Market Entry Timing: The Impact of Complementary Capabilities on Strategic Outcomes

Using data on firm entries into the U.S. market for four product categories, we examine: (1) the complementary impact of marketing and R&D capabilities on firms’ market entry strategies, (i.e., entry timing, product innovativeness, and product line breadth); (2) the extent that entry timing mediates the relationship between marketing-R&D capability complementarity, product line breadth and product innovativeness; and, (3) the effects of the three market entry strategies on firms’ survival in the product categories. We provide three important contributions. First, we clarify the role of entry timing in influencing other market entry imperatives. Second, by providing evidence that both entry timing and product line breadth determine survival duration, we propose that the ‘optimal’ entry time varies along an entry-timing continuum. Third, we provide a more holistic examination of market entry considerations, which reveals the indirect relationship between marketing and R&D capability complementarity and survival through mediated paths.