Concurrentie & Strategie in de Geneesmiddelensector

The aim of this study is to investigate competition and strategy in the Dutch pharmaceutical sector. Therefore, this study introduces Porters Five Basic Forces model (1980, 1985) to analyze competition in three separate (but connected) industries in the pharmaceutical sector, namely the producers/importers, wholesalers and retailers (pharmacists). Furthermore, the study uses Kuypers' 'Policy with Multiple Actors' model (1976) in order to describe strategy at the level of interest groups, concentrating on the influences of interest groups of producers/importers of pharmaceuticals. The main hypothesis of this Ph.D. thesis is that interest groups play a central role in the Dutch pharmaceutical sector and their strategic influence should not only be seen as an indirect influence through the Five Basic Forces driving (the intensity of) competition, but also as a direct influence. It is postulated that one could speak of a Sixth Basic Force driving competition: the influence of interest groups.