• Identify and discuss the elements of an excellent marketing organization.
• Analyze, select, and apply marketing capabilities models, concepts, and theories.
• Understand, reflect upon and contrast different perspectives and theories pertaining to markets and market dynamism.
• Identify and discuss the significance of the marketing organization to firm performance.
• Critically asses the value and present argumentation for the relevance of the concepts, models, and theories presented throughout the course for a relevant case.
• Follow academic conventions in your written presentation.

Marketing is a core business process and a strategic value orientation that companies have at their disposal to drive profit and sustainable performance. There are two key sides to marketing: (1) an expression of strategic decisions and tasks being enacted, and (2) foundational premises that support and enable excellence. This course focuses on the latter dimension, ie marketing excellence. Marketing excellence is gaining prevalence in today's rapidly changing environments and is seen as an elementary part of the marketing discipline that is gaining increasing attention among practitioners. Despite its growing interest, the meaning of and ways to effectively exercise and evaluate marketing excellence still represent a strong challenge for practice. This course explores the meaning and constituents of an excellent marketing organization, with special focus on capabilities needed for achieving such excellence. As organizations function in a higly turbulent, interconnected business environments, this course also aims to provide an in-depth understanding of the role of marketing excellence in dealing with the challenges organizations face in their dynamic business environments. To address these topical business issues, the course builds on recent publications that explore these novel ideas about and frameworks of marketing excellence, its drivers and enablers, and the meaning and role of market dynamism in marketing excellence programs. The course covers, but is not limited to, the following topics: Marketing excellence, its meaning and constituents; Marketing capabilities for excellence: What are they? How are they developed ?; Interconnection between marketing excellence, entrepreneurial orientation and innovation orientation; Organizational ecosystems as a crucial element of marketing excellence; Market dynamism and market change; Performance indicators of a successful marketing organization and significance of the marketing organization to firm performance

This course is part of the Minor in Marketing and Innovation, but can also be taken independently. 

Indicative literature:

1. Achtenhagen, L., Melin, L., and Naldi, L. (2013). Dynamics of business models - strategizing, critical capabilities and activities for sustained value creation. Long Range Planning, 46, 427-442.
2. Arunachalam, S., Ramaswami, N.N., Herrmann, P., & Walker, D. (2018). Innovation pathway to profitability: The role of entrepreneurial orientation and marketing capabilities. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 46(4), 744-766.
3. Caccicolatti, L. and Lee, SH (2016). Revisiting the relationship between marketing capabilities and firm performance: The moderating role of market orientation, marketing strategy and organizational power. Journal of Business Research, 69, 5597-5610.
4. Helfat, CE, & Peteraf, MA (2015). Managerial cognitive capabilities and the microfoundations of dynamic capabilities. Strategic management journal, 36(6), 831-850.
5. Homburg, C., Theel, M., & Hohenberg, S. (2020). Marketing excellence: nature, measurement, and investor valuations. Journal of Marketing , 84(4), 1-22.
6. Katsikeas, CS, Morgan, N.A., Leonidou, LC, & Hult, GTM (2016). Assessing performance outcomes in marketing. Journal of Marketing , 80(2), 1-20.
7. Moorman, C. and Day, GS (2016). Organizing for marketing excellence. Journal of Marketing, 80, 6-35.
8. Nenonen, S., Storbacka, K., & Frethey-Bentham, C. (2019). Is your industrial marketing work working? Developing a composite index of market change. Industrial Marketing Management, 80, 251-265.
9. Nenonen, S., Storbacka, K., & Windahl, C. (2019). Capabilities for market-shaping: Triggering and facilitating increased value creation. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 47(4), 617-639.
10. Peteraf, MA, & Bergen, ME (2003). Scanning dynamic competitive landscapes: a market-based and resource-based framework. Strategic management journal, 24(10), 1027-1041.
11. Quinn, L., Dibb, S., Simkin, L., Canhoto, A. and Analogbei, M. (2016). Troubled waters: The transformation of marketing in a digital world. European Journal of Marketing, 50(12), 2103-2133.
12. Vargo, S. et al. (2017). A system perspective on markets - towards a research agenda. Journal of Business Research, http:/​/​dx.doi.org/​10.1016/​j.jbusres.2017.03.011
13. Warner, KS, & Wäger, M. (2019). Building dynamic capabilities for digital transformation: An ongoing process of strategic renewal. Long Range Planning, 52(3), 326-349.
14. Zhang, JZ, & Watson IV, GF (2020). Marketing ecosystem: An outside-in view for sustainable advantage. Industrial Marketing Management, 88, 287-304.