Porter's Five Forces Framework

Abstract

The abstract should not exceed about 250-300 words. It should consist of the summary of your article, as well as a table of contents with bullet points explaining the content of each section. Please already include key references in the abstract.

The competitive forces model, better known as Porter’s Five Forces, is a method used for analysing the operating competitive environment of a company. Porter’s Five Forces Framework was published in Harvard Business Review by Michael E. Porter of Harvard University in 1979. The model consists of five fundamental competition powers. The five competitive powers or ‘forces’ can each be assessed to determine the profitability potential of markets and industries, relative to the company. The five powers include the power of suppliers, power of buyers, threat of substitutes and complementary goods, threat of new entrants to the market, and internal competition within the market. The combined power of each of the five forces determines the potential of a certain industry or market. Analysing Porter’s Five Forces could be of great value to companies that are exploring and examining market entry opportunities with regards to expanding and evaluating their project portfolio in the field of new products or service development. By assessing the risk of current markets, as well as new markets, managers can make strategic decisions with regards to current and future projects in the company portfolio.

This article is structured as follows. First, each of Porter’s Five Forces is explained in depth, after which the application of the forces in the context of project and portfolio management is described. Besides, limitations with regards to the competitive forces model will be given, and annotated bibliography for further readings is listed.

Big idea

Describe the tool, concept or theory and explain its purpose. The section should reflect the current state of the art on the topic

Application

provide guidance on how to use the tool, concept or theory and when it is applicable

Limitations

critically reflect on the tool/concept/theory. When possible, substantiate your claims with literature

Annotated bibliography

Provide key references (3-10), where a reader can find additional information on the subject. Summarize and outline the relevance of each reference to the topic. (around 100 words per reference). The bibliography is not counted in the suggested 3000 word target length of the article.