INVESTIGATING THE MARKET ORIENTATION IN SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES IN EAST AZERBAIJAN PROVINCE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY PARK, IRAN

Abstract

The current research was conducted to investigate market orientation in small and medium-sized enterprises in East Azerbaijan Province Science and Technology Park. Given the main objective and secondary objectives, main question, and secondary questions, main hypothesis, and sub-hypotheses and the target population, market orientation model of Kohli and Jaworski, developed based on three key variables of information generation, information distribution, and responsiveness to market information, was selected to measure market orientation in enterprises established in Science and Technology Park. Kohli and Jaworski have defined market orientation as generation of information in organization with regard to current and future needs of the customer, distribution of this information among different departments of the organization, and global responsiveness to that information . By 1396, 147 small and medium-sized enterprises were operating under the East Azerbaijan Province Science and Technology Park. In each enterprise, data were collected through the management of the factor or one of the levels of management, using the questionnaire. The questionnaire was developed based on the 5-point Likert scale (1=very 2=low 3=moderate 4=high 5= very high), which 27 questions assessed the three main variables of market orientation: information generation, information distribution, and responsiveness. The research results found by using two methods (sign test and Wilcoxon test) on the main hypothesis and sub-hypotheses indicated that market orientation and its three main variables, including information generation, information distribution, and responsiveness in small and medium-sized enterprises in East Azerbaijan Province Science and Technology Park was high and acceptable. Finally, recommendations were provided for science and technology parks, growth centers, and enterprises established in Science and Technology Park . Article visualizations: