What Is Strategy?

As someone who hears the word "strategy" thrown around a lot, this was a refreshingly explicit.

I enjoyed this one and have recommended to the rest of the management team. It isn't as generic as the title sounds, it is much more aligned with positional strategy.

It is extremely important that businesses understand this key term "strategy". A must-listen for students at B-school...wish I had done so.
...definitely worth collecting and referring to many more times.

This extremely short read is full of amazing and insightful information. I'm so very glad I read it. Michael Porter is the author of several classic business tombs, including the Competitive Strategy of Nations, Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors.
http://www.amazon.com/Competitive-Strategy-Techniques-Industries-Competitors/dp/0684841487/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_y

I wish very much that they would make his books into audiobooks because they are like an MBA in their own right. I'd like to read them again and again to really make sure I full digest every element of them.

Good information, but would probably get a lot more if there was a decent narrator.

Narrator delivered a staccato performance. It felt like he was reading it for the first time and had no intonation. Even being familiar with Porter's concepts, it was hard to follow. A meaningful pause or emphasis on a word or phrase would have helped a lot.

Operational efficiency is a race to the bottom. Strategy is a set of activities that fit with your positioning. Managers need to make trade-offs to follow their strategy. The biggest decisions are choosing what not to do.

For anyone studying business or for decision makers in organisations looking to get out of the "Me Too" business as usual mindset a solid understanding of Strategy is essential. Porter's influential article, using clearly described case studies, illustrates what it means to utlilise Strategy to create and sustain competitive advantages over your competition.