Research Guides: Porter's Five Forces Analysis: Competitive Rivalry

Competitive Rivalry. What is it?

Competitive Rivalry

Competitive rivalry is a measure of the extent of competition among existing firms. Intense rivalry can limit profits and lead to competitive moves including price cutting, increased advertising expenditures, or spending on service/product improvements and innovation.

Questions to Ask

How intense is competition in the industry?

What is the market share of the top companies? Is the industry fragmented? Or dominated by a few firms?

What is the rate of industry sales growth? Is the industry mature or in a slow growth phase?

Are products differentiated? Can customers switch with ease?

Are there high fixed costs or high exit barriers that keep companies competing?

What does the M&A landscape look like? Are competitors getting stronger through mergers?

Are there global opportunities or threats?

Who are the Competitors?

Mergent Online
Bring up the profile of your company and click on the "Competitors" tab for a list of U.S. Public or Global Public companies in that industry. Competitors are ranked by revenues but can be sorted by other variables including market cap.
Fitch Solutions BMI (formerly FitchConnect)
Fitch identifies the key players in an industry with textual analysis and revenue data in their "Market Overview" reports and in their reports on the "Competitive Landscape."
S&P NetAdvantage
Standard & Poor's Capital IQ offers profiles of U.S. and international public companies. Jump from your company profile to "Peer Analysis" (link on the left) for Quick Comps - financial data and valuations for key companies in the sector.

Research the Competition: Measuring Market Share

Passport (Euromonitor)
All Passport Industry Reports include a detailed "Market Data" section that includes sales and market share data for the leading companies and for the major product segments.
All Passport Company Profiles include an analysis of the company's "Competitive Positioning."
Mintel Market Sizes
Search by industry for country or regional data reports. Market size is reported by value and volume and data shows both trends (up to 10 years historical) and forecasts. Market share data covers the key industry players. Market segmentation data and Compound Annual Growth Rates (CAGR) are also reported. All data is sourced.
Factiva
Search by industry or company and the subject "Market Share" for news and analysis from major trade magazines and business newspapers.

Research the Competitive Environment: Measuring Sales Growth

S&P NetAdvantage
The Industry Surveys in S&P NetAdvantage offer S&P's analysis of industry performance. Look at the Industry Overview section of the Survey for an in-depth analysis of industry revenues and revenue growth prospects.
IBISWorld
Prospects for growth in an industry can be influenced by which stage of the industry life cycle it occupies. IBISWorld positions an industry in either growth, maturity or decline stages and shows its position relative to key supply, demand, and competing industries. The life cycle chart is found in the "Industry Outlook" tab.
Use the "Products & Markets" tab to see size, growth and revenue data for the industry's key product segments.
Fitch Solutions BMI (formerly FitchConnect)
Choose your Sector/industry and Geography first, then open the Industry Forecast reports. These reports analyze growth prospects for the industry and offer historical and forecasted revenue and CAGR data.

Research the Competitive Environment: M&A Landscape

S&P NetAdvantage
The Industry Surveys in S&P NetAdvantage provide an industry overview, a summary of industry trends, and S&P's analysis of industry performance. Go to the Industry Overview section of the Survey for a detailed look at the current M&A environment.
Factiva
Search by industry and the subject "Acquisitions/Mergers" and the country "USA" for current news on M&A trends. Factiva features news from Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal.

PwC: Mergers and Acquistions Industry Insights
PwC offers reports on the M&A environment, sector specific trends, and the outlook for deal-making within about 16 North American industry sectors.

Research the Competitive Environment: Global Conditions

Passport (Euromonitor)
Passport publishes annual Global Briefings for 21 consumer product industries. These reports feature key category trends for the world. Find these reports by choosing an industry and filtering by geography for "World" reports.
IBISWorld
All IBISWorld U.S. industry reports include a measure of "Industry Globalization" based on competition from imports and the size of the export market. IBISWorld also offers global industry reports.
Fitch Solutions BMI (formerly FitchConnect)
Fitch publishes an annual Global Industry Outlook report that identify key themes across many industries. Other Special Reports look at industry megatrends.