Content area
Full Text
Dimensions of market orientation
Plenty studies acknowledge the critical role knowledge plays in business success. It is an invaluable resource which provides the foundation for firms to increase their competitiveness, become more innovative and enhance overall performance.
Organizations with strong market orientation (MO) clearly endorse these sentiments. Fundamental to MO is the capacity to acquire knowledge and disseminate it across different functions in order to enrich marketing-related decisions.
Of the MO dimensions identified in the literature, customer orientation (CuO) and competitor orientation (CoO) are considered most important. In the first of these, the focus is on obtaining pertinent knowledge about consumers within a specific market. Key insights generated means the firm can:
target consumers with effective solutions for both explicit and latent needs;
provide benefits and/or cost advantages; and
deliver added value.
Outcomes like these are possible when company processes permit internal and external attainment of customer-related information.
In the opinion of various researchers, CoO is equally important if a firm is to realize its promise to deliver superior value to customers. Accessing information of this nature helps generate understanding of market rivals. This will include awareness of current strengths and weaknesses, along with discernment of key capabilities and strategic approaches. Smart operators will exploit such knowledge to:
quickly identify specific threats and opportunities; and
respond appropriately to prevent competitors gaining a competitive edge.
But striking an adequate balance is clearly a must. More specifically, performance might be negatively affected if the emphasis on CoO is too strong. Evidence suggests this prompts firms to mimic the actions of rivals to the detriment of their own creative endeavors. Since innovation is often associated with enhanced organizational performance, a degree of caution is warranted in this...