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August 31, 2026
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I can tell you that Michael Porter's five forces are referenced frequently in the Competitive Strategy class at Booth. Take that for what it's worth.
They're good... required reading for any strategic management class (particularly competitive advantage).
You'll find that he basically takes an economist's point of view of the position of a firm in an industry and then goes through what factors can influence the level of competition within an industry and then what strategies are available to firms and what the implications are.
There are limits to his theories (doesn't deal with the organisational behaviour aspects of coming up with strategy, or emergent forms of strategy as opposed to planned/deterministic forms), but I think his books are a great intro to strategy and worth knowing for a business person.
5 forces ftw
Michael Porter teaches a joint class here at HBS (with the Kennedy School), and the 5 forces are pretty much never mentioned. He has a handful of other frameworks that aren't as ubiquitous.
is the new book by joan magretta good?
The "five forces" are pretty damn well-known.
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