Abstract

Although Chinese manufacturers are considered as latecomers or followers in global commodity chains, they have also been experiencing rapid progress in upgrading performance from own equipment manufacturing (OEM), original design manufacturing (ODM) to original brand manufacturing (OBM). Current literature on the global commodity chain has focused primarily on economic conditions that help explain manufacture upgrade while giving limited attention to what marketing capabilities support and sustain firm competitiveness through upgrading. This article examines eight different marketing capabilities to assess influence on manufacture upgrade performance. A survey of electronics manufacturers in mainland China and Hong Kong shows the significance of individual marketing capabilities and implications of their interdependency for manufacture upgrade performance. In particular, product development, marketing communication and channel management capabilities are crucial for manufacture upgrade. The results also highlight the importance of selective marketing capability development and the potential of secondary support for the relationship between substantive and dynamic capabilities.