BUS602: Marketing Management

Variables have been grouped into the following categories, 1) independent: technology, management capabilities, business strategy, and control variables, 2) dependent: performance.

In the realm of resources and capabilities, both technological and managerial capabilities have been analyzed and realized following the criterion that focuses on both the importance of competitive advantage and its sustainability.

In the research process, multi-item five-point Likert scales have been used for resources and capabilities, strategy and performance.

To measure resources and capabilities, the scale used is adapted from Ortega and Spanos and Lioukas. Technological capabilities are evaluated with four items. Managerial capabilities are analysed using seven indicators. Both variables are measured with a 5-point Likert scale, where companies evaluate their position with respect to their competitors and where the values of the scale are classified from 1 "much weaker than the competitor" to 5 "much stronger than the competitor". Authors adopted indicators used in other similar studies, not specific to the wine industry, in order to facilitate the comparison between sectors, they were previously validated by wine industry experts.

In strategy, one of the models that has been used to try to capture the typology of the competitive strategy, is the model developed by Robinson and Pearce, and it has been used in different studies. This model was developed based on previous studies by Dess and Davis, and aims to expand the generic strategies of Porter, 1980 facilitating their characterization in empirical business studies.

This business strategy model consists of 22 indicators assessed with a 5-point Likert scale, where companies evaluate themselves with respect to different business development efforts, from 1 "is not utilized" to 5 "is primary, constantly utilized".

Following Ortega and Spanos and Lioukas, the authors have evaluated business performance with seven indicators grouped into two dimensions: market position and profitability, in the last three years. The first dimension shows the external performance of the company, evaluated by its behavior in the market through four items. The second dimension reflects the internal performance of the company, the income generated in its economic activity, through three items. All the items use a 5-point Likert scale, where companies evaluate their position with respect to their competitors, and where the values of the scale are rated from 1 "is much weaker than the competitor" to 5 "is much stronger than the competitor".

Subjective scales are used instead of objective scales, due to two reasons. First, the literature has demonstrated the validity of subjective scales to determine business performance and their convergent validity with objective scales. Second, accounting data could be subject to annual variability and may include extraordinary results and movements outside the main activity of the company. Thus, several studies have used subjective instead of objective scales to analyze business performance.