Research on the Capabilities of SMEs: Taking Small and Medium-Sized Food Enterprises as an Example

Author: Liu Yuli
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features: This book consists of nine parts. Chapter 1: Introduction. Starting from the characteristics of the new era, the responsibilities and competitive pressures faced by SMEs, and the timing to address SME issues, the chapter raises questions. It clarifies the purpose and significance of studying the issue. Based on a review and reflection of domestic and international research, it identifies the foundation of this study and the shortcomings of existing research, defines the research tasks, outlines the basic approach and methods, sets up a series of basic assumptions for this study, and reveals several innovative points of this research.
Chapter 2: Exploration of SME Marketing Capability Theory. This chapter serves as the theoretical foundation of the entire study, focusing on finding the intrinsic logic of the research question, conducting theoretical reflections on related issues, and constructing a comprehensive theoretical analysis framework. This chapter includes two parts: (1) Establishing an SME conceptual system and clarifying the research object to logically reflect on the issue of enhancing SME marketing capability. (2) Examining marketing capability from multiple perspectives, revealing its connotation, defining its scope, and analyzing its three major constituent elements: foundational factors, core factors, and external factors. It proposes the idea of marketing capability management innovation and constructs the theoretical framework of this study, the "3+1 Marketing Capability Research System." It clarifies the status and research value of marketing capability. It analyzes the role of soft resources, especially the two key soft resources, in enhancing marketing capability. It strengthens the logical foundation of studying marketing capability from the perspective of foundational factors (market drive, integrity, marketing culture, marketing capital, and marketing organization) and marketing capability management innovation.
Chapter 3: Market Drive as the Intrinsic Requirement for Enhancing Marketing Capability. This chapter includes four parts: (1) The connotation and significance of market drive. (2) The characteristics of market-driven organizations. (3) Market drive is consumer interest drive. Consumer interests consist of two parts: statutory rights and psychological needs. The former constitutes a necessary condition, while the latter constitutes a real condition. Meeting psychological needs better reflects the requirements of market drive. (4) The gap between SMEs and market drive. It analyzes the misconceptions and causes of SMEs in the issue of market drive and conducts systematic thinking on market drive strategies.
Chapter 4: Integrity Standards for Enhancing SME Marketing Capability. This chapter is divided into four parts: (1) Revealing the essence of integrity. (2) Analyzing the impact of integrity on marketing capability and revealing the endogeneity of marketing capability analysis from the perspective of integrity issues. (3) Analyzing the current situation and causes of SMEs' lack of integrity from multiple aspects. (4) Analyzing the key to SME integrity, constructing a systematic integrity-building framework for SMEs, and designing strategies to demonstrate integrity.
Chapter 5: Cultural Driving Force for SME Marketing Capability. This chapter includes three parts: (1) Revealing the connotation and composition of marketing culture. (2) Analyzing the mechanism of action of marketing culture. It analyzes the role process of the marketing culture intermediary system (foundational intermediaries, core intermediaries, and auxiliary intermediaries) in achieving marketing organization goals and enhancing marketing capability. (3) Marketing culture building for SMEs. It analyzes the breakthrough points for marketing culture innovation: taking a distinctive path, constructing green marketing culture, and building circular enterprises. It elaborates on the "three combinations" and "five cultural cards" of SME marketing culture and analyzes the issues of finding stable and powerful support points and integrating marketing culture-building methods.
Chapter 6: Capital Reliance for Enhancing SME Marketing Capability. This chapter includes four parts: (1) Clarifying the overall relationship between marketing capital and marketing capability. (2) Analyzing the status and impact of material capital on marketing capability. It analyzes the internal reasons for the scarcity of material capital in SMEs and the approaches to addressing this issue. (3) Analyzing the status, impact, and optimal combination of human capital (entrepreneurs, marketing directors, and employees) in SMEs on marketing capability. (4) Analyzing the connotation, characteristics, and functions of social capital in enhancing marketing capability, and dissecting the current situation of insufficient social capital in SMEs and how it affects marketing capability.
Chapter 7: SME Marketing Capability and Marketing Organization. This chapter studies the impact of organization on marketing capability and analyzes the mechanism and approach of enhancing marketing capability through organizational transformation. It includes four parts: (1) Proposing the concepts of marketing organization and marketing-oriented organization, analyzing the connotation, characteristics, and mechanism of action of marketing-oriented organizations in enhancing marketing capability. (2) Revealing the endogeneity of SME marketing organization from the background of SME development, SME characteristics, and the effectiveness of marketing organization, and proposing the proposition that enhancing marketing capability should start with changing the nature of the organization. (3) Quantitatively examining the degree of marketing organizationization in SMEs. (4) Thinking about marketing organizationization strategies for SMEs.
Chapter 8: Marketing Decision Capability and Execution Capability. This chapter includes two major parts: (1) Marketing Decision Capability Analysis. Marketing decision capability is reflected in three stages: marketing preparation and decision-making, marketing plan implementation, and marketing feedback and improvement. It includes the following aspects: marketing decision preparation capability, i.e., marketing research and forecasting capability; the ability to analyze and grasp marketing opportunities; the ability to select target markets and position the market; the ability to formulate marketing strategies; the ability to select marketing models; the ability to design marketing plans; the ability to motivate marketing performance; the ability to build marketing information systems; and the ability to determine marketing strategies. Marketing decision capability is an important constituent element of the marketing capability system and a key link in achieving marketing goals. The decision-making process runs through the entire marketing activity. (2) Marketing Execution Capability Analysis. The composition of execution capability: understanding capability, planning capability, commanding capability, controlling capability, innovative capability, coordinating capability, delegating capability, judging capability, and leadership capability. It examines the current situation of marketing execution capability in SMEs and analyzes the reasons for their execution shortcomings.
Chapter 9: Marketing Capability Management Innovation for SMEs. This chapter includes three parts: (1) The connotation and importance of marketing capability management innovation. It proposes the concept of marketing capability management and elaborates on its relationship with innovation. It proposes a two-way management approach. (2) Analyzing the basic issues of systematic management of internal factors of SME marketing capability: identification, evaluation, control, and integration; exploring possible paths for marketing capability cultivation and enhancement, such as foundational engineering, flexibility, learning, rational design, training, high-standard positioning, and network marketing. (3) Analyzing and researching the outward expansion issue of SME marketing capability. Systematically thinking about possible paths such as strategic alliances, learning from the experience of strong enterprises, and deeply developing external resources.