Porter's Five Forces Analysis

Overview

Porter's Five Forces assesses industry-level competitive dynamics by examining five structural forces that determine profitability. Unlike SWOT (company-level) or PESTEL (macro-level), this framework operates at the industry level — it answers "is this industry attractive?" not "is this company strong?"

When to Use

Trigger conditions:

• User asks whether an industry or market is attractive or profitable
• User evaluates whether to enter a new market or industry
• User needs to understand competitive dynamics beyond direct competitors
• User mentions "barriers to entry", "supplier power", or "industry structure"

When NOT to use:

• For company-specific strengths/weaknesses → use SWOT
• For macro-environment scanning → use PESTEL
• For product portfolio decisions → use BCG Matrix