Market Orientation and Business Performance among SMEs in Ghana

Abstract

The effect of market orientation on business performance has been extensively researched over the past two decades with authors generally agreeing on its positive outcome. It appears however that previous studies placed much emphasis on its applications in large scale organizations. Only recently have researchers begun to publish articles on the patterns of market orientation in small and medium scale organizations (SMEs) (Blankson et al., 2006; Keskin, 2006). Even so, it seems that researchers are yet to reach a common ground on the appropriateness of this management toolkit to SMEs. This study argues that it is in this sector that firms need to be more customer focus, monitor competitive trends, and respond appropriately to market intelligence in order to survive given evidence of their financial, technical and other constraints. Following an adoption of two popular scales in the literature, the study investigated the market orientation-performance link among Ghanaian SMEs using a survey to collect data on 191 firms. Results show that the development of market orientation in this sector rests more on the attitude of owners/ managers and, more importantly, the repeatedly reported performance implication of market orientation does not elude Ghanaian SMEs. More specifically, market orientation leads to superior performance under ceaseless competitive conditions. Conclusions are drawn; the limitations and directions for further investigations of the construct are provided.