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MA RKETING IN THE IST CENTURY

M arketing Im plem entation

Th e Im pl icat ion s of M arketing

P a r ad ig m W e a k n e s s fo r t h e

S t r a te g y x e cu t io n P r o c e s s

Nigel R Piercy

C ard if f Univers i ty

Rev iew in g th e m a rke t in g s t ra teg y im p lem en ta tio n i s su e in

a n era o f a wea ker m a rke t in g p a ra d ig m co n tra s t s tra d i-

t io n a l s eq u en t ia l f lo w m o d e ls o f im p lem en ta t io n w i th th e

s t ra teg y fo rm u la t io n ~ im p lem en ta t io n d ich o to m y a n d

lea d s to th e em erg en ce o f a p ro cessu a l v iew o f im p lem en -

ta t ion . Th e proc essua l v iew clar i fies the underlying behav-

i o r a l a n d o r g a n i z a t i o n a l f a c t o r s t h a t b u i l d s tr a t e g y

imple men ta tion capabili t ies . These underlying fac tors are

a t r i s k ro m a wea ke r m a rke t in g p a ra d ig m . Th e wea ken in g

o f th e m a rke t in g p a ra d ig m i s d i scu ssed in t e rm s o f th e

d o wn s iz in g a n d d i sa p p ea ra n ce o f th e m a rke t in g fu n c t io n ,

b u t m o re fu n d a m en ta l ly in th e lo s s o f s tra teg ic in flu ence

f o r m a r k e t in g i n t h e f a c e o f c o m p e t i n g m a n a g e m e n t p a ra -

d ig m s su ch a s th e lea n en terp r i se a n d lea n th in k in g .

The conc lusion is tha t the impac t on implementa tion ca-

p a b i l i t i e s i s b e in g fe l t f i r s t in co m p a n ies wh ere th e m a r -

ke t in g p a ra d ig m h a s b een t ra d i t io n a l ly wea k , b u t th a t th i s

m a y b e p ro to typ ica l fo r o th er co m p a n ies in the lo n g er

term . A n u m b er o f im p o r ta n t a rea s fo r co n cep tu a l a n d

em pir ica l a t ten t ion are indenti fied .

I t may be tempt ing to view the development of the

ma rketing discipline a nd its continuing impact on corpo-

rate man agem ent wi th som e complacency. F or example,

Deshpande, F arley, and Webster (1997) have recently re-

ported a f ive-country s tudy, encompassing Japan, the

United States, England, France, and Germany, and pre-

Journal of the Acad emy of Marketing Science .

Volume 26 , N o. 3 , pages 222-236 .

Copyright 9 1998 by Acad em y of Marketing Science .

sented the reassuring co nclusion that the m ost successful

com panies use similar organizational strategies, regardless

of their country of origin---offering a competitive, en-

trepreneurial culture with emphasis on innovation. On this

basis, i t m ight be expec ted that marke ting strategy imple-

me ntation capabili t ies wou ld be un iversally similar. Simi-

l a r i t i es be tween the v iews o f execu t ives a t g loba l

multinationals in the mos t develop ed countries notwith-

standing, projected grow th rates of industrial imports and

exports suggest that the highest rates of gr owth are n ow in

the developing countries (F arley 1997), and mu ch of that

grow th will be associated w ith corporations very differen t

from conventional global multinationals.

Webster's (1992) seminal article on the role of mark et-

ing in the corporation threw d own the cha l lenge of rethink-

ing that role in l ight o f the m ove tow ard relationship-based,

rather than transaction-based, ma rketing strategies and the

grow th of new, alliance-based organizational form s. How-

ever, implicit in this incisive ana lysis is the assumption that

there will , indeed, remain a role for marketing in the

corporation of the future, which is altered but recogniz-

able. In a similar, later analysis, G reyse r (1997) co mp ares

ma rket orientation and m arketing organization and talks of

a simultaneous upgrading o f orientation and dow nsizing

of formal function. By contrast, we will suggest here that

the reality increasingly faced by many executives is a

fundamental challenge to orientation a c c o m p a n i e d by a

downsizing (and sometim es eve n disappearance) of the

marketing function.

Grounded more in execu t ive deve lopment work w i th

execu tives in international com panies than in conven tional

empirical study, this article will argue that the ability of

organizations to e ffectively im plem ent mark eting strate-

gies is surprisingly po orly understood; further mo re, t m a y

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Piercy M ARK ETING IMPLEMENTA TION 223

be l iable to re duce rather than grow, as a resul t of a num ber

of factors current ly affect ing he role of m arket ing in major

corporations. T he arg um ent is develop ed around the fol-

lowing goals.

First, scholars and practitioners with interests in mar-

keting strategy implementation issues are offe red a com -

me ntary on a processual perspective on implementation.

However, second, we will argue that in the important

conte xt of the globalization process and the importance of

the international ma ster brand (Sheth 1997), there are

ma jor differenc es in the m arketing strategy implementa-

tion capabilit ies of organizations in differen t parts of the

world. It is hoped that this also will be of interest to

scholars in international marketing. Finally, we will argue

that there are a n um ber of important trends that are affect-

ing the abili ty of organizations to implement marketing

strategies in a global marketplace, which are of general

impo rtance and interest to m arketing executives.

Centrally, we will argue that in ma ny countries outside

the Uni ted States , the market ing paradigm is frequent ly

we ake r in organizations than is the case in similar types of

organization in the U nited States and, furthermore, tha t i t

is becom ing weak er in m any important respects. In the first

instance, we will argue that a wea ker marketing paradigm

provides an important, although frequently covert, barrier to

the effective impleme ntation of global ma rketing strategies.

The re has been so me debate, for instance, in the serv-

ices literature about th e ability o f international partners and

distributors to delive r the level o f service quality n eede d

to support global brandin g of services (e.g., see Czinkota

1997). The prob lems fa ced by hotel, car rental, leisure, and

catering com panies in maintaining service quality in the

form er Eastern Europe or in locations l ike the new African

states are i l lus t rat ive. For ins tance, Avis Europe has

achieved remarkable perform ance in high cu stomer satis-

faction linked to e m ploy ee satisfaction in Western Europe.

The co mp any's goal o f operat ing in countr ies o f the former

Eastern E urop e is seriously threatened by the limitations

on the abili ty to recru it and train service-oriented em ploy-

ees locally in such locations (Piercy 1997).

However, less obviously, the continued weakening of

the ma rketing paradigm m ay also have prototypical impli-

cations for m arket ing companies throughout the world . A t

its simplest, the influence we are seeing currently on

compan ies where the m arke ting parad igm i s weak may be

indicat ive of the longer term changes that m ay be antici-

pated in companies where the market ing paradigm has

traditionally been stronger. For example, we will argue that

the impact of the man agem ent phi losophy of lean enter-

prise is a factor of this type.

The m ost important im plication, for the mom ent, is the

need to underline the risks involved in assuming that

com pan y marketing strategy implementation capabili t ies

are either high or stable in the global marketplace. It

follows that the costs and approaches to marketing strategy

implementation m ay require considerable variation across

markets. It will be suggested that this factor has been

underestimated in the past but will become increasingly

significant to ma rketing effectiveness.

A compelling il lustration of the im portanc e of learning

to mana ge in a world of changing and varying market ing

implementation capabili t ies is the growth of electronic

com m erce (in all i ts forms, but perhaps mo st particularly,

the impact o f the World Wide Web). M any companies ,

previously ex perien ced in dome stic marketing, are facing

the inevitabili ty of electro nic globalization of their markets

and the challenge o f partnering with dive rse international

customers, distributors, and allies.

In fact , the issue of m arket ing implem entat ion has been

long recognized as crit ical to m arke ting effectiveness, and

an area of particular weakness in many organizations.

Bono ma (1985) noted some t ime ago that

market ing for a numbe r of years has been long o n

advice about what to do in a given com pet i t ive or

market s i tuation and short on useful recomm enda-

tions for

how to do it

within company, competitor,

and customer co nst rai nts . . , these parties often are

strategy-sophisticated b ut implem entation-bound.

That i s , they know qui te wel l

what

i t is the y wan t to

do in marketing; usually, however, there are real

problems in getting the marketing job done (P. 200)

We wil l argue that more than a decade after Bonoma's

wide ly cited researc h study, there appears l i t tle ev idenc e

that these fundamental complaints have been addressed

satisfactorily, that implementation is rarely accorded its

warranted significance in discussing marketing strategy,

and that there are particular issues n ow b ecom ing apparent

that justify re new ed efforts in this area.

Th e structure to be fo llowed is as follows. First, w e will

review the li terature pertaining to the ma rketing strategy

implementation process, contrasting traditional views of

structure and control with emerg ing process m odels. Sec -

ond, we will examine the evidence supporting the argu-

men t that the market ing paradigm is we ak and w eakening

further in man y companies , not m erely in terms o f s t ruc-

ture and system s but also in terms of organizational c ulture

and m anagem ent philosophy. The remaind er of the art icle

will attempt to draw togeth er he implications o f ma rketing

paradigm weakness for corporate marketing implementa-

tion ca pabilities.

T H E M R K E T I N G

I M P L E M E N T T I O N P R O C E S S

The study of mark eting implementation issues has bee n

plagued by th e problems of iden tifying and understanding

the situational conditions that surround the capabilities of

an organization to im plem ent a particular ma rketing strat-

egy throu gh particular actions in a spec ific marketplace.

This limitation is perhaps illustrated be st in the globaliza-

tion of dom estic brands a nd strategies, wh ere the imple-

me ntation problems face d with distributors a nd overseas

partners have of ten proved substantial . In particular, there

are som e problems in view ing implementation capabili ties

as either stable ove r t ime or as a com pan y-w ide capabili ty.

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2 2 4 J OURNALOF THE ACADEMYOF MARKETINGSCIENCE SUMM ER 1998

T h is p r o b le m i s n o t we l l p r e s e n te d in th e l i t e r a tu r e , b u t i t

c a n b e a r g u e d t h a t a c o m p a n y ' s i m p l e m e n t a t i o n c a p a b i l i -

t ie s m a y b e

9 t i m e s p e c i f i c , i n t h e s e n s e t h a t a c o m p a n y m a y g a i n

o r l o s e t h e c o m p e t e n c i e s o n w h i c h a s t r a te g y r e l ie s

f o r e x e c u t io n , s o i m p l e m e n t a t i o n c a p a b i li t i es

c h a n g e ;

9 c u l t u r e s p e c i f i c , w h e r e c o m p o n e n t s o f a s tr a t e g y

a s s u m e u n d e r s t a n d i n g a n d a b i l i ti e s t h a t d o n o t e x i s t

i n o t h e r c u l t u r e s , p e r h a p s e x e m p l i f i e d b e s t b y t h e

b e l i e f t h a t d i f f er e n t c o u n t r i e s h a v e e q u a l a c c e s s t o

e m p l o y e e s a b l e a n d w i l l i n g t o d e l i v e r h i g h l e v e l s o f

c u s t o m e r s e r v i c e ;

9 p a r t i a l ,

s i n c e a c o m p a n y m a y b e w e l l e q u i p p e d , f o r

e x a m p l e , t o l a u n c h a p r o d u c t a n d p r o v i d e t e c h n i c a l

s e r v i c e b u t b e u n a b l e t o p r o v i d e o t h e r c o m p o n e n t s

o f t h e s t r a t e g y l i k e c u s t o m e r s e r v i c e ;

9 l a t e n t , i n t h e s e n s e t h a t a c o m p a n y m a y a c t u a l l y

p o s s e s s t h e t e c h n i c a l a n d h u m a n r e s o u r c e s r eq u i r e d

b y a m a r k e t i n g s t r a t e g y b u t l a c k t h e a b i li t y t o d e p l o y

t h o s e r e s o u r c e s t h r o u g h l a c k o f le a r n in g o r m a n a g e -

m e n t e x p e r i e n c e ;

9 i n t e r n a l l y i n c o n s i s t e n t , s i n c e s o m e p a r t s o f a c o m -

p a n y m a y b e b e t t e r s u i t e d t o e x e c u t e a s t ra t e g y t h an

others ;

9 s t r a t e g y s p e c i f i c , b e c a u s e t h e r e m a y b e s p e c i f i c

s k i l l s a n d c o mp e te n c ie s h ig h ly s u i t e d to a p a r t i c u la r

s t r a te g y b u t n o t t h e f l e x i b i l it y t o c h a n g e t o m e e t n e w

s t r a te g ic imp e r a t iv e s ; a n d e v e n

9 p e r s o n s p e c i f i c , i n t h e s e n s e t h a t i m p l e m e n t a t i o n

c a p a b i l i t i e s m a y r e l y o n a s p e c i f i c m a n a g e r , w h o

e x e r t s th e a b i l i t i e s a n d in f lu e n c e n e e d e d to a c h ie v e

e f f e c t i v e i m p l e m e n t a t i o n .

S u c h c h a r a c te r i s t i c s p o s e s e v e r e d i f f i c u l t i e s f o r ma r k e t in g

a n a l y s t s i n c o n c e p t u a l i z i n g a n d e v a l u a t i n g a c o m p l e x

c o n s t r u c t s u c h as i m p l e m e n t a t i o n c a p a b i l i t i e s a n d i n c o r -

p o r a t i n g i t in t o m a r k e t i n g s t r at e g y m o d e l s , a n d m o r e i m -

m e d i a t e l y f o r p r a c t i t i o n e r s i n m a n a g i n g t h e e x e c u t i o n o f

s t r a t e g y .

F o r e x a m p l e , B r i t i s h A i r w a y s a c h i e v e d a s p e c t a c u l a r

t u r n a r o u n d f r o m b e i n g a m o r i b u n d , s t a t e - o w n e d a i r l i ne t o

a l e a d in g in te r n a t io n a l a i r l in e , w i th o u t s t a n d in g r e s u l t s in

c u s to me r s a t i s f a c t io n a n d p r o f i t a b i l i ty . A c h a n g e in le a d e r -

s h i p h a s b e e n a s s o c i a t e d w i t h a s t r a t e g y o f d e e p c o s t

c u t t i n g a n d d i v e s t m e n t s t o m o v e t o w a r d b e i n g a v i r tu a l

a i rl i n e , w h i c h a p p e a r s t o h a v e u n d e r m i n e d t h e a b il i ty o f

t h e c o m p a n y t o c o n t i n u e i ts s e r v i c e ex c e l l e n c e . B y s u m m e r

1 9 9 7 , th e a i r l in e f a c e d in d u s t r i a l a c t io n b y a l i e n a te d e m-

p lo y e e s , d imin i s h in g d i f f e r e n t i a t io n in c u s to me r s a t i s f a c -

t io n , a n d d i s a r r a y in i t s in t e r n a t io n a l p a r tn e r s h ip s . T h e

i m p l e m e n t a t i o n c a p a b i l i t ie s o f th i s c o m p a n y h a v e c h a n g e d

q u i c k l y a n d l a r g e l y t o t h e c o m p a n y ' s d i s a d v a n t a g e a s i t s

s t r a te g y d e v e l o p s ( P i e r c y 1 9 9 7 ).

H o w e v e r , n o t o n l y i s t h e i m p l e m e n t a t i o n c a p a b i l i t i e s

c o n s t r u c t m o r e c o m p l e x a n d p o t e n t i a l l y u n s t a b l e t h a n i s

c o m m o n l y r e c o g n i z e d ; i t m a y a l s o b e a r g u e d t h at c o n v e n -

t i o n a l a p p r o a c h e s t o u n d e r s t a n d in g a n d m a n a g i n g i m p l e -

m e n t a t i o n h a v e a l s o b e e n s o m e w h a t l i m i t e d i n t h e i r s c o p e

( s e e , e . g . , Ce s p e d e s a n d P ie r c y 1 9 9 6 ) .

Tradit ional pproaches

to Implemen tation

C o n v e n t i o n a l m o d e l s o f m a r k e t i n g i m p l e m e n t a t i o n a r e

e s s e n t i a l ly s e q u e n t i a l , i n th a t imp le me n ta t io n i s t r e a te d a s

a n a c t iv i ty th a t f o l lo ws f r o m, a n d i s s h a p e d b y , s t r a t e g y

f o r mu la t io n . As in th e g e n e r a l ma n a g e me n t l i t e r a tu r e , t r a -

d i t i o n a l a p p r o a c h e s t o i m p l e m e n t a t i o n e m p h a s i z e o r g a n -

i z a ti o n a l d e s i g n a n d t h e m a n i p u l a t i o n o f s y s t e m s a n d

s t r u c tu r e s a r o u n d s t r a t e g ic g o a l s , wh e r e ma n a g e r s r e ly

p r ima r i ly o n th e i r a u th o r i ty to a d ju s t th e o r g a n iz a t io n ' s

s t ru c t u ra l f r a m e w o r k a s a m e a n s o f e n a c t i n g s t r a t e g ic

d e c i s i o n s ( e . g . , B o u r g e o i s a n d B r o d w i n 1 9 8 4 ; G a l b r a i t h

a n d K a z a n j i a n 1 9 8 6 ) . A l s o , t h e s e a p p r o a c h e s n o r m a l l y

a s s u m e a c o n v e n t i o n a l o r g a n i z a t i o n t y p e a n d h a v e n o t

a d d r e s s e d t h e e m e r g e n c e o f n e w n e t w o r k e d o r g a n i z a t i o n s

( Cr a v e n s , P ie r c y , a n d S h ip p 1 9 9 6 ) .

F a m i l i a r m o d e l s o f im p l e m e n t a t i o n i n m a r k e t i n g f o c u s

o n i s s u e s s u c h a s s t r a t e g y a n d s t r u c tu r e r e l a t io n s h ip s ,

b u d g e t i n g a n d r e s o u r c e a l l o c a t i o n s y s t e m s , e x e c u t i v e l e a d -

e r s h i p a p p r o a c h e s , a n d c o n t r o l s y s t e m s . F o r e x a m p l e , i n

t h e g e n e r a l l it e ra t u re , m a n y s t u d i e s h a v e f o c u s e d o n t h e

f i t b e t w e e n o r g a n i z a t i o n a l s t r u c t u r e a n d s t r a t e g ic

c h o i c e s , n o r m a l l y f o l l o w i n g t h e v i e w t h a t s t r a te g y d r i v e s

s t ru c t u r e . H o w e v e r , t h e r e is s o m e d a n g e r i n u n d e re s t i m a t -

i n g t h e e f f e c t o n s t r a te g i c c h o i c e s o f t h e p r e f e r e n c e s r e p -

r e s e n t e d b y t h e i n f l u e n t i a l i n e x i s t i n g o r g a n i z a t i o n a l

f r a m e w o r k s . F o r e x a m p l e , C o r e y a n d S t a r ( 1 9 7 1 ) p o i n t e d

o u t th a t

i t m u s t b e r e c o g n i z e d , a s w e l l , t h a t t h e d i re c t i o n o f

s t r a t e g y i s c e r t a in ly a f u n c t io n , in p a r t , o f th e k in d o f

o r g a n i z a t i o n w h i c h p r o d u c e s i t a n d t h e b a l a n c e o f

p o w e r w i t h i n t h e s t ru c t u r e. T o d a y ' s o r g a n i z a t i o n i s

a n i m p o r t a n t i n f l u e n c e in m o l d i n g t o m o r r o w ' s s t r at -

e g y w h i c h , i n t ur n , s h a p e s t o m o r r o w ' s o r g a n iz a t io n .

(P. 26)

T h i s c o m m e n t r e m a i n s a p p o s i t e . I n a s i m i l a r w a y , a s u p e r -

f i ci a l v i e w w o u l d b e t h a t b u d g e t i n g a n d r e s o u r c e a l l o c a t i o n

d e c i s io n s r e p r e s e n t th e r a t io n a l d i s t r ib u t io n o f th e p e o p le

a n d m o n e y n e e d e d t o e x e c u t e m a r k e t i n g s t ra t e g i es . I n f a c t ,

t h e r e i s s o m e e v i d e n c e t h a t i n m a n y s i t u a t i o n s r e s o u r c e

a l lo c a t io n i s a re l a t iv e ly in e f f i c i e n t s ig n a le r o f s t r a t e g ic

d i r e ct i o n a n d m a n a g e m e n t p r i o r i ti e s , w h i c h i s f r au g h t w i t h

p o l i t i c a l r i s k l e a d in g th e p la n n in g in te n t s o f r e s o u r c e a l lo -

c a t o r s t o b e i g n o r e d o r s u b v e r t e d ( B o w e r 1 9 7 0 ; N e w m a n

1 9 7 5 ; P ie r c y 1 9 8 7 ) .

C r i t i cs o f c o n v e n t i o n a l a p p r o a c h e s t o i m p l e m e n t a t i o n

a l s o c h a l l e n g e t h e a s s u m p t i o n t h a t s t r a t e g i c m a r k e t i n g

d e c i s i o n s a n d p r i o r i t i e s a r e w e l l u n d e r s t o o d w i t h i n o r -

g a n i z a t i o n s ( S k i v i n g t o n a n d D a f t 1 9 9 1 ) , a n d t h e l a c k o f

a t te n t i on g i v e n t o t h e i m p a c t o f p o l i ti c a l l y p o w e r f u l o r g a n -

iz a t io n a l p r e f e r e n c e s f o r a l t e r n a t iv e s t r a t e g ic d i r e c t io n s

( e . g ., P f e f f e r 1 9 9 2 ) . A s a r e s u l t , t h e r e h a s b e e n s o m e mo v e

t o w a r d a n a l y z i n g m a r k e t i n g i m p l e m e n t a t i o n i n t e r m s o f

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Pierey MARKETING MPLEMENTATION 225

proc ess within organizations rather than (or in addition to)

constituting a matter of structural alignment and adminis-

trative control. This is revealing of a fundamental prob lem

cons tituted by the separation o f marketing implementation

issues from the process of formulat ing s trategies--the

fo rm u l a t i o n - im p l e m e n t a t i o n d i c h o t o m y (C e s p e d e s ,

1991).

The Market ing Strategy

Form ulat ion Implem entat ion Dichotom y

It is suggested that many of the problems faced in

marketing implementation arise not simp ly from practical

problems in management execution ski l ls , but because

conventional approac hes to s trategy de velopm ent in mar-

ket ing are based on the v iew that s trategy developm ent or

formulation and marketing implem entation are distinct

and sequential activities. C espe des (1991) identifies the

dangers of th is d ichotom y in the terms i l lustrated in Ap-

pendix A.

These arguments led Cespedes and Piercy (1996) to

underl ine an urgent need to examine the way s in which the

proc esse s of marketing strategy formulation and imple-

mentation are linked within an organization, as a route to

strategic initiatives that are both attractive in the market-

plac e but also ma tched to the organization's execution

capabilities. This argument can also be extended to the

conte xt of an alliance-based netw orked structure (Pierc y

and Cravens 1995).

Process Issues in Implementat ion

It is apparent, h ow ever , that a proce ss view of strategy

formulation and implementation is not easily formulated.

The cri t ical issues move from those of the t radi t ional

approach to imple me ntat ion--th e design of efficient s truc-

tu res and con t ro l sys tems-- to more complex o rgan iza-

tional issues. For example, Cespedes and Piercy (1996)

suggest that among the issues to be addressed in a process

model of implementation are those illustrated in Appendix B.

Conven t iona l , sequen t ia l approaches to marke t ing

strategy im plementation are unlikely to pro ve effe ctive in

addressing such issues. The move toward a processual

view o f implementat ion suggests the need to place more

empha sis on the issues show n in Appendix C in achieving

effe ctive implementation.

The Impl icat ions of a Process

View of Implementat ion

A process perspective appears useful, although largely

undeveloped, in building insight into issues like imple-

mentation in an organizational context. Ho we ver, there are

various way s of conceptual izing process for these pur-

poses. Mos t comm only, process is understood in terms o f

i ts substant ive content the new p roduct deve lopmen t

process, the planning process, for example. In addition,

processes m ay be co nceived in terms of their purposes

value-defining, value-deve loping, and value-del ivering

processes , for instance (We bster 1997).

However, a num ber o f studies of key m arketing decision-

making areas have propo sed that processes should also be

analyzed in terms of their organizational dimensions. Stud-

ies of market ing budgeting and reso urce al location (Piercy

1987), marketing planning (Pier cy and Mor gan 1994), and

marketing control (P iercy and M orga n 1995) have shared

a mo del that suggests that ma ny decision-making proc -

esses can useful ly be analyzed in terms of an analyt ic/

technical dimension, a behavioral dimension, and an or-

ganizational dimension. W e might, for exam ple, consider

value processes in the way show n in Figure 1 . This sug-

gests that to understand the capabil i ty of value pro cesses

to deliver value, or to implement a value-b ased marketing

strategy, i t is useful to examine not s imply the ana-

lyric/technical aspec ts of the proce ss (the information

gathered, the operations systems, and the logistics for

va lue de l ivery ) bu t a l so the behav io ra l aspec t s o f the

proc ess (in terms o f the abilities o f individuals to interpret

information and dev elop market understanding, and their

motivat ion, commitment, and behavior in developing and

delivering value to custom ers) and the organizational or

contextual aspects o f the proc ess (the learning capabilities

and respon sivene ss of the organization, and its manage-

ment's strategic orientation). An important issue is the

cons istency betw een the analytic, behavioral, and organ-

izational dimensions of proc ess, although this is frequ ently

covert . Consis tency betw een the dimensions of a process

is likely to have a substantial impact on implementation

capabilities.

For example, w hile value defining m ay be driven by the

abilities of the organization to collect and disseminate

information, ma rket sensing that leads to effe ctive im-

plementat ion of value-based s trategy is l ikely also to be a

function of the interpretative abilities and inclinations of

individuals and the organization's learning capabilities.

The fai lure of the management of Encyclo pedia Bri tannica

to accep t the impact o f CD-RO M m edia on the ir bus iness

is indicative of the difference betw een information avail-

ability and understanding, learning, and responsiveness.

Similarly, while value developing relies on operations

capabilities, it is also shaped by the organization's respo n-

siveness to market-based change and the motivat ion and

com mitm ent of individuals to implementing change. Value

delivering involv es supply chain capabilities and logistics,

but also the attitudes and behaviors of service personnel,

salespeople, distributors, and other participants, as well as

the priorities c om mu nicated by the strategic orientation of

management. The danger lies in equating capabilities in

the analytic/technical dim ension o f proc ess, with corre-

sponding capabilities in the behavioral and organizational

dimensions. The challenge is to evaluate and manage-for

consis tency in the process , even if th is m eans adapting and

reshaping marketing strategy to fit better with the organi-

zarion's implementation capabilities.

W hile this mode l is no more than illustrative, it serve s

to underline th e point that if implementation is view ed in

proc ess terms, then implementation capabilities are a func -

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2 2 6 J O U R N A L O F T H E A C A D E M Y O F M A R K E T I N G S C I E N C E S U M M E R 1 9 9 8

F I G U R E

T h e D i m e n s i o n s o f O r g a n i z a t i o n a l P r o c e s s e s

THE PROCESSOF GOINGTO

Value Value Vslue

D e n n i n g D e v e l o p i n g e e . v e ~

An~y/ic.~d/Technical ~ ~ I ~

ehavioral

D i rr ~ ns o n ~ . ~ 1 u 1 ~

Orpaizational a~ I ~

/

V

CUSTOMERVALUE

tion of the individual beha viors and motivation of indi-

viduals in the organization, and the underlying organi-

zat ional context in which th e process operates. If imple-

mentat ion is v iewed in these terms, the quest ion of the

strength of the marketing parad igm be com es critical to

evalu ating true implementation capabilities. A t its sim-

plest , i f the people in an organizat ion do no t bel ieve in

marketing a nd cus tom er imperatives, and managem ent

priorit ies are focuse d elsewhere than the cu stomer market-

place, then marketing strategy implementation capabilities

are l ikely to be low.

The im pact o f covert issues of process , s tructure, an d

information on strategy implementation capabilities ma y

be dramatic. Daewoo entered the Bri t ish auto market in

1994 and gained 1 percent o f the marke t faster than any

competi tor has ever achieved. The company did th is de-

spite no brand awareness, in a saturated market, and with

au tos tha t were 5 -year-o ld GM des igns p roduced under

l icense. The s trategy was d riven by a m assive and continu-

ous research effort to uncover the factors d is l iked by

custome rs in the conventional auto purchase process and

a brand prop osition base d on hassle-free purchase, with

no price haggling, no-e xtras prices, in car supermarkets,

s t a ffed by a work fo rce d rawn f rom ou ts ide the au tomot ive

industry . No netheless , there is no element of the Dae wo o

strategy that could no t be adopted o r subsequently imitated

by i ts comp eti tors . To date, no com peti tor has been able to

launch a response to the Da ew oo chal lenge, b ecause i t

appears the com peti tors do not hav e the implementat ion

capabilities to do so (Pierc y 1997).

M A R K E T I N G P A R A D I G M W E A K N E S S

The brief review a bove of the marketing s trategy im-

plemen tat ion issue should be adequate to support the most

central po int of our case. As w e mov e toward adopting a

proc essua l analy sis of marketing strategy implem entation,

it becomes clearer that effective strategy implementation

re l i es on more cov er t aspec t s o f the marke t ing o rgan i -

za t ion than i s comm only recogn ized . A p rocessua l v iew

sugges t s tha t e f fec t ive s tra tegy implem en ta t ion res t s no t

s imply on t echn iques o f ac t ion p lann ing , budget ing , and

resource a l loca t ion , as wel l as admin is t ra t ive sys tems

des ign ; i t res ts on the unde r ly ing be l i e fs and a t t i tudes o f

o rgan iza tiona l par t i c ipan ts , and over and abov e th is on

the dominat ing management in terests and cul ture in the

organization.

The importance of this, possib ly self-evident, statement

is that wha t can be obser ved in ma ny international organi-

zations is the loss of the form al organizational positio n of

the marke t ing func t ion , and even m ore s ign i f i can t ly the

weaken ing o f mana gemen t be l i e f in marke t ing as a

s trategic force. I t is the combinat ion o f such forces that w e

refer to here as the we akening o f the marketing paradigm,

and which w e sugges t is becomin g a majo r in f luence on

the marke t ing s t ra tegy implemen ta t ion capab i l i t i es o f

organizat ions.

T h e O r g a n i z a t io n a l P o s i ti o n o f M a r k e t i n g

In fact, the positioning and structural location o f mar-

ket ing in a company is of greater im portance than s imple

organizational trappings. Th e significa nce of the signal

sent by formal organizational arrangements for marketing

is illustrated by Carl Gustin (1997) at Kodak:

A t Kodak, w e think marketing m atters mo re than

ever ; tha t 's why w e fo rmed the o f f i ce o f Ch ief Mar-

ket ing Officer over two years ago. To achieve cor-

porate growth (in volumes, margins , an d share), y ou

must en joy an in timate relationship with you r cus-

tomers and end-users . If you do n ' t do produc ts de-

s i g n , R & D , f i n a n c i a l b u s i n e s s m o d e l i n g , a n d

everything else in response to customer require-

ments , sure, you m ay survive. Bu t you wo n' t grow.

(P. 6)

How ever, it is more than a de cade s ince i t was sugge sted

that the formal organizational positioning and structuring

of the marketing funct ion was su bject to an underlying l i fe

cycle (Piercy 1985). Since then, i t has been shown, for

exam ple, that the organization of marketing in British

companies has frequently fal len very short of the in te-

grated mode ls familiar in the prescriptive literature (Pierc y

1986). We found, for example, s tereotypical market ing

organizations in British m anufacturing fLrms to include

l imited/s taff ro le forms, re sponsible for l imited areas l ike

marke t research and some sa les p romot ion ; s t ra tegy /

services forms, with planning responsibilities and little

line responsibility; and selling-oriented form s, invo lved

almost wh olly in f ield sales operations (see Figure 2). The

significance of these obse rvation s lies primarily in the

sym bolis m of structure rather than the administrative sub-

stance. Tokenism in formal organizational arrangements

for marketing was taken as indicative of a lack of resource

control and strategic influence for marketing in British

comp anies (Piercy 1986).

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Pi e rc y M A R K ETIN G IM PLEM EN TA TIO N 2 2 7

F I G U R E

Mark et ing Dep artmen ts in Brit ish

Ma nufa c tur ing C ompa n ie s

F I G U R E 3

The P roc e s s o f Go ing to Ma rk e t

Respomibilltir

S TR A T EG Y

SERVICES

T Y P E

LIM ITED /

S T A F F R O L E

T Y P E

FULLY-

INTEGRATED

TYPE

SELLING

ORIENTED

TYPE

Size

SOU RCE : Piercy 1997). R eprin ted by permission .

M ore recently, the organization of marketing in B ritain

has been characterized by the downsizing and closure of

convent ional market ing departments, reinforced by the

impact o f ca t egory management and t rade marke t ing

strategies, an d the r esurge nce of the pow er of sales depart-

me nts in man aging cus tom er relationships in business-to-

business m arkets (Piercy 1997).

Correspondingly, many popular approaches address

market ing as an issue of process, not func t ion--f or exam -

ple, as the process of going to market , which cuts across

traditional fun ctional and organizational boundaries (see

Figure 3). The implications of such marketing process

models for the redundancy o f raditional functional structures

m ay b e extreme, w ith the unintended side effect of further

weak ening the marketing paradigm in organizations.

A t ta c k s on the R o le o f Ma rk e t ing

Underpinning these s igns of a w eakening marketing

paradigm in organizational terms, there have been many

at tacks on the role of m arket ing in companies from diverse

sources. At o ne level, business c om me ntators and consul-

tants point to the attractiveness o f reenginee ring aroun d

business proces ses to avoid the need for marketing (e.g.,

Mitchel l 1996), and the grow ing cynicism of customers

about so me aspects o f marketing. A t another level, analysts

point to ma rketin g's failure as strategy (Webster 1997).

For exam ple, Doyle (1997) has suggested that very few

Bri tish com panies have moved beyond the market ing

trappings o f advertising and promotion, to im plem ent ro-

bust marketing strategies, delivering long-term customer

and sha rehold er value. Perhaps m ost negative is the analy-

s is of postm oder n com mentators (e.g . , Brown 1995) and

their aband onm ent of the conventional conceptualization

of corp orate marketing.

Illustrative o f the outcom e of such factors is the em erg-

ing relationship betw een m arketing and operations in corn-

I d e n t i f y i n g

s . s ~ n g a n d ~ i mp l e me n t a t i o n

pa t hway

SOURCE: B ased on Piercy 1997).

panics. While this interface has bee n studied in a variety

of way s, perhaps the m ost topical approach is to evaluate

the emerging impact of lean thinking and supply chain

mana geme nt on the role of marketing.

The Future of Market ing in a Lean Wo rld

A new m anagem ent approach that may h ave the effect

of undermining the influence of m arket ing in m odern

corporations is the lean enterprise m odel develo ping out

of the automotive sector (Piercy and Morgan 1997). This

is no more than a s ingle example of one of the eme rging

mana geme nt phi losophies that m ay confl ict wi th conven-

tional marketing approaches and und erm ine the mark eting

implementation capabili t ies of organizations. This ca se

may be framed by considering how market ing scholars and

practit ioners have largely failed to re spond e ffectiv ely to

the widespread move s to corporate downsizing and delay-

ering, to integrated logistics system s and ne w approaches

to supply chain m anagemen t , and perhaps most espec ial ly

to the managem entmo vem ents associated with Total Qual-

i ty Managem ent (TQM ) and business process reengineer-

ing (BPR) (Morgan and Pierc y 1996).

This lack of response ma y be described in terms of an

important loss of intellectual leadership for marketing

scholars vis-~t-vis corporate practice, and a loss o f influ-

ence for m arket ing execut ives in m any major corporations

as their role in managing marketplace contingencies has

been displaced by other disciplines (Day 1992, 1994).

Wh ile changing external market environments have been

assessed in terms o f implications for m arketing organiza-

tion (e.g., Ach rol 1991), and the ro le of m arketing W ithin

the corporation (e.g., Webster 1992), a similar process does

not appear to have been applied on behalf of the academ ic

discipline or corporate practice of marketing relative to

other disciplines and functions.

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228 JOURNAL F THE ACADEMYOF MARKETINGSCIENCE SUMMER1998

Lean Thinking

While lean thinking and its associated developments

have been presented in influential Harvard Business Re-

view articles (W omack and Jones 1994, 1996a) and a major

manage ment text (Womack and Jones 1996b), its antece-

dents are in studies of Japanese approaches to manage-

ment, particularly in the autom otive industry (Womack,

Jones, and Roo s 1990), and the outcom es in terms of "Ju st

in Time" management approaches and the more holistic

TQM movement.

The major elements of lean thinking are shown in

Figure 4. They can be described and summarized in the

following terms. Drawing on the models provided by

studies of such com panies as Toyota, Porsche, and Pratt &

Whitney, the lean-thinking mo del extends earlier view s of

lean production into a num ber of principles: (1) the defi-

nition of value from the perspective of the end customer in

terms o f the product/serv ice offering delivered, (2) the

identification of the value streams for each product and the

elimination of

muda

(wa ste) in the entire sup ply chain, (3)

organizing value-creating activities around f low rather

than "batch and queue" approaches, (4) responding to the

pull of product through the supply chain by customers to

eliminate stocks, and (5) the pursuit

of perfection.

The underlying conce pt is value, as it is perceived by

the ultimate custom er and as it is given meaning around a

specific product. In much the same way as TQM, lean

thinking suggests that all productive activity, leading to

compe titive advantage, has to be based on the "correct"

customer-driven product/service specification. A com-

pelling case is made fo r the proposition that in many

industries investments have been driven by illusory econ-

omy-o f-scale and internal-process arguments, n ot by the

creation of customer value. Womack and Jones (1996b)

cite the U.S. airline industry as a particular case where the

effect of investm ent in large aircraft and large "hub" air-

ports has bee n that "pass engers are miserable (this is not

what they meant by value ), the aircraft producers make

little mo ney (b ecause the airlines c an't afford new planes)

and the ai rli ne s.. , have flown a decade-long holding pat-

tern in the vicinity o f bankruptcy."

Correspondingly, the value stream is con ceived as all

the activities in the entire supply chain required to place

the correctly spec ified product with a customer. All non-

value-creating activities are muda and should be elimi-

nated. W omack and Jon es illustrate the m uda in the value

chain for a carton of cola soft drink, where so me 3 hours

of actual processing of the package and product require

nearly 11 months of storage in the "traditional" supply

chain in which all parties are efficiently organized accord-

ing to the principles of mass production.

The argument ab out organizing value-creating activi-

ties within the supply chain according to flow s rests on the

assertion that the batch-and-queue mentality pet~vades

service and product provision and is ineffective anO inef-

ficient. The lean argument is that advantage comes from

(1) focusing on the product that creates customer value;

(2) ignoring traditional boundaries betw een job s, func-

tions, and fLrrns to ach ieve the con tinuous fl ow of value;

FIGURE

The Elements of Lean Thinking

I Definition of VA LUE [

Identificationof VALUE STREAMS

and the removal of M UDA waste)

I OrganizingroundFLOW [

Respondingto P UL L through

the su pply chain

The pursuit of PERFECT ION

and (3) rethinking w ork design and toolin g to eliminate

backflows , scrap, and s toppages that require storage.

The flow conc ept is directly linked to the importance of

pull. This argument suggests that firms upstream in the

supply chain should not produ ce a good or serv ice until it

is requested (or "pulled") by the downstream customer.

They argue that if production and distribution have be en

"leaned," then pull remo ves the need for large stocking and

reduces customer waiting times. The supporting examp le

for this lean principle is Toyota's Daily Ordering Syst em

for replacement auto parts. While the auto industry may

not be typical, other widely cited examples concerning

the performance-enhancing potential of switching to

"customer-pull" supply and logistics system s include Wal-

Mart in the United States (Stalk, Evans, and Schulman

1992).

Finally, the lean-thinking phenom enon leads to the

search for perfection. The argument here is relatively

conventional in calling for kaizen continuous improve-

me nt approaches to the organization and practice o f all

value-creating activities. Ho we ver, the architects o f the

new lean thinking also recommend the use of kaikaku or

"tear-down" radical ch ange approaches to begin the "lean

revolution" in companies, suggesting that these ap-

proaches are required to break the inertia and blinkered

vision in most corporations (Wom ack and Jones 1996a).

Value and Marketing

The promis e to executives is that lean thinking will

"banish-waste and create wealth in your corporation"

(Womack and Jones 1996b) and "provide the antidote to

econom ic stagnation" by viewin g value in custo mer terms.

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Piercy MARK ETING MPLEMENTATION 229

I n th e f i r s t a n a ly s i s , i t a p p e a r s th a t th e s e a s s e r t io n s a r e n o t

m e r e l y c o m p a t i b l e w i t h m a r k e t i n g p r i n c i p l e s ; t h e y

re

ma r k e t in g p r in c ip le s . T h i s i s , h o w e v e r , r e v e a l in g o f th e

u n d e r l y i n g w e a k n e s s o f t h e le a n t h e o r i s ts ' m o d e l . T h e y

a s s u m e u n c r i t i c a l l y t h a t v a l u e i n c u s t o m e r t e r m s c a n b e

e a s i l y c o n c e i v e d i n t e r m s o f p r o d u c t e n g i n e e r in g a n d s e r v -

i c e o p e r a t i o n s ; w h a t c r e a t e s v a l u e i n c u s t o m e r t e r m s i s

e a s i ly id e n t i f i a b le , s t a b le , a n d p r e d ic ta b le ; wh a t c r e a te s

v a l u e f o r c u s t o m e r s i s a g i v e n a n d c a n n o t b e c h a n g e d b y

i n t e r v en t i o n ; a n d w h a t c r e a t e s v a l u e f o r c u s t o m e r s w i l l b e

t h e s a m e f o r a l l c u s t o m e r s .

S u c h a s s u m p t i o n s i g n o r e r e s e a r c h t h a t s u g g e s t s t h a t

v a l u e i s d e t e r m i n e d b y i n t a n g i b le s a s w e l l a s e n g i n e e r in g

( e . g . , H o c h a n d H a 1 9 8 6 ) , a n d t h a t c u s t o m e r b e n e f i t s

c a n n o t u s e f u l l y b e c o n c e i v e d s o l e l y i n ra t io n a l e c o n o m i c

t e r m s ( e . g. , B l o o m a n d R e v e 1 9 9 0 ). V a l u e p e r c e p t i o n s a n d

t h e d r i v e rs o f c u s t o m e r s a t i sf a c t io n i n d y n a m i c m a r k e t s a r e

l i a b le to b e u n s ta b le ( e . g . , s e e S p r e n g , M a c k e n z ie , a n d

O l s h a v s k y 1 9 9 6 ) . R e c e n t l y , f o r e x a m p l e , S l y w o t z k y

( 1 9 9 6 ) h a s u n d e r l in e d t h e c o m p e t i t i v e v u l n e r a b il i ty i n h e r-

e n t i n a s s u m i n g t h a t c u s t o m e r v a l u e i s a s t a b le e n ti t y, w h i c h

r i s k s v a l u e p r o p o s i t i o n s b e c o m i n g l e s s e f f e c t i v e o v e r t i m e

w h e r e b u y e r s m i g r a t e t o a l t e r n a t i v e v a l u e c o n c e p t s . T o

a s s u m e t h a t v a l u e i s t h e s a m e a c r o s s a l l c u s t o m e r s o r a l l

c o m p a n i e s i n a m a r k e t i s to d e n y t h e v a l i d i t y o f m a r k e t

s e g m e n t a t i o n , o r t h e e x i s t e n c e o f s t r a t e g i c c h o i c e s , f o r

e x a m p l e , u s i n g m a r k e t in g c o m m u n i c a t io n s t o c h a n g e

v a l u e p e r c e p t i o n s a n d a f f e c t b u y i n g b e h a v i o r ( e .g . , s e e

H o c h a n d D e i g h t o n 1 9 8 9 ) , o r t o b u i l d d e f e n s i b l e a n d

r o b u s t c o m p e t i t i v e p o s i t i o n s ( H o o l e y , S a u n d e r s , a n d

P ie r c y 1 9 9 8 ) .

Ho we v e r , th e g r e a te s t r i s k i s th a t f a c e d wi th th e p r a c t i -

c a l d i f f ic u l t i e s o f d e f in i n g v a l u e i n c u s t o m e r t e r m s , e x e c u -

t i v e s w i l l s u b s t i t u t e t h e i r o w n p e r c e p t i o n s o f w h a t

c u s t o m e r s should v a l u e . W h i l e m a r k e t i n g e x e c u t i v e s h a v e

s t r u g g le d to i s o la te th e d r iv e r s o f v a lu e , th e s u b s t i tu t io n o f

t h e v i e w s o f p r o d u c t i o n e n g i n e e r s d o e s n o t p r o m i s e i m -

p r o v e m e n t s i n m a r k e t p o s i t i o n . T h e o p p o r t u n i t y i s f o r

m a r k e t i n g e x e c u t i v e s t o w o r k w i t h l e a n t h i n k e r s i n t h e i r

o r g a n i z at i o n t o a c c o m m o d a t e t h e u n c e r t a in t i e s o f t h e c u s-

to me r ma r k e tp la c e in to th e l e a n e n te r p r i s e . T h i s ma y ,

h o w e v e r , b e v i e w e d a s l a r g e l y t h e s a m e o p p o r t u n i t y t h a t

w a s m i s s e d w h e n m a r k e t e r s fa i l e d t o a s s u m e a n i m p o r t a n t

r o l e i n T Q M - b a s e d a p p r o a c h e s t o p e r f o r m a n c e i m p r o v e -

m e n t ( e . g ., K o r d u p l e s k i , R u s t , a n d Z a h o r i k 1 9 9 3 ).

V a lue S t ream s and a rke t ing

T h e l e a n a n a l y s t s a d v o c a t e u s i n g t h e c o n c e p t s o f v a l u e

f r o m a c u s t o m e r p e r s p e c t i v e , t o i d e n ti f y t h e v a l u e s tr e a m

f o r a p r o d u c t ( i . e . , a l l t h e a c t iv i t i e s in th e e n t i r e s u p p ly

c h a i n t h a t c o n t r i b u t e t o t h e v a l u e o f f e r i n g d e l i v e r e d t o

c u s t o m e r s ) a n d t o u s e t h i s a s t h e b a s i s f o r id e n t i f y in g a n d

e l i m i n a t i n g t h o s e a c t i v it i e s t h a t a re m u d a , b e c a u s e t h e y d o

n o t c r e a t e v a l u e f o r t h e c u s t o m e r . T h e o r i g in a l f o r m u l a t i o n

o f m u d a l i st e d s o u r c e s a s d e f e c t s ( i n p r o d u c ts ) , o v e r p r o -

d u c t i o n o f g o o d s n o t n e e d e d , i n v e n t o r i e s o f g o o d s w a i t i n g

t o b e p r o c e s s e d o r c o n s u m e d , u n n e c e s s a r y p r o c e s s i n g ,

u n n e c e s s a r y m o v e m e n t ( o f p e o p l e ), u n n e c e s s a r y t ra n s p o r t

( o f g o o d s ) , a n d w a i t i n g ( b y p e o p l e f o r e q u i p m e n t o r e a r l ie r

p r o d u c t i o n s t a g e s t o b e c o m p l e t e d ) ( O h n o 1 9 8 8 ) . W o m a c k

a n d J o n e s ( 1 9 9 6 ) a d d t o t h i s l i s t t h e d e s i g n o f g o o d s a n d

s e r v i c es t h a t d o n o t m e e t u s e r s ' n e e d s . 2 T h e p r o m i s e s o f

i m p r o v e d o p e r a t io n s e f f i c i e n c y a r e r e m a r k a b l y s i m i l a r t o

m a n y o t h e r r e c e n t m a n a g e m e n t a p p r o a c h e s . T h e a d v o c a t e s

o f T Q M ( e. g. , D e m i n g 1 9 8 6 ), B P R ( e. g ., H a m m e r a n d

C h a m p y 1 9 9 3 ) , a n d J u s t - i n - T i m e ( J I T ) ( O ' N e a l 1 9 8 9 ) a l l

s u g g e s t e d t h a t t h e e l im i n a t i o n o f w a s t e a n d u n p r o d u c t i v e

r e s o u r c e s i n v a l u e - c r e a t i n g s y s t e m s w o u l d p r o v i d e t h e

b a s i s f o r s u s t ai n e d c o m p e t i t i v e a d v a n t a g e .

S p e c i f i c a l l y , t h e m u d a a r g u m e n t r e s t s o n t h e a s s u m p -

t io n th a t o r g a n iz a t io n s a r e r a t io n a l , e c o n o mic e n t i t i e s th a t

c a n b e p l a n n e d c e n t r a ll y f o r o p t i m u m e c o n o m i c p e r f o rm -

a n c e . H o w e v e r , t h e s i m p l i s t i c r e m o v a l o f a l l m u d a m a y

a l s o e l i m i n a t e th e m e d i u m a n d l o n g - t e rm b e n e f i t s o f o r -

g a n iz a t io n a l s l a c k . Or g a n iz a t io n a l s l a c k h a s lo n g b e e n

r e c o g n iz e d to o f f e r s ig n i f i c a n t in t a n g ib le v a lu e s to o r g a n i -

z a t io n s , w h i c h a r e o f g r o w i n g s t r at e g i c s i g n i fi c a n c e i n a n

e r a o f m a r k e t t u r b u l e n c e : i t a l l o w s f l e x i b i l i ty i n t h e f a c e o f

u n p r e d i c t a b l e e v e n t s , i t p e rm i t s t h e e m e r g e n c e o f e n -

t r e p r e n e u r ia l b e h a v io r , i t a l lo ws ma n a g e r s to p r e p a r e f o r

t h e f u t u r e a n d o r g a n i z a t i o n a l l e a r n in g o r re l a t i o n s h i p

b u i ld in g r a th e r th a n th e s imp le e l im in a t io n o f s to c k s , i t

s a n c t io n s p r o d u c t d e v e l o p m e n t a i m e d a t b u i l d i n g s t r a t e g i c

p l a t f o rm s i n t o n e w m a r k e t s r a th e r t h a n s h o r t - t e r m r e t u r n

o n i n v e s t m e n t ( R O I ) , a n d i t p r o v i d e s t h e t i m e a n d r e -

s o u r c e s r e q u i r ed t o c r e a te a n e n v i r o n m e n t w h e r e e m p l o y -

e e s c a n f e e l c o m m i t t e d a n d p e r f o r m t o e x c e l l e n t l e v e ls . T o

d i s m i s s s u c h o r g a n i z a t io n a l b e n e f i t s a s m u d a i s to m i s s a n

i m p o r t a n t p o i n t a n d t o r i s k d a m a g i n g t h e s t r a t e g ic d e v e l -

o p m e n t a n d l e a r n in g c a p a b i l it i e s o f a c o m p a n y .

T h e u n d e r l y i n g t h r e a t t o m a r k e t i n g s t r e n g t h f r o m t h e

e l i m i n a t i o n o f m u d a i s t h a t it p r o v i d e s c o s t c u t t e rs w i t h a

r a t io n a l e f o r a c t io n s t h a t m a y u n d e r m i n e f u t u r e c o m p e t i -

t i v e c a p a b il i t y o f a n o r g a n i z a t i o n - - l o o k b a c k t o t h e B r i t i sh

A i r w a y s e x p e r i e n c e d e s c r i b e d a b o v e . T h e l o g i c p r e s u m e s

t h a t c o m p a n i e s a r e a ll - s ee i n g a n d a l l - k n o w i n g , w h i l e e x -

p e r i e n c e a n d o b s e r v a t i o n s u g g e s t s t h a t t h e y a r e n o t .

F u r t h e r m o r e , t h e m a j o r i l l u s t r a t i o n - o f o r g a n i z i n g

a r o u n d f l o w s o f v a l u e - c re a t i n g a c t i v i t ie s p r o v i d e s a g o o d

i l lu s t ra t io n o f t h e u n d e r l y in g w e a k n e s s o f t h i s a r g u m e n t i n

l e a n t h in k i n g . T h e c h a i n o f p r o d u c t i o n a n d d i s t ri b u t i o n t h a t

g e t a c a r to n o f c o l a o n t o a s u p e r m a r k e t s h e l f i s m o d e l e d .

T h i s s u p p l y c h a i n i s s h o w n t o b e u n w i e l d y a n d i s h e l d u p

to r id ic u le , wh i l e th e p o te n t i a l s a v in g s f r o m a l e a n a p -

p r o a c h a r e e x to l l e d . Ho we v e r , th is i s r e v e a l in g . T h e r e i s n o

d o u b t t h a t e n o r m o u s c o s t s a v i n g s c a n b e m a d e b y s u p p l i e r s

a n d d i s t ri b u t o r s t h r o u g h v a r y i n g d e g r e e s o f c o l l a b o r a ti o n

t o r e d u c e t h e s t o r a g e t i m e a n d t r a n s p o rt a t i o n c o s t s i n t h e

c h a n n e l. W h i l e s u c h i n t e g r a te d l o g i s t i c s a p p r o a c h e s m a y

r e d u c e c o s t s i n t h e s u p p l y c h a in , t h e p a r a d o x i s th e b e l i e f

t h a t th i s h a s i n a n y w a y i n c r e a s e d t h e v a l u e o f t h e p r o d u c t

f r o m a c u s t o m e r p e r s p e c t i v e . I t i s l ik e l y , i n d e e d p r o b a b l e ,

t h a t t h e c u s t o m e r h a s n o i n t e r e st i n w h e t h e r t h e p r o d u c t h a s

t a k e n a y e a r o r a w e e k t o r e a c h t h e s u p e r m a r k e t s h e l f , a s

l o n g a s t h e p r e f e rr e d b r a n d i s t h e r e w h e n h e o r s h e w a n t s

t o b u y i t. T h e r e i s n o r e a s o n t o s u p p o s e t h a t a f r e s h e r

p a c k a g e o f w a s h i n g p o w d e r w i l l i n a n y w a y i n c re a s e

c u s to me r s a t i s f a c t io n .

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230 JOUR NAL F THE ACADEMYOF MARKETINGSCIENCE SUMMER1998

The extension of the lean argument into an attack on

new p roduct deve lopmen t and by implicat ion on branding

is also troublesom e. The lean authors criticize th e market-

ing process (and this is one of the few instances wh en they

even use the te rm marketing let alone recognize the mar-

keting processes implicit in the supply chain) in the fol-

lowing terms:

The end resul t of this system is that new pro du cts - -

which are of ten new only in the sense of having

reform ulated ingredients (for example, caffeine-free

and cherry cola )---cost an average of $15 million to

launch (half of this going to adver tis ing) a n d . . .

usua lly fail in the marketplace. (Wom ack and Jone s

1996a:48)

Their mo del gives supply chain ef f iciency pr imacy ove r

making available product and brand choices in a marketing

process that copes with demand diversity, instability, and

uncertainty. A collaborative supply chain producing only

a l imited se t of unbranded gener ic cola drinks wou ld

undoubtedly be more ef f icient , but i ts logic denies the

evidence o f consum er preferences for choice and brands.

Indeed, central planning for the supply chain may suffer

the sam e practical inefficiencies that central planning has

alway s tended to reveal .

The threat to m arketing com es not f rom the proposals

to improve supply chain ef f iciency by managing value

streams bu t from the extension o f this search fo r efficienc y

into destroying the benef icial (as well as the wasteful)

effects of organizational slack and reducing co nsum er

choice and destroying brand equity for reasons akin to

old-sty le produ ction orientation.

l o w a n d M a r k e ti n g

While value s tream modeling provides the basis for

attacking branding, cu stom er choic e, and the fundamentals

of marke t positioning, the lean analysis o f flow provides

usefu l mechanisms for attacking internal com pan y poli-

cies and practices that im pede the achievement o f service

excellence with customers. The lean thinkers attack cen-

ters on the wo rld of batch and queu e, particularly in

operat ions management but yet more reveal ingly in the

world of services.

The p rac t ica l s ign i f icance o f develop ing a robus t

f ram ewo rk for chal lenging the perva sive batch-and-

queue design of systems and processes in services cannot

be underestimated. It underlines, however, on ce more, the

m ov e in initiative in improving servic e quality from mar-

keting to operations management.

P ul l and Marke t ing

The lea n view is that production and distribution should

be reorganized to get rid of lead times and inventories s o

that dem and is instantly reflecte d in new su pply rather than

the current s i tuat ion of misjudged supply perennial ly

searching for demand and creating chaos in the process

(Womack and Jones 1996b:88) . The implied role o f mar-

keting (if any) in a lean enterprise is to work to flatten

dem and to facilitate th e operation of lean system s of pro-

duction and distribution. The assertions of the lean thinkers

rest on a cr it ical assumption: the end-use dema nd of

custom ers is inherently quite stab le and largely for replace-

ment. We bel ieve that volat i l i ty- - the perceived market-

p lace chaos- - in these indus t r ia l ac t iv i t i es i s in f ac t

s e l f- i n d uced ( W o m ack an d J o n es 1 9 9 6 a : 8 7 ) w w h er e

self-indu ced refers to such activities as sales prom otion

distorting in undesirable wa ys the norma lly stable pattern

of demand.

Th ey argue that changing the wa y retailers and con-

sumers think about the process of order ing goods and

making transactions ma y be difficult, b ut as we will see, it

is essential to doing things a bet ter wa y (Wom ack and

Jones 1996a:82) . They require that the marketplace m ust

change to accom mod ate the requirements of the produc-

tion and distribution system, which must be a definitive

statement of classic produc tion orientation. Indeed, having

stressed the centrality of value in the customer's terms,

Womack and Jones dismiss lightly the aberration that

apparently Dealers love to 'deal ' and the public loves a

'sale ' (p . 82) ( in one of their rare mom ents of recognit ion

that markets m ay lack eco nom ic rationality). Their argu-

men t is that speed in del ivery offsets the need to reshape

the competi t ive wor ld, which also assumes uncr i t ical ly

that spee d is central to custo me r value.

Lean approaches wil l be widely and r ightly welc ome d

whe re they offer adva nces in logistics efficiency, in terms

of speed and service levels that enhance custom er value,

and predicting better the dem and fo r produ cts like replace-

ments and spares. This case has been proven in the auto-

motive area and some others sharing certain important

dem and characteristics of that sector. M ore problem atic

(and dangerous) is the reduc tion o f the role of marketing

to flattening demand to fit the lean enterprise's require-

ments to provide s table and predictable demand. A s mar-

ket ing depar tments are l ikely to fai l to provide this

certainty in man y comp etitive markets, then they are likely

to be displaced by cer tainty creat ion by others inside the

company, to the detriment of cus tom er interests and m arket

posit ion, and the robustness of the com pany 's marketing

process.

Perfect ion and Market ing

Finally, the lean enterprise model ad vances the Japanese-

s ty le management a rgument tha t we shou ld compete

against perfection, whether this involves steady incre-

mental change or something m ore radical to smash the

inert ia. How ever , their conception o f perfect ion is f ramed

almost wholly in the removal of muda ( i .e. , ef f iciency)

rather than the creation of superior value in the production

and distribution system. The danger lies in the difficulty

of defining pe rfection in custom er terms, an d the potential

for substi tut ing perfect ion in com pany or channel m em ber

terms, that is, failure to succ essfu lly understand that cus-

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Piercy MARKETING MPLEMENTATION 231

tom er priorities lead to the substitution of co mp any priori-

t ies , ev en i f those are couc hed in terms of w hat execut ives

in comp anies believe custome rs should value.

Th e threat to marketing and m arke t position is that lean

thinking may persuade companies to adopt a simplistic

view o f custom er priorit ies and preferences, whic h flies in

the fac e of mark eting theory and practit ioner experience.

The Under ly ing ssumpt ions

of Le an Enterprise

The potential for confl ict in paradigm between the lean

mod el and the market ing view o f the enterprise can prob-

ably best be il lustrated by reexamining the underlying

assumptions in lean thinking.

Perhaps most tell ing is that the lean model is derived

prim arily from stable industries, wh ich are often engineer-

ing led, such as automotive. The m ore general application

of the model to dissimilar sectors appears problematic.

Indee d, since the lean thinkers su ggest explicitly that their

conclusions are based o n the experiences o f outliers, then

the reliabili ty of their observations appears even more

suspect. Indeed, this leads to what is potentially most

damaging to m arke t ing--th e claim that markets are inher-

ently stable and predictable, and if the y are not, then the

role o f marketing is to mak e them so. This redefinition of

the role o f marke ting in the organization is indicative o f

the wider change envisaged in the marketing/operations

interface.

The y presum e a high degree o f econom ic rational ity

underpinning the beha vior of both custom ers and suppli-

ers. T he lean view of custom er value is ci rcumscribed by

such assum ptions--part icularly in presuming that the cri -

ter ia of value are clear and wel l -known, that they are

measurable, tha t they are rational (in engineering terms),

and that they are s table over t ime and s imilar for al l buyers

in the market. Th ese are seve rely limiting assumptions in

the context of m any views of the un derlying real i ty of the

comp lexi ty of the drivers of cu stomer satisfaction and the

important differ ences betwee n value perceptions in differ-

ent marke t segments. There is also an implicit measur-

ability trap, w he re we risk substituting m etrics (i.e., wh at

we can mea sure) for im portance ( i.e ., w hat real ly mat ters

com petitively). To allow such simplifications to be ac-

cepted as reasonable b y man agers is to risk undermining

mu ch of w hat market ing has achieved in al igning comp any

structures an d processes with m arket structures.

Finally, the broader proposals fo r the lean enterprise

that transcen d comp any boundaries to l ink suppliers, dis-

tributors, and customers into an efficient supply chain

share muc h with the literature fo r developing networks o f

alliance-based collaborations. While attractive in many

way s, such proposals rest on the assumptions that collabo-

ration can substitute for competition as a driv er of long-

term efficiency, and that collaborations can be e ffectively

implemented. Much in our developing understanding of

network organizational forms suggests that both these

assumptions are highly quest ionable (Cravens et al . ,

1996).

The Impact o f Lean

Enterprise on Market ing

This crit ique o f lean thinking ha s attempted to place the

market ing implementat ion issue in the context of a n ew

paradigm, which is receiving wide acclaim in the man age-

men t l iterature and m uch at tention f rom corporate manag-

ers. Wha t appears to be lacking is a coh eren t intellectual

and pragmatic response fro m the ma rketing discipline to

the lean-thinking proposals and the e merg ence of the lean

enterprise model.

At i ts extrem e, lean thinking can be seen as a restate-

m ent of production orientation leading to success throug h

TQM and BPR around value-creation activities. In this

respec t i t is entirely possible that lean thinking w ill follow

its predecessors in being operationalized as short-term

approaches to improving operational effec tiveness (of.

Porter 1 996). However, i ts arguments are l ikely to be

perceiv ed by ma ny as t imely, compelling, and persuasive,

and they are l ikely to be a major shaping force in mana ge-

m ent thinking.

The lean mod el rests o n a set of underlying assumptions

that are questionable in ma ny practical situations from a

marketing perspective, but while those assumptions re-

main hidden, ma nagem ent expectations are l ikely to be

raised. The role of marketing in the lean enterprise is

minimal and may be reduced to undertaking secondary

tasks in smoothing dem and and persuading custom ers to

behave in ways that f i t wi th the demands of the lean

supply chain. As wi th the emerging evidence concerning

the fai lure of TQM and BPR to del iver sustained compet i -

tive advantage, there is also the danger that simplistic

applicat ion ma y lead to the el imination of the m edium and

longer-term value creat ion benefi ts of organizat ional

slack.

However, for present purposes, the lean-thinking mo del

provides an exam ple of the loss o f leadership in m anag e-

me nt th inking that may lead to the further weak ening of

the niarketing pa radigm in ma jor organizations. It is this

loss of leadership and initiative that we are l inking to the

longe r term m arketing strategy implementation capabili-

ties of organizations.

C O N C L U D I N G R E M R K S

Optimistic and visionary reviews of the future o f mar-

keting in companies m ay identify a scenario that is unat-

tainable in many organizations. There are a number of

signs that the role of marketing, not simply as a formal

organizational function, but more important as a strategic

influence, may be weak and growing weaker in some

organizat ions . A com pel l ing case can be ma de for a n ew

era of market-based strategic m anag em ent (see, e.g.,

Craven s, Greenley, Piercy, and Slater 1 997). How ever, this

ma y be di ff icult to at tain in real i ty where m arket ing has

been organized out of the locus of strategic decision-

making, i s dogged by cynicism and cri t icism regarding

past performance, and may be overw helme d by new m an-

agem ent paradigms like lean thinking.

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2 3 2 J O U R N A L O F T H E A C A D E M Y O F M A R K E T I N G S C I E N C E S U M M E R 1 9 98

W e a r g u e d th a t th i s l e s s - a t t r a c t iv e s c e n a r io f o r th e f u -

t u r e o f m a r k e t i n g i s im p o r t a n t f o r a n u m b e r o f r e a s o n s - - i t

m a y r e p r e s e n t b o t h a n e w v i e w o f t h e b a rr i e rs t o t h e

i m p l e m e n t a t i o n o f m a r k e t i n g a n d b r a n d s t r a t e g ie s i n g l o -

b a l i z a t i o n w i t h s u b s i d i a ri e s a n d p a r t n e r s w h e r e t h e m a r -

k e t i n g p a r a d i g m i s w e a k , b u t a ls o a p r o t o t y p i c a l m o d e l o f

t h e w a y i n w h i c h m a r k e t in g m a y b e a f f e c t e d in t h e l o n g e r

t e r m i n c o m p a n i e s w h e r e t r a d i ti o n a l ly t h e m a r k e t i n g p a r a -

d i g m h a s b e e n s t r o n g er . T h e a r g u m e n t i s th a t t h e u n d e r ly -

in g in f lu e n c e s a r e u n iv e r s a l , b u t th e t ime s c a le f o r th e i r

e f f e c t s m a y b e d i f fe r e n t.

T h e a r g u m e n t m a d e i s p r i m a r i ly i n t h e c o n t e x t o f m a r -

k e t i n g s t r a t e g y i m p l e m e n t a t i o n . A b r i e f r e v i e w o f m a r k e t-

i n g s t r at e g y i m p l e m e n t a t i o n i s s u e a d v a n c e d t h e v i e w t h a t

t h e u n d e r l y i n g i s s u e s a r e n o t o n l y t h o s e o f s tr u c tu r a l

r e a l i g n m e n t a n d a d m i n i s t ra t i v e s y s t e m s t o i m p l e m e n t n e w

s t r a te g ie s b u t a l s o th e b e h a v io r a l a n d o r g a n iz a t io n a l c o n -

s e q u e n c e s o f th e t r a d it i o n a l d i c h o t o m y b e t w e e n s t r a te g y

f o r m u l a t i o n a n d s t r a t e g y i m p l e m e n t a t i o n . E v a l u a t i n g i m -

p l e m e n t a t i o n a s a m u l t i d i m e n s i o n a l p r o c e s s u n c o v e r s th e

i m p o r t a n c e o f f r e q u e n t l y c o v e r t b e h a v i o r a l a n d o r g a n iz a -

t i o n a l p r o c e s s d i m e n s i o n s t o i m p l e m e n t a t i o n e f f e c t i v e -

n e s s , a n d t h e i s s u e o f m a n a g i n g f o r p r o c e s s c o n s i st e n c y .

T h i s m o d e l c a n b e c o n t r a s t e d w i t h t h e t r a d i ti o n a l s e q u e n -

t i al , f lo w c h a r t o f u n d e r s ta n d i n g o f i m p l e m e n t a t i o n a s th e

a c t io n r e s u l t in g f r o m s t r a t e g ic c h o ic e s . I n d e e d , th o s e r e l a -

t i v e l y c o v e r t a s p e c t s o f p r o c e s s m a y b e t h e m o s t s i g n i f ic a n t

in d e f in in g imp le me n ta t io n c a p a b i l i t i e s o r s h o r t f a l l s . Ce r -

t a in l y , a s p r o c e s s - b a s e d v i e w s b e c o m e d o m i n a n t i n t h e

m a n a g e m e n t a n d m a r k e t in g l i te r a tu r e , t h e p u rs u i t o f a

d e e p e r u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f p r o c e s s c h a r a c te r i st i c s h a s b e -

c o m e u r g e n t .

I n g e n e r a l t e r ms , th e c o n c lu s io n r e a c h e d i s th a t th o s e

a s p e c t s o f t h e m a r k e t i n g s t r a te g y i m p l e m e n t a t i o n p r o c e s s

t h a t w e a r e c o m i n g t o s e e a s m o s t s i g n i f i c a n t t o im p l e m e n -

ta t io n e f f e c t iv e n e s s a r e th o s e th a t a r e m o s t a t r i s k i f t h e

m a r k e t i n g p a r a d i g m i s n o t s t r o n g o r w e a k e n s . W e e x a m -

in e d s ig n s o f th e p e r ip h e r a l o r g a n iz a t io n a l p o s i t io n th a t

m a r k e t i n g m a y o c c u p y , a t ta c k s o n t h e r e l e v a n c e a n d e f f e c -

t i v e n e s s o f m a r k e t i n g , a n d m o s t p a r ti c u l a rl y t h e i m p a c t o f

c o m p e t i n g m a n a g e m e n t p a r a d i g m s l i k e l e a n t h i n k i n g a n d

th e l e a n e n te r p r i s e , a s fo r c e s r e d u c in g th e ma r k e t in g s t r at -

e g y i m p l e m e n t a t i o n c a p a b i l it i e s o f o r g a n i z a ti o n s .

A w a y o f o p e r a t io n a l i z in g t h i s a rg u m e n t w i t h e x e c u -

t i v e s i s p r o v i d e d b y t h e c o n c e p t o f organizat ional s tre tch

i l l u s t r a te d in F ig u r e 5 .

I n th is a p p r o a c h , c o n v e n t io n a l s t r a t e g ie s a r e a c o n t in u -

a t i o n o f t h e p a s t - - t h e c o m p a n y c o n t i n u e s a n o l d s tr a t e g y

t h a t i t is g o o d a t i m p l e m e n t i n g , w h i l e t h e o b s o l e t e s tr a t e g y

i s o n e w h e r e p r e v i o u s e x e c u t i o n c a p a c i t y n o l o n g e r e x i s ts

( e .g . , k e y p e r s o n n e l h a v e l e ft , r e s o u r c e s b e c o m e u n a v a i l -

a b le ) . P e r h a p s th e mo s t imp o r ta n t d i s t in c t io n , h o we v e r , i s

t h e d i f f e r e n c e b e t w e e n s y n e r g i s t i c s t ra t e g y ( a m a r k e t in g

s t r a t e g y t h a t w e a s s u m e t h e c o m p a n y w i l l b e g o o d a t

e x e c u t in g ) a n d th e s t r e t c h s t r a t e g y ( a n e w s t r a t e g y r e q u i r -

in g s u b s ta n t i a l n e w c a p a b i l i t i e s in e x e c u t io n ) . T h e c h a l -

l e n g e t o e x e c u t i v e s i s t o a d o p t a p r o c e s s p e r s p e c t i v e t o

FIGURE

Organ izational Stretch in

Implementing Marketing Strategy

i t o f S t r a t e g y W i t h Existing Company

Capabil~es Systems S t r u c t u r e s

Cmod Poor

Marketing

Strategy

N e w

O l d

S Y N E R G I S T I C

S T R T E O I E S

C O N F E N T I O N L

S T R T E G I E S

S T R E T C H

S T R T E G I E S

O B S O L E T E

S T R T E O I E S

b e t t e r d i s t i n g u i s h b e t w e e n s y n e r g y a n d s t r e t c h c h a r a c -

t e r i s ti c s o f n e w m a r k e t in g s t r a t e g ie s .

F o r e x a m p l e , t h e m a j o r B r i t i s h g r o c e r y r e t a il e r s T e s c o

a n d S a i n s b u r y s u c c e s s f u l l y p u r s u e d g r o w t h b y m o v i n g

i n t o g a s o l i n e r e ta i li n g , w h i c h c l o s e l y m a t c h e d t h e i r s k i ll s

a n d c a p a b i l i t i e s a n d i n w h i c h t h e y h a v e b e c o m e m a r k e t

l e a d e r s . M o s t r e c e n t l y , t h e s a m e r e t a i l c o m p a n i e s h a v e

s ta r t e d to o p e r a te r e t a i l b a n k s . T h e y a r e f in d in g th e p r o c -

e s s i n g a n d s e r v i c e r e q u i r e m e n t s f o r b a n k i n g s o m e w h a t

d i f f e re n t t o t h o s e n e e d e d i n g r o c e r y r e t a i l, a n d m o r e i m -

p o r t a n t , c u s t o m e r e x p e c t a t i o n s o f a b a n k a p p e a r g r e a t l y

m o r e d e m a n d i n g t h a n t h o s e p l a c e d o n a g r o c e r y c h a i n .

W h a t a p p e a r s i n r a t i o n a l /a n a l y t ic t e r m s t o b e a s y n e r g i s t i c

s t r at e g y m a y i n r e a l i ty b e a s t r e tc h s t r a t e g y . T h i s m o d e l c a n

b e u s e d t o a s s is t e x e c u t i v e s i n c o n f r o n t i n g t h e u n d e r l y i n g

imp le me n ta t io n r e a l i t i e s in n e w ma r k e t in g s t r a t e g ie s . I t

a l s o p r o v i d e s t h e b a s i s o f d i s c o v e r y - o r i e n t e d r e s e a r ch e f -

f o r t s ( s e e , e . g . , Ko h l i a n d J a wo r s k i 1 9 9 0 ; P a r a s u r a ma n ,

Z e i th a ml , a n d Be r r y 1 9 8 5 ; Z a l t tn a n , L e M a s te r s , a n d He f f r in g

1 9 8 2 ) to b e t t e r u n d e rs t a n d m a r k e t i n g s t r a t e g y i m p l e m e n -

t a t io n p r o c e s s e s . F o r e x a m p l e , i t h a s b e e n s u g g e s t e d t h a t

i t is e a s y t o u n d e r e s t i m a t e t h e d e g r e e a n d t y p e o f o r g a n i z a -

t io n a l s t r e t c h th a t i s n e e d e d to imp le me n t r e l a t io n s h ip

m a r k e t i n g s t ra t e g y e f f e c t i v e l y - - a p a r a d i g m s h i f t i n m a r -

k e t in g s t r a t e g y s u g g e s t s th e n e e d f o r a p a r a l l e l a n d e q u a l

s h i f t in imp o r ta n t o r g a n iz a t io n a l c h a r a c te r i s t i c s .

I t is u n d o u b t e d l y t r u e t h at t h e w a r n i n g s a n d p r e d i c t i o n s

in th i s a r t i c l e w i l l b e in v a l id in s o me s i tu a t io n s . Ho we v e r ,

t h e s a m e i s li k e l y t o b e t ru e o f v i e w s t h a t a s s u m e t h a t

s t r a t e g y imp le me n ta t io n c a p a b i l i t i e s a r e g iv e n , g lo b a l ly

s h a r e d , a n d s t a b le f a c to r s , wh ic h c a n b e t a k e n f o r g r a n te d .

A c a s e i s e m e r g i n g f o r a n e w p r o c e s s - b a s e d p a r a d i g m o f

m a r k e t i n g , w h i c h i s b o t h c o m p e l l i n g f o r e x e c u t i v e s a n d

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Piercy MARKETING MPLEMENTATION 233

addresses implem entat ion capabil it ies as a core com petence

o f a co mp any t ha t m ay vary g rea t l y i n d i f f e ren t con t ex t s.

Direct ions for Re search and

Conceptua l Deve lopment

W h i l e t h i s r e v i e w o f t h e m a r k e t i n g p a r a d i g m u n d e r

a t t ack and r educed s t r a t egy imp lemen ta t i on capab i l i t i es

m ay se em p ess imi s t i c t o some reader s , i ts goa l i s essen -

t i a ll y pos i ti ve i n i den t i fy ing a reas i n wh ich m arke t i ng mus t

deve lop c oheren t r esponses t o s i gn i f i can t r ea l i gnmen t s i n

ma nage me n t p r i o r it i es i n an e l ec t ron i ca l ly ne tworked and

l ean -o r i en t ed w or ld .

T h e m o v e t o p r o c e ss m o d e l s to d e s c r ib e h o w c o m p a -

n i es go t o marke t is a l r eady under way , bu t much r emains

to be do ne i n de ve lop ing a c l ear t ypo log y o f those p roc-

esses t o m ap t he o rgan i za t i ona l tr ans i t ion i nvo lved . The

com plex na tu re o f p rocesses as t hey opera t e i n o rgan i za-

t i ons i s a l so a po t en t i a l l y u sefu l l i ne o f i nqu i ry . However ,

i t is a l so ev ide n t t ha t t he va lue o f p rocess ana lys i s wou ld

be g rea t l y r e in fo rced by t he deve lopm en t o f a more ade-

quat e l anguag e and c oncep tua l f r amew ork fo r a r ti cu l a ti ng

the added va lue o f m arke t i ng i n an o rgan i za ti on .

I t is l i ke ly tha t ma ny co rpo ra t e man ager s wou ld a rgue

tha t marke t i ng has a lway s been l ong on p romises and sho r t

on p roven de l i very o f added va lue . The d i sc ip li ne lacks a

vocabu l ary t o descr i be i t s con t r ibu t i on , l e t a l one t o p rov ide

cred ib l e opera t iona l met r i cs o f added va lue . The m odern

l i te r a tu re under l i nes t he a rgum en t s f avo r ing such v a lues as

ma rke t o r i en t a t ion , enhanced l earn ing and marke t - sens ing

capab i l i t ies , g lobal m aste r brand s, par tner ing and al l i-

ance fo rm at ion . Yet , there i s no per suas ive f r am ewo rk t o

m o n i t o r t h e e f f e c t i v e n e s s o f i m p l e m e n t i n g t h e s e a p -

p roaches t o ach i ev ing super io r and sus t a ined per fo rmance .

T h e e m e r g e n c e o f r e l a t io n s h i p m a r k e t in g a s a d o m i n a n t

i s sue fo r com pan ies i s i l l u s tr a t ive . The imp leme n ta t i on o f

r e l a t ionsh ip s t r a t eg ies has been enhance d by t he suppor t-

i ng met r i cs descr i b ing t he impact o f cus tomer r e t en t i on

ra t es on p ro f i t ab i li t y and t he concep t o f cus tom er l i f e time

value as a n ac coun t i ng en t i t y (e .g ., R e i chheld and Sasser

1990) . S imi l a r l y , cus tome r p ressu re t o p rove added va lue

has p roved dec i s i ve i n def i n ing exce l l ence fo r sa les opera-

t i ons i n bus iness - t o -bus iness marke t s (The H R Chal l ey

Group 1996) . A s imi l a r app roach t o va lu ing marke t i ng

capab i l it i es and t he i r per fo rmance im pact i s p rob l emat i c

but ov erdue . I t i s l ikely that l it t le el se w i l l regain in tel lec-

t ua l l eader sh ip fo r t he d i sc ip l i ne i s mee t i ng t he cha l l enge

f rom com pet ing parad igms i n t he co rpo ra te board room.

That u rgency i s under l i ned a l so by t he p ressu re o f

diversi ty in g loba l izat ion, dr iven by factors l ike elect ronic

c o m m e r c e a n d m a s t e r b r a n d s . T h e r e i s a n e e d f o r m o r e

s y s t e m a t i c s t u d y o f i m p l e m e n t a t i o n c a p a b i li t ie s i n p a r -

t i c u l a r . P r e v i o u s l y d o m e s t i c - b a s e d c o m p a n i e s a c c u s -

t o m e d t o a c o n t e x t o f a h i g h l y d e v e l o p e d a n d a c c e p t e d

marke t i ng parad igm wi l l be go ing t o a marke t par t nered

wi th com pan ies w i th very d i f f e ren t t r ad it i ons. To assum e

global s t rategy implementat ion character i s t ics i s in tu i -

t i ve ly dangerous , ye t we l ack a r i go rous f r amework fo r

eva lua t i ng t h i s capab i l i ty i n d i ff e ren t con t ex t s . The o rgan -

i za t iona l - s tr e t ch concep t may be capab l e o f sys t emat i c

developm en t fo r t h is pu rpose .

Final ly , progress i s s t i l l nee ded o n the cent ral quest ion

of t he i n t eg ra t i on o f s t r a t egy imp lem en ta t i on i n to t he s t r a t -

egy fo rm ula t i on p rocess , i n t he way marke t i ng i s p rac t i ced

bu t a l so i n how i t is t augh t . Indeed , t he chang ing ro l e o f

marke t i ng i n com pan ies has f a r - r each ing imp l i ca t i ons fo r

t he pos i t i on o f marke t i ng i n t he bus iness schoo l cu r r i cu -

lum. Chal l enges t o t he ro l e o f marke t i ng as