Purpose

The objective of this study is to explore the structural attributes of the pharmaceutical industry before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic by examining the relationship between inventory and firm performance and developing a taxonomy of pharmaceutical firms based on the earns-turns matrix.

Design/methodology/approach

This study examines the inventory–firm performance linkage, considering both total inventory and its discrete inventory components in pharmaceutical firms. In addition, this research develops a new taxonomy of pharmaceutical firms based on the earns-turns matrix. A large panel dataset of firms in the US pharmaceutical industry was collected for the period 2000–2019.

Findings

The results reveal that strategic groups identified based on this taxonomy show different levels of profitability and inventory turns in the earns-turns matrix. Most pharmaceutical firms moved from the low-right to the top-left section in the earns-turns matrix, indicating that these firms have generally pursued profitability rather than effective inventory management.

Research limitations/implications

This study explores the structural attributes of the pharmaceutical industry using the earns-turns matrix. This two-dimensional analysis may not, however, capture the full complexity of inventory–firm performance dynamics.

Practical implications

The mapping of strategic groups on the earns-turns matrix provides a useful tool for visual representations of the dynamics of strategic groups in terms of financial performance and inventory management performance. Practitioners can use the earns-turns matrix to benchmark their firm's position against their competitors.

Originality/value

This study broadens the scope of operations management research by introducing the earns-turns matrix as an empirical validation tool for operational and strategic management theories. This study emphasizes the effectiveness of the earns-turns matrix in analyzing strategic groups of pharmaceutical firms.

中文翻译：

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制药行业的库存和财务绩效：过去二十年发生了什么？

目的

本研究的目的是通过检查库存与公司绩效之间的关系并开发基于收益周转矩阵的制药公司分类法，探讨 COVID-19 大流行爆发之前制药行业的结构属性。

设计/方法论/途径

本研究考察了库存与公司绩效的联系，考虑了制药公司的总库存及其离散库存组成部分。此外，这项研究还根据收益-周转矩阵开发了一种新的制药公司分类法。收集了 2000 年至 2019 年期间美国制药行业公司的大型面板数据集。

发现

结果表明，根据该分类法确定的战略组在收益周转矩阵中显示出不同水平的盈利能力和库存周转率。大多数制药公司从收益周转矩阵中的右下部分移至左上部分，表明这些公司通常追求盈利能力而不是有效的库存管理。

研究局限性/影响

本研究使用收益-周转矩阵探讨了制药行业的结构属性。然而，这种二维分析可能无法捕捉库存-公司绩效动态的全部复杂性。

实际影响

收益-周转矩阵上战略群体的映射提供了一个有用的工具，可以直观地表示战略群体在财务绩效和库存管理绩效方面的动态。从业者可以使用收益-周转矩阵来衡量他们公司相对于竞争对手的地位。

原创性/价值

本研究通过引入收益-周转矩阵作为运营和战略管理理论的实证验证工具，拓宽了运营管理研究的范围。本研究强调了收益-收益矩阵在分析制药公司战略群体中的有效性。