The relationships between market orientation and alternative strategic orientations

Abstract

Purpose One of the strongest convictions in marketing is that market orientation contributes to firms' performance substantially more than alternative strategic orientations such as innovation and entrepreneurial orientations. Still, some studies show that alternative orientations can also substantially affect the performance of firms, and furthermore, that firms that combine market orientation with alternative orientations are likely to perform even better than firms adopting only market orientation. Also, the nature of the relationship between market orientation and other strategic orientations is not clear. The purpose of this paper is to deal with these discrepancies in the marketing literature. It highlights the importance of the study of the relationship between market orientation and alternative strategic orientations, examines the effect of market orientation on different orientations, and identifies the orientations that are more likely to be combined with market orientation. Design/methodology/approach The study employs a meta‐analysis procedure to synthesize empirical results on the relationship between market orientation and innovation, learning, entrepreneurial, and employee orientations. Findings Findings suggest that market orientation is strongly correlated with learning, entrepreneurial, and employee orientations, and that it has a moderate positive relationship with innovation orientation. Research limitations/implications Research on market orientation should shift its focus, moving from the study of the direct effect of market orientation on business performance to the study of the various combinations of strategic orientations that firms can pursue in different situations, studying how the more successful market‐oriented firms balance between market orientation and other strategic orientations. Originality/value This is the first meta‐analysis to examine the relationships between market orientation and alternative strategic orientations.