Business Strategy Mapping tool
Analyses activities and linkages to locate sources of cost and differentiation.
Porter's Value Chain is a system of concrete activities, not an organisation chart. Advantage may arise from one activity or coordination across activities.
Which activities and linkages drive cost or differentiation, and where is change worthwhile?
Value Chain Analysis uses primary and support activities with cost/value drivers and linkages. Assessments remain justified and context-bound.
Set boundary
Set offer, segment, geography, and horizon.
Map activities
Map primary and support activities as concrete work.
Analyse drivers
Support cost, differentiation, and linkage drivers with data.
Choose options
Prioritise improvement and make-or-buy options with trade-offs.
Reassess drivers after offer, make-or-buy, or process changes.
Useful for a defined business or offer; add partner boundaries for ecosystems.
value chain map with traceable sources, assumptions, and domain decisions.
Owners, dates, and next review for value chain map.
Fictional worked example
primary and support activities with cost/value drivers and linkages as a precise working structure with a fictional example.
Offer · segment · boundary
Audit-ready reporting for regulated B2B customers.
Inbound · Operations · Outbound · Sales · Service
Cleanse data, generate report, review.
Infrastructure · HR · Technology · Procurement
Validation rules and source trail.
Data · effect · linked activity
Six hours cleansing; automation reduces rework.
Change · trade-off · metric
Automate validation; measure hours/customer and error rate.
The example demonstrates the domain logic of Value Chain Analysis; worksheets remain blank.
Start with the core question: Which activities and linkages drive cost or differentiation, and where is change worthwhile?
Value Chain Analysis shows where value is created, costs accrue, and differentiation becomes possible along the process. It compares strengths, risks, market logic, and courses of action. The result is captured as a value-chain map and lever list.
The team breaks down a business's activities into primary and support steps. It then assesses which parts generate the most value, which drive cost, and where improvements or outsourcing could make sense. This makes the operating structure strategically legible.
Michael Porter's Value Chain Analysis breaks an organization into five primary and four support activities and examines for each one the contribution to value creation and differentiation potential. It is a classic of strategic management and is often used as an initial diagnosis before strategy workshops.
Avoid collecting activities without evaluating them. Derive concrete levers and weaknesses for each activity.
The method guide walks execution through 4 phases, timing, 4 pitfalls, and clear stop criteria.
Open method guideYour perspective
Your feedback helps shape the next improvements to methodatlas.
Plan Value Chain Analysis around its domain steps and the concrete decision question.
To be confirmed
To be confirmed
Full workshop Time: 90–120 minutes
Complete this worksheet on paper or in your own document during the work.
Offer · segment · boundary
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Inbound · Operations · Outbound · Sales · Service
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Infrastructure · HR · Technology · Procurement
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Data · effect · linked activity
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Change · trade-off · metric
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Enter only real input, sources, and decisions.
Harvard Business School: The Value Chain
Expected artifact: analysis boundary
analysis boundary · source · uncertainty · next decision
Entry:
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Expected artifact: activity chain
activity chain · source · uncertainty · next decision
Entry:
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Expected artifact: driver analysis
driver analysis · source · uncertainty · next decision
Entry:
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Expected artifact: intervention portfolio
intervention portfolio · source · uncertainty · next decision
Entry:
...
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Method guide: https://methodatlas.meierhoff-systems.de/en/methods/value-chain-analysis/run-sheet
Fitting alternatives with decision guidance, followed by other related methods.
Instead of Value Chain Analysis, choose Wardley Mapping when you want to map value creation and maturity along market evolution.
Moves the current situation, opportunities, and strategic options toward a concrete result through "place the Business Model Canvas at the center", "define two to three scenarios", and "derive actions per scenario".
Compares internal strengths and weaknesses with external opportunities and threats, deriving option paths from it.
Clarifies starting point, opportunities, and strategic options by defining the competitive factors, drawing the current value curve, and testing a new value curve.
Clarifies starting point, opportunities, and strategic options by defining the scope and market, gathering factors by category, and formulating strategic questions.
Derives concrete strategies from SWOT factors, connecting strengths, opportunities, weaknesses, and threats.
