Business Performance and Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Business Performance and Strategy - Essay Example Details of the global market share by percentage are given in the figure below. In terms of revenue measure, GSK’s global rating as of the end of midyear 2014 was given as 6th largest pharmaceutical company (Palmer, 2014). This was accounted for with average annual revenue of  £25.602 billion. The company’s operating income for 2014 was given as  £7.771 billion, of which  £5.237 billion was realised as net income (Palmer, 2014). The major need for a competitive strategy at GSK can largely be said to be based on an ever increasing global competitiveness which has always made the company a 4th force in terms of market share and market capital. This situation is better exemplified in the table below which shows the direct competitor comparison of GSK since 2005. For the past ten years, GSK has strived to either maintain its market position or improve on it. This need is what has informed the use of a peculiar strategy that seeks to make the company competitive and set it apart from its major competitors. An important area of the strategy has been the need for the company to become economically sustainable. This is because the extent to which the company can competitively participate in the global pharmaceutical industry is largely dependent on its capital force (Flyvbjerg, 2003). In the following section of the paper, what has gone into the company’s strategy in the past 10 years and how the strategy can be explained by theories of positioning and resources are analysed. Based on theory, GSK’s current strategy can be said to have been selected based on the application of Bowman’s strategy clock. This is because the strategy clock outlines 8 major competitive positions that may be used by companies in gaining competitive advantage (Barton, 2004). On the whole, the competitive positions can be said to be largely focused on pricing, segmentation and value