Thinkers 50 Strategy: The Art and Science of Strategy Creation and Execution

CHAPTER8

Where Strategy Meets the World

Eventually, strategists inevitably feel cramped by coming up with neat strategies for corporations, however multinational they may be. They crave a bigger stage. Michael Porter has tackled strategy in the healthcare industry, notably in a series of articles coauthored with his Harvard colleague Mark Kramer. Porter has also squared the capitalist circle by showing how companies can combine their competitive instincts with social responsibility and other activities that although they are socially beneficial do not appear to contribute to shareholder value.

Perhaps Porter’s most successful foray into other corners of the strategy world was his work on competition and countries. His 1990 book The Competitive ...