Thursday, March 17, 2011

Oh, Mr Porter


The new big idea from business’s greatest living guru seems a bit undercooked

HE HAS been one of the world’s leading business thinkers for three decades. His work on strategy forms the foundation-stone of business-school courses the world over. Business titans and prime ministers beat a path to his door. In so far as there is an official line in the managerial world, Michael Porter lays it down. Mr Porter’s recent books are as chunky as his earlier ones: his 2006 tome on health-care reform might have been more influential had it made more concessions to the reader. His students smirk at his arriving for classes with an entourage of flunkies. But most regard his lessons as high-points of their time at Harvard.

Yet Mr Porter has not had the equivalent of a number-one hit since “The Competitive Advantage of Nations” 20 years ago. He is also discovering that there is a downside to hobnobbing with the world’s most powerful people.

See full Article.