The impact of social media technologies on organization cultural intelligence and new product development in international markets

Abstract

PurposeThe study examines the role of social media technologies (SMTs) as a driver of organization cultural intelligence (OCI) and new product development (NPD) capabilities, and how the complementary effects of these capabilities contribute to multinational corporations (MNCs)’ performance. Further, the study investigates the capability–performance relationship under conditions of high and low market and technological turbulence.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative survey method was implemented, with the data provided by senior marketing managers employed in MNC regional offices. The proposed model was tested using structural equation modeling and multi-group moderation analysis, and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA).FindingsThe results indicate that SMTs support the development of OCI and NPD capabilities, which in turn contribute to MNC regional performance. A high level of technological turbulence only weakens the relationship between OCI and performance.Research limitations/implicationsThe results suggest that OCI contributes to MNCs’ performance, by deploying social media information and complementing the organization’s NPD capability under a specific environmental context.Practical implicationsThe paper offers practical recommendations to MNCs on social media use when developing and launching new products in different regional markets. MNCs need to recruit culturally intelligent managers, who consider the level of market and technological turbulence when combining several types of capabilities.Originality/valueWithin the dynamic marketing capabilities literature, this is the first study to incorporate and reliably measure cultural intelligence capability. The research offers empirical evidence that OCI and NPD capabilities are necessary to achieve superior MNC performance and depend on the level of market and technological turbulence.