A guide to Michael Porters thinking on competition and strategy, classic and current.

Competitive advantage. The value chain. Five forces. Industry structure. Differentiation. Relative cost. If you want to understand how companies achieve and sustain competitive success, Michael Porter’s frameworks are the foundation. But while everyone in business may know Porter’s name, many managers misunderstand and misuse his concepts. Understanding Michael Porter sets the record straight, providing the first concise, accessible summary of Porter’s revolutionary thinking. Written with Porter’s full cooperation by Joan Magretta, his former editor at Harvard Business Review, this new book delivers fresh, clear examples to illustrate and update Porter’s ideas. Magretta uses her wide business experience to translate Porter’s powerful insights into practice and to correct the most common misconceptions about them—for instance, that competition is about being unique, not being the best; that it is a contest over profits, not a battle between rivals; that strategy is about choosing to make some customers unhappy, not being all things to all customers. An added feature is an original Q&A with Porter himself, which includes answers to managers’ FAQs. Eminently readable, this book will enable every manager in your organization to grasp Porter’s ideas—and swiftly deploy them to drive your company’s success.

This short, entertaining guide explains and demystifies Michael Porter's core strategy concepts with engaging illustrations, a charming and relatable cast of characters, and clear, simple captions. Here you'll find the classic Porter framework - industry structure and the Five Forces, competitive advantage and the value chai - as well as a set of practical tests to apply in evaluating existing strategies or developing new ones. You'll also learn Porter's thinking about critical issues such as scale, goal setting, sustainability, and disruption

Now beyond its eleventh printing and translated into twelve languages, Michael Porter’s The Competitive Advantage of Nations has changed completely our conception of how prosperity is created and sustained in the modern global economy. Porter’s groundbreaking study of international competitiveness has shaped national policy in countries around the world. It has also transformed thinking and action in states, cities, companies, and even entire regions such as Central America. Based on research in ten leading trading nations, The Competitive Advantage of Nations offers the first theory of competitiveness based on the causes of the productivity with which companies compete. Porter shows how traditional comparative advantages such as natural resources and pools of labor have been superseded as sources of prosperity, and how broad macroeconomic accounts of competitiveness are insufficient. The book introduces Porter’s “diamond,” a whole new way to understand the competitive position of a nation (or other locations) in global competition that is now an integral part of international business thinking. Porter's concept of “clusters,” or groups of interconnected firms, suppliers, related industries, and institutions that arise in particular locations, has become a new way for companies and governments to think about economies, assess the competitive advantage of locations, and set public policy. Even before publication of the book, Porter’s theory had guided national reassessments in New Zealand and elsewhere. His ideas and personal involvement have shaped strategy in countries as diverse as the Netherlands, Portugal, Taiwan, Costa Rica, and India, and regions such as Massachusetts, California, and the Basque country. Hundreds of cluster initiatives have flourished throughout the world. In an era of intensifying global competition, this pathbreaking book on the new wealth of nations has become the standard by which all future work must be measured.

In this pathbreaking book, Michael E. Porter unravels the rules that govern competition and turns them into powerful analytical tools to help management interpret market signals and forecast the direction of industry development.

This collection highlights the most important ideas and concepts from Michael E. Porter, recognized worldwide as the leading thinker on strategy. Porter heads The Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness based at Harvard Business School and is the foremost authority on competitive strategy for business, as well as on the competitiveness and economic development of nations, states, and regions. Business readers will recognize Porter’s seminal book, On Competition, as a classic in the field. This set, curated by Harvard Business Review, includes the full digital edition of the updated and expanded edition of On Competition—a must-have for anyone interested in or studying the topic of strategy and for those developing strategy for their own organizations. The collection also includes the digital edition of the popular Understanding Michael Porter: The Essential Guide to Competition and Strategy, which offers a concise, accessible summary of Porter’s revolutionary thinking and was written with Porter’s full cooperation by Joan Magretta, his former editor at Harvard Business Review. Finally, the set features the newer foundational article “Creating Shared Value,” which was published in Harvard Business Review in 2011 to great fanfare and global accolades. This must-have collection is for anyone serious about business, strategy, and competitiveness.

Understand Michael Porter’s value chain in no time! Find out everything you need to know about this valuable business tool with this practical and accessible guide. The Harvard Business School professor Michael E. Porter has dedicated much of his career to studying competitive advantage. One of his best-known concepts is the value chain, which is used to deliver a product or service to the market and has three key objectives: to improve services, to reduce costs and to create value. The model can be applied to virtually any business in any sector, making it a vital tool for companies looking to make the most of their competitive advantage in an increasingly crowded market. In 50 minutes you will be able to: •Identify the nine functions that generate value within a business •Analyse your company’s activity to make the most of your competitive advantage •Find areas for improvement and take concrete steps to maximise performance ABOUT 50MINUTES.COM | MANAGEMENT AND MARKETING The Management and Marketing series from the 50Minutes collection provides the tools to quickly understand the main theories and concepts that shape the economic world of today. Our publications will give you elements of theory, definitions of key terms and case studies in a clear and easily digestible format, making them the ideal starting point for readers looking to develop their skills and expertise.

For the past two decades, Michael Porter's work has towered over the field of competitive strategy. On Competition, Updated and Expanded Edition brings together more than a dozen of Porter's landmark articles from the Harvard Business Review. Five are new to this edition, including the 2008 update to his classic "The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy," as well as new work on health care, philanthropy, corporate social responsibility, and CEO leadership. This collection captures Porter's unique ability to bridge theory and practice. Each of the articles has not only shaped thinking, but also redefined the work of practitioners in its respective field. In an insightful new introduction, Porter relates each article to the whole of his thinking about competition and value creation, and traces how that thinking has deepened over time. This collection is organized by topic, allowing the reader easy access to the wide range of Porter's work. Parts I and II present the frameworks for which Porter is best known—frameworks that address how companies, as well as nations and regions, gain and sustain competitive advantage. Part III shows how strategic thinking can address society's most pressing challenges, from environmental sustainability to improving health-care delivery. Part IV explores how both nonprofits and corporations can create value for society more effectively by applying strategy principles to philanthropy. Part V explores the link between strategy and leadership.

A book about management, described by guru Peter Drucker as 'a first rate as an introduction for the non-manager and especially for the beginner, but equally excellent as a rounded, complete, and comprehensive `refresher course' for the most experienced executive.' Both a beginner's guide and a bible for one of the greatest social innovations of modern times: the discipline of management. Leading business editor Joan Magretta distils the wisdom of a bewildering sea of books and articles into one simple, clear volume, explaining both the logic of successful organisations and how that logic is embodied in practice by management. Newcomers will find the basics demystified. More experienced managers will recognise a store of useful wisdom and a framework for improving their own performance. In general, the book defines a common standard of managerial literacy that will help all of us to lead more effectively.

Leading political innovation activist Katherine Gehl and world-renowned business strategist Michael Porter bring fresh perspective, deep scholarship, and a real and actionable solution, Final Five Voting, to the grand challenge of our broken political and democratic system. Final Five Voting has already been adopted in Alaska and is being advanced in states across the country. The truth is, the American political system is working exactly how it is designed to work, and it isn't designed or optimized today to work for us—for ordinary citizens. Most people believe that our political system is a public institution with high-minded principles and impartial rules derived from the Constitution. In reality, it has become a private industry dominated by a textbook duopoly—the Democrats and the Republicans—and plagued and perverted by unhealthy competition between the players. Tragically, it has therefore become incapable of delivering solutions to America's key economic and social challenges. In fact, there's virtually no connection between our political leaders solving problems and getting reelected. In The Politics Industry, business leader and path-breaking political innovator Katherine Gehl and world-renowned business strategist Michael Porter take a radical new approach. They ingeniously apply the tools of business analysis—and Porter's distinctive Five Forces framework—to show how the political system functions just as every other competitive industry does, and how the duopoly has led to the devastating outcomes we see today. Using this competition lens, Gehl and Porter identify the most powerful lever for change—a strategy comprised of a clear set of choices in two key areas: how our elections work and how we make our laws. Their bracing assessment and practical recommendations cut through the endless debate about various proposed fixes, such as term limits and campaign finance reform. The result: true political innovation. The Politics Industry is an original and completely nonpartisan guide that will open your eyes to the true dynamics and profound challenges of the American political system and provide real solutions for reshaping the system for the benefit of all. THE INSTITUTE FOR POLITICAL INNOVATION The authors will donate all royalties from the sale of this book to the Institute for Political Innovation.