The PIMS study is an American program of strategy research or success factor research. PIMS is the abbreviation for Profit Impact of Market Strategies, which means the effects of marketing strategies on profit.
The PIMS concept was developed at General Electric in the 1970s. Since then it has been continued by the Strategic Planning Institute (SPI) in Cambrige. In the meantime, a consultancy has developed with branches in Europe (London, St. Gallen, Cologne).
The specific objective of the PIMS program is large-scale empirical research into the “Laws of the market place”. Regression analysis searches for the success factors that explain the profitability (ROI) to the greatest possible extent (37 factors explain approx. 70% of the variance of the ROI). Features are around 3,000 business units from over 450 member companies. They mostly use the PIMS database for comparative analyzes of their own business units with structurally similar ones
Business units of other companies. It is therefore a broadly based and empirically founded research and advisory concept with the aim of providing the members (but also the public) with insights into success.
The PIMS study identified factors that influence the success of a company. The most important of these include:
- Market share
- Market growth
- Investment intensity
- productivity
- innovation
- Product quality
In the PIMS study, the measurement of success is quantified by the profitability and cash flow of a business unit. The profitability is expressed in the PIMS by the return on investment (ROI).
The study found that market share and market growth are major drivers of ROI. High quality also has a positive impact on profitability.
English 
German 