Iintended and Realised Marketing Strategies: Adaptive Marketing Organizations in Enacted Environments

Abstract

Notwithstanding the growing literature on strategy making, limited attention has been given to the formulation process of marketing strategies. Grounded on enactment theory, this study perceives the external environment as a source of information and organizations as information-processing entities. Our conceptualization emphasizes on the strategic paradigm of intended and realized strategies and within a nomological framework of antecedents and consequences, we examine the deterministic role of market uncertainty on marketing strategy making (MSM). An empirical study, conducted among 215 UK manufacturing firms, reveals that market uncertainty components (i.e., dynamism and complexity) influences the formulation of intended marketing plans. Furthermore, the data support that market dynamism controls the association between intended and realized marketing strategies. These findings provide further understanding and new insights on how intended strategic plans are designed and why these deviate from their initial pattern. Finally, the study examined the mediating role of organizational adaptiveness on organizational performance.