Micro-foundations of market orientation: Influencing non-marketing managers' customer information processing

This study examines how organisational context influences search, integration, and use of customer information at the level of an individual manager. Drawing upon research on market orientation, market-information utilisation, organisational learning, and marketing organisation, a theoretical framework is set up and tested by using structural equation modelling and a dataset consisting of 228 manufacturing and R&D managers in large industrial firms. Results demonstrate that integration of customer information enhances use of information in decision making. Organisational context influences the use of customer information indirectly by affecting information search and integration. Resource inadequacy and physical distance from sales and marketing contact persons decrease information integration, whereas supervisor customer emphasis increases the search scope of information. Wide search scope of customer information increases information integration but has no direct impact on use.     

Business relationships on different waves: Paradigm shift and marketing orientation revisited

Relationships with customers, also referred to as inter-organizational relationships, are a growing theme in marketing. The increased interest in these concepts has triggered views that a paradigm shift from mass marketing toward relationship marketing has taken place over the last 20 years and that only a relationship orientation secures firms' success. In this paper, we promote the idea that relationships exist along different orientations and paradigms. We identify five different orientations and the logic of a buyer-supplier relationship in each of these waves. Furthermore, we argue for a dyadic view of orientation, i.e., the supplier orientation must match the buyer orientation in order to allow smooth interactions.     

Market orientation and customer satisfaction: Evidence from British machine tool industry

This paper examines empirically the relationship between market orientation and business performance in the context of British machine tool industry. An industry-specific market orientation scale was developed. Factor analysis revealed that there were four latent dimensions underlying the market orientation: customer orientation, competitor orientation, departmental responsiveness, and customer satisfaction orientation. Findings suggest that customer orientation and customer satisfaction orientation have a stronger impact on performance than the other dimensions, and that competitor orientation has a U-shape relationship with performance. Departmental responsiveness did not appear to be significantly related to the business performance. Managers could use the multidimensional conceptualization to develop particular kinds of orientations required for better performance.     

An empirical study of SOEs' market orientation in transitional China

Using institutional theory, this paper investigates the antecedents and outcomes of market orientation in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in transitional China. A survey of 274 SOEs demonstrates a strong positive relationship between market orientation and various measures of organizational performance. Additionally, market competitive pressure, formalized corporate governance, and less government control are found to promote market orientation of SOEs in the transitional period. These results support the views that market orientation leads to better performance and that institutional factors should be considered in studies of strategy in Chinese firms. This paper was supported by NSFC (70472039, 70272023).     

Entrepreneurship: Its relationship with market orientation and learning orientation and as antecedents to innovation and customer value

This paper seeks to address two main problems. First, it evaluates the direct effect of entrepreneurship and business orientations namely, learning orientation, integrated market orientation and human resource practices on innovation and customer value. Second, it examines the interaction effect of entrepreneurship and business orientations on innovation and customer value. Data were collected from small and medium-size hotels in Indonesia and analysed using the structural equation model. The results show that entrepreneurship and human resource management were shown to be the most significant drivers of innovation and customer value. The results further suggest that interaction of entrepreneurship and integrated market orientation as well as human resource practices has significant impact on customer value and innovation respectively. Theoretical and practical implications of the study are discussed.     

Market orientation and organizational performance: A comparison of industrial versus consumer companies in mainland China using market orientation scale (MARKOR)

Although not conclusive, past empirical marketing strategy studies conducted in the United States and western European countries suggested a strong positive relationship between market orientation and a company's performance. The objective of this study is to investigate the reliability and validity of the market orientation construct in a very different socioeconomic, cultural, and business environment of Asia. Specifically, using the Kohli and Jaworski [J. Mark. 54 (1990) 1] MARKOR scale, this study investigates the market orientations of Chinese business managers who operate in a select number of industrial and consumer goods industries in urban China. Previous research has predicted a positive relationship between market orientation and performance, on the assumption that market orientation provides a firm with a better understanding of its environment and customers, which ultimately leads to enhanced customer satisfaction. Study results indicated that there were statistically significant differences between market-oriented and non-market-oriented Chinese managers in terms of their responses to market orientation scale statements. As well, a higher level of market orientation of Chinese companies operating in the Beijing area was discovered. This is rather encouraging because there is a large body of marketing literature that supports the argument that higher levels of market orientation would lead to better organizational performance. The managerial and public policy implications of the study are also discussed.     

Organizational learning and market orientation: interface and effects on performance

This paper discusses the relationship between market orientation and organizational learning and, in particular, the former's contribution to the generation of double-loop learning. Although prior contributions on this topic have been controversial, the authors, departing from the principles of RBV, consider market orientation a resource capable of generating higher order organizational learning and, in this way, capable of additionally reinforcing firms' sustainable competitive advantage. The empirical study provides evidence on the existing relationship between a firm's learning and market orientation degree and the organization's economic and non-economic results. Findings indicate that learning orientation stimulates the market-oriented behavior and that it also positively affects the establishment of long-term relationships with strategic clients. Contrary to prior research a significant and positive effect on business performance is only contrasted in the case of market orientation.     

The performance effect of organizational learning and market orientation

In recent decades an important set of articles on management has focused upon the marketing concept and the related construct of market orientation. The next challenge is to understand how this organizational orientation can be achieved and maintained. Using data from 451 companies and through structural equation models, this study considers that organizational learning represents the capacity of a company to move from a given situation to another desired situation of market orientation and performance. The results suggest that the influence of market orientation on performance is only significant when it is mediated by organizational learning. The results also indicate that organizational learning has a positive effect on performance.     

The effect of supplier's market orientation on manufacturer's trust

Recent studies show that manufacturing firms can select suppliers according to suppliers' market-oriented behaviors. Based on market orientation literature and research on inter-firm relationships, a model is developed to examine the impact of supplier's market orientation on manufacturer's trust. The framework is tested using Structural Equation Modeling and the data are from dyadic manufacturer and supplier relationships in U.S. firms. The results show that supplier's market orientation is significantly related to manufacturer's trust, which affects the manufacturer's long-term orientation toward the supplier. Discussions and implications for managers are presented at the end of the article.     

Market orientation and quasi-integration: Adding value through relationships

This study explores and describes the rationales and approaches of a market orientated supply chain — labeled the “demand chain”. The objective is to develop theory by providing grounded insights into how and why managers design and implement a market orientated supply chain. Analysis of twenty field interviews uncovered three main rationales for demand chain configuration. Further, a continuum of integration typologies is presented and three key responses explored and described. These findings are discussed and implications for theory and practice are offered.     

Innovativeness: Its antecedents and impact on business performance

In this study, we address three research questions: (1) Why are some industrial firms more innovative than others? (2) What effect does innovativeness has on business performance? (3) Does the linkage between innovativeness and business performance depend on the environmental context? Accordingly, we draw on various theoretical perspectives to develop hypotheses that propose market orientation, entrepreneurial orientation, and learning orientation as key antecedents to innovativeness, as well as a direct relationship between innovativeness and business performance. A model is devised and tested that examines these relationships in general and in the context of varying market turbulence. Findings confirm the validity of the model and afford various insights on the role of market turbulence in the proposed relationships. Lastly, implications are offered on the antecedents and consequences of organizational innovativeness.     

A survey of market orientation research (1995-2008)

Since 1990, market orientation (MO) has received considerable attention in the marketing literature. Little research so far provides preliminary and useful information to facilitate good understanding of MO. This study presents a comprehensive survey of extant marketing literature using keyword classification from 1995 to 2008. It serves as a tutorial and aims to help the beginner researcher or practitioner to have access to MO, including its definitions, applications and problem domains. Based on the scope of 514 MO articles, we find that the number of publications on MO has significantly increased since 2001 with steady growth in recent years. In addition, these selected articles are scattered across 153 journals and mostly published in 10 academic journals. The contribution of our paper is to provide a means (i.e., keyword index) to conceptualize and operationalize the coverage of MO. It provides a conceptual framework to organize this vast body of research. This study ends with some discussions and conclusions.     

The effects of market orientation on relationship learning and relationship performance in industrial marketing: The dyadic perspectives

From dyadic perspectives, this study explores the effect of market orientation on relationship learning and relationship performance and the moderating effect of relationship quality in Taiwan manufacturing industry. The results reveal that: (1) both customer market orientation and supplier market orientation are positively related to relationship learning; (2) relationship learning is positively related to relationship performance; (3) both customer and supplier market orientation has positively interaction effect on shared information and negatively interaction effect on sense-making activities; and (4) trust of relationship quality has moderating effect on the relationship between customer market orientation and relationship learning.     

Supplier market orientation and accommodation of the customer in different relationship phases

As customers' needs have changed rapidly, market orientation has become a more primary focus of marketing literature. This study explores the strategies market-oriented suppliers use to accommodate customer needs. In addition, because buyer-seller relationships proceed through phases characterized by distinct behaviors, this study explores the relationship between market orientation and accommodation strategies over the course of the buyer-seller relationship lifecycle. The results show that market-oriented firms use flexibility and relationship-specific adaptation as accommodation strategies. Also, three market orientation components (customer orientation, competitor orientation, and interfunctional coordination) relate differently to flexibility and relationship-specific adaptation during the relationship lifecycle. Finally, accommodation strategies significantly mediate the effects of the three market orientation components on customer satisfaction. Thus, market-oriented firms can satisfy their customers and avoid an overreliance on current relationships by emphasizing either flexibility or relationship-specific adaptations that correspond to the lifecycle of the relationship.     

The role of market and entrepreneurship orientation and internal control in the new product development activities of Chinese firms

In this study, we build a systemic conceptual model to describe the relationship among firm orientation, internal control systems and new product development, and to test empirically how market and entrepreneurship orientations affect the degree of improvement in new product development through personal control and/or output control in the Chinese transitional economy. Our research findings provide some valuable insights into new product development. Entrepreneurship orientation not only has a direct positive effect on the degree of improvement in new product development, but also indirectly has a positive effect on it through personal control. At the same time, market orientation, through output control, has a negative indirect influence.     

The moderating effects of market orientation and launch proficiency on the product advantage-performance relationship

The relationship between product advantage and new product performance has been identified in prior research and cannot be overlooked. However, the moderators between the two constructs have received little attention. This study examines how market orientation and launch proficiency exert contingent influences on the product advantage-performance relationship. Prior research indicates that new product performance is a multi-dimensional concept constituted by different types of performance, yet the way product advantage and its moderators influence certain types of product performance has not been investigated. This study examines the same issues under different dimensions of new product performance. A total of 112 Taiwanese biotechnology firms form the analytical sample. Two interesting findings are revealed. First, product advantage is significantly and positively related to market performance, but has no significant influence on financial performance. Second, market orientation and launch proficiency in tactics indeed moderate the relationship between product advantage and new product performance, either as a whole or in respect to different types of product performance. Obviously, these findings contribute detailed evidence to the theoretical nexus between product advantage and new product performance.     

Capturing value creation in business relationships: A customer perspective

Collaborative relationships in business markets are of growing importance to customers and suppliers alike. Customers need to decide whether to invest in a new supplier relationship, to maintain and develop a valued relationship, or to divest from a low-value relationship. Suppliers, in turn, face growing commoditization of products and seek to differentiate themselves through relationships. The measurement of value creation in buyer-seller relationships is still in its infancy, and a sound understanding of how firms create and deliver value in business relationships is needed. Emerging studies investigate relationship value based on dimensions derived from theory and lack a managerial perspective. Therefore, the present research explored relationship value from a grounded theory perspective. In-depth interviews with purchasing managers identified eight value drivers in manufacturer-supplier relationships. Implications for the measurement of the concept are discussed, and directions for further research are suggested.     

The impact of market orientation on the development of relational capabilities and performance outcomes: The case of Russian industrial firms

The article investigates the role of market orientation as an antecedent for the development of relational capabilities and performance in Russian industrial firms. We test the direct role of different aspects of market orientation on business performance in comparison to an indirect and mediated influence via improving a firm's ability to become embedded in relational structures. The results of an empirical study demonstrate the differential impact of components of market orientation - customer orientation, competitor orientation, and interfunctional coordination - as direct and indirect antecedents of relational capabilities and thus subsequently of overall firm performance. It can be shown that in Russian industrial markets competitor orientation directly and positively impacts on performance, while the other two components of market orientation have only a mediated effect on performance via the development of relational capabilities.     

Communicating firm competencies: Marketing as different levels of translation

Recently, the notion of competence-based marketing and communication has been discussed as a way to avoid competing on price and to increase imitation barriers. This paper contributes to the discussion with the development of a model of firm capabilities and an understanding of when to use competence-based communication. It is argued that all market communication is competence-based but the content of communication and the marketing capability changes along the different waves of market orientation. Therewith, marketing is seen as translating firm competencies into customer language.     

The roles of service encounters, service value, and job satisfaction in achieving customer satisfaction in business relationships

Along with variables like the service process, perceived service value and customer satisfaction, job satisfaction of service employees plays a vital role in customer evaluation of service result. However, there has been little in-depth research into the nature of this relation, in particular in the context of B2B relations. In the sphere of an organization providing financial intermediation services to the banking sector and on the basis of a literature review, hypotheses are developed which establish the mediator role of service value and the moderator role of job satisfaction of service employees when delimiting customer satisfaction. Reliability and validity analysis give satisfactory results and our conclusions establish firstly that service encounter directly and significantly affects perceived service value which is the final antecedent to customer satisfaction and secondly, that the level of employment satisfaction moderates its effect on service value.