Development of Market Orientation for Marketing Strategy Formulation

Abstract

The formulation of marketing strategy is augmented with the firm making efforts to develop market orientation. Market orientation is the ability of the firm to “orient” its marketing strategy to the requirements of the market and continually re-orient its marketing strategy to the changes that occur in the market and business environment. The paper examines the nature of market orientation through literature review and outlines the meaning of the types of strategic thrusts, with specific focus on introducing a new position of competitive advantage called “market mechanisms.” The paper then postulates aspects of enabling reorientation of marketing strategy to keep up with changes in the market and business environment. The paper then extends the understanding of market orientation in extant literature by outlining the details of accommodating the convergence between the business purpose of firm orientation and the business purpose of value creation that encapsulates the firm-customer relationship or the market. An empirical section on certain “orient” aspects is laid out. Implications for marketing strategists are discussed.