What Drives Performance in Globally Focused Marketing Organizations? A Three-Country Study

Abstract

In marketing, compared with other organizational dimensions such as leadership, culture, structure, and processes, relatively scant attention has been devoted to the effect of strategy on firm performance, especially in the global context. Rapid globalization of markets, along with ever-increasing dynamic demands on the marketing organization, necessitates a new examination. This article reports on a study that examines the role of strategy and other organizational forces on the performance of globally focused marketing organizations headquartered in Norway, Sweden, and the United States. The general findings indicate that (1) the constructs of leadership, strategy, and culture precede the globally focused marketing organization's structure; (2) strategy precedes structure; and (3) organizational structure and processes influence marketing and financial performance. Many relationships appear to be consistent across countries, and some are uniquely tied to the home-country markets.

Reflections on international marketing: destructive regeneration and multinational firms

“…To minimize redundancy in operations and investments, and to rationalize value-adding activities, firms will need to adopt common practices, platforms, and reward mechanisms. Instrumental in implementing this global rationalization are such integrating tools as global supply chains, global product platforms, global teams, intranets, and global talent pools (Hult et al 2007;Sinkovics et al 2011;Townsend et al 2004).…”

A longitudinal study of the effects of charismatic leadership and organizational culture on objective and perceived corporate performance

“…This study explores the questions, do charismatic leadership and organizational culture each add value to a firm's performance, and what is the link between leadership and culture? Leadership has been defined as "the ability of an individual to influence, motivate, and enable others to contribute toward the effectiveness and success of an organization of which they are members" (House, Javidan, Hanges, & Dorfman, 2002, p. 5), and it is thought that organizational culture affects performance through a complex interplay of leadership style, business strategy, and organizational structure and process (Hult, Cavusgil, Delingonul, Kiyak, & Lagerström, 2007). Much of the organizational culture literature blurs the distinction between leadership and culture and leadership content is often included in the operational definitions of culture (Ashkanasy, Broadfoot, & Falkus, 2000;Marcoulides & Heck, 1993).…”

Alignments and misalignments of realized marketing strategies with administrative systems: Performance implications

“…In addition, observations from case studies in the automotive industry (e.g., Honda and Toyota) concur with the original maxim (seeSako, 2004). Finally,Chandler's (1962) maxim is supported by the contingency (e.g.,Donaldson, 2001) and strategic-choice (seeHult et al, 2007) theoretical paradigms, as well as by the design strategy school of thought(Mintzberg, 1990).…”