BADM 758 Strategic Management: Classic Articles

"Prior to Michael Porter's Breakthrough 1979 HBR article 'competition' referred to rivalry between companies. Few people considered whether or why some industries were inherently more or less profitable than others or how persistent their profits were over time. Porter's diagram changed that - and students, strategists, consultants, and entrepreneurs now assess a company's competitive position according to the strength of the five forces." (from HBR December 2011 p.34)

"Today managers take for granted that the biggest growth opportunities lie in the emerging markets - and that viable businesses can be built to serve people near 'the bottom of the pyramid.' That can be traced to ... [this article]. ... People living on $5,000 to $10,000 a year may not sound like lucrative customers, but they constitute a demographic of immense purchasing power for companies selling food, housing, or energy." (from HBR December 2011, p. 35)