1Nooral Islam College of Engineering, Thuckalay, Kanyakumari, Tamilnadu.
This study uses's Michael Porter the model of industry analysis by Michael Porter to analyze the competitive positioning of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited in the retail Petroleum sector. The model is used to assess the bargaining power of buyers by analyzing factors influencing customers, purchase decisions, positioning of HPCL vis-a-vis the other players in retail marketing, industry rivalry, threat of new entrants, threat of substitute products and bargaining power of suppliers. These variables have also been categorized as favourable or adverse, which in turn, influence the profitability of the industry. Factor analysis has been used to analyze the factors influencing customers’ purchase decisions. Perceptual maps have been used to find the positioning of HPCL vis-à-vis the other players in retail marketing. The study also identifies some strategic initiatives, which can be adopted to leverage the favourable forces and protect them from the adverse ones and gives suggestions for improvement of retail services of HPCL based on the findings. This study on competitive positioning in the retail petroleum sector is expected to enable HPCL to explore opportunities early and exploit them forcefully.
