A Quantum Approach to Entrepreneurial Marketing Strategy and Firm Entropy

Abstract

Great marketing strategy is essential to the success of an entrepreneurial firm. However, choosing effective marketing strategies is a very difficult task for most entrepreneurs. This is because entrepreneurial firms operate in a complex, open systems environment where entropic forces cause the its systems to deteriorate, disorganize, and progress toward maximum disorder and chaos (Bailey 1994; Bertalanffy 1972; Laurie 1999). Hawking (2001) describes entropy as "nothing more than a measure of the total information contained in a system" (p. 64). Entropic forces resulting from this information can cause excess energy within the firm to be used inefficiently. This unused energy, or resources, typically result in additional slack and/or decay within the firm's structure (Bailey 1994; Scott 2003; Scott et al. 1967). Many resource surpluses and deficiencies are the result of poor marketing strategies. Inadequate marketing strategies leave the firm with excess resources as a result of diminished sales while excessive marketing strategies leave the firm with insufficient resources to adequately meet demand. Thus, the marketing strategies employed by an entrepreneurial firm have the potential to significantly impact the organization's structural integrity and must be an integral part of the company's strategic planning process. The quantum model developed in this paper can be used as both a performance measurement tool and/or as a tool for developing marketing strategies that mitigate structural entropy and enhance structural integrity.

Keywords: marketing, strategy, entropy, exploitive, explorative, exploitation, exploration, management, management, slack, organization, organizational, structure, open, system, systems, quantum, model, structural, integrity