On the Consequences of Market Orientation across Varied Environmental Dynamism and Competitive Intensity Levels

Many firms attempt to develop market‐oriented attitudes and behaviors because of their presumably positive consequences for performance. A market orientation can provide the cultural basis for successful differentiation strategies focused on customer satisfaction. However, inconclusive evidence regarding the relationship between market orientation and performance demands an analysis of possible moderators. This paper therefore analyzes the moderating role of environmental characteristics in the market orientation–performance relationship. Heterogeneous methodologies and measures could explain some diversity in empirical results. Moreover, both the market orientation–performance relationship and the moderating effects of environment dynamism, turbulence, hostility, and complexity may depend on more general characteristics of the environment. A complete diagnostic of the moderating effect of the environment must analyze phenomena in different socioeconomic and political–regulatory contexts. Therefore, the authors (1) analyze the moderating role of environmental dynamism and competitive intensity; (2) consider a broad range of performance measures, distinguished as effectiveness, efficiency, and adaptability measures and as financial and operational measures; and (3) focus on a priority 1 region of the European Union, characterized by small and medium‐sized enterprises that face a global competitive scenario from a disadvantaged local environment. The empirical results support the positive relationship between market orientation and performance and indicate the relationship is inhibited by competitive intensity, which contrasts with existing arguments and empirical results.     

Impact of individual market orientation on selling and customer orientation

ABSTRACT

We analyze the direct effect of individual market orientation on selling orientation-customer orientation of corporate insurance agents licensed in an emerging market based on the data collected using a random survey of corporate insurance agents in the Life Insurance sector in India. The results indicated that individual market orientation had a significant relationship with selling orientation, but the intensity was weak. However, causal relationship between individual market orientation and customer orientation was moderate. Future research should focus on analyzing the influence of the dimensions of individual market orientation on employee commitment, loyalty and should analyze the moderating effects of various associated variables. The findings indicate that efforts should be made to generate market-oriented behavior among individuals to propel selling orientation and customer orientation.     

The impact of new technologies on customer satisfaction and business to business customer relationships: Evidence from the soft drinks industry

Sales technology has been touted as a primary tool for enhancing customer relationship management (CRM) and thus improving overall customer satisfaction. The marketing, IT, and practitioner literatures make numerous references to the impact of CRM on business orientation and performance. However, according to Richard et al. (2007), not many studies have investigated customer relationship technology adopted by a firm and the impact on relationship development. The aim of this paper is to examine the relative impact of new technologies on improving customer relations and overall customer satisfaction within the sales industry. New technologies have revolutionised the workplace and have become an integral part of organisations throughout the world (Forster, 2000). Driving this revolution are two powerful new forces, cyberspace and computing power. This article defines three key terms which include CRM, customer satisfaction and new technologies and evaluates the impact of these emerging technological developments on relationships and customer satisfaction in a sales force/customer context. Primary research was conducted using two focus groups consisting of nine participants from Britvic. The analysis reveals that technology is both beneficial and essential within the sales force industry for both the sales representative and their customers and provides an insight into the impact of technology on the sales force/customer relationship. The paper concludes with reference to new technologies and the future.     

The moderating effect of brand orientation on inter-firm market orientation and performance

Abstract

While prior research has shown that market and brand orientation are key contributors to successful business performance, research to date has not fully explored how inter firm collaboration for these two key orientations can enhance business performance. The purpose of the paper is to investigate the relationship between inter-firm market and performance; to test for the moderating role of brand orientation in that relationship. A total of 169 completed pairs of surveys were collected of small and medium enterprises operating internationally in a variety of industries in Switzerland. The results show that inter-firm market and brand orientation are two antecedents of marketing and financial performance. The impact of inter-firm market on marketing and financial performance is significant when the brand orientation is favorable. This study extends previous research by examining the moderating role of brand orientation on inter firm market orientation, which is important, especially for firms wanting to increase their brand reputation by entering into partnerships with other firms. Further research is indicated, to identify the key moderators of the driving force of inter-firm market in relation to business performance and the reason why maintaining a strong brand presence is important in the international marketplace.     

Market Orientation,Corporate Social Responsibility,and Business Performance

This study examines the moderating effects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on the association between market orientation and firm performance in the context of an emerging economy. The results from a sample of firms that operate in Dubai indicate that CSR has a synergistic effect on the impact of market orientation on business performance. The results of our research on the moderating effects of CSR on market orientation subsets reveal that although CSR moderates the association between customer orientation and business performance, it does not moderate the association between competitive orientation and inter-functional coordination and performance. The results of this study are discussed, and implications for practitioners and researchers are presented.     

Profiting from product innovation: The impact of legal, marketing, and technological capabilities in different environmental conditions

Although product innovation is a key tool for firms competing in the marketplace, innovating firms often fail to obtain economic returns from their product innovations. This study examines the moderating effects of legal, marketing, and technological capabilities on the relationship between product innovation and firm performance in different environmental conditions in order to identify how a firm can leverage these capabilities to profit from product innovation. Based on the data of 223 Chinese firms, this study finds that legal capability positively moderates the relationship between product innovation and firm performance, especially when competitive intensity is high; the moderating effect of marketing capability is positive, although it is weakened by market turbulence; and technological capability has a negative moderating effect, which becomes more significant as technological turbulence increases.     

Effect of Alliance Orientation on Firm Performance: An Empirical Study on High-Technology Firms in China

Based upon the dynamic-capability view and social capital theory, this paper examines the effect of alliance orientation on firm performance. Hypotheses are tested with data collected from 195 high-tech firms in China. Results show that alliance orientation has a significant and positive effect on firm performance. Moreover, market dynamism exerts a positive moderating effect on the relationship between alliance orientation and firm performance, whereas technological dynamism negatively moderates the relationship. Moreover, relational capital partially mediates the same relationship and the interaction effects of alliance orientation and market dynamism on firm performance.     

A review and evaluation of market orientation research in an emerging African economy

ABSTRACT

The paper synthesizes the level of strategic market orientation of firms operating in the emerging economy of Ghana over the last two decades. It dwells on market orientation studies in general, and the banking industry and exporting firms in particular. Market orientation has a positive relationship with performance for both foreign and domestic firms across the many studies. Foreign firms in general appear more market oriented due to experience effect and relationship with parent organizations. As competition heats up in the banking industry, organizations need to be more innovative to sustain their performance or to survive. For exporting firms, there is the need for decreased formalization and increased decentralization so as to enhance the levels of market orientation. The paper develops propositions to guide organizations in applying marketing principles in the running of their business activities. Further, the paper provides an update on the literature with suggestions for future research in the theory and practice of strategic market orientation in the context of the study.     

Is market orientation affected by the product life cycle?

Considerable scholarly interest has been shown in the relationship between market orientation and business performance. Although a number of environmental moderators have been postulated to influence the market orientation–performance link, extant findings are inconclusive. This study takes a different approach by conceptualizing product life cycle stages in terms of variations in competitive intensity, market and technological turbulence. Data collected in Hong Kong reveal that Atuahene-Gima's [Atuahene-Gima, K. (1995). An exploratory analysis of the impact of market orientation on new product performance: A contingent approach. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 12: 275–293] product life cycle measure successfully discriminates stages in terms of market and technological turbulence, but fails to capture variation in competitive intensity. Market orientation is also found to be more highly valued by firms in growing and mature markets than firms in introductory and declining markets. Finally, the link between market orientation and firm performance is found to be strongest for firms in the growth stage and weakest for firms in the introductory stage of the product life cycle.     

Market orientation, competitive advantage, and performance: A demand-based perspective

This study assesses how customer value affects a firm's market orientation and consequently, competitive advantage and organizational performance in a service industry — the global hotel industry. The findings show that if a firm perceives its customers as valuing service, the firm is more likely to adopt both a customer and a competitor orientation; if the firm thinks its customers are price sensitive, the firm tends to develop a competitor orientation. Moreover, the greater a firm's customer orientation, the more the firm is able to develop a competitive advantage based on innovation and market differentiation. In contrast, a competitor orientation has a negative effect on a firm's market differentiation advantage. Finally, innovation and market differentiation advantages lead to greater market performance (e.g., perceived quality, customer satisfaction) and in turn, higher financial performance (e.g., profit, market share).     

Performance or learning goal orientation: Implications for business performance

An organization's long-term effectiveness and efficiency reflect its learning goal or performance goal orientation. Goal orientation concepts originate in psychology of achievement motivation theory. Goal orientations drive the development and deployment of organizational capabilities, such as market orientation and innovativeness to achieve organizational performance outcomes. Extant research pays little attention to whether or not industry type (services or manufacturing) operates as a significant moderating factor in the relationships among an organization's capabilities, goal orientation, and performance outcomes. This study addresses this gap. The study results indicate a significant moderating effect of industry type on relationship between goal orientation and performance but not between goal orientation and either market orientation or innovativeness. Goal orientation appears to be more important for service industries than for manufacturing.     

A value-based perspective of market orientation and customer service

This study aimed to build a model of business performance based on customer value-defined market orientation. In the context of a service retail industry, both firms’ and customers’ perspectives were involved in the development of the construct, using such dimensions as management support, employee efforts and customer satisfaction. The authors undertook a large-scale fieldwork to collect matched response data from firms and consumers and to test the proposed model. The results provide empirical evidence of the effects of a customer value-based market orientation on business performance, measured in terms of customer retention. In addition, this study identified three drivers of employees’ effort to implement market orientation from a value perspective.     

Market Orientation,Competitive Strategy and Firm Performance

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the mediating effects of a firm's competitive strategy in the market orientation-performance relationship. Based on a sample of 371 manufacturing firms in China, evidence was found that the three dimensions of market orientation exert different effects on competitive strategy and performance. Among them, customer orientation has the strongest association with competitive strategy and market performance. This lends credence to a componentwise approach on the study of the relationship between market orientation and performance. The results of structural equation analyses indicate that the mediating effect of competitive strategy is mainly revealed in innovation strategy, the most vital factor in creating superior value for the company in the emerging market. Limitations of this study and implications for future studies are discussed.     

Re-examining the deployment of market orientation in the public leisure sector

Abstract

This paper examines the moderating effects of market orientation's intelligence generation and dissemination components on the response–performance relationship. We offer valuable insight into the application of, and subsequent returns to, market orientation in the public leisure sector, thereby helping to broaden the appeal, relevance, and usefulness of this important marketing theory to other contexts. The research involved a national survey questionnaire to 1060 public leisure managers of local government leisure facilities in England. Empirical testing through structural equation modelling revealed two important findings. First, intelligence generation efforts of the organisation can in part affect the performance returns to an organisation from its responsiveness to market intelligence. Second, intelligence generation coupled with organisation-wide dissemination of intelligence can have a destructive impact on the response–performance relationship, demonstrated by a negative significant moderating impact on this relationship. This paper provides an alternative explanation to the deployment of market orientation as a means to create value and an explanation that transcends its current linear portrayal in public-service delivery.     

Base-of-the-Pyramid (BOP) orientation and firm performance: A strategy tripod view and evidence from China

The Bottom of Pyramid (BOP) market in developing countries represents an enormous market opportunity. Serving the BOP segment, however, incurs significant risks and costs because BOP consumers are deprived of income and literacy. It remains unclear whether or not serving this market segment would benefit firm performance. Based on related literature, we propose a new construct – BOP orientation, and examine its impact on firm performance and an operating mechanism of such effect – the mediating role of bricolage innovation strategy that emphasizes recombination of existing resources to solve the unique problems faced by BOP consumers. Drawing on the strategy tripod view, we also investigate the contingency effects of both institutional and industry environments in an emerging economy. We collected survey data to test the conceptual framework from 238 firms in China, the world’s second largest BOP market. The results support a positive relationship between BOP orientation and firm performance and confirm that the performance impact of BOP orientation is channeled through bricolage innovation strategy. Further, we find that the effect of BOP orientation is contingent on both the institutional factors and the industry conditions. Specifically, government support strengthens while legal inefficiency weakens this effect; competitive intensity strengthens the effect, while technological uncertainty has no moderating role on this relationship. Contributions to extant literature and useful guidelines for firms of our research are discussed.     

Strategic orientation and new product performance: The roles of technological capability

Although prior research has examined the linkage between strategic orientation and new product performance, existing empirical evidence suggests exploration of the effects of a firm's internal factors on this linkage is required. This study aims to fill the marketing literature gap by addressing how technological capability moderates the strategic orientation‐new product performance relationship. This study measures new product performance as a two‐dimensional construct to avoid the oversimplified bias. Research hypotheses are tested using a sample of 121 information system product projects and a hierarchical regression approach is utilized. Results show that (a) technological capability strengthens the market orientation‐performance relationship and (b) technological capability affects the financial performance effects of market and technology orientations via market performance. Copyright © 2014 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Market orientation,product innovation and export performance: evidence from Chinese manufacturers

Based on resource-based view (RBV), this study examines the impact of marketing-related resource (market orientation) and innovation-related resources (innovation orientation and innovation resources) on exporters' performance (new product performance and overall export performance), as well as moderating role of environmental turbulence in the market orientation and export performance link. The questionnaire survey conducted among 220 manufacturing exporters reveals that there exist positive relationships among the constructs in question. This research departs from the majority of past research investigating the relationship among market orientation, product innovation and business performance in three aspects: (1) it examines the impact mechanism how market orientation improves new product performance and export performance through innovation orientation and innovation resources based on RBV, (2) it distinguishes among three constructs involved in product innovation activity, and (3) it extends the research from domestic markets to export markets. We conclude by discussing our contributions, the implications, and possible future extensions.     

Bridging the gap between employees and customers

Abstract

Employing modern definitions of the marketing concept, we develop a unified model to measure the market orientation construct. We then employ a chain-link model linking employee satisfaction and motivation to customer behaviour and firm profitability, demonstrating that market orientation mediates the employee–customer relationship. Hence, while past research has studied market orientation, per se, we demonstrate why it is important – it serves as the bridge to link employees and customers.