BOOKLET: “Teutoburger Wald: Where Germans destroyed three Roman legions and their auxiliary”



Professor Jorge Sá (PhD Columbia University; MBA Drucker University; Jean Monnet Chair; Peter Drucker speaker) is an international speaker and author, having published several books on business and economics topics, translated into twelve languages.

Together with our office, Professor Jorge Sá also produced a series of six small booklets on the lessons of battles/wars for business administration, being one of them the booklet:

“Teutoburger Wald: Where Germans destroyed three Roman legions and their auxiliary”

This booklet explains the lessons for business administration that can be learned from the battle of Teutoburger Wald in 9 AD, where Roman Emperor Augustus lost three legions and their auxiliary troops, besides women and children, in a total of over 25,000 dead. Varus, the Roman commander committed suicide and Germany, east of the Rhine, was lost, as it turned out forever for Rome.

The responsible of the German victory was Arminius, chieftain of the Cherusci tribe.

The consequences of the Arminius victory go much beyond the loss of lives. It prevented the Romans from ever having an Elbe-Bohemia-Danube frontier encompassing a latinized Germany and Czech Republic. Had these territories been under Roman rule as e.g. Gaul (present-day France) and the whole concept of Europe (and its territory) would have been different.

And Teutoburger Wald battle is also important for business administration since one can learn three major lessons from it:

  • The importance of (constantly) collecting hard data. Facts. Not opinions, neither judgements;
  • The need to stay constantly on the alert. One hundred percent. Never facilitating; and
  • The importance of surprise. Of surprising the competitor through 1) secrecy, 2) speed and 3) stratagems (cover and back cover below).

1. Jorge Sá is an expert on Peter Drucker and Philip Kotler, founders of modern management and modern marketing, respectively, with whom he studied and who offered letters of recommendation for his books and endorsements for his work.

2. Has a master’s degree from the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management in California and a doctorate(PhD) in Business Administration, from Columbia University, in New York, where he was research, teaching assistant, and graduated with honors (always Dean’s list, Beta Gamma Sigma). Also holds two undergraduate degrees (in business administration and economics) and a graduate degree in Macroeconomics.

3. Was awarded the Jean Monnet Chair by the Jean Monnet Foundation in Brussels, and his books translated into twelve languages: English, Portuguese, Spanish, Chinese (Mandarin), Russian, Ukrainian, German, Lithuanian, Thai, Korean, Norwegian and Iranian, received endorsements, among others, from Peter F. Drucker, Cecily Drucker, Al Ries (author of the bestsellers Marketing Warfare and Positioning), Don Hambrick (Professor at Columbia University and The Pennsylvania State University), Karl Moore (Professor at Oxford and McGill University), Peter Starbuck (President of the London Drucker Society) and Philip Kotler.

4. Besides nearly forty articles published in blind refereed academic reviews and journals of economics, business administration and medicine, he has addressed conferences and given seminars at several institutions including TED USA (https://youtu.be/SOkjPVi1Fts), London Business School, Drucker University, IESE, Glasgow Business School, ESSEC (France), ESSAM (European Consortium of Business Schools), Manchester Business School, George Washington University, Oxford, etc. Has also addressed conferences and presented articles in academic and non-academic meetings, such as Academy of Management, Western Economic Association, Peter Drucker Society of Europe, at the European Commission, etc.

5. Has worked as private consultant, non-executive director or taught in the executive programs of multinational companies such as: Coca-Cola, SHELL, Unisys, IBM, Price Waterhouse, KPMG, Glaxo, British Petroleum – BP, Dun & Bradstreet, Deloitte & Touche, Makro (Metro group), Systéme U, I.F.A, Intermarché, Mini Prix Bonjours, Accenture, Watson Wyatt, Cap Gemini, Cesce, Scottish & Newcastle, Sara Lee, Total, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Logica, Indra, Grandvision, Jafep, Euler Hermes, Cosec, Pestana Group Hotels, Tivoli Hotels & Resorts, Millennium Bank, Julius Baer, SGG, Henkel, Abencys, Broadbill, Volkswagen Group, McDonald’s, MiTek, United Steel Products, Base Group, UnitedHealth group, Inapa, Vodafone, IDC, Merck, BPI Bank, Milestone, Fijowave, Foxpak, ND Sports, LLR-G5, Horan, Prodieco, Dennison, Grid Finance, Bluemetrix, European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations, Microsoft, etc.

6. His hobbies are History (wrote several books on the lessons of military campaigns for management) and football (degree as a professional coach). He speaks and writes (by alphabetical order) English, French, German, Portuguese and Spanish. He lives between Lisbon and Rio de Janeiro. And the office, Vasconcellos e Sá Associates (www.vasconcellosesa.com), provides support for research and other activities.


For more information on the books and conferences by Professor Jorge Sá please check our website at: www.vasconcellosesa.com or contact us at associates@vasconcellosesa.com .

– Peter Drucker expert

– Speaker on Peter Drucker

– European liberal economist

– European right wing economist

– European libertarian economist

– European conservative economist

– European liberal speaker

– European right wing speaker

– European libertarian speaker

– European conservative speaker