Michael Porter

Michael E. Porter is one of the world’s most influential business theorists and strategists. He is the Bishop William Lawrence University Professor at Harvard Business School and a leading authority on competitive strategy and the competitiveness of nations, clusters and companies. He has written nineteen books and over one hundred and fifty articles and participates in multiple business and non-profit activities.

Porter was born on May 23, 1947, in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where his father was a professor at the University of Michigan. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Princeton in 1969 and his MBA and PhD in Business Economics from Harvard in 1973 and 1975 respectively.

Porter began his career teaching at Harvard Business School in 1973, where he is currently the Bishop William Lawrence Professor of Employment and Competition Strategy. He has written nineteen books, including two groundbreaking books, Competitive Strategy (1980) and Competitive Advantage (1985). These two books provided an intellectual foundation for the existing knowledge on how companies can position themselves to gain competitive advantage, and established Porter as the world's foremost authority on competitive strategy.

His other books include The Competitive Advantage of Nations (1990), The Competitive Advantage of Corporate Philanthropy (1998), On Competition (1998). His book What is Strategy? (1996) and The Five Competitive Forces that Shape Strategy (2008) are particularly notable for their wide use among strategists, managers and guides for businesses.

Additionally, Professor Porter has written over one hundred and fifty articles on topics ranging from the microeconomics of competition and the analysis of industry competitiveness to corporate strategy and economic development. Porter’s articles have been published in a range of business and academic periodicals including the Harvard Business Review, California Management Review, and The McKinsey Quarterly, and have earned him numerous awards and honors.

Porter's work has had a huge impact on the modern business environment. His writings have shaped the way large and small companies view competition and the markets they operate in. Porter's research has been instrumental in understanding the nature of competition and the impact it has on business practices and public policy. His contributions to the field of business strategy are unparalleled, and his theories and insights continue to shape the business landscape for both large and small firms.

In addition to his academic and consulting work, Professor Porter has had a profound effect on the public policy arena. He has served as an advisor to the White House, the Federal Reserve Board, and the National Economic Council, and has consulted with multiple multinational corporations.

In summary, Michael E. Porter is one of the world’s preeminent business theorists and strategists and has had a huge impact on the modern business environment. His writings have shaped the way businesses view competition and the markets they operate in, and his theories and insights continue to drive both large and small enterprises today. His research has been instrumental in understanding the nature of competition and the impact it has on business practices and public policy and his contribution to the field of business strategy has been unparalleled.