Applied Research Area 3: Building Organizational Marketing Capabilities

Focus: Projects this research area will explore the key dimensions of organizational marketing capabilities and the processes and practices by which organizations develop market orientation cultures, competencies of marketing employees and the implications of marketing capabilities for organizational performance.

Context: Both the academic literature and practitioner press assert the importance of marketing capabilities of organizational growth and success. Yet, in many firms, particularly technology-oriented firms, few strategies and processes are instituted to build and use effective marketing capabilities. This shortcoming is particularly pertinent in China, where many firms are at an early stage of understanding the importance of an orientation to customers and markets. We are therefore interested in understanding the key descriptions effective marketing capabilities at the firm and individual levels, and the processes and approaches that firms have used in China to build such capabilities.

Hypothesis: CMI hypothesizes that in fast changing and highly competitive environments, organizational success and growth are by a large measure determined marketing capabilities. By studying and understanding the marketing capabilities of successful and unsuccessful companies in China, we can develop new insights that would be of value to both practitioners and academics.

Questions of interest:
1. What are marketing capabilities, how do we measure them?
2. How do firms develop and sustain a market-oriented culture and marketing capabilities?
3. What are the key marketing competencies required by marketing managers to successfully operate in emerging markets?
4. What is the unique contribution of marketing capabilities to organizational and innovation success?
5. How do firms develop and implement effective marketing strategies?
6. What role does Chinese culture play in successful development of marketing personnel?