An investigation of the factors leading to the development of marketing capabilities and organizational effectiveness

To achieve a competitive advantage, businesses are often advised to develop capabilities in key functional areas. This study investigates the factors that influence marketing capabilities development and what effect these capabilities have on organizational effectiveness. In this study of the largest strategic business units (SBUs) of Fortune 500 companies, business strategy, organizational structure and market information processing capabilities were found to influence marketing capabilities development. Of equal importance, the SBUs with the highest degree of marketing capabilities development outperformed SBUs with less-developed marketing capabilities.