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BA 100

Finding Information for your 5 Forces Analysis

Industry, company, product, and market information can be found in business periodicals and journals, business newsletters, and other news sources.  Articles in these publications supplement the information found in specialized business resources.

These databases can be a great place to search for information as you develop a Porter's Five Forces Analysis for your company:

IBISWorld for Five Forces Analysis

IBISWorld reports were created with the Porter’s Five Forces framework in mind.

Porter's Five Forces Analysis

According to Porter,  "the state of competition in an industry depends on five basic competitive forces" (1980, p.3).

The five forces are:

  • threat of new entry,
  • threat of substitution,
  • bargaining power of buyers,
  • bargaining power of suppliers,
  • and competitive rivalry.

*Porter, Michael E. 1980. Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors. The Free Press. New York.

While you will often need to conduct your own Five Forces Analysis, you can find some ready-made reports in Business Source Complete:

  • Type your industry in the first search box, and "five forces" in the second.
  • You can sometimes find Five Forces Analysis Reports in journal and magazine articles.

graphic of the Five Forces that Shape Industry Competition

 

 


 

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