Effect of competitive tactics on performance: The case of the pharmaceutical industry

Abstract

Competitive tactics play a key role in explaining different levels of organizational performance since they are the linkers between strategy formulation and implementation. This study focuses on two main competitive tactics, namely, Quality-Oriented Competitive Tactic (Quality) and Cost-Oriented Competitive Tactic (Cost), which are the ones that are closely related to Porter’s generic competitive strategies. Apart from that, we will analyze two other important competitive tactics, namely, Innovation-Oriented Competitive Tactic (Innovation) and Marketing-Oriented Competitive Tactic (Marketing) which will mediate the relationship between the main tactics and performance. Hence, we try to adopt an integrative posture by viewing competitive tactics in the pharmaceutical industry as inextricably linked, forming the fundamental pillars on which sustainable competitive advantage could be established.