Explaining Dynamic Marketing Capabilities Driven by Climate Change: An Exploratory Investigation of B2B Firms

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Business Management, Faculty of Economics, Management and Administrative Sciences, Semnan University, Semnan, Iran.

2 Prof., Department of Management, Faculty of Economics, Management and Administrative Sciences, Semnan University, Semnan, Iran.

3 Associate Prof., Department of Management, Faculty of Economics, Management and Administrative Sciences, Semnan University, Semnan, Iran.

Abstract

Objective
Projections on the severity of climate change-related disruptions and displacements are becoming increasingly alarming over time (DiBella, 2020). Since climate change-related hazards have large impacts on a vast range of businesses, from individual traders to multinational companies (Canevari-Luzardo, 2020; Goldstein et al., 2019; Neise et al., 2018; Schneider, 2014; Surminski, 2013; Surminski et al., 2018), direct and indirect losses (e.g., damage to personnel, assets, and stocks) have been inflicted on businesses. Therefore, in environments where climate change has led to environmental uncertainty, it seems necessary for organizations to create new marketing strategies and capabilities to address this issue. However, considering the consequences of climate change, no research has yet identified the dynamic marketing capabilities based on climate change. On the other hand, past research has focused on B2B marketing capabilities in developed countries such as the United States (Mariadoss et al., 2011; Krush et al., 2015), the United Kingdom (Kaleka & Morgan, 2019; Yu et al., 2014), Australia (Merrilees et al., 2011; O'Cass & Weerawardena, 2010), and Germany (Helm et al., 2020; Wilden et al., 2019). As a result, the findings of these studies cannot be generalized to developing countries (Kamboj & Rahman, 2015; Mora Cortez & Johnston, 2018), where there are some of the most serious vulnerabilities to climate change (Odell et al., 2018). Additionally, since marketing is a contextual discipline (Sheth, 2011), the required marketing capabilities that drive firms' long-term performance can vary across countries and industries (Mora Cortez & Johnston, 2018). This is particularly relevant in Iran, which is one of the countries facing unprecedented problems related to climate change, including the drying up of lakes and rivers, dust storms, unprecedented temperatures, droughts, and floods (Vaghefi et al., 2019). Therefore, this research was conducted to fill these research gaps and to answer the question: "What is the conceptual framework of dynamic marketing capabilities driven by climate change?"
 
Methodology
To provide a conceptual framework of dynamic B2B marketing capabilities based on climate change, a thematic analysis method, which is a qualitative method for organizing and describing existing data by identifying underlying themes, was used to analyze the data (Braun & Clarke, 2006). This approach was chosen because qualitative research findings provide a rich and accurate picture of the studied phenomenon. Among the different methods of data collection in this research, the semi-structured interview method was used online via a webcam.
 
Findings
In this section, the analysis process of the data obtained from the interviews was examined based on the three-step method of thematic analysis. This research outlined the framework of dynamic marketing capabilities driven by climate change, identifying 109 basic codes and 8 sub-themes, which are categorized into 3 main themes: product development management, supply chain management, and customer relationship management based on climate change.
 
Conclusion
Since climate change has caused many transformations and natural disasters, such as floods, droughts, fires, and storms, businesses that view climate change only as a social responsibility are doomed to failure. The consequences of climate change lead to many disruptions and problems for businesses. The results of this research indicate that addressing climate change requires both significant and minor changes. Businesses that engage with climate change must provide a roadmap for change because their survival depends on managers' attention to the risks and opportunities presented by climate change. Therefore, it is essential for businesses to develop new marketing capabilities based on climate change to mitigate the effects of risks and capitalize on the productivity opportunities arising from climate change.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

 
Abedi Jafari., H., Taslimi, M.S., Faqihi, A. & Sheikhzadeh, M. (2011). Thematic analysis and the network of themes: a simple and efficient way to explain patterns in qualitative data. Strategic Management Thought (Management Thought), 5 (2), 151-198. (in Persian)
Akter, S., Fosso Wamba, S., Mariani, M. & Hani, U. (2021). How to build an AI Climate-Driven service analytics capability of innovation and performance in industrial markets? Industrial Marketing Management, 97, 258-273.
Attride-Stirling, J. (2001). Thematic networks: an analytic tool for qualitative research. Qualitative research, 1(3), 385-405.
Bansal, P., Smith, W. K. & Vaara, E. (2018). New ways of seeing through qualitative research. Academy of Management Journal, 61(4), 1189-1195.
Bowen, W. M. & Bowen, C. C. (2008). Content analysis. Urban Publications.
Braun, V. & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative research in psychology, 3(2), 77-101.
Braun, V. & Clarke, V. (2014). What can “thematic analysis” offer health and wellbeing researchers?. International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being, 9(1), 26152.
Bruni, D. S. & Verona, G. (2009). Dynamic marketing capabilities in Science‐based firms: An exploratory investigation of the pharmaceutical industry. British Journal of management, 20, S101-S117.
Burke, A., Peros, M. C., Wren, C. D., Pausata, F. S., Riel-Salvatore, J., Moine, O., ... & Boisard, S. (2021). The archaeology of climate change: The case for cultural diversity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(30), e2108537118.
Canevari-Luzardo, L. (2020). Climate change adaptation in the private sector: Application of a relational view of the firm. Climate and Development, 12(3), 216-227.
Carney, M. (2015). Breaking the tragedy of the horizon–climate change and financial stability. Speech given at Lloyd’s of London, 29, 220-230.
Chandy, R., Dowell, G., Mayer, C., Plambeck, E., Serafeim, G., Toffel, M. Toktay, B. & Weber, E. (2019). Management Science—Special issue on business and climate change. Management Science, 65 (7) 3447-3448.
Cuevas, J. M. (2018). The transformation of professional selling: Implications for leading the modern sales organization. Industrial Marketing Management, 69, 198-208.
Day, G. S. (1994). The capabilities of market-driven organizations. Journal of marketing, 58(4), 37-52.
Day, G. S. (2011). Closing the marketing capabilities gap. Journal of marketing, 75(4), 183-195.‏
DiBella, J. (2020). The spatial representation of business models for climate adaptation: An approach for business model innovation and adaptation strategies in the private sector. Business Strategy & Development, 3(2), 245–260.
Eisenhardt, K. M. & Martin, J. A. (2000). Dynamic capabilities: what are they? Strategic Management Journal, 21(10‐11), 1105-1121.‏
Elsharnouby, T. H. & Elbanna, S. (2021). Change or perish: Examining the role of human capital and dynamic marketing capabilities in the hospitality sector. Tourism Management, 82, 104184.
Falasca, M., Zhang, J., Conchar, M. & Li, L. (2017). The impact of customer knowledge and marketing dynamic capability on innovation performance: an empirical analysis. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 32(7), 901-912
Fang, E. E. & Zou, S. (2009). Antecedents and consequences of marketing dynamic capabilities in international joint ventures. Journal of International Business Studies, 40(5), 742-761.
Forino, G. & von Meding, J. (2021). Climate change adaptation across businesses in Australia: interpretations, implementations, and interactions. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 23(12), 18540-18555.
Frow, P., Nenonen, S., Payne, A. & Storbacka, K. (2015). Managing co‐creation design: A strategic approach to innovation. British journal of management, 26(3), 463-483.
Goldstein, A., Turner, W. R., Gladstone, J. & Hole, D. G. (2019). The private sector’s climate change risk and adaptation blind spots. Nature Climate Change, 9(1), 18-25.
Harvard Business Review (2007). Climate Business, Business Climate. https://hbr.org/2007/10/climate-business-_-business-climate
Hassan, F. (2000). Environmental perception and human responses in history and prehistory (pp. 121-140). New York: Columbia University Press.
Heidari, A. & Seyed Kalali, N. (2016). Presenting a model of competitive advantage of management consulting firms based on dynamic capability theory. Journal of Business Management, 8(2), 317-338. (in Persian)
Helfat, C.E. (1997). Know‐how and asset complementarity and dynamic capability accumulation: the case of R&D. Strategic management journal, 18(5), 339-360.
Helm, R., Krinner, S. & Endres, H. (2020). Exploring the role of product development capability for transforming marketing intelligence into firm performance. Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing, 27(1), 19-40.
Hsueh, L. (2019). Opening up the firm: What explains participation and effort in voluntary carbon disclosure by global businesses? An analysis of internal firm factors and dynamics. Business Strategy and the Environment, 28(7), 1302-1322.‏
Masson-Delmotte, V., Zhai, P., Pörtner, H. O., Roberts, D., Skea, J., & Shukla, P. R. (2022). Global Warming of 1.5 C: IPCC special report on impacts of global warming of 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels in context of strengthening response to climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty. Cambridge University Press.
Kachouie, R., Mavondo, F. & Sands, S. (2018). Dynamic marketing capabilities view on creating market change. European Journal of Marketing.‏ 52(5/6), 1007-1036.
Kaleka, A. & Morgan, N. A. (2019). How marketing capabilities and current performance drive strategic intentions in international markets. Industrial Marketing Management, 78, 108-121.
Kamboj, S. & Rahman, Z. (2015). Marketing capabilities and firm performance: literature review and future research agenda. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management. ‏64(8), 1041-1067.
Karim, S. & Capron, L. (2016). Reconfiguration: Adding, redeploying, recombining and divesting resources and business units. Strategic Management Journal, 37(13), 54-62.
Khastar, H. (2009). A Method for Calculating Coding Reliability in Qualitative Research Interviews. Methodology of Social Sciences and Humanities, 15(58), 161-174.
(in Persian)
Konwar, Z., Papageorgiadis, N., Ahammad, M.F., Tian, Y., McDonald, F. & Wang, C. (2017). Dynamic marketing capabilities, foreign ownership modes, sub-national locations and the performance of foreign affiliates in developing economies. International Marketing Review, 34 (5), 674-704.
Krush, M. T., Sohi, R. S. & Saini, A. (2015). Dispersion of marketing capabilities: Impact on marketing's influence and business unit outcomes. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 43(1), 32–51.
Kvale, S. (1996). The 1,000-page question. Qualitative inquiry, 2(3), 275-284.
Lemon, K. N. & Verhoef, P. C. (2016). Understanding customer experience throughout the customer journey. Journal of marketing, 80(6), 69-96.
Lohmann, L. (2005). Marketing and making carbon dumps: commodification, calculation and counterfactuals in climate change mitigation. Science as culture, 14(3), 203-235.
Mansouri Daneshvar, M. R., Ebrahimi, M. & Nejadsoleymani, H. (2019). An overview of climate change in Iran: facts and statistics. Environmental Systems Research, 8(1), 1-10.
Marcos Cuevas, J. M. (2018). The transformation of professional selling: Implications for leading the modern sales organization. Industrial Marketing Management, 69, 198-208.
Mariadoss, B. J., Tansuhaj, P. S. & Mouri, N. (2011). Marketing capabilities and innovation-based strategies for environmental sustainability: An exploratory investigation of B2B firms. Industrial Marketing Management, 40(8), 1305-1318.
Mavrodieva, A. V. & Shaw, R. (2019). Enabling private sector engagement in disaster resilience in South and East Asia. Risk, Hazards & Crisis in Public Policy, 10(4), 466-483.
McKnight, B. & Linnenluecke, M. K. (2019). Patterns of firm responses to different types of natural disasters. Business & Society, 58(4), 813-840.
Melo, I., Turnhout, E. & Arts, B. (2014). Integrating multiple benefits in market-based climate mitigation schemes: The case of the Climate, Community and Biodiversity certification scheme. Environmental Science & Policy, 35, 49-56.
Mendelsohn, R. (2006). The role of markets and governments in helping society adapt to a changing climate. Climatic change, 78(1), 203-215.
Merrilees, B., Rundle-Thiele, S. & Lye, A. (2011). Marketing capabilities: Antecedents and implications for B2B SME performance. Industrial Marketing Management, 40(3), 368-375.
Mitręga, M. (2020). Dynamic marketing capability–refining the concept and applying it to company innovations. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 35(2), 193-203.
Moen, Ø., Falahat, M. & Lee, Y. Y. (2022). Are born global firms really a “new breed” of exporters? Empirical evidence from an emerging market. Journal of International Entrepreneurship, 20(1), 157-193.
Mora Cortez, R. M. & Johnston, W. J. (2018). Needed B2B marketing capabilities: Insights from the USA and emerging Latin America. International Business Review, 27(3), 594-609.‏
Neise, T., Revilla Diez, J. & Garschagen, M. (2018). Firms as drivers of integrative adaptive regional development in the context of environmental hazards in developing countries and emerging economies–A conceptual framework. Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, 36(8), 1522-1541.
O'Cass, A. & Weerawardena, J. (2010). The effects of perceived industry competitive intensity and marketing-related capabilities: Drivers of superior brand performance. Industrial Marketing Management, 39(4), 571-581.
Odell, S. D., Bebbington, A. & Frey, K. E. (2018). Mining and climate change: A review and framework for analysis. The extractive industries and society, 5(1), 201-214.
Prendergast, G. P. & Maggie, C. H. W. (2013). Donors' experience of sustained charitable giving: A phenomenological study. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 30(2), 130-139. https://doi.org/10.1108/07363761311304942
Ramaswamy, V. & Gouillart, F. J. (2010). The power of co-creation: Build it with them to boost growth, productivity, and profits. Simon and Schuster.
Rindfleisch, A. & Moorman, C. (2001). The acquisition and utilization of information in new product alliances: A strength-of-ties perspective. Journal of marketing, 65(2), 1-18.‏
Riswanto, A., Hurriyati, R., Wibowo, L. A. & Hendrayati, H. (2020). Dynamic marketing capabilities and company performance: Marketing regression analysis on SMEs in Indonesian. In Advances in Business, Management and Entrepreneurship (pp. 28-31). CRC Press.
Sandor, R. L., Bettelheim, E. C. & Swingland, I. R. (2002). An overview of a free–market approach to climate change and conservation. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 360(1797), 1607-1620.
Sarmiento, J. P., Hoberman, G., Ilcheva, M., Asgary, A., Majano, A. M., Poggione, S. & Duran, L. R. (2015). Private sector and disaster risk reduction: the cases of Bogota, Miami, Kingston, San Jose, Santiago, and Vancouver. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 14, 225-237.
Schilke, O. (2014). On the contingent value of dynamic capabilities for competitive advantage: The nonlinear moderating effect of environmental dynamism. Strategic Management Journal, 35(2), 179–203.
Schneider, T. (2014). Responsibility for private sector adaptation to climate change. Ecology and Society, 19(2).
Shahnazari, M., Hejazizadeh, Z. & Salighe, M. (2020). Effects of Climate Change on Agricultural Calendar in the North of Iran. Journal of Geographical Sciences, 20(59), 99-117. (in Persian)
Sheth, J. N. (2011). Impact of emerging markets on marketing: Rethinking existing perspectives and practices. Journal of marketing, 75(4), 166-182.‏
Stevenson, J. R. & Seville, E. (2017). Private Sector Doing Disaster Risk Reduction Including Climate Change Adaptation. In The Routledge Handbook of Disaster Risk Reduction Including Climate Change Adaptation (pp. 363-376). Routledge.
Surminski, S. (2013). Private-sector adaptation to climate risk. Nature Climate Change, 3(11), 943–945.
Surminski, S., Di Mauro, M., Baglee, J. A. R., Connell, R. K., Hankinson, J., Haworth, A. R., ... & Proverbs, D. (2018). Assessing climate risks across different business sectors and industries: an investigation of methodological challenges at national scale for the UK. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 376(2121), 20170307.
Swiss Re (2021). World economy set to lose up to 18% GDP from climate change if no action taken, reveals Swiss Re Institute's stress-test analysis. https://www.swissre.com/media/press-release/nr-20210422-economics-of-climate-change-risks.html
Tankov, P. & Tantet, A. (2019). Climate data for physical risk assessment in finance. Available at SSRN 3480156.
Teece, D. J. (2007). Explicating dynamic capabilities: the nature and microfoundations of (sustainable) enterprise performance. Strategic management journal, 28(13), 1319-1350.
Teece, D. J., Pisano, G. & Shuen, A. (1997). Dynamic capabilities and strategic management. Strategic management journal, 18(7), 509-533.‏
Thaichon, P., Surachartkumtonkun, J., Quach, S., Weaven, S. & Palmatier, R. W. (2018). Hybrid sales structures in the age of e-commerce. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 38(3), 277-302.
Trainor, K. J. (2012). Relating social media technologies to performance: A capabilities-based perspective. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 32(3), 317-331.
United Nations (2022). Climate action needed now. https://b2n.ir/q28933
Vaghefi, S. A., Keykhai, M., Jahanbakhshi, F., Sheikholeslami, J., Ahmadi, A., Yang, H. & Abbaspour, K. C. (2019). The future of extreme climate in Iran. Scientific reports, 9(1), 1-11.
Varsei, M. (2016). Sustainable supply chain management: A brief literature review. The Journal of Developing Areas, 50(6), 411-419.
Walters, T. (2016). Using thematic analysis in tourism research. Tourism Analysis, 21(1), 107-116.
Wang, C. L. & Ahmed, P. K. (2007). Dynamic capabilities: A review and research agenda. International journal of management reviews, 9(1), 31-51.‏
Wilden, R., Gudergan, S., Akaka, M. A., Averdung, A. & Teichert, T. (2019). The role of cocreation and dynamic capabilities in service provision and performance: A configurational study. Industrial Marketing Management, 78, 43-57.
Xu, H., Guo, H., Zhang, J. & Dang, A. (2018). Facilitating dynamic marketing capabilities development for domestic and foreign firms in an emerging economy. Journal of Business Research, 86, 141-152.
Yalcinkaya, G., Calantone, R. J. & Griffith, D. A. (2007). An examination of exploration and exploitation capabilities: Implications for product innovation and market performance. Journal of International Marketing, 15(4), 63-93.‏
Yu, W., Ramanathan, R. & Nath, P. (2014). The impacts of marketing and operations capabilities on financial performance in the UK retail sector: A resource-based perspective. Industrial Marketing Management, 43(1), 25-31.
Zatwarnicka-Madura, B., Siemieniako, D., Glińska, E. & Sazonenka, Y. (2019). Strategic and operational levels of CSR marketing communication for sustainable orientation of a company: a case study from Bangladesh. Sustainability, 11(2), 555.
Zimmerman, A. & Blythe, J. (2017). Business to business marketing management: A global perspective. Routledge.
Journal of Business Management
Volume 16, Issue 4
2024
Pages 949-978

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics