Version 1
: Received: 3 July 2021 / Approved: 5 July 2021 / Online: 5 July 2021 (10:17:43 CEST)
Version 2
: Received: 19 August 2021 / Approved: 24 August 2021 / Online: 24 August 2021 (11:53:44 CEST)
Vieira, J.; Frade, R.; Ascenso, R.; Martinho, F.; Martinho, D. Determinants of Internationalization as Levers for Sustainability: A Study of the Portuguese Pharmaceutical Sector. Sustainability2021, 13, 9792.
Vieira, J.; Frade, R.; Ascenso, R.; Martinho, F.; Martinho, D. Determinants of Internationalization as Levers for Sustainability: A Study of the Portuguese Pharmaceutical Sector. Sustainability 2021, 13, 9792.
Vieira, J.; Frade, R.; Ascenso, R.; Martinho, F.; Martinho, D. Determinants of Internationalization as Levers for Sustainability: A Study of the Portuguese Pharmaceutical Sector. Sustainability2021, 13, 9792.
Vieira, J.; Frade, R.; Ascenso, R.; Martinho, F.; Martinho, D. Determinants of Internationalization as Levers for Sustainability: A Study of the Portuguese Pharmaceutical Sector. Sustainability 2021, 13, 9792.
Abstract
The pharmaceutical industry is facing the pressure of a global economy, loss of value in local markets and the highly intense innovation that characterizes this sector. This has a heavy impact, particularly in smaller economies. With this investigation, we intend to identify the determinants of internationalization as levers for sustainability in the pharmaceutical export sector of a small economy. Data was collected from a sample representing 63% of the total universe, Portuguese pharmaceutical organizations with exporting activity. Contextualization of the sector and a bibliographic review were previously carried out, which laid the groundwork for the empirical framework. This study revealed a deeply internationalized sector conditioned by a few shortcomings, namely a certain lack of sustainable competitive advantages, relatively low investment in research and development (R&D), insufficient innovation in internationalization strategies as well as scarce institutional support. Our findings may help pave the way for a more complete understanding of the dynamics of internationalization in highly competitive sectors.
Keywords
pharmaceutical industry; internationalization determinants; internationalization strategy; levers for sustainability
Subject
Business, Economics and Management, Business and Management
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Received:
24 August 2021
Commenter:
Jorge Vieira
Commenter's Conflict of Interests:
Author
Comment:
This is the 2nd version, reviewed in accordance with the Editorial team's suggestions. A strong English revision is applied as well. The current version is much more clean&clear, we guess...
Commenter: Jorge Vieira
Commenter's Conflict of Interests: Author