The first and second order measurements of context specific market orientation in relation to performance of higher education institutions

Abstract

Organizational scholars and academicians in developed countries have been empirically highlighting the significance of market orientation (MO) for university performance (UP) using the traditional measures. While the present study, attempts to address the dearth of research in a developing country by empirically testing not only the MO UP relationship but also analyzing empirically the individual impact of the context specific dimensions of MO on UP based on the notion that different geographic, social and time zones create different context, so the relationship of interest might appear to vary when tested through separate dimensions independently. This would ultimately help university authorities recognize which aspects of MO to concentrate more for enhanced UP. A total of 476 university teachers and administrators participated from the five biggest and oldest public universities from Sind region. The use of structural equation modeling revealed that although the overall MO is quite significant to UP, yet the MO dimensions that appear more significant in previous literature, have a very unexpectedly different response in the developing countries. Contributions and implications of the study are outlined with reference to how the more context specific MO dimensions can contribute individually in the settings of public universities of a developing country like Pakistan. (C) 2018 The Authors. Published by IASE.