Strategic Management: Literature Review Of Porter's Competitive Strategies

Porters Generic Competitive Strategies: The relative position of a company within its industry concludes whether the profitability of the firm is above or below the industry’s average. The above average profitability of the firm is fundamentally showing the sustainable competitive advantage in its long run. According to Michael Porter, competitive advantages originate from the value of a firm and there are two types of competitive advantages, which a company can own. These are low cost or differentiation. For any company, in

According to Slack et al. The corporate strategy or business strategy is the guide lines for the whole corporation’s businesses in relation to its markets, customers, and the competitors (2007). In the same context, the same authors discussed the link between the corporate strategy and

A competitive strategy, or business-level strategy, is the way a business used to successfully enter and penetrate into a market (Eastwood et al, 2006), and also, to succeed in this chosen market against its competitors (Johnson et al, 2014). A company needs to develop and apply appropriate strategy to help the company to generate distinctive competences (David, 2007). Compared with the strategies implemented in other levels of operation, competitive strategy is more focused on the competition against other competitors and strategic choices to better attain market share (Harrison and St. John, 2009). According to

Competitive strategy, after Porter, came to be defined as the strategy of a business unit which seeks to achieve sustainable Competitive Advantage (SCA). The literature on strategy deems the market-based view (MBV) and the resource –based view (RBV) as two approaches to giving businesses the competitive edge they need to compete in their industries. Aside from having competitive advantage as their ultimate goal, the two approaches are also similar in the sense that they both make use of particular tools and models in their undertakings. They also differ in numerous ways,

OE is not sufficient to explain and define strategy. Company and managers confuse OE for competition and run into trouble by only trying to focus and maximize OE. Firm’s loose their competitive advantage by focusing on growth and forget to focus on core competencies that gave them their competitive advantage in the first place. Companies should focus on strategy and the important contents of strategy. This starts at core

According to Porter (1985) a company can apply three generic types of strategies to protect itself while competitive force is a key issue of the management. To achieve this position a strategy based on competency must be accomplished

Thus, managers need to identify particular capacity to defeat their opponent or get the leading position in their competition, in other words, to define their competitive advantage. A study by Passemard and Calantone (2000, p.18) shows that accomplishing strategies successfully would enhance the company’s performance by surpassing other current and potential rivals with the method of competitive advantage. And the result indicates the importance to define one’s competitive advantage. For instance, Virgin and easyJet, two of British major airline corporations, the former represents flair and the latter represents value. These are their great definition and competitive advantages in which differing from other English airline companies, and fits one of Porter’s theory very well-three generic competitive strategies, one is differentiation (Porter, 1985a). In addition, cheaper or higher quality products and service prefer to advertise on customers. As most big brands do, their unique products or services will be recognized from target markets, with their global brand awareness. A simple approach to achieve this objective is to build differentiation from others in the same sector, to help customers distinguish products or companies from unique brand feature. Therefore, competitive advantage plays a crucial role in companies long-term planning.

“Porter’s five forces”: Introduction. “Porter’s five forces” is widely applied in today’s business world. Harvard Professor Michael E. Porter’s first HBR article “How competitive forces shape strategy” was published in 1979. It became revolutionary in the field of strategy. Porter’s subsequent work has brought big changes to the study of competitive strategy for corporations, regions, and nations. With assistance from his colleagues from Harvard Business School, Porter continues to update and extend his classic work, providing practical guidance for

The threat of new entrants refers to the threat posed by new competitors within an industry. If it is easy for new firms to enter the industry barriers to entry are low and the threat of new entrants is high. A profitable industry attracts more competitors. Economies of scale, learning curve effects and other macro factors impact the nature of an industry 's

Porter (1980) created a model which considers five important forces (Porters five forces) which aims to establish a profitable and sustainable position against the forces that determine industry competition, therefore position themselves within it and differentiating themselves where necessary in order to strategically gain a competitive advantage - this model gives vision of: Threat of new entrants, Threat of substitute products or services, Bargaining power of customers , Bargaining power of suppliers and Intensity of competitive rivalry (Porter 1980). Using models and academic theory like this allows strategy to be formed through a rational and an analytical process. Chandlers (1962) cited in (Lomash 2003) suggests the analytical process is about the determination of long-term clear goals, adopting actions to achieve these goals and then building the resources within the organization around this strategy in order to ensure it succeeds. Johnson (2005), likewise, simply suggested a three step approach to strategy - analysis, choice and implementation which goes hand-in-hand with intended strategy.

 In general, manager’s look at competition has been too narrow. There is a broad set of competitors that need to be looked at, which are described in “The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy” by Michael E. Porter. The model explains that there are several other forces in the competition for profits that the strategist should be aware of when forming a stagey. Those forces determine the profitability of the industry and are the most important to look at when you are forming a strategy. These five forces are are the “industry structure” model which contain: New Entrants, Suppliers, Buyers, Substitutes, and Existing Competitors.

Alfred Chandler(1963) defines strategy as ‘ the determination of the long-run goals and objectives of an enterprise and the adoption of courses of action of an enterprise and the adoption of courses of action and the allocation of resources necessary for carrying out these goals’. And Michael porter(1996) sees it as ‘Competitive strategy is about being different. It means deliberately choosing different set of activities to deliver a unique mix of value’.

There is no exact definition for Strategy because it is defined in different ways as some people think that make a plan to get success in future is a strategy while others think that future is hard to predict. Exceptionally, some Japanese companies have no strategies though these companies have a good cost and continuous improvement. The definition for strategy is to explain the direction and scope of any company for the long term to achieve advantage for the company or to fulfill the needs and expectations. Strategy is different from Operational effectiveness and they work in different manner in the companies. Michael Porter, who is a professor at Harvard Business School and a strategy expert, says that it should determine how organizational resources and skills should create advantage. Accordingly, Strategy can also be defined as an organizational change during actions in the organizations for better and advantageous results or to determine how we win and get success in the future period. It is a needful developed plan with respect to market to compete the world. Organizations should be responsible for competitive changes according to the market. It is the main goal for any Organizations. Business/IT strategy is very important to know the success rate of your business. Apart from Business Strategy, the other two main types of strategy are Corporate Strategy and Team Strategy. These strategies give competitive advantage of cost leadership, differentiation and focus. The

“Competitive strategy involves positioning a business to maximize the value of the capabilities that distinguish it from its competitor’s” (Porter 1980:47). A successful business plan requires first and foremost the formation of an appropriate strategy. Through the implementation of a suitable strategy, the company is able to obtain its own industry niche and gain an understanding of its customers (Porter 1985). Whichever strategy is adopted it must be adequately integrated within the firms goals and missions to achieve a competitive advantage (Parker and Helms 1992).

Porter’s generic strategies describe how a company attains competitive advantage across its chosen market scope. There are three generic strategies-cost leadership, differentiation and