Improving Marketing Intelligence through Learning Systems and Knowledge Communities in Not-for-Profit Workplaces.

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to illustrate how marketing intelligence might be improved when an organisation's learning capacity is integrated and incorporated in well‐defined organisational subsystems in a not‐for‐profit context.Design/methodology/approach – First, given that market orientation is primarily concerned with gathering and desseminating marketing intelligence, the paper discusses the theoretical contributions from the learning literature related to interpreting the environment. Second, while many good ideas exist in not‐for‐profit firms, ideas are seldom linked to competencies that must be tracked and developed in the workplace. A more systematic view towards competency creation will increase the unique skills of not‐for‐profits and most likely improve their performance. Third, communities of practice are introduced as a way for not‐for‐profit firms to maximise dramatically the complex relationships that exist between various stakeholders and possible institutional investors. A numb...

[1]  E. Schein.  Organizational Culture and Leadership , 1991 .

[2]  G. Day.  Continuous Learning about Markets , 1994 .

[3]  S. Shane,et al.  A PRISONER'S DILEMMA APPROACH TO ENTREPRENEUR-VENTURE CAPITALIST RELATIONSHIPS , 1997 .

[4]  N. Buckmaster,et al.  Associations between outcome measurement, accountability and learning for non‐profit organisations , 1999 .

[5]  Kent Springdal.  Privatisation of the IT sector in Sweden , 2001 .

[6]  Cheryl J. Craig,et al.  Opportunities and challenges in the development of teachers’ knowledge: the development of narrative authority through knowledge communities ☆ , 2001 .

[7]  Andrew Parker,et al.  Beyond answers: dimensions of the advice network , 2001, Soc. Networks.

[8]  Alexander Ardichvili,et al.  Motivation and barriers to participation in virtual knowledge-sharing communities of practice , 2003, J. Knowl. Manag..

[9]  Susan Albers Mohrman,et al.  Designing the Knowledge Enterprise: Beyond Programs and Tools , 2002 .

[10]  J. March.  Exploration and exploitation in organizational learning , 1991, STUDI ORGANIZZATIVI.

[11]  Bernard J. Jaworski,et al.  Market orientation: The construct, research propositions, and managerial implications. , 1990 .

[12]  Peter A. Murray,et al.  Cycles of organisational learning: a conceptual approach , 2002 .

[13]  C. Prahalad,et al.  Corporate imagination and expeditionary marketing. , 1991, Harvard business review.

[14]  Franklin S. Houston.  The Marketing Concept: What it is and What it is Not , 1986 .

[15]  Natasa Rupcic,et al.  The fifth discipline-the art and practice of the learning organisation , 2002 .

[16]  P. Murray,et al.  From continuous improvement to organisational learning: developmental theory , 2003 .

[17]  Mikael Holmqvist,et al.  Learning in imaginary organizations: creating interorganizational knowledge , 1999 .

[18]  P. Kotler.  From sales obsession to marketing effectiveness , 1977 .

[19]  John C. Narver,et al.  The Effect of a Market Orientation on Business Profitability , 1990 .

[20]  Peter R. Dickson,et al.  Toward a General Theory of Competitive Rationality , 1992 .

[21]  R. Deshpandé,et al.  Organizational Culture and Marketing: Defining the Research Agenda , 1989 .

[22]  J. Dart,et al.  Measuring market orientation: A multi‐factor, multi‐item approach , 1994 .

[23]  Jan-Åke Törnroos,et al.  Business entry in Eastern Europe: A network and learning approach with case studies , 1999 .

[24]  B. Hedberg.  How Organizations Learn and Unlearn , 1981 .

[25]  Håkan Håkansson,et al.  Corporate Technological Behaviour: Co-Operation and Networks , 1989 .

[26]  B. Frey,et al.  Motivation, Knowledge Transfer, and Organizational Forms , 2000 .

[27]  James M. Sinkula.  Market Information Processing and Organizational Learning , 1994 .

[28]  Christo Boshoff,et al.  Developing a better measure of market orientation , 1998 .

[29]  J. Barney.  Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage , 1991 .

[30]  George S. Day,et al.  Assessing Advantage: A Framework for Diagnosing Competitive Superiority , 1988 .

[31]  Liam Fahey,et al.  Diagnosing cultural barriers to knowledge management , 2000 .

[32]  R. Stacey.  Strategic Management and Organisational Dynamics , 1993 .

[33]  Wiggo Hustad,et al.  Expectational learning in knowledge communities , 1999 .

[34]  Roderick E. White,et al.  An Organizational Learning Framework : From Intuition to Institution Author ( s ) : , 2007 .

[35]  Gabriel Szulanski.  Exploring internal stickiness: Impediments to the transfer of best practice within the firm , 1996 .

[36]  Dexter Dunphy,et al.  Organizational learning as the creation of corporate competencies , 1997 .

[37]  Kristina Henriksson.  The Collective Dynamics of Organizational Learning: on Plurality and Multi-Social Structuring , 1999 .

[38]  P. Senge.  The fifth discipline : the art and practice of the learning organization/ Peter M. Senge , 1991 .

[39]  George S. Day,et al.  Learning about markets , 1991 .

[40]  Nancy M. Dixon,et al.  Common Knowledge: How Companies Thrive by Sharing What They Know , 2000 .

[41]  H. Håkansson.  International Marketing and Purchasing of Industrial Goods: An Interaction Approach , 1982 .

[42]  John C. Narver,et al.  Market Orientation and the Learning Organization , 1995 .

[43]  J. Storck,et al.  Knowledge Diffusion through “Strategic Communities” , 2000 .

[44]  Peter A. Murray,et al.  Empirical linkages between firm competencies and organisational learning , 2003 .

[45]  Peter A. Murray,et al.  Organisational learning, competencies, and firm performance: empirical observations , 2003 .

[46]  M. McLure Wasko,et al.  "It is what one does": why people participate and help others in electronic communities of practice , 2000, J. Strateg. Inf. Syst..

[47]  Dan Holtshouse.  Knowledge Research Issues , 1998 .

[48]  Rodolfo Vázquez Casielles,et al.  The market orientation concept in the private nonprofit organisation domain , 2002 .