What is Porter’s 5 Forces Model? Definition, Threat Components, Framework and Benefits

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What is Porter’s 5 Forces Model?

Porter’s Five Forces is defined as a paramount external threat analysis model meticulously crafted for enterprises. Originating from the intellectual prowess of Harvard professor Michael E. Porter, this strategic framework dissects the competitive landscape into five omnipresent threat forces. These forces, ubiquitous across industries and irrespective of the product or service in question, play a pivotal role in shaping the competitive dynamics of a business.

These five forces encapsulate the spectrum of external pressures—ranging from the bargaining power of suppliers and buyers to the menace posed by potential new entrants, the intensity of competitive rivalry, and the looming specter of substitute products or services. By navigating through these forces, businesses gain profound insights into the structural intricacies of their industry, enabling them to craft strategic responses that leverage strengths and mitigate weaknesses, fostering long-term profitability.

In essence, Porter’s Five Forces emerges not only as an analytical tool but as a guiding compass for enterprises seeking to fortify their competitive position. It empowers decision-makers to make informed strategic choices that transcend industry boundaries, ensuring resilience and sustained success in the face of dynamic external forces.

Threat Components of Porter’s 5 Forces Model

The 5 external factors that make up Porter’s 5 forces are:

• The threat of competition from rival firms

• Threat from new industry entrants

• Threats from substitute products/ services

• Threat from the bargaining power of customers

• Threat from the bargaining power of suppliers

This model is a key tool for enterprise strategic planning, where key management members plan the larger goals and objectives that drive the company’s operations.

Here is a detailed explanation of the 5 key threat components that are to be analyzed in Porter’s 5 Forces model:

1. The threat of competition from rival firms

In any industry, there will be a range of competition across all market segments for a business to navigate. The degree of competition may vary based on geography, politics, user preferences, etc. The general assumption here is that the market is relatively free from crony capitalism and political favoritism.

A business may choose to manage this threat by acquiring unique selling point (USP) strengths in its products/ services. These may be special features that are hard to replicate, constant innovation to produce new and useful features, inorganic growth through competition acquisitions, reduced prices through increased production-chain efficiency, etc.

2. Threat from new industry entrants

A business may already know how to deal with existing competition in their range of products/ services. However, an existing threat always remains – a new entrant with a business edge.

Any new entrant is not the real issue since existing competition may alone erode them before they become a threat. However, if a new entrant has a special niche that is lacking in the existing vendors, then that may soon become a threat that any business needs to rise up to if they are to stay competitive.

Financially, managing this threat may include maintaining a special contingency fund to be used to deal with new and sudden competition, making a budget for acquiring a rival of the new entrant and then growing and merging it with the main business, or directly offering to but out the new entrant.

Operationally, the business may need to develop similar features and/or pricing as the new entrant’s offering. This may involve legal poaching of employees, replicating certain aspects for immediate effect (in case of non-patented features) and then trying to improve it more than what the new entrant can offer, etc.

3. Threats from substitute products/ services

A substitute product may be a type of product that doesn’t need to be the same product line but eats away at a business’s existing market demand. A simple example would be the 2007 introduction of the iPhone and the subsequent erosion of Nokia and Blackberry. An iPhone was not the same product line of feature phones which was largely what Nokia and Blackberry were offering – it was simply a better product line that was on a league of its own.

Another example would be the early 2000s MP3 players replacing the entire CD market.

4. Threat from the bargaining power of customers

The bargaining power of existing customers points to the uniqueness and demand of your product/ service, compared to the competition. The more unique the product, the less the bargaining power of customers. Alternatively, if the product does not carry a sales edge, then competition will attract more customers and buyers and existing customers can bargain in return for purchase. If the demands are not met, then customers tend to migrate to customers or alternative products.

5. Threat from the bargaining power of suppliers

The bargaining power of suppliers comes from the level of uniqueness of the product/ raw material they are supplying to the business. If the supplier market is small and the item being supplied is in high demand, then such a supplier will have a high bargaining power compared to the businesses purchasing their supplies.

However, if the supplier market gets new entrants or new competition or sees the entry of a substitute product – the same threats that threaten any business, then their bargaining power vis-a-vis any customer (business) reduces.

Vendor diversification is a good way to deal with the threat coming from supplier bargaining power. In the case of very niche suppliers, the business may choose to start its own supply line to their business through vendor acquisitions or start one from scratch.

Porter’s 5 Forces Framework Analysis

Porter’s Five Forces framework, developed by Michael E. Porter, is a strategic analysis tool used to assess the competitive forces within an industry or market. This framework helps businesses and organizations understand the competitive dynamics and make informed decisions about strategy and resource allocation. The five forces are:

• Threat of New Entrants: This factor evaluates the barriers to entry for potential competitors in the industry. High barriers to entry, such as economies of scale, brand loyalty, and government regulations, can make it difficult for new players to compete. Conversely, low barriers can attract new entrants and intensify competition.

• Bargaining Power of Suppliers: Suppliers have power when they can dictate terms, prices, or supply levels to their customers. This force is strong when there are few suppliers or when they offer unique or critical inputs. Weak supplier power occurs when there are many suppliers and their products are easily replaceable.

• Bargaining Power of Buyers: Buyers have power when they can demand lower prices, better quality, or more favorable terms from the companies they purchase from. Buyer power is strong when there are few buyers or when their purchases represent a significant portion of the supplier’s revenue. In contrast, weak buyer power results from a fragmented customer base or when buyers face high switching costs.

• Threat of Substitutes: This force assesses the availability of alternative products or services that can satisfy a customer’s needs. The more substitutes are available, the higher the threat they pose to a company’s products or services. Industries with limited substitutes have more pricing power and are less vulnerable to competition.

• Rivalry Among Existing Competitors: This force measures the intensity of competition among existing players in the industry. Factors that increase rivalry include numerous competitors, slow industry growth, high fixed costs, and little differentiation between products or services. Fierce competition can result in price wars and diminished profitability.

By analyzing these five forces, businesses can gain insights into the competitive landscape and develop strategies to mitigate threats and leverage opportunities. Understanding these forces can help organizations make decisions related to pricing, marketing, product development, and other aspects of their business strategy.

Benefits of Applying Porter’s 5 Forces for Enterprise Planning

1. Improves external threat management

Porter’s 5 Forces are the key tool for any enterprise management team for the study, analysis, and discovery of external threats. Understanding threats and threat potential is the first step to planning for steps involved in managing them, and ensuring growth plans are not hindered by their existence or emergence.

2. Provides direction for acquisitions and mergers

• Mergers: In ancient and medieval times, marriages often took place among rivals who looked towards threat management through unification where their combined strength is needed to deal with a larger 3rd rival. The other reason may be to end the rivalry and become larger together.

Mergers are the modern corporate version of such marriages. Often firms become more competitive, gain market share, and can compete with rivals much more efficiently through such mergers.

• Acquisitions: As the saying goes – if you can’t beat them, buy them. Instead of equating it to medieval conquest, which is a messy affair and leads to much mutual damage, an acquisition is usually a mutually beneficial arrangement that seeks to preserve the maximum value of the entity being purchased instead of damaging it.

Acquisitions are a great threat management tool that can reduce competition and gain market share. However, acquisitions can also lead to reduced liquidity and/or owner’s stake in the company, which may in turn expose the company to newer threats if not managed properly.

A well-known example of a similar situation gone wrong is the 2007 Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) full-cash acquisition of ABN Amro for $17 Billion, which plunged the bank into despair next year when it found itself out of cash to deal with the housing crisis in the US.

3. Key pillar for disaster management and recovery planning

An enterprise disaster management and recovery plan is a contingency plan that kicks in in case of extraordinary developments that threaten the existence of the business. These can be natural disasters or man-made, including business fraud. Porter’s 5 Forces provide a holistic framework to analyze and prepare for such disasters at an enterprise planning level.

4. Helps defend against hostile takeovers

Although Porter’s 5 Forces are meant to be focused on the product/ services offering, the analysis process leads to a focus on competitor moves in general. This includes the threat arriving out of hostile takeover bids from competitors or a business seeking to make an entry.

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