"If you interrupted one of these meetings and asked the participants why they're discussing these questions, they'd look at you funny. It's perfectly obvious, after all, that these are the most crucial issues. We talk about them because we have to, and everyone has been talking about them since the dawn of time, they would tell you. But they would be mistaken."
"Generally without knowing it, they-we-are speaking the language of Harvard's Michael Porter, the most famous and influential business professor who has ever lived. Incredible as it seems, there was a time when these concepts were not the foundation of most business thinking."
"Everyone who talks about sustainable competitive advantage and how they're going to get it - they don't say, 'This meeting is occurring because Mike Porter said it's important.' But that is why."
"Businesspeople aren't the only ones who speak Porter's language. Leaders of nations, regions, and cities use his 'diamond model' to frame their plans for becoming more competitive. Environmental policymakers apply the Porter hypothesis. Health care reformers study his work on transforming that broken industry."
Business leaders hold high-stakes meetings about whether to pursue lowest costs, product differentiation, or niche dominance, and whether to perform all value-chain activities or outsource. Participants assume these questions are obviously crucial and have always been central to business thinking. The underlying framing often follows Michael Porter’s ideas about competitive advantage, including the value chain and related strategic choices. Porter’s concepts have influenced not only corporate strategy but also national, regional, and city competitiveness planning through the diamond model. Environmental policymakers and health care reformers also use Porter’s work to guide efforts to improve competitiveness and transform industries.
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