San Juan Basin Royalty Trust Porter Five Forces Analysis

Strategic Management Essays, Term Papers & Presentations

Porter Five Forces Analysis is a strategic management tool to analyze industry and understand underlying levers of profitability in a given industry. San Juan Basin Royalty Trust managers can use Porter Five Forces to understand how the five competitive forces influence profitability and develop a strategy for enhancing San Juan Basin Royalty Trust competitive advantage and long term profitability in Independent Oil & Gas industry.

Brief overview of San Juan Basin Royalty Trust

San Juan Basin Royalty Trust is one of the leading firms in the Independent Oil & Gas. Over the years San Juan Basin Royalty Trust has redefined the ways of doing business in Basic Materials. San Juan Basin Royalty Trust is listed at New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and have a market cap 319.71M USD.


What are Porter Five (5) Forces

In his revolutionary article - "Five Forces that Shape Strategy", Michael Porter observed five forces that have significant impact on a firm's profitability in its industry. These five forces analysis today in business world is also known as -Porter Five Forces Analysis. The Porter Five (5) Forces are -

  • Threat of New Entrants
  • Bargaining Power of Suppliers
  • Bargaining Power of Buyers
  • Threat from Substitute Products
  • Rivalry among the existing players.
San Juan Basin Royalty Trust hbr case study solutions & analysis

Porter Five Forces is a holistic strategy framework that took strategic decision away from just analyzing the present competition. Porter Five Forces focuses on - how San Juan Basin Royalty Trust can build a sustainable competitive advantage in Independent Oil & Gas industry. Managers at San Juan Basin Royalty Trust can not only use Porter Five Forces to develop a strategic position with in Independent Oil & Gas industry but also can explore profitable opportunities in whole Basic Materials sector.

San Juan Basin Royalty Trust Porter Five (5) Forces Analysis for Basic Materials Industry

Threats of New Entrants

New entrants in Independent Oil & Gas brings innovation, new ways of doing things and put pressure on San Juan Basin Royalty Trust through lower pricing strategy, reducing  costs, and providing new value propositions to the customers. San Juan Basin Royalty Trust has to manage all these challenges and build effective barriers to safeguard its competitive edge.

How San Juan Basin Royalty Trust can tackle the Threats of New Entrants

  • By innovating new products and services. New products not only brings new customers to the fold but also give old customer a reason to buy San Juan Basin Royalty Trust ‘s products.
  • By building economies of scale so that it can lower the fixed cost per unit. 
  • Building capacities and spending money on research and development. New entrants are less likely to enter a dynamic industry where the established players such as San Juan Basin Royalty Trust keep defining the standards regularly. It significantly reduces the window of extraordinary profits for the new firms thus discourage new players in the industry.

Bargaining Power of Suppliers

All most all the companies in the Independent Oil & Gas industry buy their raw material from numerous suppliers. Suppliers in dominant position can decrease the margins San Juan Basin Royalty Trust can earn in the market. Powerful suppliers in Basic Materials sector use their negotiating power to extract higher prices from the firms in Independent Oil & Gas field. The overall impact of higher supplier bargaining power is that it lowers the overall profitability of Independent Oil & Gas.

How San Juan Basin Royalty Trust can tackle Bargaining Power of the Suppliers

  • By building efficient supply chain with multiple suppliers.
  • By experimenting with product designs using different materials so that if the prices go up of one raw material then company can shift to another.
  • Developing dedicated suppliers whose business depends upon the firm. One of the lessons San Juan Basin Royalty Trust can learn from Wal-Mart and Nike is how these companies developed third party manufacturers whose business solely depends on them thus creating a scenario where these third party manufacturers have significantly less bargaining power compare to Wal-Mart and Nike.

Bargaining Power of Buyers

Buyers are often a demanding lot. They want to buy the best offerings available by paying the minimum price as possible. This put pressure on San Juan Basin Royalty Trust profitability in the long run. The smaller and more powerful the customer base is of San Juan Basin Royalty Trust the higher the bargaining power of the customers and higher their ability to seek increasing discounts and offers.

How San Juan Basin Royalty Trust can tackle the Bargaining Power of Buyers

  • By building a large base of customers. This will be helpful in two ways. It will reduce the bargaining power of the buyers plus it will provide an opportunity to the firm to streamline its sales and production process.
  • By rapidly innovating new products. Customers often seek discounts and offerings on established products so if San Juan Basin Royalty Trust keep on coming up with new products then it can limit the bargaining power of buyers.
  • New products will also reduce the defection of existing customers of San Juan Basin Royalty Trust to its competitors.

Threats of Substitute Products or Services

When a new product or service meets a similar customer needs in different ways, industry profitability suffers. For example services like Dropbox and Google Drive are substitute to storage hardware drives. The threat of a substitute product or service is high if it offers a value proposition that is uniquely different from present offerings of the industry.

How San Juan Basin Royalty Trust can tackle the Treat of Substitute Products / Services

  • By being service oriented rather than just product oriented.
  • By understanding the core need of the customer rather than what the customer is buying.
  • By increasing the switching cost for the customers.

Rivalry among the Existing Competitors

If the rivalry among the existing players in an industry is intense then it will drive down prices and decrease the overall profitability of the industry. San Juan Basin Royalty Trust operates in a very competitive Independent Oil & Gas industry. This competition does take toll on the overall long term profitability of the organization.

How San Juan Basin Royalty Trust can tackle Intense Rivalry among the Existing Competitors in Independent Oil & Gas industry

  • By building a sustainable differentiation
  • By building scale so that it can compete better
  • Collaborating with competitors to increase the market size rather than just competing for small market.

Implications of Porter Five Forces on San Juan Basin Royalty Trust

By analyzing all the five competitive forces San Juan Basin Royalty Trust strategists can gain a complete picture of what impacts the profitability of the organization in Independent Oil & Gas industry. They can identify game changing trends early on and can swiftly respond to exploit the emerging opportunity. By understanding the Porter Five Forces in great detail San Juan Basin Royalty Trust 's managers can shape those forces in their favor.

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