references/figures/michael-porter.md

# Michael Porter

## Contribution

A decision card for the Competitive Strategy school. Use the principles, not the personality.

## Principles

- competition includes substitutes and bargaining forces.
- strategy requires choosing a defensible position.
- attractiveness and advantage are separate questions.

## Apply when

- The current decision matches this figure's documented area of contribution.
- The principle can be tied to evidence, a mechanism, or a testable assumption.

## Do not infer

- The figure's name does not settle a disagreement.
- Historical work is not evidence that a current market fact is true.
- Do not mimic personal voice, mannerisms, or biography.

## Connected theories

- `five-forces`
- `competitive-advantage`

## Counterweights

- Compare with `theodore-levitt` when the principle would otherwise become a universal rule.

## Sources

- `source:porter-competitive-strategy`