Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness

Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness
Name	Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness
Formation	2000
Founder	Michael Porter
Type	Research institute
Headquarters	Harvard Business School
Location	Boston, Massachusetts
Leader title	Director
Leader name	Michael Porter
Parent organization	Harvard Business School

Contents

Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness is a research center associated with Harvard Business School and founded by Michael Porter. The institute connects scholarship on corporate strategy, competitive advantage, and clusters with applied work involving government of the United States, World Bank, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, United Nations agencies, and private-sector firms. Its activities intersect with scholarship from Chicago School of Economics, Stanford Graduate School of Business, London School of Economics, INSEAD, and Wharton School.

History

The institute was established in 2000 by Michael Porter at Harvard Business School following his influential work including Competitive Strategy and The Competitive Advantage of Nations. Early collaborations involved World Economic Forum, United Nations Development Programme, European Commission, U.S. Department of Commerce, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, while methodological links drew on research traditions from Adam Smith, Alfred Marshall, Joseph Schumpeter, and John Maynard Keynes. Over time the institute expanded partnerships with McKinsey & Company, Bain & Company, Boston Consulting Group, KPMG, and PwC to translate theory into policy, and engaged with regional authorities such as Catalonia, Bavaria, São Paulo (state), Ontario, and Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

The institute's stated mission emphasizes developing frameworks that draw on Michael Porter's theories to improve competitiveness at firm, cluster, and national levels and to inform policy for Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, and subnational governments. Objectives include producing actionable analysis for Fortune 500 firms, advising Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, informing United Nations Development Programme, enhancing workforce strategies with International Labour Organization, and contributing to debates in venues like Harvard Kennedy School, Brookings Institution, and Council on Foreign Relations.

Flagship programs include cluster mapping initiatives aligned with Michael Porter's work and national competitiveness projects undertaken with World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, European Investment Bank, U.S. Agency for International Development, and municipal partners like City of Boston and New York City. Educational initiatives include executive programs taught in partnership with Harvard Business School Executive Education, joint workshops with MIT Sloan Executive Education, and fellowship programs engaging scholars from London School of Economics, University of California, Berkeley, University of Oxford, National University of Singapore, and Tsinghua University. Technology-focused initiatives explore links to Silicon Valley, Shenzhen, Bangalore, and Tel Aviv ecosystems, while sustainability efforts coordinate with United Nations Environment Programme, World Resources Institute, and C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group.

Led by Michael Porter as a founding director, the institute's organizational structure includes senior fellows, research associates, and visiting scholars drawn from Harvard Business School, Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard Law School, MIT, Stanford University, Princeton University, Yale University, Columbia University, and University of Chicago. Administrative governance engages advisory boards comprising leaders from McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group, Goldman Sachs, General Electric, Toyota Motor Corporation, Siemens, and public-sector figures from European Commission, United States Congress, and various state governments. The institute operates research clusters focusing on competitiveness metrics, cluster development, and firm strategy, coordinating with centers like Harvard Center for International Development and Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.

The institute's influence is reflected in adoption of cluster-based strategies by regions such as Basque Country, Bavaria, Catalonia, Singapore, Ireland, and Chile, and policy use by World Bank, OECD, Inter-American Development Bank, European Commission, and national ministries in India, China, Brazil, Mexico, and South Africa. Its faculty and fellows have received awards and recognitions connected to Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences laureates, cited alongside scholars like Paul Krugman, Amartya Sen, Joseph Stiglitz, Elinor Ostrom, and Angus Deaton in policy debates. The institute's materials are widely used in executive education at Harvard Business School Executive Education, INSEAD Executive Education, and professional training by McKinsey & Company and Boston Consulting Group.