Competitive Advantage of Nations: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance

Now beyond its eleventh printing and translated into twelve languages, Michael Porter’s The Competitive Advantage of Nations has changed completely our conception of how prosperity is created and sustained in the modern global economy. Porter’s groundbreaking study of international competitiveness has shaped national policy in countries around the world. It has also transformed thinking and action in states, cities, companies, and even entire regions such as Central America. Based on research in ten leading trading nations, The Competitive Advantage of Nations offers the first theory of competitiveness based on the causes of the productivity with which companies compete. Porter shows how traditional comparative advantages such as natural resources and pools of labor have been superseded as sources of prosperity, and how broad macroeconomic accounts of competitiveness are insufficient. The book introduces Porter’s “diamond,” a whole new way to understand the competitive position of a nation (or other locations) in global competition that is now an integral part of international business thinking. Porter's concept of “clusters,” or groups of interconnected firms, suppliers, related industries, and institutions that arise in particular locations, has become a new way for companies and governments to think about economies, assess the competitive advantage of locations, and set public policy. Even before publication of the book, Porter’s theory had guided national reassessments in New Zealand and elsewhere. His ideas and personal involvement have shaped strategy in countries as diverse as the Netherlands, Portugal, Taiwan, Costa Rica, and India, and regions such as Massachusetts, California, and the Basque country. Hundreds of cluster initiatives have flourished throughout the world. In an era of intensifying global competition, this pathbreaking book on the new wealth of nations has become the standard by which all future work must be measured.

Table of Contents:
Contents Introduction Preface Chapter 1 Competitive Strategy: The Core Concepts THE STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS OF INDUSTRIES Industry Structure and Buyer Needs Industry Structure and the Supply/Demand Balance GENERIC COMPETITIVE STRATEGIES Cost Leadership Differentiation Focus Stuck in the Middle Pursuit of More Than One Generic Strategy Sustainability Generic Strategies and Industry Evolution Generic Strategies and Organizational Structure Generic Strategies and the Strategic Planning Process OVERVIEW OF THIS BOOK PART I PRINCIPLES OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE Chapter 2 The Value Chain and Competitive Advantage THE VALUE CHAIN Identifying Value Activities Defining the Value Chain Linkages within The Value Chain Vertical Linkages The Buyer's Value Chain COMPETITIVE SCOPE AND THE VALUE CHAIN Segment Scope Vertical Scope Geographic Scope Industry Scope Coalitions and Scope Competitive Scope and Business Definition The Value Chain and Industry Structure THE VALUE CHAIN AND ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE Chapter 3 Cost Advantage THE VALUE CHAIN AND COST ANALYSIS Defining the Value Chain for Cost Analysis Assigning Costs and Assets First Cut Analysis of Costs COST BEHAVIOR Cost Drivers The Cost of Purchased Inputs Segment Cost Behavior Cost Dynamics COST ADVANTAGE Determining the Relative Cost of Competitors Gaining Cost Advantage Sustainability of Cost Advantage Implementation and Cost Advantage Pitfalls in Cost Leadership Strategies STEPS IN STRATEGIC COST ANALYSIS Chapter 4 Differentiation SOURCES OF DIFFERENTIATION Differentiation and The Value Chain Drivers of Uniqueness THE COST OF DIFFERENTIATION BUYER VALUE AND DIFFERENTIATION Buyer Value The Value Chain and Buyer Value Lowering Buyer Cost Raising Buyer Performance Buyer Perception of Value Buyer Value and the Real Buyer Buyer Purchase Criteria Identifying Purchase Criteria DIFFERENTIATION STRATEGY Routes to Differentiation The Sustainability of Differentiation Pitfalls in Differentiation STEPS IN DIFFERENTIATION Chapter 5 Technology and Competitive Advantage TECHNOLOGY AND COMPETITION Technology and The Value Chain Technology and Competitive Advantage Technology and Industry Structure TECHNOLOGY STRATEGY The Choice of Technologies to Develop Technological Leadership or Followership Licensing of Technology TECHNOLOGICAL EVOLUTION Continuous Versus Discontinuous Technological Evolution Forecasting Technological Evolution FORMULATING TECHNOLOGICAL STRATEGY Chapter 6 Competitor Selection THE STRATEGIC BENEFITS OF COMPETITORS Increasing Competitive Advantage Improving Current Industry Structure Aiding Market Development Deterring Entry WHAT MAKES A "GOOD" COMPETITOR? Tests of a Good Competitor "Good" Market Leaders Diagnosing Good Competitors INFLUENCING THE PATTERN OF COMPETITORS Damaging Good Competitors in Battling Bad Ones Changing Bad Competitors into Good Ones THE OPTIMAL MARKET CONFIGURATION The Optimal Competitor Configuration Maintaining Competitor Viability Moving toward the Ideal Competitor Configuration Maintaining Industry Stability PITFALLS IN COMPETITOR SELECTION PART II COMPETITIVE SCOPE WITHIN AN INDUSTRY Chapter 7 Industry Segmentation and Competitive Advantage BASES FOR INDUSTRY SEGMENTATION Structural Bases For Segmentation Segmentation Variables Finding New Segments THE INDUSTRY SEGMENTATION MATRIX Relationships Among Segmentation Variables Combining Segmentation Matrices INDUSTRY SEGMENTATION AND COMPETITIVE STRATEGY The Attractiveness of a Segment Segment Interrelationships Segment Interrelationships and Broadly-Targeted Strategies The Choice of Focus The Feasibility of New Segments to Focus On The Sustainability of a Focus Strategy Pitfalls and Opportunities for Focusers and Broadly-Targeted Competitors INDUSTRY SEGMENTATION AND INDUSTRY DEFINITION Chapter 8 Substitution IDENTIFYING SUBSTITUTES THE ECONOMICS OF SUBSTITUTION Relative Value/Price Switching Costs Buyer Propensity to Substitute Segmentation and Substitution CHANGES IN THE SUBSTITUTION THREAT Substitution and Overall Industry Demand Substitution and Industry Structure THE PATH OF SUBSTITUTION Segmentation and the Substitution Path Substitution Forecasting Models SUBSTITUTION AND COMPETITIVE STRATEGY Promoting Substitution Defense Against Substitutes Industry Versus Firm Substitution Strategy Pitfalls in Strategy Against Substitutes PART III CORPORATE STRATEGY AND COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE Chapter 9 Interrelationships among Business Units THE GROWING IMPORTANCE OF HORIZONTAL STRATEGY INTERRELATIONSHIPS AMONG BUSINESS UNITS TANGIBLE INTERRELATIONSHIPS Sharing and Competitive Advantage The Costs of Sharing Difficulty of Matching Identifying Tangible Interrelationships INTANGIBLE INTERRELATIONSHIPS COMPETITOR INTERRELATIONSHIPS Multipoint Competitors in Unrelated Industries Multipoint Competition in Related Industries Competitors with Different Patterns of Interrelationships Forecasting Potential Competitors Chapter 10 Horizontal Strategy THE NEED FOR EXPLICIT HORIZONTAL STRATEGY Formulating Horizontal Strategy INTERRELATIONSHIPS AND DIVERSIFICATION STRATEGY Diversification Based on Tangible Interrelationships Diversification Through Beachheads Diversification and Corporate Resources PITFALLS IN HORIZONTAL STRATEGY Pitfalls in Ignoring Interrelationships Pitfalls in Pursuing Interrelationships Chapter 11 Achieving Interrelationships IMPEDIMENTS TO ACHIEVING INTERRELATIONSHIPS Sources of Impediments Interrelationships and Equity Differences in Impediments among Firms ORGANIZATIONAL MECHANISMS FOR ACHIEVING INTERRELATIONSHIPS Horizontal Structure Horizontal Systems Horizontal Human Resource Practices Horizontal Conflict Resolution Processes The Corporate Role in Facilitating Interrelationships Interrelationships and the Mode of Diversification MANAGING HORIZONTAL ORGANIZATION Promising Examples Japanese Firms and Interrelationships A New Organizational Form Chapter 12 Complementary Products and Competitive Advantage CONTROL OVER COMPLEMENTARY PRODUCTS Competitive Advantages From Controlling Complements Problems of Controlling Complements Control Over Complements and Industry Evolution Identifying Strategically Important Complements BUNDLING Competitive Advantages of Bundling Risks of Bundling Bundled Versus Unbundled Strategies Bundling and Industry Evolution Strategic Implications of Bundling CROSS SUBSIDIZATION Conditions Favoring Cross Subsidization Risks of Cross Subsidization Cross Subsidization and Industry Evolution Strategic Implications of Cross Subsidization COMPLEMENTS AND COMPETITIVE STRATEGY PART IV IMPLICATIONS FOR OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE COMPETITIVE STRATEGY Chapter 13 Industry Scenarios and Competitive Strategy under Uncertainty Scenarios as a Planning Tool Industry Scenarios CONSTRUCTING INDUSTRY SCENARIOS Identifying Industry Uncertainties Independent Versus Dependent Uncertainties Identifying a Set of Scenarios Consistency of Assumptions Analyzing Scenarios Introducing Competitor Behavior into Scenarios The Number of Scenarios To Analyze Attaching Probabilities to Scenarios Summary Characteristics of Industry Scenarios INDUSTRY SCENARIOS AND COMPETITIVE STRATEGY Strategic Approaches Under Scenarios Combined and Sequenced Strategies The Choice of Strategy Under Industry Scenarios Scenario Variables and Market Intelligence SCENARIOS AND THE PLANNING PROCESS Corporate Role in Constructing Industry Scenarios Industry Scenarios and Creativity Chapter 14 Defensive Strategy THE PROCESS OF ENTRY OR REPOSITIONING DEFENSIVE TACTICS Raising Structural Barriers Increasing Expected Retaliation Lowering the Inducement for Attack EVALUATING DEFENSIVE TACTICS DEFENSIVE STRATEGY Deterrence Response Response to Price Cutting Defense or Disinvest Pitfalls in Defense Chapter 15 Attacking an Industry Leader CONDITIONS FOR ATTACKING A LEADER AVENUES FOR ATTACKING LEADERS Reconfiguration Redefinition Pure Spending Alliances To Attack Leaders IMPEDIMENTS To LEADER RETALIATION SIGNALS OF LEADER VULNERABILITY Industry Signals Leader Signals ATTACKING LEADERS AND INDUSTRY STRUCTURE Bibliography Index About the Author

About the Author :
Michael E. Porter, one of the world's leading authorities on competitive strategy and international competitiveness, is the C. Roland Christensen Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School. In 1983, Professor Porter was appointed to President Reagan's Commission on Industrial Competitiveness, the initiative that triggered the competitiveness debate in America. He serves as an advisor to heads of state, governors, mayors, and CEOs throughout the world. The recipient of the Wells Prize in Economics, the Adam Smith Award, three McKinsey Awards, and honorary doctorates from the Stockholm School of Economics and six other universities, Porter is the author of fourteen books, among them Competitive Strategy, The Competitive Advantage of Nations, and Cases in Competitive Strategy, all published by The Free Press. He lives in Brookline, Massachusetts.

Review :
Business Week Rich in lessons about why and how industries, regions, and nations succeed or fail. The Economist An all-embracing view of economic change that amounts in the end to a powerful analytic framework. Porter has done for international capitalism what Marx did for the class struggle....A real achievement. Administrative Science Quarterly Should have a profound and far-reaching impact on academic course work, managers' perceptions, and public policy. Business in a Contemporary World The Competitive Advantage of Nations is destined to become a classic in its field. Journal of Development Economics The first serious attempt to develop a really original grand theory of national economic development processes since the early years of Postwar development economics, and one of the most original ways of thinking about development policy in years. Publishers Weekly This massive, impressive, salient tome is structured so that business executives, economists, policy-makers and ordinary readers can turn to the sections most relevant to their needs.