How and under what conditions does a transformational manager stimulate the company’s market orientation? The case of Senegalese SMEs

Abstract

Market orientation positively affects an organization’s commercial and financial performance in both the short and long term. Why does the manager’s transformational leadership style encourage the emergence of a market-oriented culture in the organization? Under what conditions is this influence stronger? In this research note, we analyze 163 manager–employee dyads in Senegalese Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and show, in line with social learning theory, (1) that the manager’s transformational leadership stimulates market orientation through its effects on the quality of exchanges between manager and employees, and (2) that this indirect effect is positively moderated by the manager’s own level of market orientation (moderated mediation).