Title: The effect of defender dependence and technological innovation on response delay

Authors: Alfred Redie Smith, Paul G. Simmonds

Addresses: Department of Management, College of Business, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-1110, USA. Department of Management, College of Business, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-1110, USA

Abstract: Understanding the effectiveness of various competitive moves is an important element of business strategy. In a study of 179 general medical and surgical hospitals in five of Florida|s largest counties, it was found that the more dependent a competitor on a market under attack, the shorter was the delay in responding to the attack. Additionally, when technological innovation was used as a more detailed dimension of irreversibility, it was negatively related to response delay. Both findings are at variance with the major study on competitive moves in the airline industry.

Keywords: business strategy; competitive moves; defender dependence; irreversibility; market attack; response delay; technological innovation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHTM.2001.001114

International Journal of Healthcare Technology and Management, 2001 Vol.3 No.2/3/4, pp.216-224

Published online: 30 Jun 2003 *

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