The Five Forces Revisited

The original article by Michael Porter in 1979, How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy, established ground-breaking parameters in business theory, strategy and competition analysis. An updated article released in January 2008 now follows it up.

"Awareness of the five forces can help a company understand the structure of its industry and stake out a position that is more profitable and less vulnerable to attack." (An excerpt from the article, find the full text here).

Much has changed since 1979, and concerns about the structures application to the standard business model have surfaced, especially with the advent of the Internet.

Porter, in this video interview, attests that The Five Forces have stood the test of time, and still insists that "the underlying drivers of profitability [in any sector] are the same". In the article, he further elaborates his original idea, now offering more guidelines and examples based in much of the experience gained since 1979.

More...

• Background on Michael Porter
• Assessment Guide of the Five Forces