How Smart, Connected Products Are Transforming Competition

by Michael E. Porter and James E. Heppelmann
Harvard Business Review, November 2014

We stand at the brink of a new era of competition. Smart connect products are forcing companies to rethink nearly everything they do, from how they conceive, design, and source products; to how they manufacture, operate, and service them; to how they build and secure the necessary IT infrastructure. This article, the first in a two-part series to be published in Harvard Business Review, provides a roadmap for companies as they navigate this new competitive landscape. We define the characteristics and capabilities of smart, connected products and outline the entirely new technology infrastructure that companies will be required to build and support behind them. To understand the effects of smart, connected products on industry competition and profitability, we examine their impact on industry structure through a five forces analysis. And, we present ten new strategic choices that companies will face in a smart, connected world.

Read MORE AT HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW
 

StrateGy AND the Internet

by Michael E. Porter
Harvard Business Review, March 2001

Many of the pioneers of Internet business, both dot-coms and established companies, have competed in ways that violate nearly every precept of good strategy.

Read More

How Information Gives You Competitive Advantage

by Michael E. Porter
Harvard Business Review, July 1985

The information revolution is sweeping through our economy. No company can escape its effects. Dramatic reductions in the cost of obtaining, processing, and transmitting information are changing the way we do business.

Read More