ABSTRACT
The five forces and three generic strategies—cost leadership, differentiation, and focus—that Michael E. Porter puts forward in Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors have been particularly well received in the field of strategic management. Porter's model led business leaders to think about competition and profitability, instead of being distracted by less relevant things—as was the focus with older approaches. With the financial crisis of 2008, however, Porter's ideas of sustainable competitive advantage were strongly attacked. In this, he was not different from many other management experts, who also attracted criticism from the public and press for their apparent roles in the downturn. In the political environment following the 2008 financial crisis and the resulting Occupy Movement that protested about the harm done to society by economic inequality and by the actions of the banks, an establishment figure like Porter was an obvious target.
