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Three generic strategies (Porter)

This tool will help you:

  • Determine which generic strategy you should pursue
  • Clarify subsequent strategic and tactical investment decisions
  • Ensure you are not a middle-of-the-road player, in danger of being run over

About this tool

Clowns to the left, jokers to the right, Stealers Wheel in the early 1970s were ‘stuck in the middle…’. Not the place to be in business either, according to Michael Porter.

This is another area of business strategy where Porter’s mastery of the synthesis of industry economics has been influential and long-lasting. As with his Five Forces in industry analysis (Tool 6) and his value chain (Tool 9), his three generic strategies have been with us since the early 1980s and still ...

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