The Relative Impact of Marketing, Research-and-Development, and Operations Capabilities on Firm Performance

The impact of the marketing function on firm performance has been the focus of much recent research in marketing. Thus, the effect of marketing capability on firm performance, compared with that of other capabilities, such as research and development and operations, is an issue of importance to managers. To examine this issue and generate empirical generalizations, the authors conduct a meta-analysis of the firm capability–performance relationship using a mixed-effects model. The results show that, in general, marketing capability has a stronger impact on firm performance than research-and-development and operations capabilities. The results provide guidelines for managers and generate directions for further research.