Michael Porter

Michael Porter
Born	1947 (1947)
Occupation	Author, Management Consultant

Michael Eugene Porter (born 1947) is Bishop William Lawrence University Professor at Harvard University, primarily affiliated with Harvard Business School, with academic interests in management and economics. His work spans three broad areas: competition and company strategy (five forces, value chain); competition and economic development (clusters, diamond model); and competition and societal issues (health care, environment.)

Early life

Porter graduated from Princeton University in 1969 with a BSE in aerospace and mechanical engineering, where he was an outstanding intercollegiate golfer. He then received a generalist MBA and later PhD in Business Economics from Harvard Business School.

Career

Michael Porter is the founder of a nonprofit organization called the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City and one of the founders of The Monitor Group. His main academic objectives focus on how a firm or a region can build a competitive advantage and develop competitive strategy.

He is also a Fellow Member of the Strategic Management Society. One of his most significant contributions is the five forces.

Porter's strategic system consists primarily of:

• Porter's Five Forces Analysis
• strategic groups (also called strategic sets)
• the value chain
• the generic strategies of cost leadership, product differentiation, and focus
• the market positioning strategies of variety based, needs based, and access based market positions
• global strategy
• Porter's clusters of competence for regional economic development
• Diamond model

Personal life

Michael Porter has two daughters and resides in Brookline, MA.

Key Work

• Porter, M.E. (1979) "How competitive forces shape strategy", Harvard business Review, March/April 1979.
• Porter, M.E. (1980) Competitive Strategy, Free Press, New York, 1980.
• Porter, M.E. (1985) Competitive Advantage, Free Press, New York, 1985.
• Porter, M.E. (ed.) (1986) Competition in Global Industries, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, 1986.
• Porter, M.E. (1987) "From Competitive Advantage to Corporate Strategy", Harvard Business Review, May/June 1987, pp 43-59.
• Porter, M.E. (1996) "What is Strategy", Harvard Business Review, Nov/Dec 1996.
• Porter, M.E. (1998) On Competition, Boston: Harvard Business School, 1998.
• Porter, M.E. (1990, 1998) "The Competitive Advantage of Nations", Free Press, New York, 1990.
• Porter, M.E. (1991) "Towards a Dynamic Theory of Strategy", Strategic Management Journal, 12 (Winter Special Issue), pp. 95-117.
• McGahan, A.M. & Porter, M.E. Porter. (1997) "How Much Does Industry Matter, Really?" Strategic Management Journal, 18 (Summer Special Issue), pp. 15-30.
• Porter, M.E. (2001) "Strategy and the Internet", Harvard Business Review, March 2001, pp. 62-78.
• Porter, M.E. & Kramer, M.R. (2006) "Strategy and Society: The Link Between Competitive Advantage and Corporate Social Responsibility", Harvard Business Review, December 2006, pp. 78-92.
• Porter, M.E. & Teisberg, E.O. (2006) "Redefining Health Care: Creating Value-Based Competition On Results", Harvard Business School Press, 2006.

Criticisms

Porter has been criticized by some academics for inconsistent logical argument in his assertions.^[1] Critics have also labeled Porter's conclusions as lacking in empirical support and as justified with selective case studies.^[2][3][4][5]

See also

• Techno cluster
• Economics
• Marketing strategies
• Strategic planning
• Strategic management
• Porter 5 forces analysis
• Cluster development
• National Diamond

External links

• Michael Porter currently leads the Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness at Harvard
• Porter proposals for reforming the delivery of health care
• Summary Biography from Global Leaders
• Biography at Harvard Business School Faculty Pages
• Michael E. Porter and Mark R. Kramer's latest article and winner of the 2006 McKinsey Award for the Best Harvard Business Review Article
• Michael Porter Biography at nonprofit consulting firm that he co-founded
• Porter Prize (English)

References

1. ^ Sharp, Byron; Dawes, John (1996), "Is Differentiation Optional? A Critique of Porter's Generic Strategy Typology," in Management, Marketing and the Competitive Process, Peter Earl, Ed. London: Edward Elgar.
2. ^ Speed, Richard J. (1989), "Oh Mr Porter! A Re-Appraisal of Competitive Strategy," Marketing Intelligence and Planning, 7 (5/6), 8-11.
3. ^ Yetton, Philip, Jane Craig, Jeremy Davis, and Fred Hilmer (1992), "Are Diamonds a Country's Best Friend? A Critique of Porter's Theory of National Competition as Applied to Canada, New Zealand and Australia," Australian Journal of Management, 17 (No. 1, June), 89-120.
4. ^ Allio, Robert J. (1990), "Flaws in Porter's Competitive Diamond?," Planning Review, 18 (No. 5, September/October), 28-32.
5. ^ False Expectations of Michael Porter’s Strategic Management Framework, by Omar AKTOUF, Dr. HEC Montréal