Understanding Michael Porter: The Essential Guide to Competition and Strategy

Michael Porter is considered one of the most important scholars in the field of strategy, and Ms. Magretta's book presents his ideas clearly and concisely. As a professor of strategy who has been teaching Porter's ideas to executives and students for more than 10 years, I enjoyed the book, even though I have read Porter's books and articles themselves. The book can be thought of as a more detailed yet accessible versions of two of his seminal articles, The Five Forces That Shape Competitive Strategy and What is Strategy.If you have not read any of Porter's work before, this book is probably the best vehicle to get introduced to his ideas, and you will gain valuable insights. Even if you have read the above articles however, the book will still be useful, because Ms. Magretta updates the examples, integrates material from other works by Porter and makes the material more accessible without watering it down. The last chapter on Continuity is quite fresh for example. The case study examples have been updated, which was important for me. The discussion of how the desire to grow detracts from strategy is especially insightful and eye-opening. The Q&A with Michael Porter is also unique to this book. Finally, Ms. Magretta presents a list of additional readings case studies for those who are interested in pursuing the material further. In short, there is enough material to satisfy even avid readers of Porter's ideas.One could of course point to some weaknesses as well. The strategy field has advanced quite a lot since Porter's ideas have been presented, and a full understanding of his concepts and views requires relating them to alternative views of strategy. For example, his 1996 article, What is Strategy, was written partly as a defense of his views vis-a-vis some of the alternative views. Furthermore, Porter's ideas are controversial and not universally accepted. Finally, one could argue that examples were picked conveniently to support Porter's views. However, these are more critiques of Professor Porter's views, rather than of the book itself.One word of caution: Porter's ideas are wide-ranging. He has written about diverse topics such as competitive advantage of nations, clusters and global strategy and health care. Those are not in this book. This book focuses on his ideas on the field of business strategy, which is where he made his biggest mark.The book will be most relevant and useful for practicing managers, especially senior managers or those who are part of the strategy formation process in their organizations. However, the general reader can also gain valuable insights. As someone who teaches and studies business strategy, I highly recommend this book.

If you are a fan of Michael Porter's work, or you simply want to get a deeper understanding of competitive strategy – I cannot possibly recommend this book highly enough. I underlined page after page of great ideas and then created a summary which I would consider some of the best information I have been able to put together on truly understanding strategy. I have been teaching strategic thinking at the Wharton School of Business as a guest lecturer for more than 15 years and I found this book truly valuable.

Great book to understand Porter 5 forces and test if you have good strategy. Magretta summarizes Porter's work into an easy and clear book to read. I have researched on Porter's concepts but found this book to have the most material on his theories.

This is a well researched, well written book, unlike what I have read in management literature in some time. Yes, it draws must (if not all) its ideas from the great Michael Porter. However, the book's delivery is superb. I will read it again, as it is a fresh reminder of all that I learnt at my MBA at London Business School. If you want to read a great management book, look for no further than Understanding Michael Porter by Joan Magretta. The other book I would highly recommend, if you have the time, is From Zero to One: Notes on Startups and how to Build the Future.

This book was required for a Corporate Strategy class in an MBA program. I’ve taken other strategy and organizational development courses that taught some of these concepts. This is any easy read that ties together complex concepts in an easy to understand method. I enjoyed this book. I was challenged to think analytically from different perspectives, which I enjoyed.

Concise and actionable, though based on broad topics that can sometimes be overwhelming or bland. I run a small marketing agency of 9 people and was interested in learning more about "Harvard MBA style concepts" that might help me develop further as an entrepreneur. This was a GREAT resource and something I really enjoyed. Highly recommended if you're looking to learn more about "big CEO" type of stuff you can apply to your small business. Note there are no "silver bullets" or aw ha moments - I would say this book just gives you a broader perspective and frameworks for how to understand and plan.

Great for someone considering starting a business. The author did a great job distilling the core concepts and making them immediately applicable. Something to learn on every page. The examples are dated, but still understandable. I loved it.

Business strategy, as taught by Michael Porter, is not a subject which is intuitive. Most of us think that a winning strategy means becoming the #1 or #2 company in a given market. Micheal Porter defines strategy as a ways to balance your companies DNA to become the most profitable in your chosen market (as measured by return on invested capital).I wanted to get a better understanding of Michael Porter's views on strategy and so I bought Joan Magretta's book to read on a recent business trip. Though I needed to read the book twice in order to get a full understanding, the read was worth it.I have now supplied copies of the book to our key managers in operations, finance and engineering, have run a 1/2 day planning meeting and will now move to quarterly reviews to discuss how to tweek our strategy to make better use of the things we do well and to work on the things we don't do very well.

Michael Porter shook up the world of strategy and big business with two books - Competitive Strategy in 1980 and Competitive Advantage in 1985. Since then, he has become the established view and other experts have tried to make their names by misrepresenting his work and arguing against these misrepresentations.What's covered in the book will be taught in every business school and it certainly was in my MBA studies although, by then, I'd read the original books. He fought back against his critics with a famous article in the Harvard Business Review called "What is Strategy" and also updated his five forces commentary in another article.This book summarises his main ideas in a very easy to read format that avoids much of the detail that made the original books a chore for all but the most interested or dedicated.It helps to answer the big question of why consistent profit performance varies across industries and within industries.His five forces model explains how some industries find their profits competed away by companies they buy from or sell to, by substitute products that achieve the same goals, by new entrants who appear at the first sign of excess profits or by competitive rivalry that forces down prices and forces up costs to serve.His work on competitive advantage through the value chain analyses how firms can achieve cost advantages or differentiation so that profitability between companies within an industry varies from the strongest to the weakest.These are explained in the book along with the latest ideas on differentiation and positioning that come from the "What Is Strategy article. It also includes a 20 plus page interview between the author and Michael Porter.There is no substitute for going back to his original works that still stand up remarkably well except for outdated examples. However those books are demanding to read and this makes the ideas much more approachable.It's an excellent summary for an MBA student or a senior manager in a good sized business who gets involved in strategic planning sessions. It's also a good refresher for anyone who has formally studied strategy.I'm less ready to endorse it for entrepreneurs and small business owners. If that's you, then I think you need both a wider context and a deeper understanding of what's involved in finding a niche and differentiating the business from competitors. One option is to go and hire an expert but I'd like to be able to point you towards a book first so that you can properly engage in any debate. At the moment, I can't think of one which is frustrating.About my book reviews - I aim to be a tough reviewer because the main cost of a book is not the money to buy it but the time needed to read it and absorb the key messages. 4 stars means this is a good to very good book.Paul Simister, a business coach who helps business owners who are stuck, get unstuck.

This book provides a thoughtful summary of much of Porter's work. It describes and evidences what he meant, and didn't mean. Key contributions include the review of the five forces model, and Porter's five criteria for good strategy.There is also a transcript of an interview in which Porter reflection his own work and answers questions on how it should be applied in different circumstances. The book concludes with a useful glossary of some of the key terms and concepts underpinning Porter's work.

Porters works are not light reading, and as this book points out, they are typically taught from secondary materials rather than the source works. This leads to a number of misconceptions about porters work, chief among these is the misconception of it being a static analysis framework.Joan Magretta aims to correct these misconceptions in a easily digestible manner

I needed this for my UNI work and this book has been so helpful.

For those who are new to business, strategy and competition, jumping to read Porter's own work can be daunting. This book is highly recommended before you start reading On Competition, Competitiveness of Nation etc. It's a really good and helpful book. Thank you Joan!