Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors

by Michael E . Porter (Author)

• Used

  Illustrated
  1998

  $5.13

  Now nearing its sixtieth printing in English and translated into nineteen languages, Michael E. Porter's Competitive Strategy has transformed the theory, practice, and teaching of business strategy throughout the world. Electrifying in its simplicity-like all great breakthroughs-Porter's analysis of industries captures the complexity of industry competition in five underlying forces. Porter introduces one of the most powerful competitive tools yet developed: his three generic strategies-lowest cost, differentiation, and focus-which bring structure to the task of strategic positioning. He shows how competitive advantage can be defined in terms of relative cost and relative prices, thus linking it directly to profitability, and presents a whole new perspective on how profit is created and divided. In the almost two decades since publication, Porter's framework for predicting competitor behavior has transformed the way in which companies look at their rivals and has given rise to the new discipline of competitor assessment. More than a million managers in both large and small companies, investment analysts, consultants, students, and scholars throughout the world have internalized Porter's ideas and applied them to assess industries, understand competitors, and choose competitive positions. The ideas in the book address the underlying fundamentals of competition in a way that is independent of the specifics of the ways companies go about competing. Competitive Strategy has filled a void in management thinking. It provides an enduring foundation and grounding point on which all subsequent work can be built. By bringing a disciplined structure to the question of how firms achieve superior profitability, Porter's rich frameworks and deep insights comprise a sophisticated view of competition unsurpassed in the last quarter-century.

• Used

  Hardcover
  1980

  $4.63

  Michael Porter's Competitive Strategy addresses major questions of vital concern to managers, and presents a comprehensive set of analytical techniques for undestanding a business and the behaviour of its competitors. Step-by-step, Porter provides the techniques and tools managers need to successfully conduct an industry and competitor analysis. Beginning with a comprehensive set of tools and techniques for analyzing any industry and any array of competitors, the book moves on to examine competitive strategies for fragmented industries, emerging industries, maturing industries, declining industries and global industries. The final section of the book provides analytical techniques for making the important strategic decisions that confront firms - vertical integration, major capacity expansion, divestment and entry into new businesses. This book is designed to enable managers to anticipate and prepare for - rather than simply react to - sudden competitor moves, new entries into their business, and shifts in industry structure, as well as to take forceful positive action to improve a company's position through tested competitive strategies.