The purpose of this thesis is to present and analyze the innovations in the home video game industry and their impact on the competitive strategies of the companies in the indus-try. The existing literature about business cycles and business dynamics is scarce from busi-ness administrative perspective. This thesis contributes to fill the gap in the academic literature. The choice of the home video game industry has been done, due to its fast growing economic nature and the rapid changes that can be noticed, especially for the last decade. A qualitative research method with secondary qualitative and quantitative data and primary qualitative data through interviews has been used for this thesis. The home video game industry is highly driven by technological product innovations. Incremental innovations do not affect in a significant way the dynamics within the industry. Radical innovations create a competitive advantage through differentiation and they increase market share for the company which followed this strategy. Disruptive innovations open new markets, change the business environment for every firm and generate a shift in consumer preferences. Hence, the company which implements a disruptive innovation gains extensive market share. Innovations are possible due to the strategic orientation a company aims to pursue. If a company pursues a high market orientation and a low inno-vation orientation it manufactures an upgraded product to keep customers satisfied. When the firm pursues a high market and innovation orientation, the final product includes cha-racteristics that the customers desire. While at the same time the product created offers services and features hard to be matched by the competition. Finally, if a firm pursues a high innovation orientation and a low market orientation strategy, it creates an easier and more convenient alternative on the existing products while being cheaper. At the same time this strategic orientation disregards the established customers' desires.The purpose of this thesis is to present and analyze the innovations in the home video game industry and their impact on the competitive strategies of the companies in the indus-try. The existing literature about business cycles and business dynamics is scarce from busi-ness administrative perspective. This thesis contributes to fill the gap in the academic litera-ture. The choice of the home video game industry has been done, due to its fast growing economic nature and the rapid changes that can be noticed, especially for the last decade. A qualitative research method with secondary qualitative and quantitative data and primary qualitative data through interviews has been used for this thesis.The home video game industry is highly driven by technological product innovations. Incremental innovations do not affect in a significant way the dynamics within the industry. Radical innovations create a competitive advantage through differentiation and they increase market share for the company which followed this strategy. Disruptive innovations open new markets, change the business environment for every firm and generate a shift in consumer preferences. Hence, the company which implements a disruptive innovation gains extensive market share. Innovations are possible due to the strategic orientation a company aims to pursue. If a company pursues a high market orientation and a low inno-vation orientation it manufactures an upgraded product to keep customers satisfied. When the firm pursues a high market and innovation orientation, the final product includes cha-racteristics that the customers desire. While at the same time the product created offers services and features hard to be matched by the competition. Finally, if a firm pursues a high innovation orientation and a low market orientation strategy, it creates an easier and more convenient alternative on the existing products while being cheaper. At the same time this strategic orientation disregards the established customers' desires.

<p>The purpose of this thesis is to present and analyze the innovations in the home video game industry and their impact on the competitive strategies of the companies in the indus-try. The existing literature about business cycles and business dynamics is scarce from busi-ness administrative perspective. This thesis contributes to fill the gap in the academic literature. The choice of the home video game industry has been done, due to its fast growing economic nature and the rapid changes that can be noticed, especially for the last decade. A qualitative research method with secondary qualitative and quantitative data and primary qualitative data through interviews has been used for this thesis. The home video game industry is highly driven by technological product innovations. Incremental innovations do not affect in a significant way the dynamics within the industry. Radical innovations create a competitive advantage through differentiation and they increase market share for the company which followed this strategy. Disruptive innovations open new markets, change the business environment for every firm and generate a shift in consumer preferences. Hence, the company which implements a disruptive innovation gains extensive market share. Innovations are possible due to the strategic orientation a company aims to pursue. If a company pursues a high market orientation and a low inno-vation orientation it manufactures an upgraded product to keep customers satisfied. When the firm pursues a high market and innovation orientation, the final product includes cha-racteristics that the customers desire. While at the same time the product created offers services and features hard to be matched by the competition. Finally, if a firm pursues a high innovation orientation and a low market orientation strategy, it creates an easier and more convenient alternative on the existing products while being cheaper. At the same time this strategic orientation disregards the established customers' desires.The purpose of this thesis is to present and analyze the innovations in the home video game industry and their impact on the competitive strategies of the companies in the indus-try. The existing literature about business cycles and business dynamics is scarce from busi-ness administrative perspective. This thesis contributes to fill the gap in the academic litera-ture. The choice of the home video game industry has been done, due to its fast growing economic nature and the rapid changes that can be noticed, especially for the last decade. A qualitative research method with secondary qualitative and quantitative data and primary qualitative data through interviews has been used for this thesis.The home video game industry is highly driven by technological product innovations. Incremental innovations do not affect in a significant way the dynamics within the industry. Radical innovations create a competitive advantage through differentiation and they increase market share for the company which followed this strategy. Disruptive innovations open new markets, change the business environment for every firm and generate a shift in consumer preferences. Hence, the company which implements a disruptive innovation gains extensive market share. Innovations are possible due to the strategic orientation a company aims to pursue. If a company pursues a high market orientation and a low inno-vation orientation it manufactures an upgraded product to keep customers satisfied. When the firm pursues a high market and innovation orientation, the final product includes cha-racteristics that the customers desire. While at the same time the product created offers services and features hard to be matched by the competition. Finally, if a firm pursues a high innovation orientation and a low market orientation strategy, it creates an easier and more convenient alternative on the existing products while being cheaper. At the same time this strategic orientation disregards the established customers' desires.</p>

O presente trabalho tem como objetivo verificar a relação entre as orientações estratégicas de Miles e Snow (1978) com o desempenho organizacional nas pequenas empresas à luz de suas especificidades. O atual contexto econômico é marcado essencialmente pelo acirramento da competição entre as empresas. Neste ambiente dinâmico é fundamental que as empresas consigam formular e implementar estratégias que lhes confiram uma vantagem competitiva sobre seus concorrentes e, assim, maximizar seu desempenho. Apesar dessa importância, poucos estudos têm se dedicado a discutir os antecedentes da estratégica, especialmente a orientação estratégica seguida por uma firma e sua ligação com o desempenho da firma, sobretudo quando considerado o universo específico das pequenas empresas, o qual se mostra distinto do das grandes organizações. Através de um questionário aplicado em 35 empresas do setor metal mecânico dados foram coletados e analisados empiricamente utilizando técnicas estatísticas de análise de variância e teste de Fischer. A principal contribuição do trabalho é mostrar que em pequenas empresas a orientação estratégica seguida por uma firma, isoladamente, não tem relação direta com o desempenho organizacional, evidenciando que nestas empresas outros fatores além da orientação estratégica devem ser considerados ao analisar o desempenho organizacional. / The current economic context is marked primarily by stronger competition among enterprises. In this dynamic environment is vital for the companies be able to formulate and implement strategies that give them a competitive advantage over their competitors and, therefore, maximize their performance. Despite this importance, few studies have been devoted to discuss the background of the strategy and its connection with the firm\'s performance, particularly the strategic orientation followed by a firm and its connection with firm\'s performance, especially when considering the specific universe of small businesses. Thus, this study aims to analyze how the relationship between the strategic orientation and organizational performance occurs in small businesses. Throughout a questionnaire applied in 35 companies in the metal mechanic sector, data were collected and later analyzed empirically utilizing ANOVA and Fischer test. The main contribution of this work is to show that for small businesses the strategic orientation followed by a firm is not directly related to organizational performance, showing that for those kinds of companies other factors besides the strategic orientation should be considered when analyzing organizational performance.

Em um ambiente competitivo, dinâmico e altamente regulado corno o setor financeiro brasileiro, as orientações estratégicas das empresas devem estar alinhadas com o ambiente. Embora a literatura de alinhamento estratégico seja muito rica, existe um reduzido número de estudos envolvendo elementos de alinhamento estratégico e orientações estratégicas de unidades de negocio, mais especificamente, envolvendo os tipos de orientação Defensora e Prospectora segundo a tipologia de Miles e Snow. Esses estudos, ao levar em conta a variável orientação estratégica, passaram a explicar resultados que ate então se mostravam inconsistentes ou que não eram detectados. Sendo assim, este estudo foi guiado pela seguinte questão de pesquisa: distintas orientações estratégicas atribuem diferentes importâncias para os elementos do modelo de Maturidade do Alinhamento Estratégico (Strategic Alignment Maturity - SAM)? Deste modo os seis componentes de SAM denominados Comunicação, Parcerias. Políticas de Recursos Humanos e Habilidades, Mensuração de Valor, Governança de Tecnologia da Informação (TI) e Escopo e Arquitetura são analisados, utilizando o setor financeiro, que se caracteriza pelo use intensivo de informações, como área de estudo. Foram estudadas, a partir de uma pesquisa survey, 165 unidades de negocio da indústria bancaria, de seguros e de corretagem de valores mobiliários Os resultados obtidos revelaram que 10 dos 42 elementos analisados mostraram-se mais importantes para as instituições com orientação estratégica Defensora. Estes são respectivamente: compreensão dos processos, sistemas e capacidades potenciais da área de TI pela sua unidade; reputação da área de TI; medidas para mensurar a contribuição da TI e para contribuição do Negócio; avaliações e revisões dos investimentos em TI relacionados com sua unidade; sistemas de informação mercadológicos e de suporte operacional; padrões e conformidades nos sistemas de TI; integração da arquitetura de TI; e instrumentos, processos e estruturas organizacionais para lidar com interrupções causadas por mudanças de negocio e de TI. Em nenhuma situação os elementos de SAM se mostraram significativos para os Prospectores, o que pode ser atribuído ao fato de que essa orientação estratégica apresenta uma natureza mais flexível e, portanto, adaptada a ambientes dinâmicos, Como o setor financeiro. Por outro lado, a orientação Defensora precisa compensar sua rigidez a mudanças por meio de elementos de SAM sob o risco de se tornar não competitiva em tal cenário. Com base nestes, sugere-se como estudos futuros: a replicação deste em outros ambientes a fim de averiguar se os elementos do modelo SAM se confirmam como sendo mais importantes para Defensores; e fazer um estudo envolvendo elementos SAM, orientações estratégicas e desempenho com a finalidade de verificar se os elementos mais importantes para determinada orientação estratégica são as que realmente contribuem para o desempenho organizacional. / In a competitive, dynamic and highly regulated environment such as the Brazilian financial sector, the firms’ strategic orientations should be aligned with the environment. Although the literature on strategic alignment is very rich, there are few studies involving strategic alignment elements within business unit orientations, more specifically, involving the Miles and Snow typology of Defenders and Prospectors. These studies, by taking into account the variable ’strategic orientation’, provided an explanation for results that were, until then, considered inconsistent or undetected. So, this study was guided by the following research question: do distinct strategic orientations attribute different degrees of importance to the elements within the Strategic Alignment Maturity (SAM) model? Thus, the six SAM components, namely, Communications, Partnerships, Human Resources and Skills, Value Measurement, IT Governance, and IT Scope and Architecture are explored in the Brazilian financial sector, which is characterized by the intensive use of information. One hundred and sixty five business units within the banking, insurance, and brokerage industries were studied. The results obtained revealed that 10 of the 42 elements were more important in the institutions shown to have a Defender-type strategic orientation. These elements were: understanding of the processes, systems and potential capacity of IT area by business units, reputation of the IT area, means of measuring the contribution of IT, means of measuring the contribution of business, assessments and reviews of IT investments, market-related information systems, operational support systems, standards and compliance in the IT systems, integration of the IT architecture, and organizational structures, processes and instruments to deal with interruptions. In no situation were any of the SAM elements shown to be more importance for the Prospectors, which can be explained by the fact that this strategic orientation is more flexible and, therefore, more adapted to dynamic environments such as the financial sector. On the other hand, the Defender strategic orientation needs to compensate its rigidity in the face of change by using SAM elements at the risk of being unable to compete in such a scenario. Given the findings of this study, some suggestions for future studies are: the replication of this study in other environments in order to confirm if the SAM elements are more important to Defenders; and carry out a study involving SAM elements, strategic orientations and performance in order to verify if the more important elements within a determined strategic orientation are the ones that really contribute to organizational performance.

Em um ambiente competitivo, dinâmico e altamente regulado corno o setor financeiro brasileiro, as orientações estratégicas das empresas devem estar alinhadas com o ambiente. Embora a literatura de alinhamento estratégico seja muito rica, existe um reduzido número de estudos envolvendo elementos de alinhamento estratégico e orientações estratégicas de unidades de negocio, mais especificamente, envolvendo os tipos de orientação Defensora e Prospectora segundo a tipologia de Miles e Snow. Esses estudos, ao levar em conta a variável orientação estratégica, passaram a explicar resultados que ate então se mostravam inconsistentes ou que não eram detectados. Sendo assim, este estudo foi guiado pela seguinte questão de pesquisa: distintas orientações estratégicas atribuem diferentes importâncias para os elementos do modelo de Maturidade do Alinhamento Estratégico (Strategic Alignment Maturity - SAM)? Deste modo os seis componentes de SAM denominados Comunicação, Parcerias. Políticas de Recursos Humanos e Habilidades, Mensuração de Valor, Governança de Tecnologia da Informação (TI) e Escopo e Arquitetura são analisados, utilizando o setor financeiro, que se caracteriza pelo use intensivo de informações, como área de estudo. Foram estudadas, a partir de uma pesquisa survey, 165 unidades de negocio da indústria bancaria, de seguros e de corretagem de valores mobiliários Os resultados obtidos revelaram que 10 dos 42 elementos analisados mostraram-se mais importantes para as instituições com orientação estratégica Defensora. Estes são respectivamente: compreensão dos processos, sistemas e capacidades potenciais da área de TI pela sua unidade; reputação da área de TI; medidas para mensurar a contribuição da TI e para contribuição do Negócio; avaliações e revisões dos investimentos em TI relacionados com sua unidade; sistemas de informação mercadológicos e de suporte operacional; padrões e conformidades nos sistemas de TI; integração da arquitetura de TI; e instrumentos, processos e estruturas organizacionais para lidar com interrupções causadas por mudanças de negocio e de TI. Em nenhuma situação os elementos de SAM se mostraram significativos para os Prospectores, o que pode ser atribuído ao fato de que essa orientação estratégica apresenta uma natureza mais flexível e, portanto, adaptada a ambientes dinâmicos, Como o setor financeiro. Por outro lado, a orientação Defensora precisa compensar sua rigidez a mudanças por meio de elementos de SAM sob o risco de se tornar não competitiva em tal cenário. Com base nestes, sugere-se como estudos futuros: a replicação deste em outros ambientes a fim de averiguar se os elementos do modelo SAM se confirmam como sendo mais importantes para Defensores; e fazer um estudo envolvendo elementos SAM, orientações estratégicas e desempenho com a finalidade de verificar se os elementos mais importantes para determinada orientação estratégica são as que realmente contribuem para o desempenho organizacional. / In a competitive, dynamic and highly regulated environment such as the Brazilian financial sector, the firms’ strategic orientations should be aligned with the environment. Although the literature on strategic alignment is very rich, there are few studies involving strategic alignment elements within business unit orientations, more specifically, involving the Miles and Snow typology of Defenders and Prospectors. These studies, by taking into account the variable ’strategic orientation’, provided an explanation for results that were, until then, considered inconsistent or undetected. So, this study was guided by the following research question: do distinct strategic orientations attribute different degrees of importance to the elements within the Strategic Alignment Maturity (SAM) model? Thus, the six SAM components, namely, Communications, Partnerships, Human Resources and Skills, Value Measurement, IT Governance, and IT Scope and Architecture are explored in the Brazilian financial sector, which is characterized by the intensive use of information. One hundred and sixty five business units within the banking, insurance, and brokerage industries were studied. The results obtained revealed that 10 of the 42 elements were more important in the institutions shown to have a Defender-type strategic orientation. These elements were: understanding of the processes, systems and potential capacity of IT area by business units, reputation of the IT area, means of measuring the contribution of IT, means of measuring the contribution of business, assessments and reviews of IT investments, market-related information systems, operational support systems, standards and compliance in the IT systems, integration of the IT architecture, and organizational structures, processes and instruments to deal with interruptions. In no situation were any of the SAM elements shown to be more importance for the Prospectors, which can be explained by the fact that this strategic orientation is more flexible and, therefore, more adapted to dynamic environments such as the financial sector. On the other hand, the Defender strategic orientation needs to compensate its rigidity in the face of change by using SAM elements at the risk of being unable to compete in such a scenario. Given the findings of this study, some suggestions for future studies are: the replication of this study in other environments in order to confirm if the SAM elements are more important to Defenders; and carry out a study involving SAM elements, strategic orientations and performance in order to verify if the more important elements within a determined strategic orientation are the ones that really contribute to organizational performance.

O presente trabalho tem como objetivo verificar a relação entre as orientações estratégicas de Miles e Snow (1978) com o desempenho organizacional nas pequenas empresas à luz de suas especificidades. O atual contexto econômico é marcado essencialmente pelo acirramento da competição entre as empresas. Neste ambiente dinâmico é fundamental que as empresas consigam formular e implementar estratégias que lhes confiram uma vantagem competitiva sobre seus concorrentes e, assim, maximizar seu desempenho. Apesar dessa importância, poucos estudos têm se dedicado a discutir os antecedentes da estratégica, especialmente a orientação estratégica seguida por uma firma e sua ligação com o desempenho da firma, sobretudo quando considerado o universo específico das pequenas empresas, o qual se mostra distinto do das grandes organizações. Através de um questionário aplicado em 35 empresas do setor metal mecânico dados foram coletados e analisados empiricamente utilizando técnicas estatísticas de análise de variância e teste de Fischer. A principal contribuição do trabalho é mostrar que em pequenas empresas a orientação estratégica seguida por uma firma, isoladamente, não tem relação direta com o desempenho organizacional, evidenciando que nestas empresas outros fatores além da orientação estratégica devem ser considerados ao analisar o desempenho organizacional. / The current economic context is marked primarily by stronger competition among enterprises. In this dynamic environment is vital for the companies be able to formulate and implement strategies that give them a competitive advantage over their competitors and, therefore, maximize their performance. Despite this importance, few studies have been devoted to discuss the background of the strategy and its connection with the firm\'s performance, particularly the strategic orientation followed by a firm and its connection with firm\'s performance, especially when considering the specific universe of small businesses. Thus, this study aims to analyze how the relationship between the strategic orientation and organizational performance occurs in small businesses. Throughout a questionnaire applied in 35 companies in the metal mechanic sector, data were collected and later analyzed empirically utilizing ANOVA and Fischer test. The main contribution of this work is to show that for small businesses the strategic orientation followed by a firm is not directly related to organizational performance, showing that for those kinds of companies other factors besides the strategic orientation should be considered when analyzing organizational performance.

Em um ambiente competitivo, dinâmico e altamente regulado corno o setor financeiro brasileiro, as orientações estratégicas das empresas devem estar alinhadas com o ambiente. Embora a literatura de alinhamento estratégico seja muito rica, existe um reduzido número de estudos envolvendo elementos de alinhamento estratégico e orientações estratégicas de unidades de negocio, mais especificamente, envolvendo os tipos de orientação Defensora e Prospectora segundo a tipologia de Miles e Snow. Esses estudos, ao levar em conta a variável orientação estratégica, passaram a explicar resultados que ate então se mostravam inconsistentes ou que não eram detectados. Sendo assim, este estudo foi guiado pela seguinte questão de pesquisa: distintas orientações estratégicas atribuem diferentes importâncias para os elementos do modelo de Maturidade do Alinhamento Estratégico (Strategic Alignment Maturity - SAM)? Deste modo os seis componentes de SAM denominados Comunicação, Parcerias. Políticas de Recursos Humanos e Habilidades, Mensuração de Valor, Governança de Tecnologia da Informação (TI) e Escopo e Arquitetura são analisados, utilizando o setor financeiro, que se caracteriza pelo use intensivo de informações, como área de estudo. Foram estudadas, a partir de uma pesquisa survey, 165 unidades de negocio da indústria bancaria, de seguros e de corretagem de valores mobiliários Os resultados obtidos revelaram que 10 dos 42 elementos analisados mostraram-se mais importantes para as instituições com orientação estratégica Defensora. Estes são respectivamente: compreensão dos processos, sistemas e capacidades potenciais da área de TI pela sua unidade; reputação da área de TI; medidas para mensurar a contribuição da TI e para contribuição do Negócio; avaliações e revisões dos investimentos em TI relacionados com sua unidade; sistemas de informação mercadológicos e de suporte operacional; padrões e conformidades nos sistemas de TI; integração da arquitetura de TI; e instrumentos, processos e estruturas organizacionais para lidar com interrupções causadas por mudanças de negocio e de TI. Em nenhuma situação os elementos de SAM se mostraram significativos para os Prospectores, o que pode ser atribuído ao fato de que essa orientação estratégica apresenta uma natureza mais flexível e, portanto, adaptada a ambientes dinâmicos, Como o setor financeiro. Por outro lado, a orientação Defensora precisa compensar sua rigidez a mudanças por meio de elementos de SAM sob o risco de se tornar não competitiva em tal cenário. Com base nestes, sugere-se como estudos futuros: a replicação deste em outros ambientes a fim de averiguar se os elementos do modelo SAM se confirmam como sendo mais importantes para Defensores; e fazer um estudo envolvendo elementos SAM, orientações estratégicas e desempenho com a finalidade de verificar se os elementos mais importantes para determinada orientação estratégica são as que realmente contribuem para o desempenho organizacional. / In a competitive, dynamic and highly regulated environment such as the Brazilian financial sector, the firms’ strategic orientations should be aligned with the environment. Although the literature on strategic alignment is very rich, there are few studies involving strategic alignment elements within business unit orientations, more specifically, involving the Miles and Snow typology of Defenders and Prospectors. These studies, by taking into account the variable ’strategic orientation’, provided an explanation for results that were, until then, considered inconsistent or undetected. So, this study was guided by the following research question: do distinct strategic orientations attribute different degrees of importance to the elements within the Strategic Alignment Maturity (SAM) model? Thus, the six SAM components, namely, Communications, Partnerships, Human Resources and Skills, Value Measurement, IT Governance, and IT Scope and Architecture are explored in the Brazilian financial sector, which is characterized by the intensive use of information. One hundred and sixty five business units within the banking, insurance, and brokerage industries were studied. The results obtained revealed that 10 of the 42 elements were more important in the institutions shown to have a Defender-type strategic orientation. These elements were: understanding of the processes, systems and potential capacity of IT area by business units, reputation of the IT area, means of measuring the contribution of IT, means of measuring the contribution of business, assessments and reviews of IT investments, market-related information systems, operational support systems, standards and compliance in the IT systems, integration of the IT architecture, and organizational structures, processes and instruments to deal with interruptions. In no situation were any of the SAM elements shown to be more importance for the Prospectors, which can be explained by the fact that this strategic orientation is more flexible and, therefore, more adapted to dynamic environments such as the financial sector. On the other hand, the Defender strategic orientation needs to compensate its rigidity in the face of change by using SAM elements at the risk of being unable to compete in such a scenario. Given the findings of this study, some suggestions for future studies are: the replication of this study in other environments in order to confirm if the SAM elements are more important to Defenders; and carry out a study involving SAM elements, strategic orientations and performance in order to verify if the more important elements within a determined strategic orientation are the ones that really contribute to organizational performance.

Research Question: What is the strategic orientation that community banks in Sweden adopt? What are the Gen Z preferences concerning these strategic orientations? Purpose: By using two different methodological approaches, the objective of this study is to answer two questions concerning the organization’s strategic orientation. Essentially, the authors have conducted a qualitative study to explore the strategic orientation which community banks in Sweden adopt. Additionally, a quantitative survey has been carried out to surface the generation Z's preferences on the question of strategic orientation. Method: The research methodology steering this thesis will be conducted using the research onion model. This implies that the methodology will be divided into layers including, the research approaches, the research strategy, the research choice, the time horizon of the study, as well as the techniques and procedures concerning the data collection and data analysis. Eventually, the authors discuss the quality criteria by referring to the interview’s credibility, confirmability, transferability, dependability, and the survey’s reliability and validity and applicability. Conclusion: The findings derived from an interview with the three managers have shown that community banks in Sweden adopt brand orientation, whereas the empirical findings have revealed that generation Z has hybrid orientation, meaning that generation preferences are located in the middle ground between the brand orientation and market orientation.

Despite a decade of public and private efforts to promote patient centricity in healthcare, there is still considerable ambiguity and skepticism regarding the concept and its business impact in the pharmaceutical industry. In this research, a novel methodology is developed to quantify firms’ strategic orientation using public 10-K reports. The Strategic Orientation Ratio (SOR) was developed and first validated to examine customer centricity for 9 non-pharmaceutical companies. The SOR is then extended from customer centricity to patient centricity, and it was applied to measure the extent of patient centricity in 10 multinational pharmaceutical firms. The method was successfully validated by identifying the strategic orientation of non-pharma firms such as Walmart, Apple, and Amazon. Next, by the same method, the extent of patient centricity is quantified in 10 big pharmaceutical companies for 2005-2015. This revealed the extent to which patient centricity exists in pharmaceutical companies, and how this has changed over time. The combination of an expressed patient-centric strategic orientation, personalized medicine (measured by oncology products), and patient access (measured by sales) is shown empirically to have a significant positive effect on firm performance. This implies that not only is patient centricity “the right thing to do,” it can also be a viable model for pharmaceutical firm competitiveness. / Business Administration/Strategic Management

There are different views on the nature and content of strategies that ensure positive performance in the economic crisis environment. This has created the need for studies focusing on the relationship between strategies and performance in different economic crises. Manufacturing firms in Zimbabwe have experienced declining performance since 1996. It is against this background that this study examined the dimension of strategic orientations (as measures of strategies) exercised by firms to determine their relationship with performance during the economic crisis. Data on the various dimensions of strategic orientation was collected through questionnaires, while data on performance were collected through questionnaires and financial statements. The study sample was obtained through a stratified sampling technique which falls within the sphere of probability sampling methods. The multiple regression analysis was used to examine the relationships between the six dimensions of strategic orientation and performance. The analysis dimension of strategic orientation was dominantly exercised by many firms. The analysis dimension of strategic orientation was also the most effective because it had a positive relationship with performance (positive profitability and growth). This makes the analysis dimension of strategic orientation relevant in economic crisis. The study showed that the pro-activeness dimension of strategic orientation focused by very few firms had a positive relationship with performance (positive profitability and growth) and hence making it relevant in economic crisis. Moreover, it was established that the relationship between aggressiveness and riskiness dimensions of strategic orientation was negative and hence less relevant in economic crisis. It is therefore recommended that, for manufacturing firms in Zimbabwe to survive, improve performance and ensure sustainability in the current economic crisis environment, they need to focus dominantly on the analysis and pro-activeness dimensions of strategic orientation. This requires firms to invest more in research and development, develop strategic partnerships with other firms, strong networks, innovative and creative capabilities. In addition, firms must avoid fighting competitors and taking risky decisions. This study considered firms that are currently operational and it is recommended that future studies consider firms that closed during the economic crisis to acquire a deeper understanding of the effective strategies in economic crisis. / Business Management / D.B.L.