Porter updates his "Five Forces"

Michael Porter's classic article "How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy" that introduced the theory that five forces shape competition was published in the Harvard Business Review in 1979. In this month's HBR Porter "reaffirms, updates, and extends the classic work" in an article that offers practical guidelines for the strategy researcher using the five forces framework. Poter examines the forces with examples from well known companies like IBM, Wal-Mart, Apple and Sysco. He includes exhibits that cover the "Typical Steps in Industry Analysis" and "Defining the Relevant Industry." It is a very readable article that we should recommend to any student working on an industry analysis.

The Harvard Business Review is available in Business Source Premier. The article, "The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy," is in the January 2008 issue on pages 79 to 93.