Study of Software Industry Using Porter's Five Forces Model

Porter has identified five (5) competitive forces that shape every industry and every market. The forces determine the intensity of competition and hence the profitability and attractiveness of an industry. Based on the information derived from this analysis, management can decide how to influence or to exploit particular characteristics of this industry.

This article has started revolutionary thinking about what are the different forces in addition to direct competitors that affect competitive strategy of an organization and how better understanding of industry structure and these forces, also known as " Porter 's Five Forces", derive organization 's strategy to achieve sustainability and higher profitability. Author has explained the other factors that contribute for industry structure like industry growth rate, technology and innovation, external factors, government & regulations and complementary products and services. Industry structure changes while responding to changes in competitive forces. Author also discussed the framework to perform industry analysis and avoid common pitfall while conducting analysis. In this review I will summarize five competitive forces explained by Micheal E. Porter and their implication on organization 's strategy. Further, I will discuss the relevancy of Porter 's five forces framework in current scenario.

The barriers to entry are the factors which alter the entrance of potential competitors within any apparel and fashion industry. These barriers act as stops for potential competitors; which are seeking to enter. Some of these barriers to entry within the industry would include:

The five forces examines the dynamics within an industry. Understanding the competitive forces, and their underlying causes, reveals the roots of an industry’s current profitability while providing a framework for anticipating and influencing competition and profitability over time. Understanding the structure of its industry is also essential to effective strategic positioning.

As relevant to these competitive forces, the common and mutual goal of companies can be explained as better profitability with a greater market share against their rivals. Therefore, implementing Michael Porter’s Five Forces can help the companies determine the issues that may impact the company’s profitability in the long term.

Porter’s model aims to enable managers not only to understand their industry environment but also to shape their firm’s strategy. The five competitive forces are threat of entry, power of suppliers, power of buyers, threat of substitutes, and rivalry among existing competitors. “As a rule of thumb, the stronger the five forces, the lower the industry’s profit potential- making the industry less attractive to competitors. The weaker the five forces, the greater the industry’s profit potential – making the industry more attractive” (Rothaermel, 2013, p. 65). It is recommended that managers position their company in an industry in such a way that relaxes the constraints of strong forces and

Porter’s Five Forces was developed in 1979 by Michael Porter as a framework to assess and evaluate the competitive position of a company in an industry. It is based on the theory that there are five forces which identify the attractiveness and competitive strength of an industry. It is helpful to gain an understanding of a firm’s current positon and the position that the firm may look to capture in the future. Porter’s five forces are also used to

The level of competition in an industry determines the number of profits made by players in the industry. An industry with a high level of profits is likely to attract many players which erode the profits made by firms gradually. A firm seeking to venture into a new industry should evaluate the level of profits in an industry as well as how intense competition is in the industry before making a move. Porter’s five forces model provides a comprehensive framework that can be used to evaluate how intense the competition is in the industry.

This analysis is conducted on the Porters Five Forces theory that is crucial for effective strategic decision-making, the five forces that shape industry competition are:

Defining an industry can be described as drawing a line between the established competitor and the substitute products offered by competitors outside the industry (Porter 1998). “Porter’s five forces provide a framework for an industry and business strategy development to drive the five forces that determine the competitive intensity and attractiveness of a market. The Porter’s Five Forces model helps identify where improvement can be made regarding competitive forces, threat of potential entrants, bargaining power of buyers, and bargaining power of suppliers and threats of substitute products.

According to Porter’s competitive forces model, exist five major forces, which managers should analyze, and strategies developed for the company to increase their competitive edge. They are the threat of entry of new competitors and of substitute products or services, the bargaining power of suppliers and customers (buyers), and the rivalry among existing firms in the industry.

As we begin to strategically plan for our business, it is important for us to take a deep dive into our competitive environment to understand where we are strong competitively and where we are weak competitively. An analysis of the forces driving industry competition using M.E. Porter’s Five Forces Model will assist us in determining where the power lies in a business situation as we begin to plan. We must understand how they work in our industry and how they affect our particular situation. Whatever the collective strength of these forces is, our job as the strategists of the organization is to

If one market has strong and tough barriers to entry, then the company can safeguard a favorable position and take fair advantage of it. If one market has weak barriers and only cost a little in time or money, then new competitors can quickly enter the market and weaken your position. For example, the barriers are government, economies of scales, consumer switching cost, capital requirement and others.   The following is a Five Forces analysis of The Macdonald Company in relationship to its own brand.

In his article “The five competitive forces that shape strategy“, Michael Porter (2008) updates and extends his “five forces” framework he first introduced in 1979 and which has influenced the academic and business research for decades. He reaffirms that “THREAT OF ENTRY”, “THE POWER OF SUPPLIERS”, “THE POWER OF BUYERS”, THE THREAT OF SUBSTITUTES”, and “RIVALRY AMONG EXISTING COMPETITORS” are the forces that shape every single industry, and a thorough understanding of such forces help analyze everything from the intensity of competition to the profitability and attractiveness of any industry. The framework has two dimensions; the vertical dimension that connects

Porter's Five Forces can be applied to particular companies, market segments and industries with the step-by-step analysis of market structure and competitive situation. First of all, when implementing this module in organizations, it is necessary to determine the scope of the market to be analyzed. Following, all relevant forces for this market analyzed and key forces are identified (Gerry and Kevan, P.117). Actually some organizational strategy and the longer-term goals are mainly based on or consistent with the key forces. Hence, it is not necessary to analyze all elements of all competitive forces with the same depth. Moreover, the key forces in the competitive environment will vary in different industry. Different forces take on prominence in shaping competition in each industry (Porter,