Tutorial 7 & 8 Flashcards
Which questions should you ask yourself when analysing an industry using Porter’s five forces framework?
(Internal rivalry
Internal Rivalry
- How many firms are there in the market?
- Is demand growing or declining?
- Are there switching costs?
- Is there a history of price leadership?
- Are there strong barriers to exit?
Which questions should you ask yourself when analysing an industry using Porter’s five forces framework?
(Entry)
Entry
- Are fixed costs of entry high?
- Are incumbents protected by regulations?
- How did incumbents respond to entry in the past?
Which questions should you ask yourself when analysing an industry using Porter’s five forces framework? (Substitutes & Complements)
Substitutes and Complements
- Are products differentiated or are they close substitutes?
- Are substitutes priced high? if high —> customers are less likely to switch
- Are complements priced low? if low it can boost demand as products are used together
Which questions should you ask yourself when analysing an industry using Porter’s five forces framework? (Suplier power)
Supplier Power
- How concentrated is the group of suppliers?
- Is there a threat of forward integration by suppliers?
- Can suppliers price discriminate? (If yes -> higher power, charge different price for each buyer)
Which questions should you ask yourself when analysing an industry using Porter’s five forces framework? (Buyer power)
Buyer Power
- How concentrated is the group of buyers?
- Is there a threat of backward integration by customers?
- Is it possible to price discriminate among consumers?
Comment on the following:
All of Porter’s wisdom contained in the five forces framework is reflected in the economic identity:
Profit = (Price – Average Cost) x Quantity
(FOocus on: Internal rivalry, entry)
Internal rivalry
High internal rivalry might
- drive prices down
- cause a redistribution of market shares (i.e. quantities)
- drive up costs (e.g. high advertising expenditures)
Entry
- High barriers to entry prevent potential entrants from entering
- So incumbents can save costs while maintaining higher prices and larger quantities
Comment on the following:
All of Porter’s wisdom contained in the five forces framework is reflected in the economic identity:
Profit = (Price – Average Cost) x Quantity
(FOocus on: Substitutes & complements)
Substitutes and complements
- The availability of close substitutes limits the price that a producer can charge and potentially increases the producer’s costs (e.g. advertising)
- substitute products can also reduce quantity (e.g. when substitutes are priced lower and demand for the product is elastic)
- The price and quantity of a given product are also affected by the availability of complements and their price
Comment on the following:
All of Porter’s wisdom contained in the five forces framework is reflected in the economic identity:
Profit = (Price – Average Cost) x Quantity
Focus on buying pwoer and supplier power)
Buyer Power
- Buyers force the price down if they hold high bargaining power
- Costs might go up due to investments in relationship-specific assets
- Quantity might decrease as a result of backward integration by buyers
Supplier Power
- If suppliers of an input hold bargaining power, they can increase the prices they charge for inputs
- This might be reflected in the cost, price, and quantity of the good for which the input is needed
How does the magnitude of switching costs affect
a)the intensity of internal rivalry and
b) entry?
Intensity of Internal Rivalry
Low switching costs
- When a competitor offers a better price or service, consumers are inclined to switch
- Internal rivalry increases as firms try to steal customers
High switching costs
- It is hard to poach consumers from another firm when they are ‘lockedin’
- Therefore the intensity of rivalry is smaller than in the case of low switching cost
How does the magnitude of switching costs affect
a) the intensity of internal rivalry and
b) entry?
Entry
- High switching costs represent an entry barrier
- Entrants cannot easily entice away incumbents’ consumers
- Potential entrants should therefore seek niches or target specific clusters that are not locked-in
How do the following industry characteristics affect rivalry
among firms?
a) Fixed costs of production are high
b) Products are differentiated
High fixed costs of production
- Strong barriers to entry for new firms
- Market has few participant
- Rivalry is limited
How do the following industry characteristics affect rivalry
among firms?
a) Fixed costs of production are high
b) Products are differentiated or NOT
Differentiated products
- When products are NOT differentiated (and switching costs are low), firms are more likely to try to steal market share –>price reductions, advertising battles,…
- With differentiation, firms target different customer segments
–> Rivalry is limited
What are the limitations of the five forces model?
- The framework pays limited attention to factors that affect demand
- It focuses on a whole industry rather than on individual firms
- The framework does not explicitly account for the role of the government
- In the Five-Forces other firms are considered as threats to profitability
What is the differentiate the value net model from the five forces model?
- In the value net model interactions between firms can also be positive (coopetition)
- So the value net complements the five forces approach by considering opportunities posed by each force
The value net consists of:
suppliers, customers, competitors and complementor
What are the five dimensions develop by Brandenburger & Nalebuff to develop business strategies?
- Step 1: Identify Players
- Step 2: Calculate Added Value
- Step 3: Define Rules
- Step 4: Identify Tactics
- Step 5: Define Scope
What are the five dimensions develop by Brandenburger & Nalebuff to develop business strategies?
Explaint the first step
Step 1: Identify Players
- Identify and categorize the players that affect your business
- Are there opportunities for cooperation?
- Would bringing in extra players create any more benefits?
e.g. a higher number of suppliers can lead to lower costs
e.g. extra complementors give more value to a company’s product
What are the five dimensions develop by Brandenburger & Nalebuff to develop business strategies?
Explaint the second step
Step 2: Calculate Added Value
- Calculate your company’s (and other firms’) added value
- How uniquely valuable is your product to the market?
- Are your customers and suppliers loyal?
- Take action to increase this added value in order to increase profitability: e.g. a company can introduce affinity programs to create loyal customers or suppliers
What are the five dimensions develop by Brandenburger & Nalebuff to develop business strategies?
Explaint the thrid step
Step 3: Define Rules
- Every industry has certain established “rules” that must be followed
- Which of these rules help your organization?
- Which of these rules limit what your organization can achieve?
What are the five dimensions develop by Brandenburger & Nalebuff to develop business strategies?
Explaint the 4 step
Step 4: Identify Tactics
- Tactics are actions that players take to shape the perception of other players
- Have you established credibility in your market?
- Are your organization’s actions predictable or unpredictable?
- A company can influence other players’ perceptions and actions by deliberately sending out certain signals (e.g. soft moves vs. tough moves)
What are the five dimensions develop by Brandenburger & Nalebuff to develop business strategies?
Explaint the 5 step
Step 5: Define Scope
- Scope: the boundaries of your game, or market
- These can be extended by linking to other markets
- A firm can extend its business to other games or, alternatively, deliberately keep two games separate when linking the games would cannibalize its traditional busines
What is the value chain and what are the activities (what do they benefit?)
The value chain
- describes the vertical chain of production
- is a useful device for thinking about how value is created in a firm
Each activity in the value chain can
- add to the benefit (B) that consumers get from the firm’s product
- add to the cost (C) that the firm incurs in producing and selling the product
Which strategic positions can be identified by analysing the value chain?
Strategic positions that can be identified by analyzing a firm’s value chain:
- Cost advantage (activities generate a lower C compared to the firm’s rivals)
- Differentiation / Benefit advantage (activities generate a superior B compared to the firm’s rivals)
