The Market Orientation of Micro-organizations: An Abstract

Abstract

The broad underlying understanding of what market orientation (MO) represents is widely accepted in the literature: A strategic orientation of the marketing concept, as it is a conscious and strategic decision to be responsive in the market. This orientation, as researched in the context of large organizations, may manifest itself through certain behaviors—including intelligence generation, intelligence dissemination and responsiveness (Kohli and Jaworski 1993), as well as customer orientation, competitor orientation, and inter-functional coordination—and the profit and long-term focus of the organization (Narver and Slater 1990). It is this strategic, long-term approach to the marketing concept which raises questions about the application of MO to the context of micro-organizations: Micro-firms are defined as having less than ten employees and often fall into the realm of the entrepreneurial literature. They have a number of characteristics in common, such as a lack of resources and a lack of skills or knowledge in management. As such, the way these organizations are managed may be very informal, based on cognitive and emotional responses of one person to the organizational environment, as well as a lack of processes and resources. No assumption can be made that there is a long-term focus with the aim of growing the organization or its profits. The founders often act as CEO and play a dominant role in the firm’s decision-making so that their worldviews affect the direction of the firm (Sidik 2012). In line with this notion, individuals may not set out to follow the well-developed strategy—actions—performance models, nor do they necessarily follow a rational goal-driven model. Instead, they may work from the ground up by looking what can be done without having a strategic approach. It is thus the aim of this study to explore how the MO concept and its implementation apply to micro-organizational contexts. Semi-structured interviews with founders and principal managers suggest that micro-organizations have similar dimensions of MO as large organizations, which are differently expressed and implemented. Any practices related to MO seem to be used as individuals see fit and to what extent they are congruent with their own attitudes and values in an informal and unstructured manner. The general MO tendency, whether a firm is more proactive or reactive, seems to be entirely dependent on the individual in charge and their underlying values. The potential paradox is that, while micro-organizations do not implement MO strategically, they may be better informed about their market and in a better position to adapt to changes quickly than large organizations. The reasons for this are the frequent and personal flow of in-depth information, as well as the fact that decision-making takes place on an ad hoc basis and is not bound to processes and constraints imposed by hierarchies of large firms. References Available Upon Request