Market Orientation: Journey from Antecedents to Business Performance in a Developing Economy A Case-Study of Botswana’s Small and Medium Size Manufacturing Firms

Abstract

This paper aims to investigate the link between antecedents of market orientation and performance of Botswana’s Small and Medium sized Manufacturing Firms. This study is primarily centered on empirically investigating two issues : test the applicability of MARKOR Scale ( A widely used market orientation measure developed by Kholi and Jaworski (1990) ,amongst Botswana’s small and medium sized manufacturing firms, and investigating the factors (Antecedents) influencing the Botswana’s manufacturing firms Performance. This study’s participants are proposed to be owner managers from 160 small and medium sized manufacturing firms in Botswana. Regression analysis would be employed to analyze the data collected and it is envisaged that there would be a significant link between antecedents of market orientation and the manufacturing firm’s performance. In almost all previous studies in this field, the primary emphasis has focused on the market orientation of manufacturing firms in developed economies, with acute paucity of such research in developing economies. Hence, this conceptual paper contributes to the extant literature by changing the research direction and studying Market orientation (MO) in manufacturing firms in developing economies. In addition, this paper provides owner managers with a more understandable guide to specific market oriented activities.