ALL about Porter's Five Forces

Summary, forum, best practices, expert tips and resources.

All about Five Forces (Porter) | Five Forces Analysis and other management methods. Completely free.

12manage is a knowledge sharing platform about management with over 1 million participants. Click for more info...

What is the Five Forces model of Porter? Description

The Five Forces model of Porter is an Outside-in business unit strategy tool that is used to make an analysis of the attractiveness (value) of an industry structure. The Competitive Forces analysis is made by the identification of 5 fundamental competitive forces:

Entry of competitors. How easy or difficult is it for new entrants to start competing, which barriers do exist.
Threat of substitutes. How easy can a product or service be substituted, especially made cheaper.
Bargaining power of buyers. How strong is the position of buyers. Can they work together in ordering large volumes.
Bargaining power of suppliers. How strong is the position of sellers. Do many potential suppliers exist or only few potential suppliers, monopoly?
Rivalry among the existing players. Does a strong competition between the existing players exist? Is one player very dominant or are all equal in strength and size.

Sometimes a sixth competitive force is added:

Government.

Porter's Competitive Forces model is probably one of the most often used business strategy tools. It has proven its usefulness on numerous occasions. Porter's model is particularly strong in thinking Outside-in.

Threat of New Entrants depends on:

Economies of scale.
Capital / investment requirements.
Customer switching costs.
Access to industry distribution channels.
Access to technology.
Brand loyalty. Are customers loyal?
The likelihood of retaliation from existing industry players.
Government regulations. Can new entrants get subsidies?

Threat of Substitutes depends on:

Quality. Is a substitute better?
Buyers' willingness to substitute.
The relative price and performance of substitutes.
The costs of switching to substitutes. Is it easy to change to another product?

Bargaining Power of Suppliers depends on:

Concentration of suppliers. Are there many buyers and few dominant suppliers? Compare: Kraljic Model.
Branding. Is the brand of the supplier strong?
Profitability of suppliers. Are suppliers forced to raise prices?
Suppliers threaten to integrate forward into the industry (for example: brand manufacturers threatening to set up their own retail outlets).
Buyers do not threaten to integrate backwards into supply.
Role of quality and service.
The industry is not a key customer group to the suppliers.
Switching costs. Is it easy for suppliers to find new customers?

Bargaining Power of Buyers depends on:

Concentration of buyers. Are there a few dominant buyers and many sellers in the industry?
Differentiation. Are products standardized?
Profitability of buyers. Are buyers forced to be tough?
Role of quality and service.
Threat of backward and forward integration into the industry.
Switching costs. Is it easy for buyers to switch their supplier?

Intensity of Rivalry depends on:

The structure of competition. Rivalry will be more intense if there are lots of small or equally sized competitors; rivalry will be less if an industry has a clear market leader.
The structure of industry costs. Industries with high fixed costs encourage competitors to manufacture at full capacity by cutting prices if needed.
Degree of product differentiation. Industries where products are commodities (e.g. steel, coal) typically have greater rivalry.
Switching costs. Rivalry is reduced when buyers have high switching costs.
Strategic objectives. If competitors pursue aggressive growth strategies, rivalry will be more intense. If competitors are merely "milking" profits in a mature industry, the degree of rivalry is typically low.
Exit barriers. When barriers to leaving an industry are high, competitors tend to exhibit greater rivalry.

Strengths of the Five Competitive Forces Model. Benefits

The model is a strong tool for competitive analysis at industry level. Compare: PEST Analysis
It provides useful input for performing a SWOT Analysis.

Limitation of Porter's Five Forces model

Care should be taken when using this model for the following: do not underestimate or underemphasize the importance of the (existing) strengths of the organization (Inside-out strategy). See: Core Competence
The model was designed for analyzing individual business strategies. It does not cope with synergies and interdependencies within the portfolio of large corporations. See: Parenting Advantage
From a more theoretical perspective, the model does not address the possibility that an industry could be attractive because certain companies are in it.
Some people claim that environments which are characterized by rapid, systemic and radical change require more flexible, dynamic or emergent approaches to strategy formulation. See: Disruptive Innovation
Sometimes it may be possible to create completely new markets instead of selecting from existing ones. See: Blue Ocean Strategy

Overview of the Book "Competitive Strategy"

In Part I, Porter discusses the structural analysis of industries (with the five forces), the three generic competitive strategies (overall Cost Leadership, Focus, and Differentiation), offering an excellent framework for competitor analysis, competitive moves, strategy toward buyers and suppliers, structural analysis within industries (strategic groups, strategic mapping, mobility barriers), and industry evolution (life cycle, evolutionary processes).
In Part II, Porter discusses competitive strategy within various generic industry environments. Such as: fragmented industries (with no real market leader), emerging industries, mature industries, declining industries, and global industries.
In Part III, Porter discusses strategic decisions which businesses/firms can take. Such as: vertical integration (forward, backward, partnerships), capacity expansion, and entry into new industries/businesses.

Book: Michael E. Porter - Competitive Strategy -

Five Forces (Porter) | Five Forces Analysis Special Interest Group

Special Interest Group (1094 members)

Forum about Five Forces (Porter) | Five Forces Analysis

Discussions about Five Forces (Porter) | Five Forces Analysis.

	The New Industrial Economics School Industrial Economics (IE) involves the study of firms, industries and markets. It looks at firms of all sizes and a any (...)

	Why Porter's Monitor Consulting Company Failed In 1983, Michael Porter co-founded his consulting company, the Monitor Group. In November 2012, Monitor was unable to pa (...)

🔥	NEW Porter's 5 Forces Framework in Non-competitive Situations? Hi, what part of Porter's five forces framework is inappropriate for non-competitive situations? I appreciate your help (...)

Best Practices about Five Forces (Porter) | Five Forces Analysis

Here you find the most valuable discussions from the past.

🥇	Assumptions of the Five Forces model The Five Forces model has two basic premises. The first is that the goal of a business is long-term profitability. The s (...)

🥈	5 Forces in the public sector The profitability (such as more students & diploma's) in the education sector is becoming increasingly a predicament for (...)

🥉	Apple Inc. and 5 Forces Who can give some analysis about apple inc.'s use of Porter's five forces? Thank you... (...)

	5 Forces in Emerging Industries How can Porter's five forces model be applied within emerging industries? (...)

	Government as 6th Force in Porter's Five Forces Who can give an explanation of the government factor in Porter's Five Forces? What is it? Who introduced it? (...)

	MEDIA as the 7th Force in Porter's Five Forces If media is added it would complement the Porter model of forces, as the media today have become an inevitably interwove (...)

	Industry Analysis model Another name for the Five Forces model by Porter is: Industry Analysis model. (...)

	5 forces and supplier marketing The 5 forces model doesn't take in to account supplier's marketing strategy especially investement in to advertizing and (...)

	Porter's Five Forces is Excellent Tool Porter's' five force theory is an excellent tool that is applicable to all areas of business along with its complement t (...)

	Basis of Five Forces Strategies The five forces theory looks at strategy formulation from the industry(macro) perspective. The theory is hinged on the c (...)

	Substitution in the Five Forces Model I am interested in 'substitutes' such as: 1. New inventions - e.g. Mobile phones as communicators 2. New applications (...)

	How does Information Technology alter Porter's 5 Forces How does Information Technology alter each of the five competitive forces in Porter's five forces model? (...)

	Business Networking: Forces are Getting Connected I think, there is an interesting phenomena around us due to business networking. Can't we say that the basic model has n (...)

	Bargaining Power of Buyers. Examples What precisely is bargaining power of buyers? Can you cite an example? Thank you. (...)

	5 Forces Model Limitations Would be very useful to have a critical review of this model, as it has limits. (...)

	Porter 5 Forces and E-Commerce How can we amplify the model into a e-commerce business? Has anyone an idea?? (...)

	Measuring / Calculating the Five Forces of Porter? Hi, can somebody help me how to calculate the co-efficients for each of the five forces. I understand all of the 5 force (...)

	Evolution in Our Expectations of Business and Porter's Model One item that does not easily float to consciousness is the evolution in our expectations of business and how we define (...)

	There are More than Porter's 5 Forces! We also have other forces that operate together with Porters model. For example Government, Society and natural phenome (...)

	The Conclusion based on the Five Forces Model Who can tell more about the conclusion based on the 5 forces model after you have analyzed all competitive forces? How (...)

	How to Deal with Competitors in Five Forces Analysis? Okay I understand the five forces, but when I'm trying to apply the model, where do I place other competitive rivals of (...)

	Does Competition Increase the Need for Segmentation? When a market becomes more and more competitive, does that require more emphasis on ? In other words: is increasing comp (...)

	Who is the Buyer in the Internet Industry? Can someone help to identify who plays the buyer role in the Internet industry? Is it the individual person? Or does it (...)

	Five Forces in Accounting Services Industry What organizations / individuals / items contribute to or exert the force which can be observed in the accounting servic (...)

Expert Tips about Five Forces (Porter) | Five Forces Analysis

Here you will find advices by experts.

	Influence of Internet Impact of Internet on Industry (...)

	5 Forces model is a snapshot Analyzing industry structure (...)

	Five Forces in knowledge firms Knowledge-intensive Firms (...)

	Five Forces e-Banking Online Banking (...)

	The Role of Competitors in Strategy and Business Failures Competitive Strategy, Competitive Environment, Competitive Intelligence, Industry Analysis (...)

Information Sources about Five Forces (Porter) | Five Forces Analysis

Here you will find powerpoints, videos, news, etc.

	Five Forces overview Overview Presentation (...)

	Typologies and Strategies of Co-opetition Co-opetition, Strategic Partnerships, Strategic Collaboration, Strategic Clusters (...)

	5 Forces Assessment 5 Forces Self-Assessment (...)

	How Businesses can Use Information Technology (IT) in Strategic Ways Strategic Management, Information Technology (...)

	7 Steps for Creating a Strategic Business Plan Strategic Planning, Strategic Management, Business Planning, Business Plan (...)

	Interview Porter: How to Apply the Five Forces Framework? Applying the 5 Forces for Fundamental Industry Analysis (...)

	Interview Michael Porter: Getting Started with the 5 Forces and Involving Everybody Initial Understanding of Industry Analysis (...)

	Interview Porter: The Basic Notion of the Five Forces Initial understanding of the Five Competitive Forces (...)

Return to Management Hub: Decision-making & Valuation | Finance & Investing | Marketing | Strategy | Supply Chain & Quality

More Management Methods, Models and Theory

Special Interest Group Leader

You here? Sign up for free

Five Forces Porter