Porter's five forces analysis is a framework for industry analysis and business strategy development. It draws upon industrial organization economics to analyze five competitive forces that determine the attractiveness and therefore profitability of an industry. The five forces are: the threat of new entrants, the threat of substitutes, the bargaining power of suppliers, the bargaining power of buyers, and the intensity of rivalry among existing competitors. Analyzing these forces can help companies identify whether an industry is attractive to compete in from a profitability perspective.

1. Porter five forces analysis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This article relies on references to primary sources or sources affiliated with the
subject, rather than references from independent authors and third-party publications.
Please add citations from reliable sources. (October 2009)
A graphical representation of Porter's Five Forces
'Porter's five forces analysis is a framework for industry analysis and business strategy
development formed by Michael E. Porter of Harvard Business School in 1979. It draws upon
industrial organization (IO) economics to derive five forces that determine the competitive
intensity and therefore attractiveness of a market. Attractiveness in this context refers to the
overall industry profitability. An "unattractive" industry is one in which the combination of these
five forces acts to drive down overall profitability. A very unattractive industry would be one
approaching "pure competition", in which available profits for all firms are driven to normal
profit.
Three of Porter's five forces refer to competition from external sources. The remainder are
internal threats.
Porter referred to these forces as the micro environment, to contrast it with the more general term
macro environment. They consist of those forces close to a company that affect its ability to
serve its customers and make a profit. A change in any of the forces normally requires a business
unit to re-assess the marketplace given the overall change in industry information. The overall
industry attractiveness does not imply that every firm in the industry will return the same
profitability. Firms are able to apply their core competencies, business model or network to
achieve a profit above the industry average. A clear example of this is the airline industry. As an
industry, profitability is low and yet individual companies, by applying unique business models,
have been able to make a return in excess of the industry average.
Porter's five forces include - three forces from 'horizontal' competition: threat of substitute
products, the threat of established rivals, and the threat of new entrants; and two forces from
'vertical' competition: the bargaining power of suppliers and the bargaining power of customers.

2. This five forces analysis, is just one part of the complete Porter strategic models. The other
elements are the value chain and the generic strategies.[citation needed]
Porter developed his Five Forces analysis in reaction to the then-popular SWOT analysis, which
he found unrigorous and ad hoc.[1] Porter's five forces is based on the Structure-Conduct-
Performance paradigm in industrial organizational economics. It has been applied to a diverse
range of problems, from helping businesses become more profitable to helping governments
stabilize industries.[2]
Contents
[hide]
1 Five forces
o 1.1 Threat of new competition
o 1.2 Threat of substitute products or services
o 1.3 Bargaining power of customers (buyers)
o 1.4 Bargaining power of suppliers
o 1.5 Intensity of competitive rivalry
2 Usage
3 Criticisms
4 See also
5 References
6 Further reading
7 External links
[edit] Five forces
[edit] Threat of new competition
Profitable markets that yield high returns will attract new firms. This results in many new
entrants, which eventually will decrease profitability for all firms in the industry. Unless the
entry of new firms can be blocked by incumbents, the abnormal profit rate will tend towards zero
(perfect competition).
The existence of barriers to entry (patents, rights, etc.) The most attractive segment is one
in which entry barriers are high and exit barriers are low. Few new firms can enter and
non-performing firms can exit easily.
Economies of product differences
Brand equity
Switching costs or sunk costs
Capital requirements
Access to distribution
Customer loyalty to established brands

3. Absolute cost
Industry profitability; the more profitable the industry the more attractive it will be to
new competitors.
[edit] Threat of substitute products or services
The existence of products outside of the realm of the common product boundaries increases the
propensity of customers to switch to alternatives. Note that this should not be confused with
competitors' similar products but entirely different ones instead. For example, Pepsi is not
considered a substitute for Coke but water, tea, coffee, and milk are.
Buyer propensity to substitute
Relative price performance of substitute
Buyer switching costs
Perceived level of product differentiation
Number of substitute products available in the market
Ease of substitution. Information-based products are more prone to substitution, as online
product can easily replace material product.
Substandard product
Quality depreciation
[edit] Bargaining power of customers (buyers)
The bargaining power of customers is also described as the market of outputs: the ability of
customers to put the firm under pressure, which also affects the customer's sensitivity to price
changes.
Buyer concentration to firm concentration ratio
Degree of dependency upon existing channels of distribution
Bargaining leverage, particularly in industries with high fixed costs
Buyer volume
Buyer switching costs relative to firm switching costs
Buyer information availability
Availability of existing substitute products
Buyer price sensitivity
Differential advantage (uniqueness) of industry products
RFM Analysis
[edit] Bargaining power of suppliers
The bargaining power of suppliers is also described as the market of inputs. Suppliers of raw
materials, components, labor, and services (such as expertise) to the firm can be a source of
power over the firm, when there are few substitutes. Suppliers may refuse to work with the firm,
or, e.g., charge excessively high prices for unique resources.

4. Supplier switching costs relative to firm switching costs
Degree of differentiation of inputs
Impact of inputs on cost or differentiation
Presence of substitute inputs
Strength of distribution channel
Supplier concentration to firm concentration ratio
Employee solidarity (e.g. labor unions)
Supplier competition - ability to forward vertically integrate and cut out the BUYER
Ex.: If you are making biscuits and there is only one person who sells flour, you have no
alternative but to buy it from him.
[edit] Intensity of competitive rivalry
For most industries, the intensity of competitive rivalry is the major determinant of the
competitiveness of the industry.
Sustainable competitive advantage through innovation
Competition between online and offline companies
Level of advertising expense
Powerful competitive strategy
[edit] Usage
Strategy consultants occasionally use Porter's five forces framework when making a qualitative
evaluation of a firm's strategic position. However, for most consultants, the framework is only a
starting point or "checklist." They might use " Value Chain" afterward. Like all general
frameworks, an analysis that uses it to the exclusion of specifics about a particular situation is
considered naїve.
According to Porter, the five forces model should be used at the line-of-business industry level; it
is not designed to be used at the industry group or industry sector level. An industry is defined at
a lower, more basic level: a market in which similar or closely related products and/or services
are sold to buyers. (See industry information.) A firm that competes in a single industry should
develop, at a minimum, one five forces analysis for its industry. Porter makes clear that for
diversified companies, the first fundamental issue in corporate strategy is the selection of
industries (lines of business) in which the company should compete; and each line of business
should develop its own, industry-specific, five forces analysis. The average Global 1,000
company competes in approximately 52 industries (lines of business).
[edit] Criticisms
Porter's framework has been challenged by other academics and strategists such as Stewart Neill.
Similarly, the likes of Kevin P. Coyne [1] and Somu Subramaniam have stated that three dubious
assumptions underlie the five forces:

5. That buyers, competitors, and suppliers are unrelated and do not interact and collude.
That the source of value is structural advantage (creating barriers to entry).
That uncertainty is low, allowing participants in a market to plan for and respond to
competitive behavior. [3]
An important extension to Porter was found in the work of Adam Brandenburger and Barry
Nalebuff in the mid-1990s. Using game theory, they added the concept of complementors (also
called "the 6th force"), helping to explain the reasoning behind strategic alliances. The idea that
complementors are the sixth force has often been credited to Andrew Grove, former CEO of Intel
Corporation. According to most references, the sixth force is government or the public. Martyn
Richard Jones, whilst consulting at Groupe Bull, developed an augmented 5 forces model in
Scotland in 1993. It is based on Porter's model and includes Government (national and regional)
as well as Pressure Groups as the notional 6th force. This model was the result of work carried
out as part of Groupe Bull's Knowledge Asset Management Organisation initiative.
Porter indirectly rebutted the assertions of other forces, by referring to innovation, government,
and complementary products and services as "factors" that affect the five forces.[4]
It is also perhaps not feasible to evaluate the attractiveness of an industry independent of the
resources a firm brings to that industry. It is thus argued[citation needed] that this theory be coupled
with the Resource-Based View (RBV) in order for the firm to develop a much more sound
strategy.
[edit] See also
Delta model
Six Forces Model
National Diamond
Value chain
Porter's four corners model
Industry classification
Nonmarket forces
Strategy: Porter's Five Forces Model:
analysing industry structure
Defining an industry
An industry is a group of firms that market products which are close substitutes for each other
(e.g. the car industry, the travel industry).

6. Some industries are more profitable than others. Why? The answer lies in understanding the
dynamics of competitive structure in an industry.
The most influential analytical model for assessing the nature of competition in an industry is
Michael Porter's Five Forces Model, which is described below:
Porter explains that there are five forces that determine industry attractiveness and long-run
industry profitability. These five "competitive forces" are
- The threat of entry of new competitors (new entrants)
- The threat of substitutes
- The bargaining power of buyers
- The bargaining power of suppliers
- The degree of rivalry between existing competitors
Threat of New Entrants
New entrants to an industry can raise the level of competition, thereby reducing its attractiveness.
The threat of new entrants largely depends on the barriers to entry. High entry barriers exist in
some industries (e.g. shipbuilding) whereas other industries are very easy to enter (e.g. estate
agency, restaurants). Key barriers to entry include
- Economies of scale
- Capital / investment requirements
- Customer switching costs
- Access to industry distribution channels
- The likelihood of retaliation from existing industry players.
Threat of Substitutes

7. The presence of substitute products can lower industry attractiveness and profitability because
they limit price levels. The threat of substitute products depends on:
- Buyers' willingness to substitute
- The relative price and performance of substitutes
- The costs of switching to substitutes
Bargaining Power of Suppliers
Suppliers are the businesses that supply materials & other products into the industry.
The cost of items bought from suppliers (e.g. raw materials, components) can have a significant
impact on a company's profitability. If suppliers have high bargaining power over a company,
then in theory the company's industry is less attractive. The bargaining power of suppliers will be
high when:
- There are many buyers and few dominant suppliers
- There are undifferentiated, highly valued products
- Suppliers threaten to integrate forward into the industry (e.g. brand manufacturers threatening
to set up their own retail outlets)
- Buyers do not threaten to integrate backwards into supply
- The industry is not a key customer group to the suppliers
Bargaining Power of Buyers
Buyers are the people / organisations who create demand in an industry
The bargaining power of buyers is greater when
- There are few dominant buyers and many sellers in the industry
- Products are standardised
- Buyers threaten to integrate backward into the industry
- Suppliers do not threaten to integrate forward into the buyer's industry
- The industry is not a key supplying group for buyers
Intensity of Rivalry
The intensity of rivalry between competitors in an industry will depend on:
- The structure of competition - for example, rivalry is more intense where there are many
small or equally sized competitors; rivalry is less when an industry has a clear market leader
- The structure of industry costs - for example, industries with high fixed costs encourage
competitors to fill unused capacity by price cutting

8. - Degree of differentiation - industries where products are commodities (e.g. steel, coal) have
greater rivalry; industries where competitors can differentiate their products have less rivalry
- Switching costs - rivalry is reduced where buyers have high switching costs - i.e. there is a
significant cost associated with the decision to buy a product from an alternative supplier
- Strategic objectives - when competitors are pursuing aggressive growth strategies, rivalry is
more intense. Where competitors are "milking" profits in a mature industry, the degree of rivalry
is less
- Exit barriers - when barriers to leaving an industry are high (e.g. the cost of closing down
factories) - then competitors tend to exhibit greater rivalry.
Michael Porter Five Forces Model
Wanting to incorporate Michael Porter's Five Forces Model into your marketing strategy?
Business Insight® will do this for you automatically.
Michael Porter described a concept that has become known as the "five forces model". This
concept involves a relationship between competitors within an industry, potential competitors,
suppliers, buyers and alternative solutions to the problem being addressed. We used the five-
forces model as a basic structure and built on it with concepts from the works of many other
authors. The result was a model with over 5,000 relational links.

9. While each industry involves all of these factors, the relational strengths vary. Business Insight®
uses input from the user to create a unique model of their industry. Then thousands of "rules" are
applied to evaluate hundreds of marketing and business concepts as they relate to the user's
unique circumstances. This results in a set of analyses, including:
a success potential rating in eleven key areas
a list of strategic strengths and weaknesses
observations on strategic inconsistencies
a written critique of your strategy
a graphic analysis of key marketing concepts
a written draft of a marketing plan
Business Insight® will also show you where you can improve your strategy for any given
business concept. It will even compare your strategy to your competition!
To learn more about software that implements Michael Porter's five forces model, click here for
a detailed product description of Business Insight®.