|
Competitive Strategy, Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors, with a New Introduction (精装)
by Michael E. Porter
| Category:
Strategy, Competition, Management |
| Market price: ¥ 408.00
MSL price:
¥ 368.00
[ Shop incentives ]
|
| Stock:
Pre-order item, lead time 3-7 weeks upon payment [ COD term does not apply to pre-order items ] |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
Written more than 20 years ago, Porter's masterpiece is the most important work on competitive strategy to date. |
| If you want us to help you with the right titles you're looking for, or to make reading recommendations based on your needs, please contact our consultants. |
|
| |
AllReviews |
1 2   | Total 2 pages 12 items |
|
|
Avinash Shama (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-25 00:00>
Professor Porter is best known for his landmark books that defined the field of Strategy - Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors (1980) and Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance (1985). These books are must reads at the leading business schools.
I read Competitive Strategy (1980) for a Strategy course. It starts with a bang. On the very second page of the first chapter you will find the figure for the famous Five Forces Driving Industry Competition. While Porter did not intend this framework to be used for case interviews, in reality, this is a very important framework to know for the case interviews conducted by leading strategy and management consultancy firms. All top MBAs and anybody who has ever been hired by the best strategy and management consultancy firms knows this framework, and has probably read this book. The first chapter immediately proceeds to explaining each of the five forces:
1. Threat of new entrants
2. Intensity of rivalry among existing competitors
3. Pressure from substitute products
4. Bargaining power of buyers
5. Bargaining power of suppliers
While the first chapter alone is worth the cost of this book, I recommend it for the wisdom contained in the rest of the book. The chapters are organized under three parts (General Analytical Techniques, Generic Industry Environments, and Strategic Decisions). There are several thought provoking discussions on concepts such as A Framework for Competitor Analysis (Future goals, Assumptions, Current strategy, Capabilities), Market Signals and a Strategic Analysis of Vertical Integration.
This book was perhaps the most important work on strategy since Sun Tzu's The Art of The War. It is a classic - like the management classics of Peter Drucker. As with every classic, the examples are out of date. But, the competition HP faced for electronic calculators in the 70s, it still faces for computers today. There have been several changes in the players, technology, industries, globalization, etc, but the foundation built by Porter's masterpieces are still relevant today.
Porter's second book Competitive Advantage (1985) introduced another important tool - The Value Chain. This analyzes primary activities (Inbound logistics, Operations, Outbound logistics, Marketing and Sales, Services) and support activities (Procurement, Technology development, Human resource management, Firm infrastructure) that firms must analyze to create value and competitive advantage.
|
|
|
An American reader (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-25 00:00>
Much has been written about Porter in these reviews and elsewhere, so I won't repeat that information. Instead, I will focus on what drew me to this book, and from that, what its strengths and weeknesses are.
I heard about "Competitive Strategy" because it was referenced by a number of stock analysts seeking to determine or project earnings of a particular company going forward. Read with that position alone in mind, "Competitive Strategy" is fairly esoteric. The book itself is written more from the perspective of a consultant or "big picture" thinker than it is from, say, the view of a financer or investor. While that was somewhat of a drawback for me for my purposes, it certainly does not detract from the overall value of the book.
The book itself is quite readable, despite the academic credentials of the author and much of its audience and its theoretical bent. However, readers seeking quantifiable information will not find formulas or other information of a comparable nature to guide them. This is not unexpected, yet Porter's book is cited or referenced by a fair number of stock market analysts seeking support a variety of conclusions they've reached. After reading the book myself, I am forced to conclude that (i) there is no crystal ball for anyone to determine the future, and (ii) while Porter's book is an invaluable tool for management of a particular entity to use in assessing its competitive environment and strategy, it does not provide the individual investor with the ability to read future events.
In all, Porter's book is a great read, and should add greatly to any person's ability to analyze the environment in which a particular corporation exists. However, investors might wish to supplement it with methods from other disciplines (such as Benjamin Graham, Mary Buffett, Marty Whitman, etc.) |
|
|
Strategic Management Journal (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-25 00:00>
Represents a quantum leap …may well be one of the most important contributions to the disciplines of strategic management. |
|
|
Fortune (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-25 00:00>
Three overarching game plans that work in one industry after another explain how thousands of real-world competitors come out on top. |
|
|
The New York Times(MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-25 00:00>
American executives are grasping for a logic to global competition. Mr. Porter...has given them one. |
|
|
Michael Davis (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-25 00:00>
As an active Business Consultant I'm often appalled at the lack of disregard for the importance of strategy. It's a matter of life and death (at least for your company).
"Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare." - Japanese proverb
Why read a book on strategy? Quite simply, to be successful. Technology and globalization culminated in ferocious competition for virtually all industries. Since industry forces, like ocean tides, loom large over the success on any individual business, it is wise to carefully study business strategy.
Competitive Strategy is part one of Michael Porter's trilogy, providing a foundation for Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance, and The Competitive Advantage of Nations.
Two main themes are Porter's analysis of industries, which captures the complexity of industry competition in five underlying forces and his three generic strategies - lowest cost, differentiation, and focus. In this book, Porter presents a whole new perspective on how profit is created and divided.
As technology fads and Internet business models come and go, every company must still address the basics of competition as outlined within this book.
The book consists of three parts - General Analytical Techniques, Generic Industry Environments, and Strategic Decisions. In addition, the two appendices - Portfolio Techniques in Competitor Analysis, and How to Conduct an Industry Analysis - should also be mentioned, as they are very useful.
Part I, Porter discusses the structural analysis of industries (with the world-famous five forces), the three generic competitive strategies (overall cost leadership, focus, and differentiation). Also he discusses an excellent framework for competitor analysis, competitive moves, strategy toward buyers and suppliers, structural analysis within industries (strategic groups, strategic mapping, mobility barriers), and industry evolution (life cycle, evolutionary processes).
In Part II, Porter discusses competitive strategy within various generic industry environments, such as fragmented industries (with no real market leader), emerging industries (e-commerce and Internet are excellent examples, although not mentioned in this book as it was written in 1980), mature industries, declining industries, and global industries.
In Part III, Porter discusses strategic decisions which businesses/firms can take, such as vertical integration (forward, backward, partnerships), capacity expansion, and entry into new industries/businesses.
In summary, it is your responsibility, as a business owner or senior manager, to lead your company into the future by identifying and seizing possibilities. Competitive Strategy helps you understand the competitive forces within an industry and the strategic steps a company can take to enhance its competitive position.
|
|
|
Rolf Dobelli (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-25 00:00>
This seminal book is a classic and ought to be read by anyone in business. Michael E. Porter's ideas on competitiveness have lost little relevance despite the fact that he first advanced them in this book in 1980. They have now become so much a part of business practice and business language that one reads the book more with a sense of recognition than a sense of discovery. His prose style is clear and straightforward, albeit somewhat plodding, and the book can tend to repeat itself. However, Porter's clarity is a welcome change from the murk you encounter in many other books on business strategy, and his repetition serves a useful pedagogical purpose. We highly recommend this excellent book. If you're in business, it's relevant. |
|
|
Craig Matteson (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-25 00:00>
This is one of the foundation books of the modern business education. Yes, it was written over twenty years ago and you cannot take a business course anywhere without the term "Porter's Five Forces" not at least being mentioned. But, really, this book is still completely relevant and should be on every businessperson's bookshelf, front and center.
For a concept that has so much a place in b-school discussions, you might think the book focuses on the 5-forces, but it is only a small part of the book. It outlines the Generic Competitive Strategies (again, a now well known topic), Competitor Analysis (extremely valuable), Market Signals, Competitive Moves, and so much more.
The book is in three parts, General Analytical Techniques, Generic Industry Environments, and Strategic Decisions. There is an appendix on Portfolio Techniques in Competitor Analysis, and a very useful appendix on How to Conduct an Industry Analysis.
I think a lot of times this book is not given as active a place in the pantheon as it deserves because so many books and articles are recycling a lot of what was in this book and most don't add much to the discussion. Honestly, this book is worth referring to over and over and over again. It is a tool or a weapon in your competitive war chest that needs to be kept active and in play.
|
|
|
Gerard Kroese (MSL quote), The Netherlands
<2006-12-25 00:00>
Michael Porter is a Harvard Business School professor and a leading authority on competition and strategy. This book is a landmark in the field of strategy/strategic management, which later has become known as the positioning school. The book provides a great framework.
The book consists of three parts - General Analytical Techniques, Generic Industry Environments, and Strategic Decisions. In addition, the two appendices - Portfolio Techniques in Competitor Analysis, and How to Conduct an Industry Analysis - should also be mentioned as they are very useful.
In Part I, Porter discussess the structural analysis of industries (with the world-famous five forces), the three generic competitive strategies (overall cost leadership, focus, and differentiation), an excellent framework for competitor analysis, competitive moves, strategy toward buyers and suppliers, structural analysis within industries (strategic groups, strategic mapping, mobility barriers), and industry evolution (life cycle, evolutionary processes).
In Part II, Porter discusses competitive strategy within various generic industry environments, such as fragmented industries (with no real market leader), emerging industries (e-commerce and Internet are excellent examples, although not mentioned in this book as it was written in 1980), mature industries, declining industries, and global industries.
In Part III, Porter discusses strategic decisions which businesses/firms can take, such as vertical integration (forward, backward, partnerships), capacity expansion, and entry into new industries/businesses.
Even after 20 years, most of this book still stands strong, although some people will argue this. Michael Porter has responded to his critics in the 1996-Harvard Business Review article 'What is Strategy?' which is available as e-book (pdf-file) at Amazon.com. It is still a MUST for MBA-students and all other people interested in strategy/strategic management. The book is simple to read with plenty of examples and thus does not become a struggle. |
|
|
Walter Bock (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-25 00:00>
When this book was published for the first time over twenty years ago, it changed the way that people thought about strategy in business, and it gave us what has become a common language for discussing strategic situations. That's why you should consider buying the book. Without an understanding of the terminology that Michael Porter developed originally in Competitive Strategy, you won't be able to follow many of the arguments that other people use when they're talking about the subject.
When you get past that, you need to ask yourself your primary reason for reading any book on strategy. If you're looking for a "how-to" book, one with ideas that you can implement reasonably quickly, this is not the book for you. This is written by a professor and the presentation is academic. That doesn't make the insights any less valuable, but often it makes them harder to unearth.
Here's my recommendation. You should be familiar enough with Porter's basic methods and terminology to recognize and understand them in other books, articles, and discussions. If you don't have that knowledge now, buy this book and develop that understanding.
If you already have a basic knowledge of some of Porter's terminology and concepts, then this book will give you an excellent structural underpinning to take to the other books about strategy. But, if you're looking for something that you can dip into quickly to work on your company's strategic plan, find something a little less dense and academic. |
|
|
|
1 2 | Total 2 pages 12 items |
|
|
|
|
|
|
