This discussion assignment requires you to perform a partial five forces analysis of an industry. After reading and watching the materials from Module 3, you should:

1. Clearly identify the industry for your assigned company (I've posted company assignments directly in the forum). Find its industry classification code (SIC and NAICS). Identify the key competitors in the industry.

2. Once you have a grasp on the scope of the industry, complete a partial five forces analysis for the force I have assigned to you (I have assigned you ONE specific force; you must analyze only this one specific force for grading purposes). You may use the appropriate template from the Dobbs's reading (Guidelines for applying Porter's five forces framework: a set of industry analysis templates Michael E. Dobbs) to organize your analysis, but this is not required. However, it is required that you cover all of the elements of your assigned force covered in the readings. You can do this in a table or in written form, but you must cover all of the factors that underly or drive each force. Be sure to use data and good sources of information to justify your conclusions. Do NOT use any source that purports to be a five forces analysis for your industry; you should be doing that work (these sources are typically postings made by undergraduate students or recent grads trying to build content, and they are typically terribly done. YOU are learning to do that job much better here). Be sure to include all of this work in your initial contribution.

3. Provide a written summary of your analyses in your initial contribution directly in your thread's textbox (not as an attachment). Your write-up should discuss the pressures to profitability in this industry from the force you have analyzed. Be sure that any conclusions are well-grounded in evidence. Conjecture and opinion are not substitutes for evidence. Be sure to carefully cite all sources that inform your analysis.

Corporation: Family Dollar Corporation