The Miles-Snow (M-S) strategic typology has continued to receive attention in the academic business press, even though it has been criticized for not making explicit the relationships between strategic type and ultimate profit performance. Using the market orientation and Resource-Based View literature, we develop hypotheses regarding relationships between M-S strategic type and four firm capabilities (technology, information technology, market-linking, and marketing capabilities), relationship between the four capabilities and performance, and the moderating role of M-S strategic type. An empirical test involves multiple data collections from 216 firms. The study results suggest that there are significant relationships between capabilities and performance if one does not account for the moderating role of strategic type. When strategic type is used as a moderating variable, we find that only certain capabilities had significant effects on profitability. For example, technology and information technology capabilities increase financial performance for prospector organizations, while a different set of capabilities (marketlinking and marketing) are positively related to financial performance for defender organizations. We discuss how our findings are consistent with the expectations of the Resource-Based View of the firm. We conclude with a discussion of theoretical and managerial implications.

The authors examine the relationship between strategic type and development of distinctive marketing, market-linking, technology, and information technology (IT) capabilities to implement innovation strategy. They hypothesize that prospectors must build technical and IT capabilities, whereas defenders develop market-linking and marketing capabilities. The authors collect data from 709 firms across the United States, Japan, and China. They find support for their capability hypotheses, as well as for some of their cross-national hypotheses that are based on cultural and business environment differences among the three countries. In particular, they find support for the hypotheses that Japanese firms have greater technology and IT capabilities than U.S. firms of the same strategic type. They conclude with implications for management.

This article explores the analytic nature and domain of macromarketing from a systems theoretic perspective. Macromarketing is developed as the study of the complex coordination and control processes underpinning growth, evolution, and design of exchange systems. This approach provides a rich conceptual framework in which to unify the traditional themes of macromarketing and, potentially, to accelerate empirical research.

This article focuses on the accomplishments of a leader in marketing. During the past two decades the visions and contributions of Charles Slater broadened the conceptualization of marketing, applied that conceptualization to developing countries, formulated a new theory on market process, and built that theory into a class of simulation models applied around the world. His dedication, intellect, and humanism has brought macromarketing to the fore and left a rich legacy upon which an emerging discipline can build.

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