Firm performance and perceptions of market orientation

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article investigates the relationship of the internal perception of market orientation by managers and salespeople, as well as the external perspectives of customers, across varying levels of company performance in the context of business-to-business (B2B) interactions. Market orientation was measured on cultural and operational dimensions of intelligence generation, intelligence dissemination, and responsiveness. Performance was measured across quartiles of both actual and perceived performance. ANOVA was employed to assess differences among respondent categories, with Bonferroni post hoc tests revealing significant distinctions between them. Across actual performance levels, managers and salespeople indicated no differences in any measures of market orientation whereas customers exhibited a difference in cultural market orientation. Across perceived performance levels, salespeople and customers displayed differences in all measures of market orientation. Managers, on the other hand, revealed differences in the operational measures of intelligence generation and responsiveness. The research is based on 111 business units of a B2B Fortune 500 company. This study contributes to existing literature on market orientation by exploring a previously unreported area, shedding light on the relationship between internal and external perspectives of market orientation in the B2B domain.