Competitive Strategy

Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors

Now nearing its 60th printing in English and translated into 19 languages, Michael E. Porter's Competitive Strategy has transformed the theory, practice, and teaching of business strategy throughout the world.

Electrifying in its simplicity—like all great breakthroughs—Porter’s analysis of industries captures the complexity of industry competition in five underlying forces. Porter introduces one of the most powerful competitive tools yet developed: his three generic strategies—lowest cost, differentiation, and focus—which bring structure to the task of strategic positioning. He reveals how competitive advantage can be defined in terms of relative cost and relative prices, thus linking it directly to profitability and presents a whole new perspective on how profit is created and divided. In the almost two decades since publication, Porter's framework for predicting competitor behavior has transformed the way in which companies look at their rivals and has given rise to the new discipline of competitor assessment.

More than a million managers in both large and small companies, investment analysts, consultants, students, and scholars throughout the world have internalized Porter's ideas and applied them to assess industries, understand competitors, and choose competitive positions. The ideas in the audiobook address the underlying fundamentals of competition in a way that is independent of the specifics of the ways companies go about competing.

Competitive Strategy has filled a void in management thinking. It provides an enduring foundation and grounding point on which all subsequent work can be built. By bringing a disciplined structure to the question of how firms achieve superior profitability, Porter’s rich frameworks and deep insights comprise a sophisticated view of competition unsurpassed in the last quarter-century. Competitive Strategy is skillfully narrated by Scott R. Pollak.

Produced and published by Echo Point Books & Media, an independent bookseller in Brattleboro, Vermont.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2008 Free Press (P)2024 Echo Point Books & Media, LLC

My best purchase yet!

Amazing job on every front! This book was definitely worth the credit I spent on it. It’s full of helpful information if you’re interested in the business world and it’s strategic functions.

Dated and slow reading

The book was cutting edge and its major points remain just as viable now 40 years later. However industries moved way beyond his examples from the late 70’s and the narration was slow and monotonous.

Great Book

This is a great book on competition and entering or exiting a market. Other than my firm belief that a company should NOT try to make government a tool to stop or limit competition; (i.e. influencing laws) I think the book was awesome!

Rough read

Couldnt finish. I got the sense that what was being asked of companies with regard to their competition was not realistic in today's rapidly changing, lean environment. Given it was originally published in 1980, before PCs, let alone the internet and cloud computing or AI, it felt dated. It might be more helpful if your company is a very mature player in a mature, static industry. But not helpful to me at a late stage startup tech company.

Competitive Strategy

Fantastic read for market insights and analysis. Definitely one to keep in the aresenal!