The 48 Laws of Power

“Court attention at all costs”, “learn to keep people dependent on you” and the lovely number 15, “crush your enemies completely”! These are just three of the laws from Robert Greene’s Machiavellian best-seller, 48 Laws of Power. The activity below uses them to help students understand the tactics and strategies of big businesses around the world, however immoral they may seem.

The idea is simple; students read the 48 laws and complete the worksheet in which they decide to what extent they agree with the law, and consider examples of businesses or leaders that have followed or transgressed it.

Some are reasonable, most are controversial, but all provide great stimulus for debate and cover many topics such as ethics, CSR, mission statements, strategy, marketing and human resources.