Understanding Michael Porter: The Essential Guide to Competition and Strategy

by Joan Magretta

By throwing multiple obstacles in the path of would-be imitators, fit lowers the odds that a strategy can be copied.

The more a company competes on uniqueness, the less susceptible it is to imitation, and advantages can be sustained over long periods of time.

Continuity reinforces a company’s identity—it builds a company’s brand, its reputation, and its customer relationships.

Continuity helps suppliers, channels, and other outside parties to contribute to a company’s competitive advantage.

Continuity fosters improvements in individual activities and fit across activities; it allows an organization to build unique capabilities and skills tailored to its strategy.

Each can screen more effectively for employees with the skills and attitudes that fit the company’s strategy.

For the very same reasons that continuity is valuable, companies pay a high price for frequent shifts in strategy.

Continuity of strategy does not mean that an organization should stand still. As long as there is stability in the core value proposition, there can, and should, be enormous innovation in how it’s delivered.

the basic value proposition is unchanged: Walmart continues to offer its customers branded merchandise at everyday low prices.

That’s where stability is most important—in the basic value proposition, the core of needs the company meets and its relative price.