Developing the organization's sensemaking capability: Precursor to an adaptive strategic marketing response

Abstract

Effective strategic planning demands that organizations develop an understanding of the forces shaping the situation by engaging the collective efforts and interpretive capabilities of various representatives of the organization. This study investigates the mechanisms by which such an understanding develops and, subsequently, shapes marketing strategy. Specifically, organizations are examined as sensemaking units stimulated by perceived environmental turbulence, cultural open-mindedness, and team functional diversity. These factors are modeled as determinants of an organization's sensemaking capability, which is comprised of communicative, interpretive, and analytical dimensions. This study argues that a developed sensemaking capability increases the potential range of strategic responses and, ultimately, enhances customer-based performance. The results from a sample of wholesale distributors suggest that organizations that maintain greater internal variety are better able to sense and respond to the environment.

The Moderating Effect of Guanxi on the Dynamic Capacity and Competitive Advantage of Chinese International Contractors

“…Environmental perception ability is a two-step process, that is, to search for market information and to analyze market information. Neill et al [63] have proposed four measures of environmental perception, namely, competitor-oriented, customer-oriented, "product-oriented, and macroenvironment-oriented." Li and Liu [13] have proposed six design indicators for environmental perception ability, namely, to perceive environmental changes ahead of competitors, meet regularly to discuss market needs, agree on understanding of the impact on internal and external environment, understand the major potential opportunities and threats, have a sound information management system, and have a good observation and judgment abilities.…”

Membangun Keunggulan Produk Ikonik Untuk Meningkatkan Kinerja Pemasaran UMKM [Establishing Advantages of Iconic Products to Improve Marketing Performance of SMEs]

“…Tindakan yang lebih cepat dilakukan dalam menanggapi keluhan kebutuhan pelanggan yang dinamis serta membentuk dan melanggengkan kepuasan dan keloyalan konsumen akan sangat baik (Ferdinand, 2000). (Neill et al, 2007). Seperti untuk anggota tim pengembangan produk baru, mereka melalui kompetensi ini secara efisien dapat mengintegrasikan berbagai perspektif tentang informasi pasar yang dapat menyebabkan mereka untuk lebih efektif dalam mengkonfigurasi dan mengerahkan sumber daya, sehingga mendapatkan pengaruh sumber daya untuk melayani superior nilai pelanggan.…”

The antecedents of cross-functional coordination and their implications for marketing adaptiveness

“…This study focusses on intra-firm coordination -that is, coordination among employees and across functional units within a firm (Mintzberg et al, 1996), which affects a firm's capability to share customer and competitor information for strategic integration of all functions in the process of creating customer value Slater, 1990, Song et al, 1997). The ability to coordinate across functions not only allows firms to swiftly respond to environmental changes (Neill et al, 2007) but also to gain access to a wider range of tacit knowledge dispersed across the organization to build valuable collective knowledge (Arnett and Wittmann, 2014, Atuahene-Gima, 2005, Hirunyawipada et al, 2010. A firm's knowledge of how to support and enhance cross-functional coordination can be a competitive strategy to enable firms to utilize and deploy dispersed resources and improve performance (Eisenhardt and Martin, 2000, Hult et al, 2005, Kohli and Jaworski, 1990, Narver and Slater, 1990).…”

“…As Day (2011) argues, firms can make more sense of volatile and unpredictable markets by developing vigilant market learning capabilities which are fundamentally cross-functional. Failures in coordination may hinder both swift response to changes in the environment and the development of effective strategies to cope with changes (Neill et al, 2007). Therefore, CFC has become a recognized strategy to enable firms to utilize and deploy resources to improve performance (De Luca and Atuahene-Gima, 2007, Hult et al, 2005, Kohli and Jaworski, 1990, Narver and Slater, 1990.…”