter a business relationship with the factory. If this smaller supplier is then kept small and hungry for more orders, then he will start to use all the tricks in the book in order to gain the upper hand over the first supplier. This urge for more orders is even increased if the factory requires the new smaller supplier to invest into special machines and tools.
During talks with the factory, he may accuse the first supplier of fraud, make below cost price offers, spy on his operations etc. – just to get more orders.
In any case, that new supplier will be a great source of information and puts the factory back into control of the negotiation.