On Competition by Michael E. Porter

Presents a collection of essays that examine competition in the international economy Editorial Reviews Amazon.com Review On Competition, a collection of works by Michael E. Porter, is a critical examination of the dog-eat-dog international economy. A Harvard Business School professor, Porter is one of the most respected and innovative economists of his time. Author of 15 books, he advises key elected officials and business leaders in all parts of the world. On Competition features 13 of his best articles over the past 15 years, including 2 new ones. The essence of Porter's message is that every company, country, and person must master competition to thrive in brutal international and domestic economies. Competition is the key to excellence. Worried about losing your job or your services becoming obsolete? Porter believes that a little fear is good for everyone. Companies that value stability, obedient customers, dependent suppliers and sleepy competitors are inviting inertia and, ultimately, failure, he writes in his 1990 study and essay The Competitive Advantage of Nations. Porter is a longtime critic of the short-term thinking on Wall Street that often stifles competition and hurts the economy. In Capital Disadvantage: America's Failing Capital Investment System, he calls for much lower capital-gains rates for people who invest for the long term. He also urges investors and businesses to start thinking together. He contends that pension funds and institutional investors should get a greater say over the companies they own. It's wacky to have company directors with little expertise or financial interest in the company, he writes. Porter is often unconventional and asserts that businessmen must be, too. In his essay Green and Competitive, he shows little sympathy for businesses that complain about environmental regulations. Rules to protect the environment don't have to strangle companies--they can actually improve productivity with the right attitude and approach. Rhone-Poulenc, a French chemical and drug company, proved this when it stopped incinerating a certain byproduct and began selling it as an additive for dyes and tanning. Readable and provocative, On Competition is vital for business, government, and financial leaders as well as small-business people and investors. --Dan Ring From Publishers Weekly Twenty years of studying industry performance and competitiveness have convinced Porter, a professor at the Harvard Business School and a noted authority on competition and corporate strategy, that a successful company must not only adopt the best practices available but also differentiate itself from its rivals. In 13 essays, some of which have appeared elsewhere, Porter elegantly lays out a sophisticated analytical framework for assessing the challenges firms face in today's business environment. Although Porter offers no magic formula for success, as a starting point for developing a long-term strategy, he does recommend close scrutiny of factor conditions, demand conditions, other competing and supporting industries and existing strategies and structures. Porter shows how companies have bested international competitors by forging integrated global strategies, operating with a long-term outlook, investing aggressively and managing factories carefully. He has also come to see the growing importance of geographical location to specific companies and celebrates the benefits of clustersAsystems of interconnected firms and institutionsAfor increased productivity and innovation. On the societal level, Porter's work, with its emphasis on long-term planning, brings a welcome new perspective to perennially thorny policy issues such as environmental protection, inner-city development and universal access to health care. While this book requires a serious investment of time and effort, its expert dissection of a very complex phenomenon is worth it. Line drawings throughout. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Publishers Weekly Twenty years of studying industry performance and competitiveness have convinced Porter, a professor at the Harvard Business School and a noted authority on competition and corporate strategy, that a successful company must not only adopt the best practices available but also differentiate itself from its rivals. In 13 essays, some of which have appeared elsewhere, Porter elegantly lays out a sophisticated analytical framework for assessing the challenges firms face in today's business environment. Although Porter offers no magic formula for success, as a starting point for developing a long-term strategy, he does recommend close scrutiny of factor conditions, demand conditions, other competing and supporting industries and existing strategies and structures. Porter shows how companies have bested international competitors by forging integrated global strategies, operating with a long-term outlook, investing aggressively and managing factories carefully. He has also come to see the growing importance of geographical location to specific companies and celebrates the benefits of clustersAsystems of interconnected firms and institutionsAfor increased productivity and innovation. On the societal level, Porter's work, with its emphasis on long-term planning, brings a welcome new perspective to perennially thorny policy issues such as environmental protection, inner-city development and universal access to health care. While this book requires a serious investment of time and effort, its expert dissection of a very complex phenomenon is worth it. Line drawings throughout. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library Journal These 13 seminal essays are by the erudite Harvard Business School professor who has spent nearly two decades trying to develop both rigorous and useful frameworks for understanding competition that effectively bridge the gap between theory and practice. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Booklist A highly respected academic and authority on strategy and competition, Porter draws together his articles on competition, which together provide a rigorous and useful framework for bridging the gap between theory and practice. The book has three sections. The first takes on competitive strategy, evaluating strategies and weaknesses for business, while the second addresses the role of location in competition experienced by government entities. Porter notes that prosperity in both companies and countries depends on the nature of the local environment in which the competition takes place. With an understanding of domestic and international competition, part 3 offers insight into such societal issues as urban poverty, health care, and income inequality. Porter concludes that competition is certain to be evolving, unsettling, and the source of our prosperity. Mary Whaley Review Porter's fans will be delighted with this latest collection. -- CIO, March 15, 1999 The master strategist is back with a collection of essays, a new book, and an almost retro approach to business: Strategy matters. -- Fortune, February 1, 1999 From the Publisher Named a Best Business Book of the Year by Library Journal From the Inside Flap For the past two decades, Michael Porter's work has defined our fundamental understanding of competition and competitive strategy. On Competition brings together, for the first time, a dozen of Porter's articles; two entirely new pieces written especially for this collection as well as ten of his landmark articles from the Harvard Business Review. In addition, Porter contributes a special introduction, his first statement of how the whole range of his work fits together. As a collection, these essays assume a new impact and significance, with each piece augmenting Porter's rich perspective on competition. To read through this collection is to experience Porter's mind at work: we see first hand his theories take shape, deepen, and evolve over time. Organized around three primary categories, the articles in the collection develop the building blocks that define competitive strategy as we know it. Part I, Competition and Strategy: Core Concepts, addresses competition and strategy for companies. Part II, The Competitiveness of Locations, explores the role of location in competition. Part III, Competitive Solutions to Societal Problems, shows how competition and social progress are inextricably intertwined, and reveals the power of competition to address important societal problems. With his unique ability to bridge economic theory and management practice, Porter's essays help us understand the essence of competition. At once eloquent and convincing, this enduring collection includes three McKinsey Award winners as well as a host of articles that have defined new fields, such as the award-winning The Competitive Advantage of Nations and The Competitive Advantage of the Inner City. Not only does this comprehensive volume draw together Porter's influential work from the Harvard Business Review, but it contains some of his newest thinking on national, state, and city competitiveness and the ways companies can gain advantage from competing globally. These essays develop some consistent themes: the key to profitability and growth-indeed to survival-is to stake out, and then constantly improve upon, a distinctive competitive position; prosperity arises from the ability to continually improve productivity; and much societal progress comes primarily through private-sector innovation. These themes have proven robust despite dramatic changes in the competitive landscape. On Competition will continue to provide the intellectual foundation for company and country strategies for years to come. About the Author Michael E. Porter is the C. Roland Christensen Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. He is the author of many influential books on competition and strategy, including The Competitive Advantage of Nations, Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance, and Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors.