Strategy content and process perspectives revisited

Conclusion A fundamental aspect of research in most fields is the fact that old ideas and paradigms are sometimes replaced by newer approaches that reflect the wealth of new knowledge accumulated through advances in the substantive, conceptual, and methodological domains. Sheth and Sisodia's (1999) call for revisiting lawlike generalizations in marketing is particularly opportune in light of the multitude of discontinuities that are currently affecting the practice of marketing, including the globalization of industries and markets, the emergence of global competitors, the dawn of electronic commerce, and the growth of information technology, to list a few. As Kotler (1997: xxxii) note, Marketing is not like Euclidean geometry, a fixed system of concepts and axioms. Rather, marketing is one of the most dynamic fields within the management arena. The marketplace continuously throws out fresh challenges, and companies must respond. Therefore, it is not surprising that new marketing ideas keep surfacing to meet the new marketplace challenges. P. Rajan Varadarajan is a professor of marketing and Jenna and Calvin R. Guest Professor of Business Administration at Texas A&M University. His research interests are in the areas of corporate, business, and marketing strategy; marketing management; and global competitive strategy. His research has been published in theJournal of Marketing, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Academy of Management Journal, Strategic Management Journal, Sloan Management Review, California Management Review, Business Horizons, and other journals. He is a coauthor of a textbook titledContemporary Perspectives on Strategic Market Planning. He served as an editor of theJournal of Marketing from 1993 to 1996. He currently serves on the Board of Governors of the Academy of Marketing Science, as chairperson of the Marketing Strategy Special Interest Group of the American Marketing Association, and on the editorial review boards of theJournal of Marketing, Journal of Strategic Marketing, and theJournal of International Marketing.