[翻译]战略定位的六大原则

[aRNoLD]

以下为HBS的迈克尔·波特教授发表在2001年3月号的《哈佛商业评论》上的文章，通过这篇文章可以更深入的理解战略的概念。

The Six Principles of Strategic Positioning

To establish and maintain a distinctive strategic positioning, a company needs to follow six fundamental principles.

First, it must start with the right goal: superior long-term return on investment. Only by grounding strategy in sustained profitability will real economic value be generated. Economic value is created when customers are willing to pay a price for a product or service that exceeds the cost of producing it. When goals are defined in terms of volume or market share leadership, with profits assumed to follow, poor strategies often result. The same is true when strategies are set to respond to the perceived desires of investors.

Second, a company's strategy must enable it to deliver a value proposition, or set of benefits, different from those that competitors offer. Strategy, then, is neither a quest for the universally best way of competing nor an effort to be all things to every customer. It defines a way of competing that delivers unique value in a particular set of uses or for a particular set of customers.

Third, strategy needs to be reflected in a distinctive value chain. To establish a sustainable competitive advantage, a company must perform different activities than rivals or perform similar activities in different ways. A company must configure the way it conducts manufacturing, logistics, service delivery, marketing, human resource management, and so on differently from rivals and tailored to its unique value proposition. If a company focuses on adopting best practices, it will end up performing most activities similarly to competitors, making it hard to gain an advantage.

Fourth, robust strategies involve trade-offs. A company must abandon or forgo some product features, services, or activities in order to be unique at others. Such trade-offs, in the product and in the value chain, are what make a company truly distinctive. When improvements in the product or in the value chain do not require trade-offs, they often become new best practices that are imitated because competitors can do so with no sacrifice to their existing ways of competing. Trying to be all things to all customers almost guarantees that a company will lack any advantage.

Fifth, strategy defines how all the elements of what a company does fit together. A strategy involves making choices throughout the value chain that are interdependent; all a company's activities must be mutually reinforcing. A company's product design, for example, should reinforce its approach to the manufacturing process, and both should leverage the way it conducts after-sales service. Fit not only increases competitive advantage but also makes a strategy harder to imitate. Rivals can copy one activity or product feature fairly easily, but will have much more difficulty duplicating a whole system of competing. Without fit, discrete improvements in manufacturing, marketing, or distribution are quickly matched.

Finally, strategy involves continuity of direction. A company must define a distinctive value proposition that it will stand for, even if that means forgoing certain opportunities. Without continuity of direction, it is difficult for companies to develop unique skills and assets or build strong reputations with customers. Frequent corporate "reinvention," then, is usually a sign of poor strategic thinking and a route to mediocrity. Continuous improvement is a necessity, but it must always be guided by a strategic direction.

For a fuller description, see M.E. Porter, "What Is Strategy?" (HBR November-December 1996).

[aRNoLD]

参考译文（原创翻译，如需转载请注明引用链接）

公司建立并维持独特的战略定位必须遵循六项基本的原则。

首先，它必须始于正确的目标：长期的超额投资回报。只有以持续获利为基础的战略目标才可能带来真正的经济价值。当顾客为所购买的产品或服务支付的价格超过生产成本时，公司才可获利。若以销量或市场份额保有量来定义公司目标，继而反推利润时，这样的战略就不是一个好的战略了。同样的道理，一个为满足投资者可见欲望的战略也不是一个好战略。

其二，公司战略必须使之能够传递其不同与竞争对手的价值诉求/价值主张，或曰利益集，因而战略既不是追求一种泛泛的最佳竞争手段，也不是努力去满足全部的消费者，而是界定了一种竞争方式，这种竞争方式为特定的用途或用户群带来了独一无二的价值利益。

其三，战略应反映在特定的价值链中。公司要建立可持续性的竞争优势，就必须施行与竞争对手不同的运营活动，或以不同方式进行类似的运营活动。公司应对其制造、物流、服务、营销、人力资源管理等业务活动进行配置调节，以使它们异与竞争对手，且适于自己特定的价值诉求。若公司将全部精力用于在各业务环节成为最优，那么最后的结果必然是在多数业务环节上类似于竞争对手，而难以获得优势。

其四，强势战略必然要有所舍弃。公司必须抛弃或取消部分的产品特色、服务、或是业务活动，这样方可与众不同。在产品和价值链上的舍弃或折衷安排可使公司鹤立鸡群。当在产品或价值链方面的改善不需要某些舍弃时，这些新举措和改善就会被竞争者们轻易模仿——因为他们无需改变已有的竞争方式。企图满足所有顾客的所有要求，其结果差不多肯定是什么也满足不了。

其五，战略表明了公司运营中的所有因素是如何适配在一起的。战略与在价值链中相互独立的决策制定有关，公司所有的业务活动彼此之间必须是互补增强的。举例来说，公司的产品设计应当有利于生产制造流程，双方又同应当有助于公司的售后服务活动。各因素的适配不仅仅增强了公司的竞争优势，并且也增加了战略的模仿难度。竞争者可能较轻易的模仿某项业务活动或者复制某个产品特色，但要照搬整个竞争体系却难上加难。如果缺少了这种适配，各方面的业务活动，如生产制造、营销、渠道物流方面的改善就会被竞争者很快的赶上。

最后，战略还必须具有稳定性和长期性的特征。公司必须坚守自己特定的价值主张，甚至不惜为此放弃某些机会。若（战略执行）没有这种稳定性和长期性，公司就不可能拥有独特的技能或资产资源，也无法在顾客中享有美誉。频繁的“（再）创新”往往意味着失败的战略构想和穷途末路，只有当公司坚持既定的战略方向时，持续的改善才是不可少的。

ref link
http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/2165.html#sidebar