The Competitive Advantage of Nations - Hardcover

Michael E. Porter

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0029253616 ISBN 13: 9780029253618

Publisher: Jossey Bass, 1990

Synopsis

With the publication of his best-selling books "Competitive Strategy (1980) and "Competitive Advantage (1985), Michael E. Porter of the Harvard Business School established himself as the world's leading authority on competitive advantage. Now, at a time when economic performance rather than military might will be the index of national strength, Porter builds on the seminal ideas of his earlier works to explore what makes a nation's firms and industries competitive in global markets and propels a whole nation's economy. In so doing, he presents a brilliant new paradigm which, in addition to its practical applications, may well supplant the 200-year-old concept of "comparative advantage" in economic analysis of international competitiveness. To write this important new work, Porter and his associates conducted in-country research in ten leading nations, closely studying the patterns of industry success as well as the company strategies and national policies that achieved it. The nations are Britain, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States. The three leading industrial powers are included, as well as other nations intentionally varied in size, government policy toward industry, social philosophy, and geography. Porter's research identifies the fundamental determinants of national competitive advantage in an industry, and how they work together as a system. He explains the important phenomenon of "clustering," in which related groups of successful firms and industries emerge in one nation to gain leading positions in the world market. Among the over 100 industries examined are the German chemical and printing industries, Swisstextile equipment and pharmaceuticals, Swedish mining equipment and truck manufacturing, Italian fabric and home appliances, and American computer software and movies. Building on his theory of national advantage in industries and clusters, Porter identifies the stages of competitive development through which entire national economies advance and decline. Porter's finding are rich in implications for both firms and governments. He describes how a company can tap and extend its nation's advantages in international competition. He provides a blueprint for government policy to enhance national competitive advantage and also outlines the agendas in the years ahead for the nations studied. This is a work which will become the standard for all further discussions of global competition and the sources of the new wealth of nations.

About this title

Review

Sir Christopher Hogg Non-Executive Chairman, Reuters Holdings Plc, Chairman, Courtaulds Plc A quite extraordinary achievement. The book's influence is certain to be widespread and profound.

From the Publisher

Reviews
Reviews:

'Porter (is) the world's foremost authority on corporate strategy.' - South China Morning Post

'Michael Porter is a guru. In the overcrowded parking lot of management gurus he is the flaming red one with a turbo charged, 32 valve, three litre engine, a GURU1 number plate and a CD changer in the boot. Porter, a professor at Harvard Business School, has not only taught generations of ambitious executives how to run business better, but his CV reads more like Henry Kissinger's diary than the life of an average academic.' - Neil Bennett, Sunday Telegraph

'Porter is the undisputed global authority on strategic management thinking and national competitive advantage.' - Carol Kennedy, Business Highlights, Booksellers' Buyers Guide 2000

'Michael Porter reaches his conclusions the old fashioned way: he earns them through solid research. The lessons of the book are sharp and deep.' - Robert M. Solow, Nobel Laureate in Economics, MIT

'The Competitive Advantage of Nations creates a new sphere in economics: an innovative socio-economic approach that will bring fresh insights to economists and industrialists.' - Shinji Fukukawa, Former Vice Minister, MITI, Japan

'A quite extraordinary achievement. The book's influence is certain to be widespread and profound. ' - Sir Christopher Hogg, Non-executive Chairman, Reuteres Holdsins plc, Chairman, Courtaulds plc

' Michael Porter clearly expresses the virtues of competition, innovation and risk-taking. His book offers insightful diagnoses of chronic economic ills and useful guidelines to a more prosperous economy. It should be read by policymakers and citizens alike.' - Senator Bill Bradley

'Michael E. Porter is an undoubted business guru...This book is, by any standards, a tour de force.' - The Good Book Guide

'Porter's prose is clear, his argument is engaging, and his case thoroughly supported by detailed evidence ... as a framework for understanding, and for effective industrial and political decision-making, it remains essential.' - Euroabstracts

'A classic text.' - Dr Ian Smith, Cardiff Business School

'Professor Michael Porter (is) one of the world's most influential authorities on corporate strategy... (the book) stands to become a standard text for the analysis of relative national economic performance.' - Independent on Sunday

'Michael Porter builds up an all-embracing view of economic change that amounts in the end to a powerful analytical framework...he has done for international capitalism what Marx did for the class struggle.' - The Economist

'The Competitive Advantage of Nations pulls off the seemingly impossible. It adds a fresh dimension to the international competitiveness debate, which has been going on since Adam Smith and David Ricardo.' - The Times

'This book can be envisaged to have a major impact on the thinking of management and government policy-makers.' - International Journal of Information Research Management

Edition details

• Publisher: Jossey Bass
• Publication date: 1990
• ISBN 10: 0029253616
• ISBN 13: 9780029253618
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352