Marketing management capability: the construct, and its dimensions: an examination of managers' and entrepreneurs' perceptions in a retail setting

Purpose – This paper explores the relationship between corporate cultural/intangible assets and marketing capabilities by examining entrepreneurs’ and manager perceptions in a retail setting.
Design/methodology/approach – Nineteen face-to-face interviews were conducted with UK Small and Medium Sized Enterprise (SMEs) managers and entrepreneurs to identify six sub-capabilities that form the marketing capability. We further validated the relationship between marketing sub-capabilities and its antecedent tangible and intangible assets. The qualitative approach employed provided a deeper insight into the motivations, perceptions and association of the stakeholders behind these intangible concepts, and their relationships with their customers.
Findings – The research identified that there is a strong relationship between tangible and intangible assets, their components, and the following capabilities: corporate/brand identity management, market-sensing, customer relationship, social media/communication, design/innovation management, and performance management. In addition, companies need to clearly understand what tangible and intangible assets comprise these capabilities. Where performance management is one of the key internal capabilities, companies must underscore the importance of strong cultural assets that substantially contribute to a company’s performance.
Originality/value – Previous work on dynamic capability analysis is too generic, predominantly relating to the manufacturing sector, and/or focussing on using a single case study example. This study extends the concept of marketing capability in a retail setting by identifying six sub-capabilities and describing the relationship of each with tangible and intangible assets. Through extensive qualitative analysis, we provide evidence that by fully exploiting their embedded culture and other intangible components, companies can

This is the accepted version of the manuscript "Marketing management capability: the construct, and its dimensions: an examination of managers' and entrepreneurs' perceptions in a retail setting", published in the journal "Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal" available via the journal site at: https://doi.org/10.1108/QMR-10-2017-0131.
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