Redefining market orientation from a relationship perspective

Abstract

Many studies have shown that market orientation is important for firms because it has a positive impact on performance. However, several studies have indicated that the relation between a firm’s market orientation and its success is sometimes weak and that moderating variables need to be considered at least under certain circumstances. As such the overall message from the market orientation studies is not clear. The usefulness of the market orientation concept must also be questioned when looking at the realities of business markets. In most if not all cases the firms’ “surroundings” should be seen as a network of inter‐organizational relationships rather than an anonymous market. Therefore, in this paper the notion of market orientation is explored with particular focus on inter‐organizational relationships. Hereby, it is argued that the relationships are important and that the overall market orientation of firms needs to be translated to a relationship level in order to be effective. It is further argued that market orientation on a relationship level can be interpreted in terms of a firm’s employed resources and executed activities dedicated to relational exchange processes.

The new ventures’ international result. A relational view associated to network market orientation

“…Por otro lado, algunos autores promueven la incorporación del enfoque basado en el conocimiento en esta visión relacional. Para ello tratan de aplicar el concepto de orientación de mercado utilizado en la empresa individual en un contexto de red (Siguaw et al 1999;Elg 2002;Helfert et al 2002;Evanschitzky 2007).…”

“…Destaca la aportación realizada por Helfert et al (2002), quienes presentan un modelo teórico ecléctico de la orientación al mercado de la red en base a la identificación de los comportamientos y mecanismos básicos que, dentro del contexto de la red, contribuyen a la gestión relacional del conocimiento (enfoque comportamental) asociado al cliente y al mercado, así como su coordinación a distintos niveles (enfoque cultural). En la misma línea, Lin y Chen (2006, p. 160) sostienen que la orientación al mercado de la red recoge "los esfuerzos conjuntos de todos sus participantes con el fin de utilizar de mejor manera sus recursos y conocimientos colectivos para servir las necesidades de sus clientes finales".…”

“…Para medir la orientación al mercado de la red utilizamos una adaptación de la escala de Helfert et al (2002), la cual toma como referencia las actividades de gestión de la relación que definen la orientación al mercado de la red a partir de 12 ítems repartidos en 4 dimensiones: adaptación, coordinación, resolución de conflictos e intercambio.…”

“…Sin embargo, el estudio acerca de la manera en que ambos factores pueden combinarse, así como su efecto conjunto sobre la competitividad y los resultados de las NEI's resulta todavía escaso en la literatura (Helfert et al 2002;Evanschitzky 2007;Monferrer et al 2013).…”

Changing roles and new perspectives: towards market orientation in public transport

“…As previously mentioned, several actors are involved in the delivery of public transport services, making intelligence dissemination an interorganizational concern as well. Market orientation in a multi-actor context is suggested to induce relationship management tasks such as coordination, conflict resolution, and adaptation (Helfert et al 2002)-aspects that are highly dependent on communication and dissemination activities. An effective dissemination process is also closely related to the guiding principles for achieving transportation goals (Prop.…”