In the 1960's, MIT developed System Dynamics as an offshoot of the broader discipline of Systems Thinking. Systems Thinking detected structures underling complex problems and allowed individuals to become aware of the mental models they used to perceive reality. System Dynamics simulated interactions between objects in dynamic systems in order to understand...

Michael Porter regarded the selection of a defendable position within an industry as the end result of a competitive strategic analysis. He argued that successful, profitable companies generally choose to compete on either low costs or by differentiating their products to meet specific customer needs. Although these two strategic options are mutually exclusive,...

In the 1960's, the economist Philip Kotler changed the perception of marketing. He described what marketing is rather than what marketers do, thereby changing marketing from a departmental specialisation into a corporate wide doctrine. For Kotler, marketing was a 'social process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating...

Michael Porter published the Value Chain Analysis in 1985 as a response to criticism that his Five Forces framework lacked an implementation methodology that bridged the gap between internal capabilities and opportunities in the competitive landscape. This framework focused on industry attractiveness as a determinant of the profit potential of all companies...