The Oxford English Dictionary defines acumen as “the ability to make good judgments and quick decisions”. Thus, Business Acumen means sharpness and speed in understanding and handling business situations in ways that tend to lead to good results.
People who have high competence in business acumen in a particular industry field, not necessarily also high competence for other industries. Every industry always has unique characteristics that distinguish it from other industries. These differences can be in its business process, business dynamics, core values, critical issues, as well as in its risk factors.
Building competence in business acumen is not enough by just recognize the business process, but also must able to feel the dynamics, tension, and critical issues in every element of the business process, anticipate the consequences of a decision on each element, and build empathy into the core values of the business. Therefore, building competence in business acumen is less effective when done through reading books, joining seminars, and case studies.
Business acumen is a complement of strategic thinking competence where both of these competencies will play a role in the decision making process, either the decision for strategic planning or the decision for executing that strategic planning.

Those who are weak in business acumen competency will always be faced with 2 conditions in every make a decision.
Condition # 1: Slow in making decisions or even making no decisions. Such people are often judged to be less productive and weak in execution.
Condition # 2: The decisions often have poor accuracy in the effectiveness of solving the problem and developing a strategy, as a result of inadequate analysis. Often these decisions are considered less logical.

In the era of faster-higher-better, every decision should be quickly taken and the accuracy of decisions should also be more appropriate. You must have high competence in business acumen in order to adapt to this era. Your competence in strategic thinking will also be more qualified if supported by high competence in business acumen. Creative and innovative ideas will become a more effective solution as it is supported by mastery in the business dynamics in which those ideas will be executed.