Michael Porter

Quotes are word for word from the source.

• Internal Strategic Alignment

  “If people in the organization don't understand how a company is supposed to be different, how it creates value compared to its rivals, then how can they possibly make all of the myriad choices they have to make?”

  Our notePorter discusses the necessity of every employee understanding the company's unique value proposition.

• CEO as Teacher

  “The best CEOs I know are teachers, and at the core of what they teach is strategy.”

  Our notePorter explains the role of leadership in communicating strategy to the organization.

• Strategy and Environment

  “The essence of formulating strategy is relating a company to its environment.”

  Our notePorter defines the core purpose of creating a competitive strategy.

• Focus and Returns

  “The firm achieving focus may also potentially earn above-average returns for its industry. Its focus means that the firm either has a low cost position with its strategic target, high differentiation, or both.”

  Our notePorter describes how a focused strategy leads to competitive advantage.

• Strategic Trade-offs

  “The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.”

  Our notePorter emphasizes that strategy requires making hard choices about what to exclude.

• Strategy vs Effectiveness

  “Strategy is about making choices, trade-offs; it's about deliberately choosing to be different. Operational effectiveness is about things that you really shouldn't have to make choices on; it's about what's good for everybody and about what every business should be doing.”

  Our notePorter distinguishes between being better at common tasks and choosing a unique path.

• Strategic Integration

  “The success of a strategy depends on doing many things well - not just a few - and integrating among them.”

  Our notePorter explains that competitive advantage comes from a system of activities.