The Canadian Armed Forces. Are they a First Mover?

Abstract or Introduction

The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) is one of Canada’s largest employers consisting of 65,000 regular force members and 15,000 reserve force members. During World War I, specifically at Vimy Ridge, the Canadian military proved that they are more than an emerging military by capturing the difficult position on April 12, 1917. Today, the CAF is a globally recognized military involved in peacekeeping and combat missions all over the world. But the transformation from 1917 to 2014 did not just happen over night; Alfred Chandler, the “father of business history” as well as a former business professor at the University of Harvard, argued for a firm to grow and experience success they must be a first mover. According to Chandler a first mover not only reinvests time and money into research and development, but also marketing and management. The CAF was only able to transform into a global military power because they were able to adapt, and I am arguing that they were able to adapt and grow into the military they are today because they followed Chandler’s first mover strategy by investing in all three components.