Marketing strategy in emerging market alliance: a longitudinal study

Abstract

By applying a longitudinal perspective, this study examines how an alliance formulates and implements its marketing strategy based on motives, resources, learning, network and performance, in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). An in-depth study on a Hungarian alliance between a Swedish medical engineering company and a local partner has been conducted. The data is collected in two periods: 1999 and 2009, and for the convenience of the analysis, the result has been presented in two phases. By comparing the phases, it is shown how the environment in which the alliance operates changes and how the alliance responses by improving its marketing strategy. Major variation of the strategy includes focus on small and dental clinics, development of intensive contacts with big hospitals to gain huge contracts after the reformation of the healthcare sector and finding a balance between lowering price and maintaining high quality of the products and services.