The main purpose of this research is to investigate the role of top management's social capital as a microlevel origin of four specialized marketing capabilities: pricing, product development, distribution, and marketing communication. The authors investigate the moderating effect of national culture on the link between social capital and marketing capability using survey data from 891 firms across four countries (China, Germany, Hong Kong, and the United States). The findings indicate that the elements of social capital—managerial tie utilization, trust, and solidarity—are strong drivers of the four marketing capabilities. Managerial tie utilization and solidarity tend to be more important when national culture's power distance is low, collectivism is high, and uncertainty avoidance is low, whereas the effect of trust is not subject to national cultural variations. From a managerial perspective, this research emphasizes the strong role and responsibility of top management team members, including marketing managers who are at this level, in building organization-level marketing capabilities.
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