Michael E. Porter quotes - page 2

The economic distress of America's inner cities may be the most pressing issue facing the nation. The lack of businesses and jobs in disadvantaged urban areas fuels not only a crushing cycle of poverty but also crippling social problems such as drug abuse and crime... A sustainable economic base can be created in the inner city, but only as it has been created elsewhere: through private, for-profit initiatives and investment based on economic self-interest and genuine competitive advantage. (Michael E. Porter)
The U.S. is facing a structural competitiveness problem that is leading to the weakest economy we have seen in generations. View quote
Michael E. Porter
Companies operating in urban communities have a tremendous ripple effect. View quote
Michael E. Porter
So companies have to be very schizophrenic. On one hand, they have to maintain continuity of strategy. But they also have to be good at continuously improving. View quote
Michael E. Porter
Strategy 101 is about choices: You can't be all things to all people. View quote
Michael E. Porter
If people in the organization don't understand how a company is supposed to be different, how it creates value compared to its rivals, then how can they possibly make all of the myriad choices they have to make? Every salesman has to know the strategy - otherwise, he won't know who to call on. Every engineer has to understand it, or she won't know what to build. View quote
Michael E. Porter
The firm achieving focus may also potentially earn above-average returns for its industry. Its focus means that the firm either has a low cost position with its strategic target, high differentiation, or both. View quote
Michael E. Porter
The success of a strategy depends on doing many things well – not just a few – and integrating among them. View quote
Michael E. Porter
The essence of formulating strategy is relating a company to its environment. View quote
Michael E. Porter
The essential complement to the path-breaking book Competitive Strategy, Michael E. Porter's Competitive Advantage explores the underpinnings of competitive advantage in the individual firm.

 Competitive Advantage introduces a whole new way of understanding what a firm does. Porter's groundbreaking concept of the value chain disaggregates a company into "activities,” or the discrete functions or processes that represent the elemental building blocks of competitive advantage. View quote
Michael E. Porter
The grandfather of concepts for predicting the probable course of industry evolution is the familiar product life cycle. (Michael E. Porter)
The essential complement to the path-breaking book Competitive Strategy, Michael E. Porter's Competitive Advantage explores the underpinnings of competitive advantage in the individual firm. View quote
Michael E. Porter
Being an American doesn't mean that you're guaranteed a high wage. You have to be productive, and we have to create a very low-cost, efficient place to do business, and we've let all that slip in America. View quote
Michael E. Porter
Unfortunately, I'm an engineer. I'm always thinking about, what's the task and how do I get it done? And some of my tasks are pretty broad, and pretty fuzzy, and pretty funky, but that's the way I think. View quote
Michael E. Porter
In America, the problems of poverty and low income, particularly for minorities, are disproportionately focused in the inner cities. Shining a spotlight on the businesses growing in these communities is proof that any community has the potential for entrepreneurship. View quote
Michael E. Porter
As minorities and other immigrant groups become more important to our economy, the inner city is a crucible that gives us an early look at phenomena that are going to be spreading more broadly in the economy over time. View quote
Michael E. Porter
I'm really puzzled by why people in societies find it difficult to work collaboratively together with other people in societies. View quote
Michael E. Porter
Technology has given us this wonderful opportunity to have low energy costs. We have to seize that, rather than keep debating and discussing and fighting over it. View quote
Michael E. Porter
Millennials are more aware of society's many challenges than previous generations and less willing to accept maximizing shareholder value as a sufficient goal for their work. They are looking for a broader social purpose and want to work somewhere that has such a purpose. View quote
Michael E. Porter
Companies understand that if their employees are sick, it's really expensive. So despite the rhetoric I hear, thank God employers are still in the health-care system. View quote
Michael E. Porter
I think that, too many times, business has been seen as acting in its narrow self-interest rather than, essentially, contributing more broadly to society. I think a lot of that is unintentional; I don't think that many managers are deliberately trying to be unethical or are not trying to be sensitive to social needs. (Michael E. Porter)
You can't have a healthy society unless you have healthy companies that are making a profit, that are employing people and that are growing. View quote
Michael E. Porter
America used to be a uniquely productive, low-cost place to do business. We had efficient infrastructure. We had limited regulation. We believed in the market. View quote
Michael E. Porter
Strategy is about setting yourself apart from the competition. It's not a matter of being better at what you do - it's a matter of being different at what you do. View quote
Michael E. Porter
Competitive strategy is about being different. It means deliberately choosing a different set of activities to deliver a unique mix of value. View quote
Michael E. Porter