The field of business strategy has been enriched by learnings from various disciplines of knowledge. The greatest influence can be credited to economics, in spite of the conflicts between strategists and economists. This paper attempts to find out whether we can draw object lessons from the great thinkers of philosophy and whether they can be applied for betterment in the field of strategic management. A lot of learning can actually be taken up from philosophy. For example, Heraclitus, considered to be the most prolific thinker among the philosophers of Pre-Socrates era, had said that the universe is in a flux and you can't step in the same river twice. Relating this to strategy, we can say that the same strategy will not work for a firm infinitely. We cannot take anything for granted and from time to time, it is necessary to change strategy. Object lessons like this can be drawn from the tenets of philosophy into strategic management. Some striking similarities can also be found in the writings of the gurus of strategy and philosophers. This paper tries to develop an idea to bring the disciplines of philosophy and strategic management together, so as to raise the interest for further studies in this field.

The above quote is given by one of the most prolific writers in business strategy. To begin with, let us concentrate on the words `imagination and logic'. These two words are used extensively in another field of knowledge which has its origin long before even the word strategy came into existence. The discipline we are talking about is Philosophy. Superficially, it may seem that the disciplines of philosophy and business strategy have nothing in common, but if we go through the works of the great philosophers, we will find out that indeed a rich learning can be generated which can contribute a lot to the contemporary thoughts on business strategy.

The origin of Western philosophy can be traced back to ancient Greece. Though Socrates was the most popular and influential of the Greek School, one person who needs special mention here is Heraclitus, who arrived at the scenario even before Socrates. In addition to them, Plato and Aristotle were the most influential of the Greek Philosophers.