Motivated by the medical literature findings that physicians are inertial, we seek to understand (1) whether physicians exhibit structural persistence in drug choice (structural persistence occurs when the drug chosen for a patient depends structurally on the drug previously prescribed by the...

While customer acquisition is clearly important for new brands, mature brands are often said to rely on defection management for maintenance and growth. Yet the theory to support this approach has been subject to very little empirical investigation. How do brands actually increase the size of...

Patent expiration represents a turning point for the brand losing patent protection as bioequivalent generic versions of the drug quickly enter the market at reduced prices. In this paper, we study how physician characteristics and their prescribing decisions impact the competition among...

Little is known about customer loyalty to brands over many dozens or even hundreds of purchases. In this paper we describe, and seek to explain, such patterns of loyalty in two very different markets: a consumer market (laundry detergents), and a more frequently used service (physicians'...

Recent years have seen a huge growth in European cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and considerable attention has been given to how such deals arise and are completed. However, most theoretical emphasis has been placed upon noncultural factors although it is increasingly recognized in...

European cross-border activity has increased tenfold in value over the last ten years and yet there are few studies of this important phenomenon. This study provides an up-to-the-minute view of European top managers' perceptions of key strategic issues; whether acquiring in Europe is still a...

Speed has become the new mantra in business promising advantage, prosperity and success. It is now de rigeur in the domain of Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) with a rising tide of practitioners and consultants extolling the virtues of acting rapidly post-deal and the first 100 days, as critical...

Representations of strategy tend to either be so generalized as to have little real meaning for employees, or go into such detail that people struggle to understand what is really required. The problem is this: a strategy not understood by those charged with implementing it is as bad as, or even...