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Assessing competitive threats

Michael Porter’s classic 1980 model of the five main competitive forces that affect a com-

pany still provides a valid framework for reviewing threats arising in the digital business era. 

Table 5.5 summarises the classic analysis by Michael Porter of the impact of the Internet on 

business using the five forces framework (Porter, 2001).

Placed in a digital business context, Figure 5.10 shows the main threats updated to place 

emphasis on the competitive threats applied to digital business. Threats have been grouped 

into  buy-  side (upstream supply chain),  sell-  side (downstream supply chain) and competitive 

threats. The main difference from the five forces model of Porter (1980) is the distinction 

between competitive threats from intermediaries (or partners) on the  buy-  side and  sell-  side.