In any b-school, you are led to believe that everything in life boils down to strategy, an oft-peddled, highly misunderstood, glamourized term for plan NITI. Every real-life situation can be analysed by a (force-fitted) strategy framework. Anyone who has been within 10 yards of a strategy lecture must have heard the adage – All frameworks are equal, but Porter’s frameworks are more equal than the others.
For the uninformed, Porter is the Newton of the strategy domain. His body of work – 3 generic strategies, 4-sided diamond and 5 force analysis – might remind you of Chetan Bhagat, but the resemblance ends there. What you have not read about yet is Porter's Playbook. Why? Because I just came up with it.
Porter's Playbook is an effective amalgamation of Porter’s five forces analysis and Barney Stinson’s Playbook designed to help MEMs get committed in engineering colleges. It is an outcome of years of beating around the bush, metaphorically speaking. Before you get into the chase, it is worth evaluating whether the investment of time and effort is commensurate with the expected returns. This is where the five force analysis comes into the picture.
With a highly skewed gender ratio, the mechanical engineering class can put Haryana to shame. In such a scenario, the existing rivalry among MEMs is very high. With a barely positive industry CAGR, MEMs have to resort to underhand tactics, pun intended. High exit barriers include a bruised male ego and a possible addiction.
The bargaining power of the fairer sex is moderate to high because they have a wide array of choices to pick from and low switching costs. Your friend circle exercises moderate bargaining power since it is their interests which take a backseat once you get committed.
All hell breaks loose if dudes from Comps or EC encroach in your industry. This is what Porter calls the threat of new entrants. To safeguard your territory, it is in your interests to make the industry look unprofitable from the outside. Although the threat of substitutes is non-existent, you must not forget the 6th force – complementors – something we all must learn from Ross Geller’s broken marriage with Carol.
To top it off with a pep talk, suit up and be awesome. May the 5 forces be with you.
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