Commonalities: http://tagsko.com/porter_vs_ansoff ----> Awesome read DIFFERENCES: 1.

T h e o d o r e Levi t t ' s s emina l s t a t e m e n t of the ma r k e t i n g c o n c e p t a r g u e d t h a t c u s t ome r n e e d s m u s t be t h e central focus of the f i rm' s d e f i n i t i o n of its bus ine s s p u r p o s e : . . the o r g a n i z a t i o n m u s t l e a rn to t h i n k of itself n o t as p r o d u c ing g o o d s a n d services b u t as b u y i n g c u s t ome r s , as d o i n g the things t h a t will ma k e p e o p l e w a n t to d o b u s i n e s s w i t h it. A n d the chi e f executive h ims e l f h a s the inescapable responsibility for c r e a t ing this e n v i r o n m e n t , thi s v i ewp o i n t , this a t t i t u d e , thi s aspi r a t ion. 4 ~ Building o n t h e b a s e e s t a b l i s h e d in m a r ke t ing, A n s o f f a r g u e d t h a t Levi t t ' s m a n d a t e to d e f i n e t h e b u s i n e s s mi s s ion in t e r m s o f c u s t o m e r n e e d s w a s too broad. It d i d n o t c o n s i d e r t h e basic fact t h a t a f i rm' s t e c h n i c a l c o m p e t e n c e a n d its ability to r e s p o n d to cus t o m e r n e e d s h a d to b e f a c t o r e d i n t o t h e d e f i n i t i o n o f s t r a t e g y a n d t h e sel e c t ion o f m a r k e t s s e r v e d a n d p r o d uc t s o f f e r e d . A n s o f f p r o p o s e d f o u r s t r a t egi c o p t i o n s , c a l l ed g r o w t h v e c -

tors, d e f i n e d b y t h e cells in a two - b y two ma t r i x o f o l d / n e w p r o d u c t s / m a r kets: m a r k e t p e n e t r a t i o n ; m a r k e t d e velopment; product development; and diversification (see Figure). Each d e f i n e d a d i r e c t i o n in w h i c h t h e f i rm c o u l d e l e c t to g r o w , d e p e n d i n g u p o n its basic c apabi l i t i e s a n d m a r k e t o p p o r t u n i t i e s . T h e p r o b l e m w a s to allocate t h e f i rm' s e f f o r t s a n d r e s o u r c e s among competing growth opportunities, f i n d i n g t h e b e s t g r o w t h v e c t o r s . An s o f f a l so d e v e l o p e d t h e c o n c e p t o f "competitive advantage" (sometimes called " d i s t i n c t i v e c o m p e t e n c e " ) , t h e idea tha t e v e r y f i rm h a s a c e r t a in t h i n g t h a t it d o e s e s p e c i a l l y we l l in pa r t i c ul a r m a r k e t s e g m e n t s a n d t h a t g i v e s it a n e d g e o v e r its c o m p e t i t i o n . T h e f i rm m u s t f i n d m a r k e t n i c h e s t h a t va lue , a n d p r o v i d e f u r t h e r o p p o r t u n ities to d e v e l o p , its c o m p e t i t i v e a d vantage. Finally, there was the concept of strategic "synergy," the argument that each new venture (product or market) should benefit f r om, b e c o n s i s t e n t w i t h , a n d h e l p to develop some aspect of the firm's c omp e t i t i v e s t r e n g t h s a n d d i s t i n c t i v e competence.

2. Igor Ansoff argued, in response to Levitt, that a firms mission should exploit an existing need in the market, rather than using the consumer as the common thread in business . In reality a given type of customer will frequently have a range of product missions or needs.

3. Igor Ansoff, argued that Levitt was asking companies to take unnecessary risks by investing in new products that might not fit the firm's distinctive competence. Ansoff argued that a company should first ask whether a new product had a "common thread" with its existing products. He defined the common thread as a firm's "mission" or its commitment to exploit an existing need in the market as a whole.15 Ansoff noted that "sometimes the customer is erroneously identified as the common thread of a firm's business. In reality, a given type of customer will frequently have a range of unrelated product missions or needs."16 Thus, for a firm to maintain its strategic focus, Ansoff suggested certain categories for defining the common thread in its business/corporate strategy. Ansoff and others also focused on translating the logic of the SWOT framework into a series of concrete questions that needed to be answered in the development of strategies 4. Page 73 on http://books.google.co.in/books?id=h74RYx9FhHcC&pg=PA73&lpg=PA73&dq=ansoff+compare+levitt&source=bl&ots=ETzphulxp&sig=WZqAiVwUkmoDAoWxxS8Cynsxptg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=wyG1T6GZL4i3rAeo__2UDA&ved=0CF4Q6AEwCA#v=onepa ge&q=levitt&f=false ------> Good read 5.Page 19 on http://books.google.co.in/books?id=8XtyZGJlwtAC&pg=PA19&lpg=PA19&dq=ansoff+compare+levitt&source=bl&ots=USKgxHNeP&sig=VvjI67KVOdnyLv2M8LeWByQFxgM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=wyG1T6GZL4i3rAeo__2UDA&ved=0CFQQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=an soff%20compare%20levitt&f=false -----> Good read 6. http://www.fearp.usp.br/fava/pdf/rediscovery.pdf -----Page 32 ---> good read