Harvard Business Review

W. Chan Kim

Renée A. Mauborgne

Michael E. Porter

Is your company spending too much time on strategy development—with too little to show for it? If you read nothing else on strategy, read these 10 articles (featuring “What Is Strategy?” by Michael E. Porter). We've combed through hundreds of Harvard Business Review articles and selected the most important ones to help you catalyze your organization's strategy development and execution. HBR's 10 Must Reads on Strategy will inspire you to: Distinguish your company from rivals Clarify what your company will and won't do Craft a vision for an uncertain future Create blue oceans of uncontested market space Use the Balanced Scorecard to measure your strategy Capture your strategy in a memorable phrase Make priorities explicit Allocate resources early Clarify decision rights for faster decision making This collection of best-selling articles includes: featured article "What Is Strategy?" by Michael E. Porter, "The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy," "Building Your Company's Vision," "Reinventing Your Business Model," "Blue Ocean Strategy," "The Secrets to Successful Strategy Execution," "Using the Balanced Scorecard as a Strategic Management System," "Transforming Corner-Office Strategy into Frontline Action," "Turning Great Strategy into Great Performance," and "Who Has the D? How Clear Decision Roles Enhance Organizational Performance."

HBR's 10 Must Reads on Strategy (including featured article "What Is Strategy?" by Michael E. Porter)

Linus Stieldorf

 For those who argue that competitors can copy any market position, the airline industry is a perfect test case. It would seem that nearly any competitor could imitate any other airline's activi- ties. Any airline can buy the same planes, lease the gates, and match the menus and ticketing and baggage handling services offered by other airlines.

Connsider this simple exercise. The probability that competitors can match any activity is often less than one. The probabilities then quickly compound to make matching the entire system highlv unlikely (.9 x .9 =.81; .9 X .9x.9 x.9 =.66, and so on). Existing com. panies that try to reposition or straddle will be forced to reconfigure many activities. And even new entrants, though they do not con- front the trade-offs facing established rivals, still face formidable barriers to imitation. 

HBR's 10 Must Reads on Strategy (including featured article "What Is Strategy?" by Michael E. Porter) quotes

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