The various market structures such as oligopoly, monopoly and perfect
             competition' all have their own implications on the consumer as well as the
             firms themselves. The business dynamics are strictly related and controlled
             by the prevailing market structures.
             From the perspective of the companies an oligopolistic market
             structure offers many advantages. Firstly the presence of very few
             competitors implies a greater possibility of collusion. In this way
             companies evolve a secret understanding between themselves and increase the
             market barrier so as to minimize new competition and continue their
             dominance. Another possibility is the development of a cartel between the
             companies, which has the effect of creating a monopolistic market. So we
             see that the greater the trend towards a monopolistic market structure the
             more profitable it is for the firms. Oligopolistic market (closest to the
             monopolistic structure) promises more stability and long term profitability
             Market Concentration (Consumers Perspective)
             A high degree of market concentration is not really a favorable
             development for the consumer. A market situation is ideal for the consumer
             if there are many different suppliers. In short healthy competition
             provides consumers with a wide variety of choices to choose from at the
             same time brings down the costs. Hence from a purely consumer perspective
             it is most beneficial if the market has a perfect competition. Perfect
             competition is a market structure, which occurs when there are a large
             number of small competing firms. What happens in an oligopoly market
             structure is that one or two firms gain enough market power' to the point
             that they effectively curtail any new competition. This literally means
             that these giant firms dominate the consumer market with their market
             power. Collusive oligopolistic market resembles a monopolistic trend, which
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