The PIMS project was originally initiated by senior managers of General Electric who wanted to know why some of their business units were more profitable than others. Under the direction of Sidney Schoeffler, an Economics Professor hired by GE for the purpose, the PIMS project was launched in the 1960s as an internal empirical study. The aim was to make GE's different strategic business units comparable.

 

The Profit Impact of Market Strategy (PIMS®) is a project that uses empirical data to determine which business strategies make the difference between success and failure. It is used to develop strategies for resource allocation and marketing.