Porter's Five Forces Analysis: Potentia Bargaining Power Of Buyer

Both potential and existing competitors influence average industry profitability. The threat of new entrants is usually based on the market entry barriers. They can take diverse forms and are used to prevent an influx of firms into an industry whenever profits, adjusted for the cost of capital, rise above zero. In contrast, entry barriers exist whenever it is difficult or not economically feasible for an outsider to replicate the incumbents’ position (Porter, 1980b; Sanderson, 1998) The most common forms of entry barriers, except intrinsic physical or legal obstacles, are as follows:

Threat of New Entrants - The easier it is for new companies to enter the industry, the more cutthroat competition there will be. Factors that can limit the threat of new entrants are known as barriers to entry. Some examples include:

Bargaining power of supplier: High levels of competition among suppliers act to reduce prices to producers. This is a positive for Ford Motor Company. Standardization of parts allowed Ford to reduce dependency on fixed supplier/vendor which goes into producer’s favor.

Threat of New Entry: Overall there is not a great barrier to new entry but because of the stiff competition at the top new entrants have had struggles.

The threat of new entrants is measured by the level of entry barriers, brand reputation and customer loyalty, potential for existing competitors to expand, growth of buyer demand,

The bargaining power of buyers stands in a direct relationship with the bargaining power of suppliers. If the bargaining power of buyers is substantial it increases the opportunity cost of suppliers. The greater the buyers concentration the greater their bargaining power. This bargaining power is also increased in markets where the suppliers’ concentration is high. The bargaining power is also increased when the cost of switching from one supplier to another is low. In instances where backward vertical integration is possible i.e. buyers setting up their own chains of suppliers the bargaining power of the buyer increases in that their prices may become more competitive. In a market where the buyers are more concerned over quality than price their bargaining power decreases as they are less inclined to shop

Furthermore, the bargaining power of the buyers will influence the ability of the seller to achieve profitability. If the power of the buyer is strong, it can give the pressure to the seller by lowering the prices, increase the quality of the product and also offers services to the buyer. Therefore, the industry become more competitive and profit potential of seller decline. On the other hand, if the power of the buyers is weak, seller’s mercy in terms of quality and price, thus the competitiveness of the industry decline and the profit potential of the seller

Bargaining power is a tricky one because it can work both ways. Buyers have a certain level of power in any industry. A buyer may switch suppliers very easily if there are no penalties and it is cost effective for them. If a large firm makes a large purchase of goods from another firm, it may be mutually beneficial and if serviced well, have the potential for repeat business. However, the buyer then has the power to use a substitute or competitor which would negatively affect the seller. Buyers are always the more powerful of the two because some buyers have the ability to put pressure on lower costs from suppliers, while demanding an increase of the quality of products or services provided to them. Also, the bargaining power in industries with high fixed costs like the airline industry can play a big factor. On the other hand, things like jet engines, tires and other key safety devices on aircrafts can cause severe consequences if this equipment malfunctions. For that reason, the buyer has a reduced amount of bargaining power with suppliers in this industry. The bargaining power of buyers is both high and low, so I ranked it medium.

The threat of new entrants refers to the threat posed by new competitors within an industry. If it is easy for new firms to enter the industry barriers to entry are low and the threat of new entrants is high. A profitable industry attracts more competitors. Economies of scale, learning curve effects and other macro factors impact the nature of an industry 's

The power of suppliers. Suppliers are those who supply the organisations what they need in order to produce the products or provide specific services. Except for raw materials amd equipment, it includes labour and finance. The factors that may increase supplier power are, obviously, opposite to those that, generally, increase the power of buyers. Suppliers may have more power if: they are in concentrated numbers compared to buyers; there are high switching costs associated with a move to another supplier; they are able to integrate forward or begin producing the product themselves; they have specific expertise or technology needed to manufacture goods; their product is highly differentiated; there are many buyers and none make up significant portions of sales; there are no substitutes available; there are strong end users who can exert power over the organization in favour of a supplier (This can be the case in labour situations). [Marc. (2014). Bargaining Power Of Suppliers | Porter’s Five Forces Model. Available: http://www.entrepreneurial-insights.com/bargaining-power-of-suppliers-porters-five-forces/] Well-known examples of strong suppliers are: DeBeers – dominates the diamond market; Microsoft – practically dominates the market for personal computer operating systems; Intel & AMD – dominate the market for processor chips; Cargill & Monsanto – dominate the agricultural seed production market. Whilst some industries do have dominant suppliers this is not the case for all. In industries where the product is standardized you are likely to find a large number of competitive suppliers. The food processing industry is a good example of this because agricultural produce can be bought from a variety of suppliers, both large and small. This is the same for any market involving commodity products. [(2003). Bargaining Power of Suppliers. Available:

Bargaining power of buyers -Buyers are not in concentrated groups and do not buy in large amounts. However, within the entertainment industry, customers have a lot of alternatives and have no switching cost. However the introduction of DVDs, influenced customers to purchase DVDs since the cost is almost the same cost of rentals. This makes buyer power moderate (Xie & Lin, 2008).

The threat of new entrants: According to our text, the threat of new entrants is the possibility that the profits they make in an area may be eroded by new competition. The McDonald’s by me competes with Burger King, Wendy’s, Dairy Queen, and other smaller places like Zel’s. Each time a new place opens the less business they will have. For the other company, there will be a barrier to entry. They will have to use product differentiation to bring in the customers…to make them overcome their loyalty to McDonald’s (Dess, p. 53).

If an industry is profitable, it will become a magnet to attract more competitors looking to do same business with us. If it is easy for these new entrants to enter the market, this poses a threat to the firms already competing in that market. Threat of new entrants is one of the forces that shape the competitive structure of an industry (Marc, 2014). A high threat of entry means new competitors are attracted by the profits of the industry and can enter the industry easily. New competitors entering the marketplace can make the market share and profitability of existing competitors more threaten cause the existing competitor to make some changes to existing product quality or price levels. A high threat of new entrance can make an industry more competitive and decrease profit potential for existing competitors whereas a low high threat of new entrance can make an industry less competitive and increases profit potential for the existing

The power of buyers is high because this company depends of the businesses and consumers’ demand. This is because they can decide where to buy

The bargaining power of buyers is affected by the concentration and number of consumers, when buyer power is strong, they gain the power to choose between producers and ultimately equip themselves with bargaining power which then the producers will have to conform to in order to produce profit, under these conditions the buyer has the most influence in determining the price of products. Also when buyers have strong bargaining power in the exchange relationship, competition can be affected in several ways. Powerful buyers can bargain for lower prices, better