Customizing competitive strategy to entry timing: Implications for firm performance in the pharmaceutical industry

Abstract

Our study examines the effect of business‐level strategy on performance. Past literature examining the aforementioned effect in the pharmaceutical industry is scarce. Furthermore, there is a lack of studies that analyze how competitive strategy is contingent on firm entry timing. Hence, to explore our understanding in this area, the present study was conducted in the German pharmaceutical industry. Two hundred valid responses were collected from CEOs. The data were analyzed using SPSS and partial least square (PLS) techniques. The findings indicate a surprising result that, while the differentiation strategy is significantly related to pharmaceutical companies' performance, cost leadership strategy is not.