Sustainable Competitive Advantage in the Malaysian MLM Sector: The Interplay of Strategic Orientation and Adaptive Marketing Capability

Lee Siew Keong, Sheila Cheng and Omkar Dastane

FIIB Business Review, 2026, vol. 15, issue 3, 421-443

Abstract: A significant number of multilevel marketing (MLM) companies have perished with a high drop-out rate due to a lack of ability to sustain in Malaysia. Although, studies on sustainable competitive advantage (SCA) are abundant, there is still a dearth of research on how MLM companies raise their SCA, especially in the Malaysian environment. This research aims to study the possible effect of strategic orientation factors (market, technology, learning and intellectual capital orientation) on SCA mediated by adaptive marketing capability for MLM companies in Malaysia. A framework was proposed based on the foundations of key theories such as the resource-based view and dynamic capabilities. The top executives of MLM companies are surveyed to gather data. We received 102 responses, which we later examined. The study models and proposed hypotheses were evaluated using SmartPLS. The findings of this study demonstrate SCA’s importance as a direct influence on business performance. The difficulties regarding ability of management to combine the appropriate set of necessary resources and employ them effectively will determine how well Malaysian MLM enterprises can steer their resources and capabilities (strategic orientations) toward developing firm’s capability.

Keywords: Multilevel marketing; sustainable competitive advantage; strategic orientation; resource-based view; dynamic capabilities; adaptive marketing capabilities; Malaysia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:fbbsrw:v:15:y:2026:i:3:p:421-443

DOI: 10.1177/23197145241264865

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