MARKETING IMPLEMENTATION - THE IMPLICATIONS OF MARKETING PARADIGM WEAKNESS FOR THE STRATEGY EXECUTION PROCESS

Reviewing the marketing strategy implementation issue in an era of a w eaker marketing paradigm contrasts traditional sequential flow models of implementation with the ''strategy formulation/implementation dicho tomy'' and leads to the emergence of a processual view of implementati on. The processual view clarifies the underlying behavioral and organi zational factors that build strategy implementation capabilities. Thes e underlying factors are at risk from a weaker marketing paradigm. The weakening of the marketing paradigm is discussed in terms of the down sizing and disappearance of the marketing function, but more fundament ally in the loss of strategic influence for marketing in the face of c ompeting management paradigms such as the ''lean enterprise'' and ''le an thinking.'' The conclusion is that the impact on implementation cap abilities is being felt first in companies where the marketing paradig m has been traditionally weak, but that this may be prototypical for o ther companies in the longer term. A number of important areas for con ceptual and empirical attention are indentified.