Porter's Model Research Articles

The Welfare Problems Associated with Using Transgenic Mice to Bioassay for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy

Prion diseases are fatal neurodegenerative disorders, epitomized by the the recent bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) epidemic in cattle and the emergence of a novel variant of Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (vCJD) in humans. In prion disease, the agent of infection is believed to be composed of proteinaceous particles, termed prions, which are converted from a normal isoform into a pathogenic isoform during pathogenesis. A bioassay to detect pathogenic prions of BSE in bovine products consumed by humans was unattainable until the development of transgenic mice, due to the significantly lower susceptibility of wild-type mice to BSE. Transgenic mice have now been generated which express the bovine prion protein and are susceptible to BSE. Following an intracerebral injection with brain homogenate of BSE-infected cattle, transgenic mice develop numerous clinical signs of prion disease, including truncal ataxia (inability to coordinate the torso's muscular activity), increased tone of the tail, generalized tremor, and lack of a forelimb extensor response. In this study, the ethical score system devised by Porter (1992) was applied to the BSE bioassay as a tool for identifying welfare issues affecting animals used in the bioassay. We acknowledge that there are limitations to the use of the information arising from the application of the Porter scoring scheme for assessing the justification to proceed with any animal experiment; notwithstanding these problems, however, our application of the Porter model to the BSE bioassay enabled us to identify potential targets for refinement: pain involved, duration of distress and the duration of the experiment. This was despite lenient scoring for the duration of distress and pain experienced by the mice, and optimal scoring for the quality of animal care. The targets identified for refinement are discussed in relation to the method of inoculation, the duration of the bioassay, and the duration of the clinical phase, with the objective of exploring ways of reducing the severity of the bioassay.

Charge Transfer Interactions in the Generation of Singlet Oxygen O2(1Δg) by Strong Electron Donors

The quenching rate constant of the triplet state by molecular oxygen and the efficiency of singlet oxygen generation have been measured for 12 amines in cyclohexane and benzene. For the best electron donors, the average rate constant for quenching by energy transfer is 6.0 × 109 M-1 s-1. For the same compounds, the rate constant of quenching via enchancement of internal conversion is 1.2 × 1010 M-1 s-1. The energy transfer component of the total quenching rate constant is almost twice as fast as the maximum from the standard Porter model. The mechanisms of quenching via quintet, singlet, and triplet channels are discussed for amines and aromatic hydrocarbons, and intersystem crossing out of the quintet manifold is proposed.

The Creation of Competitive Advantage by Producer Service Establishments

In this paper we focus on how competitive advantage is constructed by producer service businesses, how it varies among establishments with different characteristics, and how it affects establishment performance. Sources of competitive advantage stem from characteristics such as quality, price, creativity and innovation, flexibility, timeliness of delivery, and scope of services offered. We present a detailed evaluation of the competitive advantage model developed by Porter (1990) and review applications of this model to the producer services. We find this model to be partially successful in distinguishing between superior and inferior performance by producer service businesses, with important differences observed across age, organizational type, and size of business. We develop an expanded model of factors related to competitive advantage and performance, which includes not only factors contained in the Porter model, but dimensions particular to the information-oriented producer services, such as creativity, geographic proximity, R&D capabilities, and adaptability to client needs.

A generalized double diamond approach to the global competitiveness of Korea and Singapore

Globalization is very important for small economies such as Korea and Singapore. The single diamond model ( Porter, 1990, The competitive advantage of nations) suggests some important determinants for a nation's global competitiveness. However, this model is incomplete, mainly because it does not incorporate multinational activities. A new approach, the generalized double diamond model ( Moon et al., 1995, in Research in global strategic management: Volume 5: Beyond the diamond) offers some important extensions to Porter's original model. To test the validity of these two models this paper evaluates relevant data for both domestic and international variables in the case of Korea and Singapore. The results generally support the generalized double diamond model

Competitive Forces in the Medical Group Industry: A Stakeholder Perspective

Applying Porter's model of competitive forces to health care, stakeholder concepts are integrated to analyze the future of medical groups. Using both quantitative survey and qualitative observational data, competitors, physician suppliers, integrated systems new entrants, patient and managed care buyers, and hospitals substitutes are examined.

Competitive Advantage for India in Exporting Education: A Case Study based on Michael Porter Model

Competitive Advantage for India in Exporting Education: A Case Study based on Michael Porter Model

A multinational analysis of competitive strategies of softwood sawmills

The primary objectives of this study were to describe and compare the competitive strategies of softwood sawmills in five major softwood producing regions of the world, and to discuss the limitations of the well‐known Porter model. Data was collected via personal interviews from 102 companies in Finland; coastal and inland western USA; coastal and inland British Columbia, Canada. Results suggest that “pure”; focus and differentiation strategies are the competitive strategies most commonly followed by sawmills in Finland and inland British Columbia. In the coastal and inland western USA regions “pure”; differentiation and “pure”; cost leadership strategies are dominant in these two geographical regions, respectively. In coastal British Columbia a “pure”; cost leadership strategy and the combination of all strategy types were the two strategies most frequently followed. The competitive strategy followed was found to be related to company size. Large companies more often applied cost leadership strategies and differentiation and focus strategies were typical of small and medium‐sized companies. In general, sawmills in all five regions had difficulties identifying exclusively with one strategy type.

Failed Upward Influence Attempts

Research on upward influence in organizations has often proposed that such influence is an episodic process, yet rarely does such research examine the use of influence after the employee has met with initial resistance. Based on the upward influence model of Porter, Allen, and Angle (1981), this study examined several predictors of subordinates' decisions to cease or persist in attempts to obtain work-related resources after an initial failure. ALISRE Lmodel indicated that upward influence actions following a failed influence attempt can be predicted with variables related to goal importance, influence agent characteristics (i.e., Machiavellianism and work experience), and aspects of the agent-target relationship (i.e., leader-member exchange and costs associated with influence). The implications of these findings are discussed.

How Strategic are Strategic Information Systems?

There are many examples of information systems which are claimed to have created and sustained competitive advantage, allowed beneficial collaboration or simply ensured the continued survival of the organisations which used them These systems are often referred to as being 'strategic'. This paper argues that many of the examples of strategic information systems as reported in the literature are not sufficiently critical in determining whether the systems meet the generally accepted definition of the term 'strategic' - that of achieving sustainable competitive advantage. Eight of the information systems considered to be strategic are examined here from the standpoint of one widely-accepted 'competition' framework- Porter's model of industry competition . The framework is then used to question the linkage between the information systems and the mechanisms which are required for the enactment of strategic business objectives based on competition. Conclusions indicate that the systems are compatible with Porter's framework. Finally, some limitations of the framework are discussed and aspects of the systems which extend beyond the framework are highlighted

Medicare health maintenance organizations. An industry analysis for the elderly in the USA.

Provides a review and analysis of Medicare health maintenance organizations in the USA. The Porter model of industry structure is used. Discusses the issues of suppliers, buyers, market entry and substitutes. Indicates there is currently no intense rivalry among Medicare risk-based HMOs. However, the Porter model reveals crucial information regarding the forces which drive industry competition. Trends in the field of managed care and Medicare financing continue to be a real challenge regarding future research.

The UK Market for Portuguese Table Wines: A Structural Analysis

Wine is important to the Portuguese economy, and the United Kingdom is one of Portugal's oldest and most important wine markets. Yet the Portuguese are rapidly losing their share of the UK market, and have already been overtaken by Australia, Bulgaria, South Africa, the USA and Hungary. This paper reports a study of the Portuguese wine industry in the context of the UK market using Porter's structural analysis model as the analytical framework. Data were collected via depth interview with executives closely involved in the wine trade, in Portugal and the UK. It was found that Portugal's traditional source of competitive advantage, low costs as a consequence of low wages, has been eroded. The absence of any other cost advantage, low investment in products and markets and a lack of scale economies are exacerbated by production‐led convictions that Portuguese wine is best — it is just that the customers do not appreciate it. Meanwhile the customers perceive a lack of reliability in quality, lack of the ability to consistently deliver the required quantity and fluctuating prices. Portugal needs a consistent strategy for sustainable competitive advantage; some alternative strategies are discussed.

New Directions for the Licensed Trade: A Structural Analysis

This paper evaluates the competitive environment of the licensed trade sector of the leisure industry. Porter's model for structural analysis is used to identify the competitive forces affecting the industry and as a framework for making some predictions as to the new directions likely to be facing the industry in the future. The five industry forces — threat of new entrants, power of suppliers, power of buyers, substitute products and competitive rivalry are discussed with relation to the current competitive environment. From this, the major new directions for the licensed trade are presented and their potential impact on industry competition discussed.

Dέjà-vu all over Again: Porter's Model of Inner-City Redevelopment

Dr. Michael Porter has advanced a model for the redevelopment of the inner city that relies heavily on private sector and natural market forces, diminishing the role of government in social programs. Since Porter’s assertions are apparently being taken seriously by some American civic and business leaders who may make substantial investments of time and other resources into some manifestations of his theory, we think it important to provide coherent criticism of its failings. Upon close examination, little he recommends is new or stands the scrutiny of thirty or more years of research and practice in inner-city economic redevelopment. Here, we first place Porter’s ideas in historical context, then discuss six major assertions from his writings. In our opinion, Porter contributes to another misformulation of the problem of revitalizing ghetto economies, and therefore provides a sure loser of a solution. His theory, should the corporate world accept it and give it a real test, is tailor-made for another lesson, true or not, on how the ghetto cannot be redeveloped.

The Porter Model of Competitive Advantage for Inner-City Development: An Appraisal

Harvard’s Michael Porter has joined the growing number of academics in search of a model that will solve the problems of material deprivation and degradation of racial minorities in the inner cities. We should add, however, that this search is not merely for a model, but for a model that is “politically” acceptable to the majority. This condition of political acceptability is not unique to the inner city. Recently, we read that Presidential candidate, Senator Bob Dole, importuned Jack Kemp, chairman of a Committee on Tax Reform, to keep the Committee’s report free of incendiary specifics, presumably to prevent loss of support among voters—the devil remains in the details. But a politically acceptable model does not necessarily solve the problem. Indeed, it may impair the efficacy of the model and exacerbate the problem. Hence, perhaps, the enduring nature of inner-city poverty. This is, therefore, an important problem in political economy. To be sure, political economists do not necessarily provide the “solution key” to this problem. But, we are informed, neither do sociologists or historians, both of whom tend to be pessimists because, unlike economists, “they take their bearings from past failure.” Economists, on the other hand, cannot be characterized as a dismal lot; actually, they are optimists, “because they suffer from almost total historical amnesia.” 1 The British political scientist, Kenneth Minogue, mused that economists (the problem solvers) consider themselves equipped with a portable science, and he therefore pointedly raised the following question: “Does the world consist merely of societies navigating their way through history in terms not of religion or morality or philosophy but of whatever model currently happens to impress economists and politicians?” Alas, for the most part, response to this query may very well be in the affirmative. In this essay, we appraise the applicability of the Porter model to the inner city by addressing the following: Can the model be 132deemed politically acceptable, and if so, what are its implications for inner-city development? Can Porter be considered merely a champagne socialist, in the sense of a patrician who assumes that he knows what is best for the inner-city residentiary better than the residents themselves know? And, if emulating material success is the basic drive of the inner-city populace, will the Porter model effect or subvert achievement of this objective?

Structure, environment and strategic outcome: a study of Pennsylvania nursing homes.

This study applies Porter's model of competitive advantage to the nursing home industry. Discriminant analysis is used to identify organizational and environmental characteristics associated with nursing homes which have demonstrated valued strategic outcomes, and to distinguish the more successful nursing homes from their rivals. The results of the discriminant analysis suggest that nursing homes with superior payer mix outcomes are distinguishable from their less successful rivals in areas associated with a focused generic strategy. The study suggests that nursing homes which are better staffed, of smaller size and lower price are more likely to achieve high levels of self-pay utilization. Independent living units, continuing care retirement communities in particular, are likely to act synergistically with nursing home organizational characteristics to enhance competitive advantage by linking the value chain of the nursing home to that of retirement housing. Nursing homes with higher proportions of Medicare were found to provide a unique product when compared to their rivals. Profit status does not discriminate better self-pay strategic utilization, but for-profit facilities are more likely to pursue a Medicare strategy. Concern was raised that, as nursing homes become more strategically oriented, Medicaid access may become more problematic.

A Comparison of Three Models for Ethical Evaluation of Proposed Animal Experiments

AbstractThree recently developed and published schemes to evaluate the acceptability of proposed animal experiments are discussed and compared: The model developed at the request of the Dutch Veterinary Public Health Chief Inspectorate by the Department of Animal Problems of Leiden University (the ‘Dutch Model’);The model proposed by the Canadian, David G Porter (the ‘Porter model’);The model developed by the British Institute of Medical Ethics, published in ‘Lives in the Balance: The Ethics of Using Animals in Biomedical Research’ (the ‘IME model’).It is concluded that the Porter model, although compact, does not have an acceptable level of discrimination; nor does it provide the researcher with any pragmatic tools to optimize the research design. The other models appear to be quite adequate for the different purposes for which they were developed. The Dutch model was developed to guide the evaluation procedure at the level of local institution-based committees (ie internal evaluation by colleagues), whereas the IME model will serve the professional officers of the United Kingdom Home Office Inspectorate (ie external evaluation).Finally, the pragmatic consequences of the three models are discussed with respect to two hypothetical cases.

Porter's Model for Geographic Competitive Advantage: The Case of New Hampshire

This essay illustrates how considerations of a region's dynamic industrial structure may assist public policymakers, particularly with regard to the formulation of state technology policies. The essay explores one state's (New Hampshire) economic development to accomplish three main purposes: to evaluate generalizations regarding the importance of geographical concentration on industrial performance, the refinement of common notions of government participation in state development, and to suggest guidelines for using an enhanced understanding of state industrial dynamics to lay the foundation for public policy initiative. The analysis suggests that state policymakers can make use of models of area/regional competitive advantage, particularly Michael Porter's "diamond" framework from The Competitive Advantage of Nations, but they must do so carefully because each state has a unique economic and political history that shapes its industrial structure and the possibilities for economic growth.

Delaying insect adaptation to transgenic plants: seed mixtures and refugia reconsidered

Genetically engineered plants expressing insecticidal proteins from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis can provide safe and effective pest control, but they will also select intensely for insect adaptation to the toxins. Mallet & Porter (Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 250, 165 (1992)) used a model to compare two planting strategies for delaying crop failure: \`seed mixtures' of toxic and toxin-free plants within fields, and \`refugia' of toxinfree fields. They concluded that `if insects can move from plant to plant, seed mixtures may actually hasten insect resistance compared with pure stands of toxic plants'. In the present study, the model of Mallet & Porter was used to evaluate pure stands of toxic plants, seed mixtures, refugia, and mixtures+refugia. Across a broad range of conditions, seed mixtures delayed development of insect resistance compared with pure stands of toxic plants. The relative merits of seed mixtures and refugia depend upon untested assumptions about pest movement, mating, and inheritance of resistance. Minimizing exposure of pests to toxins in space and time is the surest way to preserve the efficacy of transgenic plants.

ASSESSING PORTER'S (1980) MODEL IN TERMS OF ITS GENERALIZABILITY, ACCURACY AND SIMPLICITY

ABSTRACTThe Porter (1980) model of generic strategies is evaluated in terms of simplicity, accuracy (i.e., predictive and explanatory power), and generalizability, through an empirical analysis of PIMS data. Results lead to the following conclusions: (1) the simplicity of Porter's model captures much of the complexity inherent in strategic gestalts; (2) Porter's framework could be improved by viewing it as providing three important dimensions of strategic positioning rather than three (or four) distinct strategies; (3) performance norms vary significantly across strategic types, though Porter's predictions of performance are not entirely accurate; (4) strategies such as those described by Porter are possibly more contingent than generic, thus limiting the generalizability of some prescriptions implicit in the model.

An Analysis of Competition in the New Europe

Conventional wisdom suggests that the changes currently sweeping Europe will bring about an increasingly competitive business environment. However, to date, this contention has not been subjected to any rigorous analysis. Uses the Porter model – the well‐known framework for diagnosing the competitive environment of industries – to analyse the changing competitive situation. Begins by reviewing the progress made since the adoption of the Single European Act. Reviews the dimensions of the Porter model for industry analysis and uses it to assess how competitive the new Europe will be. Conclusions are drawn. Outlines the strategic implications for companies both within and outside the EC.