Restructuring of industries: An inquiry into timing, causes, and firm response.

During the last two decades, many industries, including tires, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and beauty aids, and petrochemicals, have been restructured due to the concurrent occurrence of many merger and acquisition and joint venture transactions (within these industries). In this dissertation, we address research questions relating to three aspects of the restructuring phenomenon, including: timing, causes, and the response of competitors. Drawing from the resource-based theory of the firm, industrial organization economics, and the literature on globalization, we argue that restructuring occurs in response to, and following, the occurrence of some fundamental changes in industry economics. Such changes could include, increased plant level or multi-plant scale economies, declining profitability of the industry, and consolidation or globalization of a major buyer industry. Regarding firm behavior, we argue that the participation of firms in mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and other types of alliances is a function of the industry-level changes identified above and the accumulated resource bundles of firms. Important resources relevant to this argument include international marketing and distribution networks and research expertise. The industry-level as well as the firm-level model was tested by studying the global pharmaceutical industry and the behavior of the leading forty three (global) firms in the industry over a period of 15 years. The results of analysis indicate that restructuring of the pharmaceutical industry was indeed caused by industry-level changes such as increasing costs of developing new drugs and increased plant-level scale economies. We also find that firms tend to participate in a higher number of alliances in response to the aforementioned industry-level changes. The data indicated that the participation of pharmaceutical firms in alliances is significantly influenced by their established international marketing and distribution networks. The study makes a number of contributions to research in strategic management, including: formulation of a more complete model of firm behavior, and formulation of a more complete model of restructuring of industries.Ph.D.Business AdministrationUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/103465/1/9319603.pdfDescription of 9319603.pdf : Restricted to UM users only

Internationalization and performance of small- and medium-sized enterprises

In this paper, we examine the relationship between the degree of internationalization (DOI) and performance which represents a central issue in the international business literature. We argue that the substantial literature addressing this relationship is hampered by problematic measures for the key constructs (DOI and firm performance) and inconclusive results. Drawing from the internationalization process and location theories, we propose new measures for DOI (based on the dispersion of sales across geographic regions) and deploy a perceptual, multi-item measure of performance. Based on analyses of 94 survey responses provided by small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore, we find that that DOI positively impacts performance.Degree of internationalization Firm performance Singapore SMEs Host country attractiveness Firm capabilities

Invention and business performance in the tissue-engineering industry

Tissue engineering is a young and interdisciplinary scientific discipline but it offers exciting opportunities to improve the quality of health care for hundreds of thousands of patients. Lured by its potential, several start-up companies, pharmaceutical corporations, and medical device enterprises alike are investing heavily in this sector. Invention is a key driver of competition in this sector. In this study, we aim to explain the variation in inventive output across the different firms in the sector. Our major premise is that firms that forge alliances will be able to tap into the expertise of their partners and thus improve their chances of inventive output. We further argue that alliances that enable technology acquisition or learning will enhance the inventive output of firms more than other kinds of alliances. We measure the inventive output of a company by the number of patents filed. On the basis of a preliminary analysis of seven companies, we find support for the hypotheses. We also argue that, to achieve commercial success, firms need to manage time to market (through alliances or otherwise), have a global outlook, nurture their financial resources, and attain critical mass through mergers

The bidirectional relationship between competitive intensity and collaboration: Evidence from China

Competitive intensity, Collaboration, Bidirectional relationship, China,

Timing, Trust and Transparency: Wage Restructuring at Glaxosmithkline

The economic ups and downs since the eruption of the Asian crisis in 1997 had prompted a wave of restructurings and job losses in Singapore and several other Asian countries. As a response, policy-makers in the Singapore government had urged companies to undertake wage reforms and to adopt more flexible wages. The wage restructuring exercise undertaken by the Singapore office of Glaxo Smithkline, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, in 2002 is studied in this case. Since the merger of Glaxo Welcome and SmithKline Beecham two years earlier, there had been consolidation with the less efficient plants in the system closing down. Although the Singapore plants were performing well, the impetus to restructure wages came primarily from a more competitive internal and external environment. Management believed that the introduction of Performance Bonus (PB) would lead to improved metrics and was essential for the company to compete in the changed environment. While the Union leadership was in broad agreement that the plant needed to remain competitive, it had some initial misgivings about the proposals put forth by management. This case charts the process of the wage restructuring exercise, illustrating some of the challenges that companies may face in implementing wage restructuring initiatives. We also examine the impact of different factors, as well as the process of implementation, on the success of such initiatives.

Advanced Tissue Sciences Inc. - covering the wounds without the finances

Research Paper Series (National University of Singapore. Faculty of Business Administration); 2006-0101-2