Knowledge Needs Of Firms: The Know-X Framework For Marketing Strategy

In today’s knowledge-intensive economy, the acquisition, development, and management of knowledge are fundamental to the survival and growth of firms. Consequently, organizational knowledge has emerged as a potential source of competitive advantage for firms. Specific to the marketing context, research has long since recognized the role of knowledge in effective marketing. Therefore, through a systematic review of organizational knowledge research and the knowledge business environment, this paper (1) identifies different types of organizational knowledge required by firms and develops the know-x framework, (2) discusses exemplars of different types of marketing knowledge products that firms might require, (3) identifies and discusses critical issues and concerns with reference to each of the marketing knowledge types, and (4) discusses the implications of knowledge types (know-x framework) for marketing strategy in general and market orientation strategy in particular. The paper concludes with a discussion of contributions and directions for future research

Marketing’s identity crisis: insights from the history of marketing thought

For almost half a century the broadening and generic concepts of marketing have been the dominant paradigm in the marketing discipline. However, ambiguities in that paradigm have hindered development of a general theory of marketing. This research takes a fresh look at these concepts that some academics regard as causing an identity crisis in marketing. Historical analysis reveals many practical applications, which arise from the broadening/generic paradigm, result in unresolvable theoretical anomalies. Consequently, a new paradigm is proposed. Marketing systems, we argue, provides a logically coherent foundation for building a general theory of marketing