Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • November – December 1996
  • Article
  • Harvard Business Review

What Is Strategy?

By: M. E. Porter
  • Format:Print
ShareBar

Abstract

Today's dynamic markets and technologies have called into question the sustainability of competitive advantage. Under pressure to improve productivity, quality, and speed, managers have embraced tools such as TQM, benchmarking, and reengineering. Dramatic operational improvements have resulted, but rarely have these gains translated into sustainable profitability. And gradually, the tools have taken the place of strategy. As managers push to improve on all fronts, they move further away from viable competitive positions. Michael Porter argues that operational effectiveness, although necessary to superior performance, is not sufficient, because its techniques are easy to imitate. In contrast, the essence of strategy is choosing a unique and valuable position rooted in systems of activities that are much more difficult to match.

Keywords

Strategy

Citation

Porter, M. E. "What Is Strategy?" Harvard Business Review 74, no. 6 (November–December 1996): 61–78.
  • Find it at Harvard
  • Purchase

About The Author

Michael E. Porter

Strategy
→More Publications

More from the Author

    • August 2020
    • Faculty Research

    PayPal: The Next Chapter

    By: Michael Porter, Mark Kramer and Annelena Lobb
    • May–June 2020
    • NEJM Catalyst Innovations in Care Delivery

    The Agenda for the Next Generation of Health Care Information Technology

    By: Thomas W. Feeley, Zachary Landman and Michael E. Porter
    • 2019
    • Faculty Research

    A Recovery Squandered: The State of U.S. Competitiveness 2019

    By: Michael E. Porter, Jan Rivkin, Mihir Desai, Katherine M. Gehl, William R. Kerr and Manjari Raman
More from the Author
  • PayPal: The Next Chapter By: Michael Porter, Mark Kramer and Annelena Lobb
  • The Agenda for the Next Generation of Health Care Information Technology By: Thomas W. Feeley, Zachary Landman and Michael E. Porter
  • A Recovery Squandered: The State of U.S. Competitiveness 2019 By: Michael E. Porter, Jan Rivkin, Mihir Desai, Katherine M. Gehl, William R. Kerr and Manjari Raman
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College