Marketing implementation, organizational change and internal marketing strategy 541
... integration of the entire organization
becomes critical. Everything must work
together, fit together, and appear together for
the customer... increasingly it is viewed as a
way to develop and implement the critical
customer’s view of the organization. An organi-
zation can no longer consist of a group of
unrelated activities and work groups because
customers just won’t accept that.
(Schultz, 1997)
One part of understanding an organization’s
marketing strategy implementation capabil-
ities lies in evaluating the skills of marketing
in working with other key functions and
business units – finance, operations and sup-
ply chain management, R&D, human resource
management, sales, customer relationship
management – to identify the traditional bar-
riers and to exploit the synergies that can be
built (Hulbert et al., 2003). The skills of leader-
ship, cross-functional working, superior inter-
functional communications and effective
co-ordination are likely to be critical to mar-
keting implementation in the process-driven
organization of the future.
The competitive power of unleashing new
capabilities based on superior interfunctional
relationships may be huge. Contrast, for exam-
ple, the outstanding performance of fashion
retailer Zara with its competitors. Zara lever-
ages its supply chain with its design and
marketing capabilities to get fashion clothing
from the catwalk to the store in a matter of
weeks instead of the months taken by its
competitors, and at very competitive prices,
reflecting the efficiency of its integrated pro-
cesses. It is difficult for traditional, bureaucratic
organizations to compete with this model.
The impact of network
organizations on marketing
One of the most important responses by com-
panies to new competitive and market condi-
tions has been the emergence of strategies of
collaboration and partnership with other orga-
nizations as a key element of the process of
going to market – these have variously been
termed marketing partnership, strategic alli-
ances and marketing networks (Piercy and
Cravens, 1995). These new collaborative organi-
zations are distinctive and different. They are:characterized by flexibility, specialization, and
an emphasis on relationship management
instead of market transactions... to respond
quickly and flexibly to accelerating change
in technology, competition and customer
preferences.
(Webster, 1992)The emergence of networks of collaborating
organizations linked by various forms of alli-
ance and partnership has already become a
dominant strategic development in many
industries. For example: It was estimated in 2001 that the top 500
global businesses had an average of 60 major
strategic alliances each.
Consulting firm Accenture estimates that US
companies with at least $2 billion in sales each
formed an average of 138 alliances from 1996
to 1999.
In 1993, when Lou Gerstner took over as
CEO, only 5 per cent of IBM’s sales outside
personal computers were derived from
alliances. By 2001, IBM was managing almost
100 000 alliances which contribute over
one-third of its income. The company expects
these partnerships to boost sales by $10
billion by 2003.
A survey of global alliances by Accenture
Consulting in 1999 found that:- Eighty-two per cent of executives surveyed
believed that alliances will be the prime
vehicle for growth. - Alliances account for an average of 26 per
cent of Fortune 500 companies’ revenues –
up from 11 per cent five years earlier. - Alliances account for 6–15 per cent of the
market value of companies surveyed, and
this is expected to increase to 16–25 per
cent of the average company’s market value
within five years.