Marketing Knowledge Management

Citation

Mitchell, R.B. (2008), "Marketing Knowledge Management", International Marketing Review, Vol. 25 No. 6, pp. 715-717. https://doi.org/10.1108/imr.2008.25.6.715.1

For decades the debate has raged addressing the relationships of market orientation, profits and short and long term growth of a company and how an organization employs its marketing information. While Marketing Knowledge Management by Gabriele Troilo seeks to take the elements of marketing knowledge and provide a method to disseminate the information throughout the organization it lacks clear practical methods to implement the process. Rather, the book is built on hypothesis and theory and reads more like a dissertation than a book with practical application. In the introduction the author states that the book is on marketing as well as on management. He is quite clear, in his first sentence that the book is not “really” on marketing. He states that his premise “is that marketing, as a specific realm of management, is called to take on a new role: that of actively managing a part of organizational knowledge.” He continues:

The importance of this role stems from the recognition that companies which successfully attain sustainable competitive advantage are those that effectively manage their knowledge repository, and consider satisfying the needs of their customers in the long term as their primary goal. In other words, these companies are knowledge based and market oriented.

Intellectually, one could easily agree with the author yet without proof to support the claim by way of example(s), the reviewer could not find one example in the book to confirm the author's proposition, the statement is without foundation.

The author divides the book into several parts and describes each part in the introduction of the book. The parts include: Why should a company be market oriented and what exactly does this mean? What is marketing knowledge? How does a company manage marketing knowledge? How is marketing knowledge shared and used within a company? Conclusion: A marketing knowledge management strategy and new rules for the marketing function. The book has seven chapters, 22 figures and a 25 – page bibliography.

In the introduction of the book the author provides an individual précis of each of the parts he intends to address which is quite helpful in having an overview and understanding of the subject areas that will be covered in the entire book.

The first part of the book discusses marketing orientation and attempts to develop, if not a definition, a reasonable descriptive of the term. The author harkens back to the earliest days of organized marketing with commentary from many academics on the subject. What is missing from this part of the book as well as the remainder of the book are practical examples to illustrate and support or deny the author's theories. Notwithstanding the lack of illustrations, the author does address market orientation rather clearly and does set the stage for his next step and discussion.

In the second part of the book the author grapples with marketing knowledge, the dissemination of said knowledge and the sharing of knowledge as it currently exists. The author leaves little question as to the players in marketing knowledge, the impact of organizational culture, the importance of the background of the individuals involved in disseminating and using marketing knowledge and how marketing knowledge is used or not used. The author contrasts and compares organizational knowledge with marketing knowledge, discusses resources and the reliability of the information provided by the resources, zeros in on cognition, the players involved in the management of the information and how the external and internal environments impact on action.

The author concludes the book with a step‐by‐step process of “Marketing knowledge management and new roles for the marketing function.” As his first step, he recommends research to ascertain “analysis of organizational culture and climate.” Many marketing practitioners understand the need for a strategy audit of the company as well as the marketplace, environment, competitors et al. as the beginning of the planning process. The audit should identify the company's culture as well as its strengths and weaknesses including but not limited to its organizational and technological abilities. For all practical purposes the marketing department has been the repository of marketing information/knowledge which knowledge has been shared on a “limited or informal basis.” The author argues that the marketing department, in a new role needs to follow four processes:

[…] coordination of the organizational and inter‐organizational network of marketing knowledge […] dissemination of market data and information […] retention of organizational marketing knowledge … managing the portfolio of mental models and competences regarding the markets in which the company competes.

The author goes on to argue that the marketing department needs to “become a connector of nodes of inter‐functional and inter‐organizational knowledge: from the traditional view of marketing management as decision‐making, to a new one of relationship building.” Marketers, according to the author, need to assure that others in the organization, external sources and other active participants (actors according to the author) are fully immersed in and properly understand and use market knowledge.

In summary, the reviewer, after reading the book three times is rather distressed. The author, it seems, has taken the concept of knowledge management and interwoven marketing knowledge into the framework. So then the questions become: “What is the purpose of the book?” If it is to be used by students, where are the end‐chapter questions, summaries, etc. If it is to be used by practitioners, how has it been employed, are there beta sites, what are the practical steps a company should take and how long will it take to be fully functional? Unfortunately, the author has not addressed these questions. For a major organization to develop and implement a process to capture Marketing Knowledge Management, it would probably need to undergo a significant change in culture. A consumer products company would not have as much difficulty as a heavy industry manufacturing company. Companies that already have progressive cultures, Google as an example, probably would have fewest problems.

Finally, how should an organization measure the success or failure after implementing Marketing Knowledge Management? As with any modification or change in an organization, clear measurable objectives need to be defined prior to embarking on a new quest. And, as with most introductions, a minimum of thirty months need to be the window for measurement. Lastly, the reviewer found it rather strange that the author has quoted himself many times in this book along with distinguished academicians to support his hypothesis and theory.