The application of human resource management policies within the marketing organization: The impact on business and marketing strategy implementation

Characteristics of the marketing organization and their relationship with strategy implementation have been the focus of considerable research over the past three decades. These characteristics include the marketing organization's structure, culture, processes, influence and leadership, among others. However, little attention has been paid to human resource management policies for marketing personnel. These policies, when properly implemented, are among the strongest motivators for appropriate individual and organizational behavior. We demonstrate in this study that the application of HR policies for mid-level marketing managers (i.e., selection, training, appraisal, and compensation) vary significantly both between firms pursuing alternative business strategies (i.e., Prospectors, Analyzers, Low Cost Defenders and Differentiated Defenders) and within each of those business strategy types by the type of marketing strategy adopted (i.e., Aggressive Marketers, Mass Marketers, Marketing Minimizers, Value Marketers). Firms whose business and marketing strategies align (Fit) demonstrated significantly stronger overall firm performance scores than those whose business and marketing strategies do not align (Misfit).