Uncovering institutional orientation as a new strategic orientation in industrial marketing

Institutional orientation: Definition, measure, and impact on export performance

“…Three main components of institutional orientation can be distinguished in the literature. First, previous research indicates that even if institutional and political actors are central in such an approach (Kotler, 1986), the company integrates these actors into its reflection solely to reach end customers (Chaney et al, 2019). The organization manages the institutional environment of the destination market with the primary goal of satisfying customers (Humphreys, 2010).…”

“…The firm must therefore collect as much information as possible on these foreign markets and develop an export information system (Theodosiou and Katsikea, 2013). The firm must also immerse itself in the local environment to understand the local institutions and the local business practices and develop relationships with local actors (Yang et al, 2012), a state that Chaney et al (2019) describe as institutional embeddedness.…”

“…However, despite Handelman and Arnold’s (1999: 45) claim that research “must focus on the further theoretical and empirical development of an institutional orientation” or Sheth’s (2011) argument for a transition from relationship marketing to institutional marketing, so far institutional orientation has received little conceptual or empirical attention. More precisely, although the literature has explored the notion of institutional orientation (Chaney et al, 2019; Cheng and Fu, 2013), no measurement scale of the concept exists in marketing. Moreover, the impact of such an orientation on the firm’s performance remains unknown.…”

Guest editorial

“…Studies in emerging economies suggest that market development and institutional transitions have significant effects on the motives and consequences of collaborative and consolidation strategies in B2B and performance results, including R&D alliances and new product development (Young et al, 2014;Wang et al, 2019a). A survey analyses among B2B managers' report that institutional orientation is composed of institutional customers, institutional embeddedness and market legitimacy (Chaney et al, 2018). Wang et al (2019aWang et al ( , 2019b discuss how managerial perception of institutional factors in an emerging market economy China, measured by legal inadequacy and dysfunctional competition, affects the firm's decision to engage customers in new product development.…”

“…Yet, studies also contend that the empirical effects are unique, comparative in nature, and different across the timeline when the particular strategy is adopted in the context, for example, emerging economies vs. developed economies. In B2B marketing literature, not much research has published on the impact of institutional environment on inter-firm strategic choices, relationship quality and performance (except for few, Yang and Su, 2014;Chaney et al, 2018;Wang et al, 2019aWang et al, , 2019b. Recent review articles urge the need of more institution-based research on contradicting relationships between the choice of collaborative and consolidation modes and firm performance (Gomes et al, 2016;Valenzuela et al, 2017;Lebedev et al, 2015;Xie et al, 2017).…”