Quotes from Michael Porter

America used to be a uniquely productive, low-cost place to do business. We had efficient infrastructure. We had limited regulation. We believed in the market.

If all you're trying to do is essentially the same thing as your rivals, then it's unlikely that you'll be very successful.

Companies operating in urban communities have a tremendous ripple effect.

I teach in the medical school, the School of Public Health, the Kennedy School of Government, and the Business School. And it's the best perch... because most of my work crosses boundaries.

Companies understand that if their employees are sick, it's really expensive. So despite the rhetoric I hear, thank God employers are still in the health-care system.

Strategy is about making choices, trade-offs; it's about deliberately choosing to be different.

The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.

There's a fundamental distinction between strategy and operational effectiveness.

Strategy 101 is about choices: You can't be all things to all people.

As a multisport athlete, I was always fascinated with competition and how to win. At HBS and later at the Harvard Department of Economics, I was drawn to the field of competition and strategy because it tackles perhaps the most basic question in both business management and industrial economics: What determines corporate performance?

So companies have to be very schizophrenic. On one hand, they have to maintain continuity of strategy. But they also have to be good at continuously improving.

Finally, strategy must have continuity. It can't be constantly reinvented.

Change brings opportunities. On the other hand, change can be confusing.

Technology has given us this wonderful opportunity to have low energy costs. We have to seize that, rather than keep debating and discussing and fighting over it.

The best CEOs I know are teachers, and at the core of what they teach is strategy.

Sound strategy starts with having the right goal

If your goal is anything but profitability - if it's to be big, or to grow fast, or to become a technology leader - you'll hit problems.

Without a goal analytics is aimless and worthless.

The underlying principles of strategy are enduring, regardless of technology or the pace of change.

Change brings opportunities. On the other hand, change can be confusing.

Billions are wasted on ineffective philanthropy. Philanthropy is decades behind business in applying rigorous thinking to the use of money.

If your goal is anything but profitability - if it's to be big, or to grow fast, or to become a technology leader - you'll hit problems.

The best CEOs I know are teachers, and at the core of what they teach is strategy.