XXXVCONFERENZAITALiANADISCIENZEREGIONALINewventuresandthedevelopmentofmarketingcapabilitiestheroleofbusinessinnovation….docVIP

XXXV CONFERENZA ITALiANA DI SCIENZE REGIONALI New ventures and the development of marketing capabilities: the role of business innovation ecosystems Marco BETTIOL, Valentina DE MARCHI, Eleonora DI MARIA, Roberto GRANDINETTI SOMMARIO The paper aims at pointing out how new ventures develop the capabilities they need to compete, focusing particularly on marketing capabilities that, although are usually overlooked in favour of technical capabilities, are important for the survival of the firm. Literature on new ventures has explained the characteristics and dynamics of firm birth, but additional knowledge is needed to understand how new ventures learn new competences considering that they suffered from an initial gap. Based on an original dataset of more than 400 Italian new venture firms specializing in the mechanics and KIBS sectors, the paper investigates the drivers of marketing capabilities development by new ventures starting with an initial marketing gap. Empirical result suggest that mixing heterogeneous competences, being both internal to the firm (when founders are experiences in different sectors) and external to the firm (developing external relations and an effective eco-system) is key to fill in the marketing gap, whereas structural characteristics such as size and industry do not play a role. Interestingly, the factors supporting the development of competences after foundation are not the same affecting the probability to have high capabilities at foundation. Introduction As several streams of literature pointed out, capabilities play a crucial role for sustaining firm’s competitive advantage (e.g. Teece, 1986). Those capabilities refer to knowledge acquired by the firm in different ways (learning by doing, formal training, entrepreneurs background, external partners, etc.). This process is particularly critical in the formation of a new venture where the firms is fragile because is in the process of developing and refining its capabilities. Literature o