Michael Eugene Porter (born 1947) is a University Professor at Harvard Business School, with academic interests in management and economics. He is one of the founders of The Monitor Group. Porter's main academic objectives focus on how a firm or a region can build a competitive advantage and develop competitive strategy. He is also a Fellow Member of the Strategic Management Society. Porter graduated from Princeton University in 1969, where he was an outstanding intercollegiate golfer. He has two daughters and is divorced. He has five pet cats, each named after one of his five forces.

Porter's strategic system consists primarily of:

• Porter's Five Forces Analysis
• strategic groups (also called strategic sets)
• the value chain
• the generic strategies of cost leadership, product differentiation, and focus
• the market positioning strategies of variety based, needs based, and access based market positions.
• Porter's clusters of competence for regional economic development

Key Work

• Porter, M. (1979) "How competitive forces shape strategy", Harvard business Review, March/April 1979.
• Porter, M. (1980) Competitive Strategy, Free Press, New York, 1980.
• Porter, M. (1985) Competitive Advantage, Free Press, New York, 1985.
• Porter, M. (1987) "From Competitive Advantage to Corporate Strategy", Harvard Business Review, May/June 1987, pp 43-59.
• Porter, M. (1996) "What is Strategy", Harvard Business Review, Nov/Dec 1996.
• Porter, M. (1998) On Competition, Boston: Harvard Business School, 1998.
• Porter, M. (1990, 1998) "The Competitive Advantage of Nations", Free Press
• Porter, M. (2001) "Strategy and the Internet", Harvard Business Review, March 2001, pp. 62-78.
• Porter, Michael E. & Stern, Scott (2001) "Innovation: Location Matters", MIT Sloan Management Review, Summer 2001, Vol. 42, No. 4, pp. 28-36.
• Porter, Michael E. and Kramer, Mark R. (2006) "Strategy and Society: The Link Between Competitive Advantage and Corporate Social Responsibility", Harvard Business Review, December 2006, pp. 78-92.
• Porter, M. & Elizabeth Olmsted Teisberg (2006) "Redefining Health Care: Creating Value-Based Competition On Results", Harvard Business School Press

Criticisms

Porter has been criticised by some academics for inconsistent logical argument in his assertions. Critics have also labelled Porter's conclusions as lacking in empirical support and as justified with selective case studies.

See also

• Techno cluster
• Economics
• Marketing strategies
• Strategic planning
• Strategic management
• Porter 5 forces analysis
• Cluster development
• National Diamond