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Most businessmen believe there is a very strong relationship between high market share and increased profitability. Indeed, this connection is supported by findings from the 3‐year‐old PIMS (Profit Impact of Market Strategy) project, a study of the determinants of profitability in the modern corporation. In a recent MSI Working Paper, Professors Robert D. Buzzell (Harvard Business School) and Bradley T. Gale (University of Massachusetts), and Dr. Ralph G. M. Sultan (Royal Bank of Canada) analyze the PIMS data to show that market share is a major determinant of business profitability. (In an earlier MSI Working Paper, “PIMS: A Breakthrough in Strategic Planning,” PIMS researchers Drs. Sidney Schoeffler, Robert Buzzell, and Donald Heany reported the major study findings and described the PIMS project's objectives, design, and background.)

Most managers equate “quality” just with conformance to technical standards. The more powerful strategic weapon is market perceived quality. Here's how to measure it and why it's such a potent weapon.

Science has become a powerful tool for examining our bodies, our environment, and our universe. In fact, we have adopted science as the technique of choice for examining most phenomena. The intent of this manuscript is to critique the role of science as it pertains to investigating social phenomena, i.e. entrepreneurship, and offer a highly unique twist on the discourse. An overview of historical scientific results leads into the introduction of a Social Periodic Table. The conclusion is that science is quite often the improper tool to use in order to capture the essence of entrepreneurial phenomena. Some suggestions are offered for future research perspectives. The paper does not rehash the science debate from the 1980s marketing literature.

Levitt's theory of globalisation has attracted a great deal of attention among both academics and practitioners. The view that a single product can be offered worldwide offers significant benefits for international marketers, whatever their size or industry. A review of empirical findings in the literature, however, suggests that this theory should be adopted with caution. The author has studied a specific group of three products manufactured by UK companies and exported to other countries in Europe. Despite the often cited term, European market, which implies a likeness between all European countries and, hence, an opportunity for product standardisation, the findings suggest that modifications in many product aspects are necessary for export success. Further, the degree of modification required varies from market to market.

This study empirically explores one of the important channel issues – the relationship between various channel support given to channel partners and the perceived (by managers) goal‐orientation of a firm. Results from an emerging market, India, indicate that perceived orientation towards both profitability and market share is not associated with any of the channel support considered. Growth orientation however is strongly associated with most of the channel support activities – both business (e.g., business advice, pricing and ordering assistance, and personnel training) as well as marketing (advertising support, sales promotional material, and inventory management assistance) oriented activities. In contrast, perceived sales volume orientation is only associated with advertising support and business advice, however, the relationship is negative. These findings have interesting implications for channel management and channel motivation.

Most observers expect Europe 1992 to enhance the performance of European businesses as they expand from a national to a continental scope. But there is little direct evidence to date of the potential gain in profitability at the business level. Using the PIMS Program database of 89 European continental businesses and 253 European single‐country businesses, this study attempts to provide evidence in this direction. The author finds that, in contrast to North America, European continental businesses were much less profitable than national businesses over the period 1972‐1987. This performance gap indicates the potential gain from the unified European market. This article examines the evidence and suggests some of the possible causes.

This study examined the relationship between 130 firm's business investment strategy and their firm performance, as measured by return on investment (ROI) and earnngs per share (EPS). ROI was used as the accounting performance measure and EPS was used as the market‐based performance measure. Results indicate that the accounting performance measure (ROI) may be more appropriate for firms pursuing share‐increasing and turnaround business investment strategies. Whereas both accounting (ROI) and market‐based (EPS) measures may be more appropriate for firms pursuing less risky profit‐oriented business investment strategies.