Analyzing the Austrian fashion industry according to Porter´s five forces

Seminar paper from the year 2010 in the subject Business economics - Operations Research, grade: B, Stuttgart Institute of Management and Technology, language: English, abstract: In this paper, Austriäs jeans and lifestyle branch will be analyzed with particular reference to Porter¿s competitive strategies. The first part of this paper takes a look at Porter¿s five competitive strategies and their context. The second part deals with the jeans and lifestyle branch in Austria and the influence of the five competitive strategies on this industry.

Competitive strategy provides a comprehensive framework for understanding the forces at the basis of the competition in the industry ¿ summarized by the five competitive forces. This framework illuminates the important branch-specific differences, shows the development of industries and helps companies in finding a unique competitive position.

Industries change with increasing pressure and thus industry structures as well as borders between industries are reconfigured. While companies of the nineties are substantially different than in the seventies or eighties, high profitability is still based on cost advantages and differentiation. One might believe that faster development cycles or total quality management are the key to the competition, but the crucial point to determine to what extent these methods influence the competition and the relative cost position of a company as well as its ability to differentiate and to enforce surcharges.