For this week’s discussion, the focus will be on examining Porter’s Five Forces as a tool for looking at the pressures on profits.
Specifically, how does Porter’s analysis examine the stress on profits from all directions and all dimensions of a firm’s environment? You will be applying this tool by specifically looking at the market structure in which a firm competes. You will need to be able to distinguish an oligopoly from a monopolistic competitive market structure.
Instructions
In your discussion post, address the following:
- Choose one of the following groups and use Porter’s Five Forces to analyze the pressures on profits for your chosen group’s firms.
- Group 1: Firms in the retail sector (e.g., Amazon, Walmart, Target, Kohl’s, Sears, Macy’s).
- Group 2: Firms in the wireless services industry (e.g., Verizon, AT&T, Sprint/T-Mobile; focus on telecommunication services, not on the sale of phones).
- For each group determine and explain whether the group is monopolistic competitive or an oligopoly. Be specific in which market structures the firms operate.
- Choose one of the firms from one group.
- Using Porter’s analysis, what are the threats to profitability faced by the firm?
