Version 1.0, October 2026. 98 constructs in 18 families across 7 eras, with 18 imported theories below. Selecting a cell reveals its family, era, block, tier, and anchor works, each anchoring reference linking to the publisher’s page. Explore the 18 Family Deep Dives for granular sub-tables, or visit Resources to use the four interactive analytical tools.
Each cell: number, influence pips, block code, then symbol, construct, and anchor works
open frontier position
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Detached series · Theories imported from adjacent fields, each set near the families it feeds
Series
T
Imported Theories
23FC
Ps
Competitive Positioning
Family
1. Strategy and Positioning (I · Strategic Choice)
Era
Period 3: Competitive Advantage, 1980s
Block
FC · Formulation, content
Tier
Landmark
Cell card
Description
Porter derived generic strategies of cost leadership, differentiation, and focus from the analysis of industry structure, and Ries and Trout argued that positioning is the battle for a distinctive place in the prospect's mind, together defining positioning from the market and from the mind.
Managerial Implications
Positioning is a choice about where to compete and how, made in the customer's mind as much as in the market. Choose between cost leadership, differentiation, and focus, and avoid the middle. Then own a single clear idea in customers' heads; crowded minds reject complexity. The practical test is whether your position can be stated in one sentence that a competitor could not also claim.
How to read. Down a column follows one research stream through time. Across a row shows what the field studied in an era. Color marks the strategy domain, after Morgan et al. (2019). Pips give an influence tier. Numbers run by era, then family. Placements, anchors, and tiers are editorial judgments, and anchors are entry points rather than a complete record of any stream. Anyone who uses or adapts this table is responsible for verifying its contents against the original works.
