Taking an evolutionary view of markets, Harold Demsetz hypothesized that firms ., differ persistently in efficiency and that industry concentration results from growth of ., efficient firms at the expense of inefficient ones. We test the hypothesis with high quality microdata from the US hospital industry, an industry of keen policy and scientific interest. We measure efficiency by firm in the ...

Starting from the 1980’s, the U.S. paper and paperboard industry has recorded an increasing degree of consolidation through mergers and acquisitions. This strategy, combined with voluntary downtime, is adopted by producers as a mean to tackle excess capacity and to reduce costs in order to improve profitability. However, it is unclear whether the rising market concentration resulted in market p...

Continuous improvement is a reflection of the culture of a company whose goal is to respond to the needs of its customers. It may not only result in better customer satisfaction, but in increased productivity, profitability and employee satisfaction. This paper presents a study of how a continuous improvementbased quality management system might be implemented in the modular housing industry. F...

I developing and legitimizing pharmaceutical-like, reduced-harm tobacco products giving the tobacco industry a new lease on life? Cigarettes constitute more than 90% of the industry's profits, and the number of smokers is increasing worldwide with population growth. Smoking prevalence is simultaneously declining, threatening cigarettes' long-term profitability. Transnational tobacco companies (...

As markets expand due to globalization, chemical manufacturers are faced with the challenge of meeting the rapidly growing global demand for production at a time when production costs are increasing due to rising feedstock prices. One way for chemical manufacturers to ensure profitability in the current environment is to foster innovation through the use of advanced modeling techniques. The Che...

Traditionally, IT firms closely guard the management and control of critical information assets. A group of IT firms, however, adopted a different approach and formed an organization with the goal of sharing critical IT security information with industry peers (firms in the same industry that do not directly compete) and competitors to more effectively manage IT security. The inherent vulnerabi...

Based on data from firms in the personal computer industry, we study the effect of new product introductions on three key drivers of firm value: profit rate, profit-rate persistence, and firm size as reflected in asset growth. Consistent with our theoretical development, we find that new product introductions influence profit rate and size; however, we find no effect on profit-rate persistence....

Staffan Brege, Tomas Nord, Roland Sjöström and Lars Stehn, Value-added strategies and forward integration in the Swedish sawmill industry: positioning and profitability in the highvolume segment, 2010, SCANDINAVIAN JOURNAL OF FOREST RESEARCH, (25), 5, 482-493. SCANDINAVIAN JOURNAL OF FOREST RESEARCH is available online at informaworld TM : http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02827581.2010.496738 Copyrigh...

In today’s competitive arena, organizations must use all possible means to maximize growth and profitability by focusing on strategic marketing. Classic Airlines has an opportunity to alter the landscape of the airlines industry. In order to succeed, Classic Airlines must be able to correctly forecast market potential and future demand, by establishing long-term marketing objectives.

During the past decade, the retail banking industry started to face a set of radically new challenges that had an overall negative impact on industry margin and profitability. In response to these challenges, more and more retail banks have focused on increasing the scale of their operations, which has led to a rising importance of mergers and acquisitions (M&A). From a Marketing perspective, M...