These five forces, taken together, give us insight into a company’s competitive position, and its profitability.

Rivals

Rivals are competitors within an industry. Rivalry in the industry can be weak, with few competitors that don’t compete very aggressively. Or it can be intense, with many competitors fighting in a cut-throat environment.

Factors affecting the intensity of rivalry are:

New Entrants

One of the defining characteristics of competitive advantage is the industry’s barrier to entry. Industries with high barriers to entry are usually too expensive for new firms to enter. Industries with low barriers to entry, are relatively cheap for new firms to enter.

The threat of new entrants rises as the barrier to entry is reduced in a marketplace. As more firms enter a market, you will see rivalry increase, and profitability will fall (theoretically) to the point where there is no incentive for new firms to enter the industry.

Here are some common barriers to entry:

Substitute Products

This is probably the most overlooked, and therefore most damaging, element of strategic decision making. It’s imperative that business owners (us) not only look at what the company’s direct competitors are doing, but what other types of products people could buy instead.

When switching costs (the costs a customer incurs to switch to a new product) are low the threat of substitutes is high. As is the case when dealing with new entrants, companies may aggressively price their products to keep people from switching. When the threat of substitutes is high, profit margins will tend to be low.

Buyer Power

There are two types of buyer power. The first is related to the customer’s price sensitivity. If each brand of a product is similar to all the others, then the buyer will base the purchase decision mainly on price. This will increase the competitive rivalry, resulting in lower prices, and lower profitability.

The other type of buyer power relates to negotiating power. Larger buyers tend to have more leverage with the firm, and can negotiate lower prices. When there are many small buyers of a product, all other things remaining equal, the company supplying the product will have higher prices and higher margins. Conversely, if a company sells to a few large buyers, those buyers will have significant leverage to negotiate better pricing.

Some factors affecting buyer power are:

Supplier Power

Buyer power looks at the relative power a company’s customers has over it. When multiple suppliers are producing a commoditized product, the company will make its purchase decision based mainly on price, which tends to lower costs. On the other hand, if a single supplier is producing something the company has to have, the company will have little leverage to negotiate a better price.

Size plays a factor here as well. If the company is much larger than its suppliers, and purchases in large quantities, then the supplier will have very little power to negotiate. Using Wal-Mart as an example, we find that suppliers have no power because Wal-Mart purchases in such large quantities.

A few factors that determine supplier power include:

It’s important to analyze these five forces and their affect on companies we want to invest in. The Porter Five Forces Analysis will give you a good explanation for the profitability of an industry, and the firms within it. If you want to know why a company is able, or unable, to make a decent profit, this is the first analysis you should do.

About The Author

Chris Mallon is the editor and publisher of the Undervalued Weekly, a free personal finance and investment newsletter, published once a week. To sign up for the Undervalued Weekly, send e-mail to underval@hot-response.com. or sign-up through the website at www.dynamicinvestors.net/index7.html ; chrismallon@dynamicinvestors.net

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