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1980Strategy

Porter's five forces and the choice of position

The point, in one line

Five forces shape profitability, and rivals are only one of them. Strategy begins when you choose what you will NOT be.

How it works

How much can be earned in an industry at all is set by five structural forces, and when all five are strong, working well saves nobody.

Industry profitabilityHow much can be made here, however well you operate.
  • Threat of new entrantsHow easy it is to get in.
  • Supplier bargaining powerWhether they can push the price up.
  • Buyer bargaining powerWhether they can force it down.
  • Threat of substitutesWhether the same need can be met a completely different way.
  • Rivalry among existing firmsHow fiercely the fight is fought.
The five do not transfer to a club mechanically — take the part of Porter that does: a position requires giving things up.
The same thing, in your club
  1. The situation

    A club does twenty activities badly and thinks it is short of people.

  2. What the model says

    What is short is a decision. Nobody ever said what this club is different at, compared with the other four in the faculty, so every new idea looks equally worth doing.

  3. What you do

    Write one sentence on what you are different at, without the words 'community', 'opportunities' and 'growth', and name two activities you will therefore stop.

What it claims

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Who created it

MP1980
An illustrated emblem, not a portrait.
Michael E. Porter (b. 1947)
1980

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Why this is your problem

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Why gslk uses it

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Where it runs in the product

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Source

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Rights and licence
In copyright

The primary source is in copyright. This page retells it in our own words and cites it rather than reproducing it.

What this connects to

These works are related to the one you just read — and not by accident:

Grounds these competency domains

Of the ten gslk competency domains, this work grounds:

The student version
Porter's five forces and the choice of position

The same work written for a member: what to do with it in the club.

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