Michael Porter 's Three Generic Strategies Strategy target either cost leadership, differentiation, or focus, Porter (1980). These are known as Porter 's three generic strategies and can be applied to any size or form of business. Porter claimed that a company must only choose one of the three or risk that the business would waste precious resources. Porter 's generic strategies detail the interaction between cost minimization strategies, product differentiation strategies, and market focus strategies. Porter described an industry as having multiple segments that can be targeted by a firm. The breadth of its targeting refers to the competitive scope of the business. Porter defined two types of competitive advantage: lower cost or differentiation relative to its rivals. Achieving competitive advantage results from a firm 's ability to cope with the five forces better than its rivals. Porter wrote: Achieving competitive advantage requires a firm to make a choice about the type of competitive advantage it seeks to attain and the scope within which it will attain it. He also wrote: The two basic types of competitive advantage [differentiation and lower cost] combined with the scope of activities for which a firm seeks to achieve them lead to three generic strategies for achieving above average performance in an industry: cost leadership, differentiation and focus. The focus strategy has two variants, cost focus and differentiation focus. The concept of choice was a different