No abstract

This study aims to highlight the role of marketing mix (product, price, place, and promotion) on achieving the competitive advantage in the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector in the Al Buraimi Governorate in Oman. This article states the significance of competitive advantage in achieving marketing goals and gaining the satisfaction of customers by using marketing mix concept. A descriptive analysis approach is used to analyze the collected data regarding the level of impact of the marketing mix (product, price, place, and promotion), on the competitive advantage of the SME sector in Al Buraimi. The data have been collected through the use of a questionnaire that is distributed to SMEs in the Al Buraimi region according to the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI). There were 100 SMEs selected randomly; however, only 75 questionnaires were processed due to missing data. According to the data analysis, the results show that all of marketing mix elements (product, price, place, and promotion) have a significant impact on achieving competitive advantage in the case of Al Buraimi's SMEs (p value for all marketing mix elements is less than α = .05). The most effective element when it comes to achieving competitive advantage is price. The SME sector in Al Buraimi should develop its product's quality, distribution channels, and promotion policies to face the local and international competitors. The marketing mix and competitive advantage represent a relatively new orientation in Al Buraimi's SME sector.

This paper discusses the 4 'P's of marketing mix, which comprise: product, price, place and promotion, and the connection with integrated marketing. Marketing managers use the Marketing Mix model in an attempt to generate the optimal response in the target market by blending these four variables in an optimal way. The marketing mix is flexible and can be adjusted on a frequent basis to meet the changing needs of the target group and the other dynamics of the marketing environment. It is important to understand that the Marketing Mix principles are controllable variables. The dimensions of marketing mix go a long way towards the product management, customer data base, segmenting, targeting and positioning, which will be the main topics of this paper. In addition, it provides some examples (companies such as McDonalds and Air Arabia) to emphasis this concept.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of relationship between implementation process of marketing concepts and the culture at the small- to medium-sized enterprise (SME) level of the Omani economy. The marketing culture and behavior provide a comprehensive insight into the implementation process of marketing concepts in SME sector in Oman. This paper seeks to explore the marketing culture of the firm’s members and to what extent they can support or create barriers to the successful implementation of the marketing concept in Al Buraimi region – Oman. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative approach was used to explore the impact of organizational culture on the implementation of marketing concepts on SMEs; to achieve the objective of this study, the paper based on a sample of 240 of SME sector in Al Buraimi. Simple Random Sampling was used for the sample distribution. The IBM analysis program Statistical Package for Social Sciences was used to process the data sets. Findings The findings of this study support the argument about the positive relationship between the implementation of marketing concepts and organizational culture. In the Omani context, organizational culture is related to the whole society’s culture, which has changed over recent years due to changes in lifestyle and consumer behavior. All of this affects the SME sector and its ability to create new ideas for the marketing process. Originality/value The paper finds that there is a logic and structure to the culture and the implementation process of marketing concepts. It helps to identify the impact of the culture of the SME on the implementation of marketing in the SME sector on the Omani economy in light of the new orientation on the part of decision makers in terms of increasing the importance of non-oil activities.