PhD defence: Mesay Sata Shanka

Mesay Sata Shanka will will be defending his thesis for the degree of philosophiae doctor (PhD).

25 Aug

Practical information

  • Date: 25 August 2022
  • Time: 10.00 - 15.00
  • Location: Drammen, Union Scene, Multisal 2
  • Download calendar file

    • Program

    Kl. 10.00-11.00: Trial lecture, room: Union Scene, Multisal 2
    Trial lecture topic: «Discuss how different business contexts can effect actors' networks in influencing marketing capabilities.»

    Kl. 12.00-15.00: PhD defence, room: Union Scene, Multisal 2

    The title of the dissertation is: «Developing Marketing Capabilities Using Networks: Structure, Content, and Performance Implications»

    Adjudication committee:

    • First opponent:
      Professor Lene Foss, Jönköping University
    • Second opponent:
      Professor Øystein Jensen, Universitety of Stavanger

    Chair:

    • Professor Nina Veflen,  USN School of Business / BI Norwegian Business School

    Supervisors:

    • Principal supervisor: 
      Professor Håvard Ness, USN School of Business

    • Associate supervisor: 
      Professor Kåre Sandvik, USN School of Business

Any questions?

Mesay Sata Shanka will defend his dissertation for the degree of philosophia doctor (PhD) in the program marketing management at USN School of Business.

The title of the dissertation is: «Developing Marketing Capabilities Using Networks: Structure, Content, and Performance Implications».

About the dissertation

Marketing capabilities have been identified as an important source of a firm’s competitive advantage. Increasing marketing capabilities by one percent can result in a three percent increase in the return on assets.

This has led to a significant increase in investment in developing such marketing capabilities.

Although several empirical studies have looked at marketing capabilities, relatively few have studied how to promote the development of marketing capabilities.

In this dissertation, I combine marketing capabilities theory with social network theory to explore the development of a firm’s marketing capabilities from aMesay Sata Shanka - portrettbilde disputasn outside-in perspective.

I study network relations by looking at cohesion and diversity in the network between the firm and its relations with other firms and its relations with public authorities.

The study shows that diversity in firm and government networks contributes to the firm's marketing capabilities, but only cohesion in the network with other firms contributes to the development of marketing capabilities.

In addition, the effect of network connections in the development of marketing capabilities is conditioned by the dynamics of the environment and tacit knowledge.

While networks characterized by cohesion promote the development of marketing capabilities in situations with a great deal of tacit knowledge, diversity in the networks can strengthen the development of marketing capabilities in environments with a high degree of dynamism.

Furthermore, the findings suggest that marketing capabilities contribute to improving firm performance.

For market researchers and managers, the findings provide new insight into how to get the most out of network connections to develop marketing capabilities and how to increase a firm’s performance by investing in such capabilities.