بازارگرایی و رضایت مشتری: شواهدی از صنعت ماشین ابزار بریتانیا

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.

The environments of most businesses are currently characterized by increasing competition and environmental turbulence. Most firms have had to find ways of dealing with this stark reality or face the possibility of extinction. As a consequence of the increasing efforts by managers to develop a competitive edge in their respective business sectors, the management literature is filled with conceptual propositions for sound business practices and strategies for success in today's competitive marketplace (Day & Wensley, 1988). In this context, marketing philosophy has received considerable attention from practitioners as well as academic researchers because marketing is regarded as a driving force for business strategies and operations. Although earlier research on market orientation tended to focus on cross-sectional studies in order to contribute to theory building and examining the universal importance of the concept, recent empirical efforts have tended to be industry specific Chee & Peng, 1996, Liu, 1995 and Morgan & Morgan, 1991. One particular feature of the literature is that most studies have focused on the relationship between market orientation and performance, with the majority of studies reporting a positive association between the two variables. Clearly, findings from studies on the consequences of a market orientated stance are important since they can provide managers with the knowledge associated with factors required for developing a market-oriented culture. This study intends to contribute to the existing literature on market orientation in a number of ways: Firstly, an industry-specific market-oriented scale was developed and tested; secondly, the characteristics of underlying factors of market orientation and performance in the UK machine tool sector were examined; thirdly, from a theoretical viewpoint, the degree to which market orientation factors were related to performance were considered; and finally, from an empirical perspective, this study has avoided the conventional focus on single-authored measures of market orientation, and rather adopted a multifaceted view of the concept. Similarly, the performance measures are based on a multidimensional view of financial and other organisational performance indicators. In the following sections, a brief review of the literature on the market orientation concept and its applicability in the machine tool industry is presented together with an argument as to how it may influence business performance. Background information on the industrial context, the research methodology adopted for the development of the measures, the sampling frame, and data collection procedure are presented later. In the analysis section, a variety of statistical techniques are used to confirm the reliability of the redeveloped market orientation scale and some aspects of validity are examined. Multiple regression analysis and one-way ANOVA results are utilized in assessing the influence of factors underlying market orientation on business performance. Next, the findings of the study in relation to the previous research are discussed. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of the findings to machine tool business executives and practitioners, as well as the limitations of the current study.

The aims of the research were to redevelop a concise industry-specific market orientation scale and to investigate underlying dimensions that represented the market orientation concept. From this sample, the findings suggest that there are four underlying dimensions, out of which three are significant. These dimensions were labeled as customer orientation, competitor orientation, responsiveness, and customer satisfaction orientation. Regression analysis was employed to analyze the effect of each individual orientation on business performance. The findings are consistent with our expectations that customer orientation, competitor orientation, responsiveness, and customer satisfaction orientation are significant factors, and that they are positively related to business performance. However, the factor, responsiveness within department, was not found to be significantly and positively related to the business performance. This is rather a strange result, as one would have expected responsiveness to be a critical element in customer satisfaction. It may be that departmental responsiveness has been taken for granted by companies that are content with the general customer orientation strategies. ANOVA revealed that business performance is better when companies are more customer, competitor, and customer satisfaction-oriented by coordinating activities effectively within a company across various departments. The implications for managers are that it pays to be customer oriented. They should develop a customer-oriented culture (e.g., keeping the whole business informed about major customers; products lines that are driven by market research; quick to modify products as per customers' needs; identify the needs of end users; and interact frequently with other departments) before they endeavor to become competitor oriented. Competitor orientation should only be a part of the general activity without recourse to extra expenditure. If companies are prepared to be fully competitor oriented, then they should be ready to endure initial revenue losses. The findings indicate the benefits for companies that have a medium to high competitor orientation. Clearly, there is a need for cost-benefit analysis to be undertaken by managers before a competitor orientation strategy is pursued (e.g., assess the quality of existing products and services; collect industry information through informal means; seek opportunities to gain competitive advantages; and getting marketing people involved with product development teams) as these bring profit only in the long term. With regard to customer satisfaction, it is vital that a medium to high level of customer satisfaction is obtained by providing customers with custom-made machines and high-quality service after sales. This highlights the fact that companies may be better in investing in relationships with customers rather than being overtly focused on competitors. This can be implemented by assessing the customers' product preferences and by talking to end users, agents, and distributors.