Turn competitive strategy from abstract theory into structured analysis.

12 executable skills + 1 orchestrator extracted from Michael Porter's Competitive Strategy — the foundational text on industry analysis and competitive positioning. Every skill was sense-checked against the original book via NotebookLM. Every sub-factor, checklist, and decision tree comes from Porter's own language, not summaries or interpretations.

Ask your agent to "analyze this industry" and get a structured five forces assessment with 32 sub-factors rated. Ask "what move should we make?" and get a commitment framework with retaliation predictions. Ask "are we stuck in the middle?" and get a diagnostic checklist with organizational requirements you're missing.

Get started

/orchestrate-porter-strategy

The orchestrator detects what you're asking and routes to the right skill(s). Or invoke any skill directly:

/analyze-five-forces
/profile-competitor
/select-generic-strategy

The 12 skills

Tier 1 — Entry points (no dependencies)

Skill What it does Porter source
/analyze-five-forces Assess industry structure across 32 sub-factors (8 entry barriers, 8 rivalry drivers, 7 buyer power factors, 6 supplier power factors, 3 substitute indicators), identify governing forces, rate overall profit potential Ch 1
/profile-competitor Build a four-component competitor profile (future goals, assumptions, current strategy, capabilities), generate a response profile predicting satisfaction, likely moves, vulnerabilities, and retaliation triggers Ch 3
/map-strategic-groups Plot competitors across 13 strategic dimensions, select optimal axes, assess mobility barriers between groups, analyze per-group rivalry and bargaining power differences Ch 7
/diagnose-industry-type Classify an industry as emerging, fragmented, transitioning to maturity, or declining using Porter's 14 evolutionary processes, then route to the appropriate industry-type strategy skill Ch 8–12

Tier 2 — Build on Tier 1 outputs

Skill What it does Porter source
/select-generic-strategy Evaluate cost leadership, differentiation, and focus against your situation. Full requirements tables (skills, org arrangements, control systems), risk profiles, and a stuck-in-the-middle diagnostic Ch 2
/read-market-signals Interpret competitor actions using Porter's 11-type signal taxonomy. Classify bluff vs. commitment, decode cross-parries and fighting brands, analyze historical behavior patterns Ch 4
/analyze-market-entry Go/no-go entry analysis with barrier cost estimation, 7 generic entry mechanisms, incumbent retaliation modeling, sequenced entry assessment, and acquisition framework Ch 16
/strategize-fragmented-industry Porter's 5-step process for fragmented industries. 11 fragmentation causes with overcomability assessment, 9 coping strategies, consolidation vs. cope recommendation Ch 9
/strategize-emerging-industry Scenario-based forecasting, shape vs. adapt decision, pioneer vs. follower timing, 8 structural characteristics, shifting barrier analysis Ch 10
/strategize-declining-industry End-game strategy selection using the 2x2 matrix (industry structure vs. firm strengths). 4 strategies (Leadership, Niche, Harvest, Divest) with hospitability assessment and exit barrier analysis Ch 12

Tier 3 — Requires competitor profile + strategy selection

Skill What it does Porter source
/design-competitive-move Design offensive or defensive moves. Cooperative vs. threatening classification, mixed motives exploitation, commitment credibility framework, focal points, deny-the-base defense Ch 5
/audit-strategy-consistency Test a strategy against Porter's 12 consistency checks across internal consistency, environmental fit, resource fit, and communication/implementation Intro

Orchestrator

Skill What it does
/orchestrate-porter-strategy Detect intent, route to the right skill(s), chain outputs, accumulate context. 5 pre-built workflow shortcuts for common analyses

Pick your scenario

"How attractive is this industry?"

/analyze-five-forces

Walks through all 5 forces with every sub-factor Porter identifies. Produces a rated assessment with the governing force highlighted and strategic implications.

"What will our competitor do next?"

/profile-competitor

Builds a four-component profile, detects blind spots via assumption analysis, and predicts responses to your potential moves.

"Should we enter this market?"

/analyze-market-entry

Estimates true entry cost (not just visible investments), models incumbent retaliation, evaluates 7 entry mechanisms, and considers sequenced entry to lower risk.

"We're in a crowded market with no dominant player"

/strategize-fragmented-industry

Diagnoses why the industry is fragmented, whether consolidation is feasible, and which of 9 coping strategies fits your position.

"Is our strategy coherent?"

/audit-strategy-consistency

Runs 12 consistency tests from Porter's Figure 1-3. Flags where goals contradict policies, resources don't match ambitions, or timing is off.

"What competitive move should we make?"

/design-competitive-move

Designs a move that exploits mixed motives — where the competitor's rational response would hurt their own broader goals. Includes commitment requirements and escalation risk assessment.

Workflow shortcuts

The orchestrator includes 5 pre-built chains for common analyses:

Workflow Chain Trigger
Quick Industry Check five-forces → diagnose-type → (type strategy) "Analyze this industry"
Competitor Deep Dive profile-competitor → read-signals "Analyze [competitor]"
Should We Enter? five-forces → market-entry "Should we enter [market]?"
What Move? profile-competitor → generic-strategy → competitive-move "How should we compete?"
Full Strategic Audit five-forces → strategic-groups → generic-strategy → consistency "Full competitive analysis"

What's in the box

porter-strategy-skills/
├── skills/
│   ├── orchestrate-porter-strategy/SKILL.md
│   ├── analyze-five-forces/SKILL.md
│   ├── profile-competitor/SKILL.md
│   ├── map-strategic-groups/SKILL.md
│   ├── diagnose-industry-type/SKILL.md
│   ├── select-generic-strategy/SKILL.md
│   ├── read-market-signals/SKILL.md
│   ├── analyze-market-entry/SKILL.md
│   ├── strategize-fragmented-industry/SKILL.md
│   ├── strategize-emerging-industry/SKILL.md
│   ├── strategize-declining-industry/SKILL.md
│   ├── design-competitive-move/SKILL.md
│   └── audit-strategy-consistency/SKILL.md
├── heuristics/catalog.md      ← 57 Porter-derived rules of thumb
├── failures/catalog.md        ← 65 failure modes with root causes
├── workflows/catalog.md       ← DAG + 5 standalone workflows
├── routing/context-rules.md   ← Full activation matrix
└── references/source-summary.md ← Chapter coverage + known gaps

Each skill includes:

  • Step-by-step procedure using Porter's exact language
  • Exhaustive sub-factor checklists (not summaries)
  • Decision logic for synthesizing findings into recommendations
  • Heuristics — rules of thumb Porter gives for quick judgment calls
  • Failure modes — what goes wrong and how to detect it
  • Structured output template
  • Worked example showing input → output

What Porter covers that this plugin doesn't (yet)

Gap Porter Chapter Why it's not here
Global industry strategy Ch 13 Multi-domestic vs. global competition framework — could warrant a strategize-global-industry skill
Vertical integration analysis Ch 14 Make-vs-buy, quasi-integration, tapered integration — could be its own skill
Capacity expansion Ch 15 Preemptive capacity, overbuilding dynamics — could fold into design-competitive-move
Buyer/supplier strategy Ch 6 Strategy toward specific buyers/suppliers beyond the five forces assessment

Installation

Cursor

/add-plugin https://github.com/gnurio/porter-strategy-skills

Claude Code

Clone into your skills directory:

git clone https://github.com/gnurio/porter-strategy-skills.git ~/.claude/skills/porter-strategy

Cowork

Add the plugin URL in your Cowork workspace settings, or clone the repo and point your workspace to the skills/ directory.