Abstract:
Although organisational capabilities have been recognised as a key source of competitive
advantage, the empirical understanding of marketing capability and its associated
components is still relatively under-developed. There is little consistency in approaching
what constitutes organisational marketing capability, proposed conceptual frameworks have
not been empirically tested and little attention has been paid to how organisational marketing
capabilities are developed over the longer term.
The purpose of this study was to empirically test how proposed conceptual frameworks of
marketing capabilities match real-life organisational marketing capabilities, explore which
marketing resources act as inputs into marketing capability and how these resources are
transformed into marketing capability. The following key questions were answered: what are
components of marketing capability in real-life organisational contexts, what resources
inputs does it incorporate and how are these resources transformed into capabilities?
This study employed an innovative (in this theoretical context) multiple embedded case
study design using multiple data sources to provide a rich and detailed understanding of
marketing capability. The target population for the cases was any South African organisation
marketing products and services to domestic consumers/ customers. Based on this
definition, four company cases were identified, representing the two target groups (business
to business and business to customer) as well as products and services. Data was derived
from 22 in-depth interviews with multiple interviews conducted for each case, as well as
documentation and archival records.
This study contributes at the theoretical level by developing a framework of marketing
capability and sub-capabilities, providing an enhanced understanding of the nature of
marketing knowledge resources underpinning marketing capability and outlining the
mechanisms that integrate marketing knowledge resources in the development of marketing
capability and sub-capabilities. At practitioner level, the findings can contribute to enhancing
effective marketing within organisations by providing a route to building stronger underlying
marketing capabilities, which in turn will improve competitiveness.
