Porter’s five forces model To analyse the microenvironment facing United Biscuits in China, Porter’s five forces model is selected to provide an understanding of the competitive forces, to determine the competitive position of the company and profitability within the biscuit industry whilst offering a framework for predicting and influencing competition over time (Porter, 2008, p.80). The findings are explained below: Threat of new entrants • The high capital cost required for investing in developing distribution, sales network and acquiring production equipment could deter new entrants. The barriers are high when capital is necessary for unrecoverable expenditures such as marketing and product development capability which is difficult for new entrants to succeed in the short-term (Euromonitor, 2014; Porter, 2008, p.81). • In China, government regulation and policies regarding food products are very strict due to various food safety scandals in recent years. All biscuit manufacturers have to reach the state standard requirements for quality, packaging etc. (IBISWorld, 2010). In order to meet the tightened regulatory requirements on food quality and environment protection, this would require huge investment in stringent quality and hygiene control measures for new entrants (Euromonitor, 2014). • Existing competitors that have achieved economies of scale in production has an advantage over new entrants in terms of the burdening of overall expenditures