Developing the capability of marketing intelligence: A subjective dynamic capability study

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to help firms to create competitiveness by developing marketing capabilities. It analyzes how the component and architectural competences affect and enhance market orientation and firm performance.

Design/methodology/approach

Built on the theories of organizational capability, knowledge creation, and market orientation, this research develops the contents of marketing capabilities, including component and architectural competences that contribute to marketing capability by responding to external changes, and analyzes their influence on market orientation and firm performance.

Findings

The study reveals the following effective marketing capabilities which benefit to marketing performance. First, hiring and retaining employees with higher professional, local, and specific knowledge. Second, firms with higher tacit knowledge enhance market orientation. Third, arranging employees into teamwork to implement marketing tasks. Fourth, assigning employees into small-scale experiments on creative proposals. Fifth, standardizing procedures of generation, dissemination, and response of marketing intelligence. Sixth, providing written market information and training programs to non-marketing staff. Seventh, appropriately delegating to staff. Eighth, establishing apprenticeship among the staff to deliver experiential know-how.

Research limitations/implications

From a dynamic capability perspective, this research construct the two kinds of marketing competences and examine their effect on market orientation and firm performance. For further understanding the complementary effects of marketing capabilities, market orientation, and synergistic performance, a larger sample data (e.g. product, market share, sales, characteristics of staff, firm, and knowledge, etc.) and objective evaluation are encouraged. Otherwise, from the viewpoint of agency theory, the incentive system should also be discussed.

Practical implications

This research has potentially significant implications for knowledge management and marketing management fields as well as managerial practice. The results suggest the importance of marketing capability for market orientation and firm performance.

Originality/value

Marketing resources and marketing capabilities are significant drivers of firm performance, and their impact is greater when they are complementary to each other. This study takes the perspectives of organizational capabilities and market orientation to find out the factors which contribute to marketing capability and performance. This study provides practitioners with a framework for analyzing marketing capabilities as an object of improving firm performance by creating market orientation. Furthermore, this research empirically introduced strategic specific competence (tacit knowledge and autonomy) into the model and tests their effect of market orientation and firm performance.

Citation

Lin, W.-S., Hsu, J.-W. and Yeh, M.-Y. (2015), "Developing the capability of marketing intelligence: A subjective dynamic capability study", Benchmarking: An International Journal, Vol. 22 No. 7, pp. 1341-1359. https://doi.org/10.1108/BIJ-12-2013-0117