Horrible and pompous narration

What made the experience of listening to Understanding Michael Porter the most enjoyable?

The book is compelling and full of great information

Would you be willing to try another one of Erik Synnestvedt’s performances?

I would rather get kicked in the head by a horse ... A horse that was formed by merging several horses into one, such that the leg that kicks me made of 10 horses.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The narrator made me want to punch babies and then set the world on fire just to watch it burn.

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30 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Excellent book... but the narrator kills it

Any additional comments?

The content of this book is excellent and it is one of the best books I have read on commercial strategy in a long time. It is a really thorough and clever summary of Porter's work, presented in a really accessible way. I have read a lot of Michael Porter's work previously but I still found that I got a lot out of this in the more 'macro' form it is presented in here. Unfortunately, the narrator makes it really hard to follow at some parts which in my view made this hard to get through. I nearly abandoned the audio and bought the kindle version just so i could stop listening to him.

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30 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Clearer Than The Original

The writing of many great thinkers can be difficult to follow. Their great points are often much clearer in the hands of other writers. Author Joan Magretta demonstrates this with the works of Michael Porter. It seems that most executives are aware of Porter, but few bother to read Porter because it's difficult reading. Magretta's work takes that barrier away.

Everyone directly involved in business strategy needs to know Porter's thinking. "Understanding Michael Porter" is an excellent way to do it.

One of the biggest and most common flaws Porter finds with typical business strategies is that they fall into the trap of thinking that if the company is the best at something, that will make the company successful, and further that there's something unique that the company can do to be the best. In reality, all the competitors are working hard to execute well. Striving to be the best is a zero-sum game that has everyone copying everyone else and that does not lead to profitability. Rule #1 is not to make this mistake.

From there, Porter gets more complicated, describing the various types of strategies that can lead to superior profitability. The key thing is differentiation. Managers must make emotionally difficult decisions to ignore some opportunities so that they can focus on others.

In my consulting work, I apply a simple test to determine whether the strategy avoids the error of aiming just to be the best and embraces differentiation. Write out the strategy in one or a few sentences. Reverse the meaning of the strategy statement. If the result sounds somewhat plausible as a strategy, then you have a real strategy. If the result sounds ridiculous, then you have a ridiculous strategy.

Several reviewers have commented negatively on the performance given here by Erik Synnestvedt. I concur. The reader has an odd and annoying sing-songy drawing out of the end of most sentences, depending on the vowel sounds involved. You can hear it in the sample. At first it doesn't seem so bad, but after a couple of hours of it, it gets increasingly annoying and distracting.

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21 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Voice-over detracted from the story.

Would you try another book from Joan Magretta and/or Erik Synnestvedt?

Probably not. The reader had an unique pronunciation that negatively affected my reading experience. I am a Porter fan.

Was Understanding Michael Porter worth the listening time?

yes

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7 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Just awful narration

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

A different narrator. His pronunciation was so awful, it was a distraction.

Has Understanding Michael Porter turned you off from other books in this genre?

The problem is, because of the odd narration, I do not understand Michael Porter.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Erik Synnestvedt?

Almost anyone

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

I have no idea. I can't listen to it

Any additional comments?

Yes, get another narrator then let everyone who attempted to listen to this version have it free. This is valuable information ... That I don't have although I paid for it.

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6 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Best strategy book you could buy

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I have already purchased 5 extra editions for colleagues and friends as a must read. This book greatly links strategy and the daily decisions we make on what to do.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Understanding Michael Porter?

I never experienced strategy work to provide value - it has seemed more as management exercises than a roadmap for the organisation. I always felt that Lean, Process optimization etc. was overkill. Rather my focus has been on delivering value to customers with a pragmatic approach.
This book - through a well communicated explanation of Porters strategy work - makes a compelling case for strategy work with its clear link between customer value, activities performed and company profitability. The concepts of Trade-off and fit are extremely powerful-
A must read for anyone genuinely interested in understanding the links between company profitability, customer value and activities performed within the organisation.

Have you listened to any of Erik Synnestvedt’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I really dislike the narration.

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6 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

An Excellent Synopsis of Michael Porter

This is a concise distillation of Michael Porter, who changed the academic business world by his insights on competition and business strategy.

The summary is written by Joan Magenta, a Bain Capital alum who worked directly with Porter. It is accurate to the original Porter material. It even captures the evolution of Porter's insights over the years.

Because of the author's own experience in the business world (as opposed to having only academic business experience) the principles are presented so they can be readily understood by business professionals.

Magretta's experience as an editor shows in her writing style. She writes concisely, precisely, and with humor. I didn't expect to laugh while reading a precis of deep academic work. But I did. Bravo.

If you don't have the time to digest years of Porter, this short work will serve you well.

On the other hand, if you studied Porter, but your "Five Forces" summary is getting rusty, this is a great refresher.

Finally, if your MBA came, not from Harvard Business School, but was awarded by the business school of hard knocks, this will give you insight into an important part of what your MBA-burnished colleagues were supposed to have learned about competition and business strategy. You may even find that Magretta imparts more Porter than your business school associates can recall.

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Agreed. Good Content, Poor Narration

The book has good content, but the narrator uses the same annoying inflection on almost every single phrase. This made it very, very difficult to listen to for me.

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A Companion to Michael Porter

Many of us have well thumbed copies of Michael Porter’s Competitive Strategy. Now Joan Magretta has made his work available to a wider audience with Understanding Michael Porter: The Essential Guide to Competition and Strategy. Think of Magretta’s book as a companion to Michael Porter and you will be right on point. Realistically, Porter’s book is not overly difficult to understand, but it does take study and some background. The strength of Magretta’s work is that Porter’s models become clear immediately. If you have read and understand Michael Porter this book is still valuable for its concise, relevant example and context. Readers from business settings will primarily benefit by this book, but decision makers from the not-for-profit sector will gain from reading this book as well. Read very well by Erik Synnestevdt .

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4 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Excellent Material!

Great material on competitive strategy. Unfortunately it was very difficult to tolerate the way the narrator finished the sentences. I almost stop listening. Using a kindle or nook woud be the way to go.

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3 personnes ont trouvé cela utile