The impact of dynamic capabilities on operational marketing and technological capabilities: investigating the role of environmental turbulence

Marketing and technological capabilities are primary drivers of a firm’s performance and thus of central interest to managers. Yet the way in which these two capabilities align with changing environments to secure superior performance remains unclear. Drawing on the dynamic capability view and data from a survey of 228 firms, this study proposes a model of how frequent dynamic capability utilization, assessed through its underlying processes of sensing and reconfiguring, relates to marketing and technological capabilities, as well as how market, technological, and competitor turbulence might affect these relationships. The results show that frequent sensing and reconfiguring have stronger positive effects in environments characterized by high competitor turbulence; however, frequent sensing can have negative relationships with marketing and technological capabilities in stable environments. Furthermore, marketing capabilities are positively associated with firm performance in highly competitive environments, whereas technological capabilities enhance performance in stable competitive environments.