Marketing innovation and sustainable competitive advantage of manufacturing SMEs in Ghana

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to establish how small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in water, beverage, soap, detergent, metal fabrication, wood and furniture manufacturing industries can sustain or improve their competitive advantage by integrating specific resources and capabilities. The paper seeks to offer an alternative framework “resource capability-based view (RCBV)” that provides a strategic marketing direction for SMEs regarding how innovative marketing practices and dynamic marketing capabilities integrate to create sustainable market advantage. Design/methodology/approach This current paper employed a quantitative survey design with a positivist methodological research paradigm. The paper used a multi-stage stratified and simple random sampling technique to collect data from 591 manufacturing SMEs in Ghana. SMEs in water, beverage, soap, detergent, metal fabrication, wood and furniture manufacturing industries were sampled for the study. A structural equation model was employed to test the study hypotheses to arrive at the findings. Findings The study found that product design and packaging innovations, promotion innovations, retail innovations and pricing innovations provide sustainable market advantage for water, beverage, detergent and metal fabrication SMEs. The paper also found that new product designs and packages are the major drivers of sustainable market advantage followed by innovative retail outlets. The paper further originated that integrating marketing competence (marketing resources and marketing capabilities) and innovative marketing activities provides a marginal improvement in competitive advantage. Physical resources may result in market advantage but integrating physical resources with dynamic marketing capabilities provides sufficient competitive sustainability in a competitive market. Practical implications SMEs in water, beverage, soap, detergent, metal fabrication, wood and furniture manufacturing industries should prioritise their key marketing resources and capabilities in product designs, promotion, pricing and retailing innovations in order to sustain market advantage. Old products should not be faded from the market but rather SME managers should employ innovative retail strategies, such as eco-friendly advertising, product re-branding and digital platforms (social network sites and websites), which are important to sustaining market performance. Government must develop targeted policies to bridge the information gap between SMEs and research institutions such as universities through regular subsidised entrepreneurial training and creation of semi-annual industry-academic fairs. The main theoretical contribution of this current paper is the development of “RCBV” as a framework which shows how SMEs can integrate specific resources and capabilities to achieve sustainable market advantage. This framework offers an integrative view of conventional resource-based view and dynamic capability theory (DCT) which are independently examined in the literature. Originality/value This current study has proposed an integrated and elaborative approach to the conventional resource-based view and DCT which does not provide a composite understanding in the literature. SMEs may lack the needed resources and capabilities to introduce new products or extant product lines but this paper has demonstrated that how SME can sustain market advantage of existing product(s) by synchronously using specific marketing resources and capabilities. The proposed framework offers a guide for SMEs to integrate their physical resources and capabilities to sustain their market advantage.

The Impact of Innovation, Competitive Advantage, and Market Orientation on Firm's Marketing Performance in the Garment Industry in Indonesia

“…The marketing innovation variable has a positive and significant effect on marketing performance. This is in accordance with the research by Quaye and Mensah (2018) and Guzman et al, (2018). The descriptive analysis results in this study indicate that different pricing methods from competitors can result in higher sales average.…”

“…If the firm is in a tight industrial competition, immediate innovation is recommended to continue to compete with its competitors. In another study, Quaye and Mensah (2018) found that marketing innovation through price and promotion can have an impact on marketing performance. Results from a study by Quareshiet et al (2017) indicated that promotional innovations have a positive effect on marketing performance.…”

Marketing tools in the era of digitization and their Use in Practice by Family and other Businesses

“…In order for a family business to have a chance at successful transfer to successor generations, it must monitor, evaluate, and actively implement modern marketing tools. This reality has been validated by Quaye and Mensah (2019). According to their research companies must integrate specifi c resources and capabilities, apply innovative marketing processes with the option for dynamic marketing, and thereby create sustainable market value.…”

Incidencia de la innovación en marketing en el rendimiento empresarial: una aplicación basada en modelamiento con ecuaciones estructurales

“…No obstante, los investigadores están descuidando las innovaciones organizativas o en marketing, que son a la par fundamentales para el crecimiento, rendimiento y funcionamiento efectivo (Abdul, Kuhn y Ahmed, 2018;Chung y Kim, 2017;Damanpour, 1991;Damanpour y Evan, 1984). Actualmente, son escasos los estudios sobre las innovaciones enfocadas al marketing (Gunday, Ulusoy, Kilic y Alpkan, 2011;Quaye y Mensah, 2019;Reiner, Reimann y Vitkauskaite, 2016;Zakerian et al, 2017), a pesar de que la innovación en marke-ting como estrategia empresarial permite a las organizacio-nes establecer una relación más estrecha con sus clientes hasta convertirlos en promotores de la propia empresa (Kotler y Keller, 2006). Ante tal situación, es importante la realización de estudios acerca de la innovación enfocada al marketing, principalmente en organizaciones distintas a las de servicios (Contò, Fiore, Vrontis y Silvestri, 2015;Geldes y Felzensztein, 2013;Heredia, Geldes, Kunc y Flores, 2019;Quaye y Mensah, 2019).…”

“…Actualmente, son escasos los estudios sobre las innovaciones enfocadas al marketing (Gunday, Ulusoy, Kilic y Alpkan, 2011;Quaye y Mensah, 2019;Reiner, Reimann y Vitkauskaite, 2016;Zakerian et al, 2017), a pesar de que la innovación en marke-ting como estrategia empresarial permite a las organizacio-nes establecer una relación más estrecha con sus clientes hasta convertirlos en promotores de la propia empresa (Kotler y Keller, 2006). Ante tal situación, es importante la realización de estudios acerca de la innovación enfocada al marketing, principalmente en organizaciones distintas a las de servicios (Contò, Fiore, Vrontis y Silvestri, 2015;Geldes y Felzensztein, 2013;Heredia, Geldes, Kunc y Flores, 2019;Quaye y Mensah, 2019). Además, según la Organización para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económicos (OECD, 2005), la innovación en marketing permite a las empresas "satisfacer mejor las necesidades de los consumidores, abrir nuevos mercados o posicionar en el mercado sus productos de una nueva manera con el fin de aumentar sus ventas" (p. 60).…”