《The Five Competitive Forces that Shape Strategy - 2016 - Porter》.pdf

Awareness of the fi ve forces can help a company understand the structure of its industry and stake out a position that is more profi table and less vulnerable to attack. 78 Harvard Business Review | January 2008 | hbr.org THE FIVE COMPETITIVE FORCES THAT SHAPE STRATEGY STRATEGY by Michael E. Porter IN ESSENCE, the job of the strategist is to under- Editor’s Note: In 1979, Harvard Business Review stand and cope with competition. Often, however, published “How Competitive Forces Shape Strat- managers defi ne competition too narrowly, as if egy” by a young economist and associate professor, it occurred only among today’s direct competi- Michael E. Porter. It was his fi rst HBR article, and it tors. Yet competition for profi ts goes beyond es- started a revolution in the strategy fi eld. In subsequent tablished industry rivals to include four other decades, Porter has brought his signature economic competitive forces as well: customers, suppliers, rigor to the study of competitive strategy for corpora- potential entrants, and substitute products. The tions, regions, nations, and, more recently, health care extended rivalry that results from all fi ve forces and philanthropy. “Porter’s fi ve forces” have shaped a defi nes an industry’s structure and shapes the generation of academic research and business practice. nature of com