Michael Porter

Michael Porter

Michael Porter

Introduction

Michael Porter's contribution towards the field of management has been immense and he is considered a great expert regarding strategic management. His work has been extensively used by many business corporations and government throughout the world. Most importantly, the principles he developed regarding competitive strategy are widely employed. Porter's work hammered out details as to how management can be successfully employed to acquire profits that would be greater than the industry's average by sustaining competitive advantage. Porter has written a lot about management. He bears 19 books and over 70 articles to his credit (drfd.hbs.edu).

Porter's success has been determined over the past few years as his works clearly explained the failures or successes endured by business organizations around the world. Though he is widely considered with respect throughout the western world, yet he is not without critics. There have recently been a lot of speculations that have questioned the effectiveness of his work in present times, especially with the ever changing technological innovations and changing landscape of the business world and in the context of rising globalization. Mired with a lot of success on one hand, Porter faces several doubts and contentions on the other.

This assignment will serve to explore how effective Porter's work has been in providing a better framework to business organizations, and what grounds to his critiques hold and how correct they are in their views regarding Porter. It would also highlight the impact that his work has had on the international front and whether all or some of his approach should be adopted by business organizations, or whether they should not be adopted.

Discussion

Brief elucidation of Porter's work in the field of strategic management

The study of strategic management drew its importance in the 1980s as businesses started focusing on competitive advantage. It was in this field that Porter's work gained great fame. Porter's contributions are helpful in understanding the external entities that an organization faces. It was the competitive advantage that Porter's work helps organizations develop that accord it with great respect in modern era. These competitive advantages that organizations develop enable them to gain profits that are usually higher than the industry's profits.

Porter's first major book, “Competitive strategy: techniques for analyzing industries and competitors,” helped firms develop a complete framework of analytical techniques. These analytical techniques were constructive in analyzing the industries and provide a useful insight in shaping the future of the organization. It also helped in providing an understanding to a firm of its competitors, the position where it stood and to devise a competitive strategy that would enable it to achieve success.

The next decisive work of porter that left a deep impact on the business world was his model of five competitive forces.

Michael Porter's Five Forces Model

Strengths and advantages of Porter's Five Forces of Competition

The model of the five forces is a simple outlook that provides a useful perspective to an industry about its competitive structure. This model of five forces may also be used to harmonize a SWOT ...