Analysis Of Porter's Five Forces

In the following essay I will be analysing and discussing Porter’s five forces. Created and named after Michael E. Porter, Porters model of the five forces helps a “company understand the structure of its industry and stake out a position that is more profitable and less vulnerable to attack” (Porter, 2008) The five forces that shape an industry are the following; Threat of new entrants, Bargaining power of suppliers, Threat of substitute products or services, Bargaining power of buyers and finally, Rivalry among existing competitors. (Porter, 2008) This analysing tool can help determine your position in the market, help create strategies and determine the industry’s long run profit potential. In the first section of the essay I will take you

Porter states that whenever a new entrant enters an industry, they put pressure on prices, costs, and the rate of investment necessary to compete for companies already within that industry. This in turn “puts a cap on the profit potential of an industry.” (Porter, 2008) Porter also points out that there are seven barriers which new entrants much look at. The first barrier is the supply side economies of scale. “Supply-side scale economies deter entry by forcing the aspiring entrant either to come into the industry on a large scale, which requires dislodging entrenched competitors, or to accept a cost disadvantage.” (Porter, 2008, p. 81) The second barrier is the demand-side benefits of scale. “Demand-side benefits of scale discourage entry by limiting the willingness of customers to buy from a newcomer and by reducing the price the newcomer can command until it builds up a large base of customers” (Porter, 2008, p. 81) The third barrier is the customer switching cost which are “fixed costs that buyers face when they change suppliers”. (Porter, 2008, p. 81) The fourth barrier is the Capital requirements. Many industries require large financial resources in order to compete such as the airline industry which would require billions to invest in. The fifth barrier is the Incumbency advantages independent of size. Porter believes that certain companies can have certain advantages over their rivals which are

The first example is the findings which helped devised a business strategy for the telecommunications sector.

Threat of new entrants: It was found by Sutherland (2014) that the telecommunications market tends to be a monopoly or oligopoly due to the requirements of large investments and economies of scale. There are also the requirements of legal documents such as licences which can create a barrier to entry.

Bargaining powers of suppliers: Sutherland (2014) notes that, the suppliers (Governments) offer monetary aid and funding in an effort to help develop new technology in this sector.

Threat of substitute products or services: According to Sutherland (2014), there have been many attempts to find a substitute for the high costs of mobile networks. The most worrying substitute is the development of software for voice over Internet protocol. VOIP offers the customer a cheaper alternative. An example of VOIP software would be Skype.

Bargaining power of buyers: “In monopoly or oligopoly markets buyers have limited power and must rely on governments, regulators and competition authorities.” (Sutherland, 2014, p. 9) Sutherland (2014) gives the example of how customers fought against the very high international roaming charges that they’ve received and how it took so long for them to be