I recently read “What is Strategy?” by Michael E. Porter (Harvard Business Review) and that gave me the idea to write a post mentioning briefly the concepts discussed in that document. Some people might claim that the article is outdated after more than 10 years but I really enjoy it and believe that it is still very much up to date.
From the article is it’s clear that the author separates both concepts but both are essential for a company if they want to achieve superior performance.
Operational Effectiveness, in theory, is no more than performing similar activities better than your rivals. They can easily be copied but that should not dissuade companies from doing so. Constant improvement ensures superior profitability.
Strategy on the other hand is more about performing different activities or, similar activities in different ways. “Strategy is the creation of a unique and valuable position, involving a different set of activities”. This can hardly be imitated .
Continue to read if you want to know why and are interested in the concepts of “Strategic positioning”, Trade-offs” and “Fit“. 