A Framework for Sustainable, Competitive Advantage for the Irish Pharmaceutical Industry

This inductive study seeks to construct a practical strategic framework tailored for use by the Irish pharmaceutical industry to improve its competitive advantage in time. Enhancing the effectiveness of sustainable (predictive), competitive advantage requires strategists to chase change rather than simply react to it. Modern business operates in a complex and dynamic environment, human behaviour is irrational. The application of assumptions and cognitive preference for repetition restricts differentiation being achieved, a fundamental aspect of competitive advantage. The framework was devised, firstly, by utilising interdisciplinary academic theories, spanning behavioural science to business management, to identify the factors important to sustaining the competitive advantage of the Irish pharmaceutical industry, then testing the relevance of the same through time, and finally by developing a methodological prototype for use primarily by Irish senior strategists to formulate their management strategy in context and in time.