Introduction
This assignment evaluates the statement “No company in the world is truly market-oriented. It is just not worth it!” According to Geer, (2007) Market orientation is being referred to as a business approach that is adopted by companies to be able to identify the needs of the customers and meet them fully. However, identification of changing needs of the customer which some of which are hidden has been a challenge to adapt it and be successful. Therefore, I do agree with the statement that “No company in the world is truly market-oriented”.
Components of market orientation
The major components which companies strive to attain to be markets oriented are being focused competitively, maintenance of customer orientation, and cross-functional coordination (Powpaka, 2009). These are the main long-term vision that is profit-driven and neither do companies attain them completely.
For the companies to attain market orientation it is mainly being driven by assumptions on the nature of the products or services which they offer by changing it to suit the changing needs of the customer. According to Hong, (2008) companies keep on moving towards a new set of values by changing their leadership style and use of the market intelligence which they research on. Such attempts are done with an aim of forming a closer relationship with the marketplace (Slater & Narver, 2006. If there have been a company that is truly market-oriented then it would not have been changing its products or services as it would have fulfilled all the needs of its customers (Silkoset, 2007).
Challenges in the attainment of market orientation
The main challenge in the attainment of market orientation in local and international markets is the increased competition by many players in different sectors of the economies (Kyriakopoulos, 2000). Hence, competing companies keep on improving their products and services to have a competitive edge over others therefore as the organization competes to have control over a larger market share. Therefore, they won’t at any time be fully market-oriented as there must be a leading player in the market who challenges the rest to change their operations.
Customers have also increasingly become knowledgeable of their rights and have increasingly been demanding high-quality services and products this has kept companies to be always in the run to achieve superior performance for it to develop and sustain competitive advantage (Malhotra, 2009). Beverland & Lindgreen, (2007) stated that competitive advantages that companies should attain have shifted to being in a position to constantly deliver superior value to its customers which is not attainable as customer needs keep on changing. Initially competitive advantages were being based on structural characteristics such as the economics of scale, broad product line, and market power which was attainable but the shift to customer needs makes it impossible for any company to attain it (Mbah Et al. 2007).
Conclusions and recommendations
According to Deshpande, (2005), the heart of market orientation is being in customer focus, and not only should the company meet the needs today but also continually evolves its operations and marketing strategies over time. Such evolution has no end it’s a cycle that incorporates new measures to continually improve on its operations. If any company disregard such evolution their products or services ends up being inferior and absolute hence being not competitive in the market.
References
Beverland, M. & Lindgreen, A., 2007. Implementing Market Orientation in Industrial Firms: A Multiple Case Study. Industrial Marketing Management. 36(4), pp. 430-442.
Deshpande, R., 2005. Developing a Market Orientation. Los Angeles: Sage Publications
Geer, D., 2007. Adopting A Marketing Orientation: Marketing Made Accessible To Dance/Movement Therapists. American Journal of Dance Therapy. 12(1), pp.35-57.
Hong, L., 2008. Market Orientation and Firm Size: An Empirical Examination in UK firms. European Journal of Marketing. 29(1), pp. 57-71.
Kyriakopoulos, K., 2000. Market Orientation of Cooperative Organizations: Learning Strategies and Structures for Integrating. New York: Routledge
Malhotra, N., 2009. Marketing Research: An Applied Orientation (6th Ed), Upper-Saddle-River: Prentice Hall
Mbah, C. Ogbuehi, A. & Blankson, C. The Challenges of Market Orientation Strategies Implementation in an Emerging Economy. Journal of Business Case Studies Second Quarter 2007. 3(2), pp. 29-40.
Powpaka, S., 2009. Factors Affecting the Adoption of Market Orientation: The Case of Thailand. Journal of International Marketing, 6(1), pp. 33-55.
Silkoset, R., 2007. Market Orientation Capabilities: A Study of Learning Processes in Market-oriented Companies. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Slater, S. & Narver, J., 2006. Market Orientation, Customer Value and Superior Performance. Business Horizons. 37(2), pp. 22-28.