Barriers to market orientation in Australian vertically-integrated horticultural enterprises

Abstract

Market orientation contributes to organisational performance and employee morale. Given the scarcity of research in the Australian horticultural industry, this study was conducted to determine why vertically integrated horticultural enterprises establish the degree of market orientation that they do, and to identify the beliefs of founders and owners that prevent them from striving for and achieving higher levels. The study employed a qualitative approach involving four Australian verticallyintegrated value-adding enterprises in south east Queensland and northern New South Wales. Two firms with annual incomes of AUD 30-40m and two with less than AUD 2m were selected as the case study firms. Senior managers from each organisation were interviewed three times resulting in a total of 52 semi-structured interviews. At the commencement of the final interview, interviewees received a short presentation about market orientation, the benefits of organisations being market oriented and evidence to support the relationship between market orientation and superior performance. Based on observations and data collected through interviews, all four organisations were less than fully market oriented. The results indicate that a limited understanding of contemporary marketing principles, a mistrust of marketing as an organisational discipline and resistance by founders and owners to allow others to make important management decisions were the principle reasons why higher levels of market orientation were not achieved.