ECO 550 Week 4

 

For this week's discussion, the focus will be on examining Porter's Five Forces as a tool for looking at the pressures on profits. Specifically, you will be looking at defining Porter's Five Forces and applying this tool to the market structures and pressures on profits of a chosen group of firms.

Instructions

Review the two groups of firms below:

• Group 1: the accommodations industry (e.g., Hilton, Marriott Bonvoy, InterContintental Hotel Group).
• Group 2: the wireless telecommunications industry (e.g., Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile).

In your discussion post, address the following:

• Which of these groups operates in a monopolistic competitive industry? Which operates in an oligopoly?
  • How did you determine the classification of each group? That is, what are the key characteristics of each group that indicate the type of industry it operates in?
• Chose one of the groups and use Porter's Five Forces to analyze the pressures on profits for your chosen group's firms.
• If you want to dig deeper into how one of the firms views the challenges it faces, you might want to look at the firm's investor page.

https://hwacer.com/Tutorial/eco-550-week-4/

Note: In your discussion posts for this course, do not rely on Wikipedia, Investopedia, or any similar website as a reference or supporting source.

To earn full credit for your discussion, you must complete one post and one follow-up or reply to a classmate. Make sure both the post and the reply focus on the questions asked.

Clarification on policy on references.  In general you will not actually need a reference to reply to a discussion.  These are problem solving exercise. You are creating a solution, but you may chose to use a reference.  If you do use a reference, it must be an academically credible reference.  Remember that the reference you select is part of your credibility.  Never use investopedia, wikipedia, or any other predia.  These are not acceptable.  Use of one of these will mean zero credit on the exercise.

Second, the discussions are a learning activity.  We will assess your progress on the topic, but that is not a grade.  If you have not mastered all the insights, you will find feedback to help you improve your understanding.  Use that to do additional post to improve and we will re-assess our evaluation.