"Unlike war and sports, business is not about winning and losing. ... The essence of business success lies in making sure you're playing the right game." The authors predicts that 50 years after the introduction of game theory by John von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern ('Theory of Games and Economic Behavior', 1944), "game theory is about to change the game of business." They use the introduction of General Motors' credit card in 1992 as an example for win-win situations. Win-win strategies can give several advantages: (1) There is greater potential for finding new opportunities; (2) They are easier to implement; and (3) The new game is more sustainable. The authors turn to the game of business which is all about value: creating it and capturing it. They introduce the 'Value Net', with the same players are Michael Porter's five competitive forces, as a schematic map designed to reprent all the players and the interdependencies among them. This 'Value Net' prompts you to explore all the interdependencies in the game. In order to change the game, you first need to draw the 'Value Net' for your industry and, second, identify all the elements of the game. According to game theory, there are five elements: players, added values, rules, tactics, and scope - PARTS for short. Brandenburger and Nalebuff discuss each of these elements in detail, including examples. But they warn readers: "Changing the game is hard. There are many potential traps." The authors discuss five of them, but provide another warning: "there is no silver bullet for changing the game of business. It is an ongoing process. ... There is, after all, no end to the game of changing the game."

Game theory is far from simple and it requires you to open your mind or even change your mind-set. This article provides a good, simple introduction, but for further guidance you probably have to go for Brandenburger and Nalebuff 1997-book 'Co-opetition'. I would like to recommended 'Wharton on Dynamic Competitive Strategy' (1997). This article is recommended to MBA-students and beginners in the field. The article uses simple US-English.