Case Procter & Gamble: 188 years of dynamic capabilities development. A longitudinal case analysis

Abstract

The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G), with 188 years of successful operation in highly dynamic environments, reported fiscal year 2025 net sales of $84.3 billion (P&G, 2025). Founded as a family business in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA., P&G is currently ranked among the world’s leading consumer goods companies. This study adopts an exploratory, longitudinal qualitative study approach to examine how P&G has developed, accumulated, and renewed dynamic capabilities over time. The research combines a systematic review of the literature on the resource-based view and the dynamic capabilities framework with the analysis of archival secondary data from authoritative corporate and historical sources, complemented by practitioner-based insights derived from the lead author of this paper (Miguel Ángel López Lomelí) long-term managerial experience within P&G across Mexico, the United States, and Latin America. The objective of the case is to enable readers to analytically examine P&G’s dynamic capabilities and, based on this analysis, assess the firm’s strategic position and propose future-oriented marketing strategies. Additionally, the study proposes a conceptual model for the creation of dynamic capabilities. The explanatory power of this model is analytically validated through its systematic application to the P&G case, demonstrating how managerial behaviour, organisational knowledge management, and social capital interact under conditions of environmental complexity, uncertainty, and dynamism to support sustained superior performance.