Developing a Market Oriented Culture: A Critical Evaluation

Abstract

This paper presents a critical evaluation of the notion that a market oriented culture can be developed and managed. It documents a critique of prescriptive‐based literature of market oriented culture and argues that such literature is flawed in that its conceptualization of organizational culture is incomplete. The paper suggests and discusses five principal areas which are either ignored or insufficiently addressed by extant literature on market oriented culture. These are: (1) the view that organizational culture is pluralistic, (2) the understanding that market oriented culture can be viewed as a family of concepts, (3) the notion of cultural dominance, (4) the question of whether culture can be managed, and (5) the problems of cultural entrenchment. The paper develops a series of conclusions and implications centred on the need for further conceptual and empirical development of the content and processes of a market oriented culture.