Explications of political market orientation and political brand orientation using the resource-based view of the political party

Abstract

This paper adopts the resource-based view of the firm as a platform for an examination of three important political party capabilities: proactive political market orientation, responsive political market orientation, and political brand orientation. We develop a theoretical argument outlining the importance of the complementarity between these capabilities. The approach taken illustrates the links between political market orientation, using what we label as responsive political market orientation, proactive political market orientation, and political brand orientation by building on the marketing literature. We suggest that our treatment of political market orientation is important in helping to understand better its role within the resource-based view of the party. Further, it also aides in understanding political market orientation and branding in political marketing by parties within the context of competitive strategies and electoral performance.     

Sustainable market orientation: a competitive strategic tool in an emerging economy context

The purpose of this research is to test the effect of sustainable market orientation (SMO) as a strategic tool on banks’ sustainable balanced firm performance (SBFP) in an emerging economy. The research data was collected via the survey approach through self-administered questionnaires to 445 bank employees. Exploratory Factor Analysis was employed to establish the dimensionality of the research constructs, whereas multiple linear regressions were utilised to test the research hypotheses. Results suggest that SMO is positively and significantly related to sustainable balanced performance of banks. The study confirms the SMO concept promulgated in prior studies. Employees’ opinions on bank Managers incorporating sustainability management variables into market orientation as a strategy are encouraged by scholars to engender SBFP. Strategic approaches of this kind leads to balance performance of organisations and the larger society which is central to all stakeholders. This study may be the initial quantitative investigation into SMO and SBFP in the strategic marketing literature.     

Toward a greater understanding of the market orientation and internal market orientation relationship

The study explores the relationship between market orientation (MO) and internal market orientation (IMO) using the process model of MO development. Data from 370 nonprofit organizations were analyzed using structural equation modeling with maximum likelihood estimation technique. The comprehensive CFA marker method was used to partial out the influence of social desirability bias on the substantive relationships. The study finds that MO works through IMO to elicit desirable employee outcomes, which also contributes to performance outcomes. IMO does not offer direct performance benefits, but it partially mediates the effect of MO on employee-related outcomes. Competing models offering alternative explanations are ruled out empirically by the superior fit of the theoretical model with the data. The study integrates IMO in Kohli and Jaworski’s model of antecedent and consequences of MO and encourages practitioners to embed IMO in their MO development plans.     

Entrepreneurial orientation and firm performance in non-profit service organizations: contingent effect of market orientation

Prior research indicates that an inverted U-shaped relationship exists between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and firm performance. This study argues that the inverted U-shaped relationship may depend on the level of market orientation (MO). A moderated hierarchical regression based on a sample of 307 non-profit service organizations reveals that an inverted U-shaped relationship exists between each sub-dimension of EO and performance. However, these relationships do not exist for each sub-dimension of MO. When both market intelligence generation and responsiveness are high, the relationship between innovativeness and performance will be in a linear form. Under the condition of high-market intelligence responsiveness, the higher proactiveness will lead to a higher performance level. These findings will better our understanding of the relationship between EO and firm performance.     

关系营销导向研究:回顾与展望

关系营销导向是企业对关系营销理念的执行,是其获得可持续竞争优势和卓越绩效的关键因素。从关系营销导向的内涵、关系营销导向的测量及关系营销导向与企业绩效的关系三个方面,对国内外的相关文献进行了系统、全面的回顾和评述,在此基础上对未来可能的研究方向进行了展望。     

Relating strategic market orientation and market performance: role of customer value types

A service provider achieves competitive advantage by configuring appropriate strategic orientation and customer value type. This paper addresses three important issues: (i) which customer value type (economical, relational or technical) is important for bank customers? (ii) which strategic market orientation (customer or competitor) helps in achieving the desired value type? and (iii) which value type significantly predicts market performance? We propose that a strategic market orientation pursued by a firm shall influence the customer value it intends to offer so as to maximize the market performance. Using data collected from 538 bank customers, this study reveals that when there is a perfect match between strategic market orientation and value being perceived by its customers, a firm shall achieve strategy-value fit and realize optimal market outcomes in the form of customer satisfaction, acquisition, retention, cross-selling, and up-selling. Furthermore, a bank shall realize maximum level of market performance if it pursues both customer and competitor orientation and endeavors to deliver technical/functional value to its target customers. The paper concludes with managerial implications and future research directions.     

Internal market orientation and its influence on the satisfaction of contact personnel

To verify the dimensions, reliability and validity of internal market orientation (IMO) as a scale of measurement of internal marketing, and using it to measure the effect of internal marketing on the satisfaction of contact personnel. Interviews were carried out with all the cashiers of the 16 branches of a small, local credit institution. Because of the small sample size, partial least squares were used in the analysis of the data. The results show the validity and reliability of the IMO construct, formed by four of the five dimensions of the original scale. They also corroborate the causal relationships among the four dimensions, as well as the significant influence of the informal dimension of IMO on the satisfaction of contact personnel. The main limitation of this study is that it analyses a single financial entity, with the characteristics and behaviours that the latter has in its relationship with its employees. To achieve their organisational objectives, firms must adopt an orientation towards the employee, or internal marketing, on an equal plane to the traditional consideration of the external market. Also, the measurability of this internal orientation on the basis of the IMO scale makes available a valuable tool of planning and control in its implementation. This article verifies the validity and reliability of the IMO construct, and its influence on the satisfaction of contact personnel, in a different business sector and with a different research subject from those analysed hitherto by the literature. It also demonstrates the sequential type of relationship among the dimensions that form IMO.     

Market orientation in the context of SMEs: A conceptual framework

A number of studies in the marketing literature have examined the construct of market orientation (MO). These studies generally show a positive link between MO and organizational performance. This paper examines MO specifically in the context of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). An in-depth review of the extant literature is used to develop a conceptual framework by exploring the major antecedents of MO, the MO–Performance relationship, and the key mediators and environmental moderators of this relationship. This paper also examines several studies on SMEs with respect to various aspects of this framework and offers suggestions for future research in order to understand more thoroughly how MO influences SME performance.     

Conceptualization and Integration of Marketing Intelligence: The Case of an Industrial Manufacturer

Purpose: The primary goal of this article was to conceptualize a systematic marketing intelligence process for industrial manufacturers because, up until now, such concepts have only been focused on consumer goods settings. Hence, this article investigates how marketing intelligence activities are developed and managed effectively in industrial markets.

Methodology/approach: The authors conducted a case study of Maschinenfabrik Reinhausen, a German based manufacturer of regulation technology for power transformers.

Findings: We found that a systematic marketing intelligence process should be based on the resource- and market-based view of strategy as well as on the market orientation construct. When implementing marketing intelligence, the integration of the sales force within the whole process is the crucial lever for an industrial company. The formalization of the process is necessary to ensure its continuity and acceptance; however, the varying intensity allows the necessary flexibility of the process.

Research implications: The constraints of the decisive process steps of marketing intelligence have to be further enhanced for industrial markets. It is important to find out how the integration of the sales force can best be designed to incorporate reward systems and motivation structures, and how to establish a corporate marketing-minded culture throughout the organization.

Practical implications: The important steps for a well implemented marketing intelligence process are a preparation phase, followed by the gathering, analysis, and dissemination of information. This article highlights the success factors for each process step. Above all, managerial and organizational commitment is necessary for the implementation of the whole process.

Originality/value/contribution: By focusing on the industrial manufacturing business, this study provides deep insights into a neglected area of research. Light needs to be shed on marketing intelligence in industrial markets, where the lack of traditional market research has to be compensated.     

Competitive strategy in the market-focused business

Market orientation is a business culture which enlists the participation of all employees for the purpose of creating superior value for its customers and superior performance for itself. A substantial body of research finds a positive relationship between a business's magnitude of market orientation and its performance. However, there has been no research into the competitive strategies through which a market-oriented business creates customer value. This paper extends previous work by showing that market-oriented businesses aggressively develop new products and services, focus on opportunities in market segments rather than in the mass market, and attempt to achieve competitive advantage both by increasing customer benefits and by reducing costs.     

Strategic hybrid orientation between market orientation and brand orientation: guiding principles

Strategic orientations underpin the firm’s managerial decisions and influence its performance. Firms can combine multiple strategic orientations to achieve superior performance. Market orientation and brand orientation are well-developed, separate, strategic approaches. A 2013 study conceptually proposed a strategic hybrid orientation comprising two types: (a) market and brand orientation and (b) brand and market orientation. The current study is qualitative, using small-to-medium enterprises to investigate strategic hybrid orientations. Through propositions, the paper explains the theory and processes underlying the two hybrid orientation types. The propositions form the guiding principles for the strategic management of the hybrid orientation. The implications for managerial practice show that quite different capabilities apply to the execution of each strategic hybrid type.     

Performance implications of market orientation,marketing resources,and marketing capabilities

Abstract

Drawing on the competitive capability theory, this paper examines how market orientation, marketing resources, and marketing capabilities contribute to firm performance. The empirical results show that being market oriented influences the level of marketing resources firms possess and the capability to deploy such resources. The findings show marketing resources and marketing capabilities are significant drivers of firm performance, and their impact is greater when they are complementary to each other.     

Predicting market orientation through internal market orientation as culture and behaviour: an empirical application in Spanish hotels

The aim of this study is to analyse how the internal market orientation, considered from a dual perspective, cultural and behavioural, affects the development of external market-oriented behaviours by improving the attitudinal results (affective commitment and job satisfaction) of the internal customers. An empirical study was carried out, based on the perceptions of 68 managers and 296 supervisors at four- and five-star hotels in Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain). The findings show that (1) the internal market orientation (IMO) has a positive influence on the effective development of market orientation behaviours in managers and supervisors; (2) the IMO has a positive influence on the affective commitment and job satisfaction of hotel managers, but not supervisors; and (3) greater affective commitment and job satisfaction have no significant effect on market orientation behaviours in hotel managers or in supervisors. Based on the study results, the paper concludes with a discussion and implications for practitioners.     

Linking market orientation to international market selection and international performance

One key strategic decision in a firm's internationalization process is the international market selection (IMS). IMS must match the firm's own-specific resources and capabilities for optimal performance. This research, drawing on the resource-based view, investigates how a firm's market orientation (MO) resources and capabilities influence the firm's IMS between culturally close and distant markets and how the matching of MO and IMS impacts on its international performance. We hypothesize that market-oriented firms tend to choose culturally distant markets that help them exploit their MO. Firms with a fit between MO and IMS tend to perform better internationally than those without such a fit. Both hypotheses are supported by our database of Chinese manufacturing firms expanding internationally.     

Diffusing market orientation to drive marketing capital: evidence from Vietnam

Although Vietnam’s transition to a market-oriented economy has produced stunning results, the economy is still lacking qualified marketers. This study investigates underlying factors that are fundamental drivers of Vietnam’s economic renaissance, including the role of market orientation at the marketer level (i.e. marketers’ market orientation) in marketing capital pool, and subsequently, marketers’ occupational commitment. Based on data collected from 351 marketers working for various firms in Ho Chi Minh City, the study finds that marketers’ market orientation has a positive impact on marketing capital pool. Further, marketing capital pool invested by marketers has a positive impact on their occupational commitment. Finally, firm ownership moderates the relationship between marketers’ market orientation and marketing capital pool, and gender moderates the relationship between marketing capital pool and marketers’ occupational commitment. Implications for Vietnam and other transitioning economies are discussed.     

The Impact of Firm Capabilities and Competitive Advantages on Import Intermediary Performance

ABSTRACT

Import intermediary firms, domestic firms that serve U.S. industries by linking domestic wholesalers/retailers and foreign distributors/manufacturers, handled a whopping U.S. $1.85 trillion of commodity good imports in 2006. This study focused on these important firms by assessing the role of capabilities and competitive advantages as key determinants of import intermediary performance. The empirical results showed that market interpretation, sourcing, and service capabilities, overall, positively affected cost, product, and service competitive advantages. These competitive advantages, in turn, positively affected their relationship performance with business partners. Results, however, also indicated some interesting negative associations among sourcing capabilities, service advantages, and relationship performance with foreign partners, raising questions about extant firm performance theory.     

Conceptualising market orientation in non-profit organisations: definition,performance, and preliminary construction of a scale

Abstract

This paper applies Narver and Slater's (1990 Narver, J. and Slater, S. 1990. The effect of a market orientation on business profitability. Journal of Marketing, 54(2): 20[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) conceptualisation of market orientation to non-profit organisations. The study constructs a reliable and valid scale of the market orientation in non-profits in order to test the relationship between non-profits' market orientation and their performance outcomes in the context of a developing country. We surveyed 211 Indian non-profits and received 102 usable responses. We used principal axis factoring with oblique rotation to analyse the data. The scale was tested for its dimensionality, reliability, and various validities. The findings show a positive link between non-profits' market orientation and their performance in the context of a developing country. Market-oriented non-profits were found to be more effective in achieving their organisational mission, beneficiary satisfaction, and peer reputation than those that were less market oriented.     

市场导向、组织学习创新及组织绩效:基于珠江三角洲企业的实证研究

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships among market orientation, learning orientation, organizational innovation and organizational performance through a structural equation modeling approach. This study uses a sample of 143 companies in the Pearl River Delta region of China. Results show that (1) market orientation has no positive direct impact on organizational performance; (2) market orientation has a direct impact on learning orientation; (3) learning orientation has a direct impact on administrative and technical innovation; (4) market orientation has a direct impact on organizational innovation by learning orientation; (5) administrative innovation has a positive direct impact on organizational performance while technical innovation does not impact on organizational performance directly; (6) technical innovation has a positive impact on administrative innovation; (7) learning orientation has an indirect impact on organizational performance through influencing organizational innovation; (8) market orientation has impact on learning orientation, which has an impact on organizational innovation, which in turn has an impact on organizational performance. Managerial implications are discussed, along with suggestions for further research. Translated from Guanli Shijie 管理世界 (Management World), 2006, (2): 80–94, 143     

Polyethnic market orientation and performance: A fast-moving consumer goods perspective

Abstract

The paper explores the market-oriented behaviour and performance consequences for firms operating in a market characterised by national heterogeneity. Through a case-study design, a posteriori propositions based on interview data from six multinational firms operating in a polyethnic market are developed. Findings indicate a positive relationship between the need for responsiveness and a market's polyethnicity with firms customising elements of their product strategy to ethnic segments or European consumers at large. Moreover, findings indicate that market-oriented firms that customise their product strategies to the cultural idiosyncrasies of the Greek market enjoy the highest market share among foreign consumers. As a result, the paper opens up a discussion on the performance implications of adopting a market-oriented approach in polyethnic markets, which are, increasingly, a feature of our globalised world.     

Integrating nonmarket and market resources,strategy and performance in Chinese enterprises: a review of the field and a resource-based empirical study

The resource-based view (RBV) regards strategy as deploying resources to obtain a competitive advantage. This article adopts such a RBV, by a simultaneous consideration of nonmarket and market factors, and then an empirical analysis of the relationships between such nonmarket and market resources, strategies and performance, focusing specifically on Chinese enterprises. The results test hypotheses related to the integrated strategy and RBV of the firm on linkages of nonmarket and market components. Combining those two views, this study reveals that there is a high and positive correlation between nonmarket and market strategies, while nonmarket strategy has a positive indirect effect on market performance via nonmarket performance. These findings suggest that the RBV is an appropriate theory for addressing the shortcomings in integrated strategy research.