Literature Review

SAMPLE: LITERATURE REVIEW 1

THIS IS A SAMPLE/EXAMPLE ONLY TO BE USED FOR FORMATTING

REQUIREMENTS

Project Part 2: Literature Review: Marketing Strategy Research

Tessa Rose Evans

Missouri Baptist University

Tessa Rose Evans

Missouri Baptist University

MRKT 373: Market Research

Prof. Stephanie Kontrim-Baumann

September 12, 2021

WORD COUNT: Should be between 1250 and 1500 words NOT counting the title page, abstract or

references. The body of this paper is 1463 words to give you an idea of length.

SAMPLE: LITERATURE REVIEW 2

Abstract

This brief literature review involves analysis of several secondary resources including

peer reviewed journals to address the research questions posed by Marketing Science Institute’s

Research Priorities 2020-2021. The research questions developed investigate marketing theory.

Included are broad applications of decision-making processes toward marketing strategy

development and specifically addresses how marketing impacts strategic decision making

through the customer value proposition, global market advancements, and supply chain

management. The paper concludes with a summary and implications for future research.

Keywords: marketing, strategic planning, plan implementation, competitive advantage,

customer value proposition, branding, supply chain management

An abstract gives a summary of your

work. It does not count toward your

word count. Make sure to include

keywords.

SAMPLE: LITERATURE REVIEW 3

Introduction

The marketing orientation (MO) continues to dominate business strategy and planning,

that is the focus on customer wants and needs and the relationship that firms must manage and

encourage to be successful in not only today’s marketplace but also for the future firm

performance (Payne et al., 2020). Marketing strategy must be an integral part of firm strategy,

that is the culmination of the information, environmental scanning, internal resource allocation,

and execution all of which allow managers to formulate strategy to create business model in

which the organization to operate. The Marketing Science Institute (MSI) research initiatives for

2020-2022 include a category on organizing for marketing agility which propel research

questions about how marketing can impact the process of strategy execution (MSI. 2020). Within

this literature review, research questions are explored as a means to further identify issues that

hinder marketing strategy development and execution how marketing as function, and as a

strategic partner, impacts strategy development and execution.

Research Question 1: How can marketing impact the process of business strategy

development and execution?

Strategizing the Customer Value Proposition through Brand Building

While some would argue that customer value proposition (CVP) is not a new concept

with origins in the early 1900s as an offer-acceptance model, it has evolved over the last century

to become a fundamental concern of the firm (Payne et al., 2020). How a firm delivers value to

the customer, and therefore, creates value within the firm is an organizing principle that

dominates strategy development and execution and sets the course for the firm’s business model

(Payne et al., 2020). At the heart of the CVP is how a company organizes its products and

services to create a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Brand building is an effective way

Use an

introduction and a

separate section

for each research

question. This

example just has

one research

question but you

will have at least

two sections, one

for each question.

Make sure your

introduction

discusses how you

arrived at the

questions and gives

a background for

your specific

scenario/research

project.

SAMPLE: LITERATURE REVIEW 4

to develop a competitively advantageous CVP, development chain and supply chain integration,

and financial performance of the firm are all elements of strategy through the CVP (Payne et al.,

2020).

Pursuit of Global Markets toward Competitive Advantage

Global markets represent vast potential for most firms and many firms seek

internationalization as way to build competitive advantage. In 1983, Levitt wrote on the

globalization of markets in which he theorized that the global marketplace for consumer goods

would devolve into a homogeneity as advances in technology and decreasing transportation costs

would open strategic decisions toward a unified global marketplace (Levitt, 1983). Although

Levitt’s central theme of the growing homogeneity of consumer tastes and preferences has

received criticism, Levitt always acknowledged multi-culturalism as a challenge and opportunity

for firms in strategic and marketing planning (Levitt, 1983). The globalization phenomenon

accelerated at rapid pace throughout the end of twentieth century with declining trade barriers

and the fall of communism in the east leading conglomerates and small business alike to enter

the global marketplace (Borchardt et al., 2018). The entrenchment of most nation states in cross-

border business has never been more evident than in the marketing and supply disruptions of the

external shock of the COVID-19 pandemic; however, international markets are still viable

strategic choices even while multilateral institutions may face more restrictions in the near term

(Levy, 2020).

Strategic questions for most firms are not whether or why to pursue international markets

but where, when, and how. Seeking new customers through global branding, decreasing

production costs through global production and knowledge-sharing, spreading democracy

through capitalism, and bettering the lesser developed world especially in emerging markets at

SAMPLE: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

the base of the economic pyramid (BOP) are all reasons for pursuing international strategy

(Borchardt et al., 2018).

Marketing can inform the strategic decision toward internalization through the

aforementioned ideas of global markets. Firms which choose to enter the global space must

adopt and adapt both strategies and tactics for success (Borchardt et al., 2018).

Supply Chain’s Evolving Relationship with Marketing for Strategy Development

There is currently a philosophical impasse over how and whether supply chain

management fits into the marketing paradigm in today’s business environment (Noci, 2019). As

supply chain management has evolved over the last several decades to encompass a wide-

ranging organization of tasks and strategies of development, production, delivery, logistics, and

services of the firm’s inputs and outputs, the marketing connection has eroded (Golgeci &

Gligor, 2017). Strategic emphasis has shifted to the need to achieve cost and operational

efficiencies, so the traditional idea of place in the marketing mix is in flux. Current literature

suggests that marketing, though, has significant role in supply chain to aid in the strategy

development and execution of that strategy, especially in the development of customer-centric

theories that place value on collaborative and integrative mechanisms between marketing and

supply chain (Autry, 2021; Golgeci & Gligor, 2017; Noci, 2019).

In a recent article, Autry (2021) provides a historical picture of the milestones in the

growing separation between supply chain management activities and marketing activities within

the firm, calling into question how much latitude and oversight marketing still provides in the

place element of the marketing mix. By way of definition, the marketing activities of the firm

provide the means for long-term exchange for customer demand while the supply chain

management activities provide the time, place and form utility “in effect, serving as the how that

SAMPLE: LITERATURE REVIEW 6

underpins marketing’s what” (Autry, 2021, p. 103). The article further provides areas where

marketing and supply chain can bridge the divide, by implementing customer-focused and

centric strategies for supply chain and providing areas of collaboration (Autry, 2021).

Specifically addressed are the areas of demand-chain forecasting and planning, supplier

management, logistics and manufacturing, disruptive technologies, global societal changes, and

sustainability all of which are ripe for an infusion of marketing collaboration not only to drive a

more integrated strategy but for competitive advantage opportunities.

In a more reflective piece, Noci (2018) ruminates on the interface between marketing and

supply chain as a lack of communication and common purpose, citing the changes in the

competitive landscape and customer-firm relationships as reasons to improve collaboration

between the two functions. While presenting that marketing has a distinct set of functions from

supply chain management, Noci (2018) states that marketing should take a pervasive, integrated

role in helping supply chain management processes and strategy become more customer

oriented. The rationale is that marketing impacts decisions along the supply chain in that

marketing must help to reshape supply chain “in order to reconfigure the essence of competition

and the value to customers” (Noci, 2018, p. 380). Another rationale for the melding of the two

involves the customer journey and customer expectations of product quality and effect on brand

equity (Noci, 2018). As marketing is more involved in supply chain activities, strategies toward

consumer expectations can be aligned.

The focus of the literature on supply chain is to aid strategy in integrating supply chain

into a customer-centric model. Gligor et al. (2020) discuss rightly that the configuration of

supply chain can become a competitive advantage and strategic resource by appropriate use of

the triple-A framework, that is agility, adaptability, and alignment. In a study that investigated

SAMPLE: LITERATURE REVIEW 7

how to best deploy the triple-A framework, a presented solution for creating competitive

advantage through the framework is to develop the components simultaneously, but with a

market orientation in order to maximize the return (Gligor et al., 2020).

Achieving the market orientation, practically, is seen in an integration model developed

by Golgeci and Gligor (2017) showing how marketing can impact strategy by identifying

integrating mechanisms between the marketing functions and supply chain management.

Practically, this represents the need for firms to use technology in order to share information

throughout the firm and also with the firm’s strategic partners (Golgeci & Gligor, 2017). These

mechanisms include organizational alignment, cross-functional awareness, holistic approach, and

streamlining within the framing boundaries of innovativeness, relational capabilities, supply

chain agility, and market learning capability (Golgeci & Gligor, 2017). While processes may be

organizationally siloed, an integrating framework can help firm ensure that strategy is

appropriately aligned and executed.

Conclusion and Future Research

Marketing, as both a function and strategic position, can impact strategy development and

implementation in many ways. This section has discussed three specific areas of marketing

impact with regard to the customer value proposition through brand building, gaining

competitive advantage in the global marketplace, and supply chain management integration

opportunities. All of these areas are imperative for firms to continue to meet the needs of

customers and to provide value and achieve competitive advantage. Further research in this area

will involve primary qualitative investigation of the research questions toward firm management.

Make sure your conclusion includes

additional research options. WORD COUNT: Should be

between 1250 and 1500 words

NOT counting the title page,

abstract or references. The body

of this paper is 1463 words to

give you an idea of length.

SAMPLE: LITERATURE REVIEW 8

References

Autry, C. W. (2021). Supply chain research: considering the discipline’s evolving relationship

with marketing, current issues, and future research directions. Journal of Marketing

Theory and Practice, 29(1), 101–113. https://doi.org/10.1080/10696679.2020.1860684

Borchardt, M., Pereira, G., Viegas, C., Reolon, D., Xavier, Y., & Battaglia, D. (2018). Providing

goods to the base of the pyramid: Opportunities for micro, small and medium-sized local

producers. Journal of Small Business Strategy, 28(2), 80-89.

Gligor, D., Feizabadi, J., Russo, I., Maloni, M. J., & Goldsby, T. J. (2020). The triple-a supply

chain and strategic resources: developing competitive advantage. International Journal of

Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 50(2), 159–190.

https://doi.org/10.1108/ijpdlm-08-2019-0258

Golgeci, I., & Gligor, D. M. (2017). The interplay between key marketing and supply chain

management capabilities: the role of integrative mechanisms. Journal of Business &

Industrial Marketing, 32(3), 472–483. https://doi.org/10.1108/jbim-05-2016-0102

Levitt, T. (1983, May). The Globalization of Markets. Harvard Business Review.

https://hbr.org/1983/05/the-globalization-of-markets

Levy, D. (2020). COVID‐19 and global governance. Journal of Management Studies, 58(2),

562–566. https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12654

Noci, G. (2019). The evolving nature of the marketing–supply chain management interface in

contemporary markets. Business Process Management Journal, 25(2), 379–383.

https://doi.org/10.1108/bpmj-07-2018-0202

Marketing Science Institute. (2020) Research priorities 2020-2022. https://www.msi.org/wp-

content/uploads/2020/06/MSI_RP20-22.pdf

This is APA7

reference

formatting.

Please follow as

closely as you

can. Please link

the DOIs for

peer-reviewed

journals as here.

(The DOI is

usually on the

front page of the

article.

SAMPLE: LITERATURE REVIEW 9

Payne, A., Frow, P., Steinhoff, L., & Eggert, A. (2020). Toward a comprehensive framework of

value proposition development: From strategy to implementation. Industrial Marketing

Management, 87, 244–255. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2020.02.015