Ajay K. Kohli

Market orientation : the construct, research propositions, and managerial implications

The literature reflects remarkably little effort to develop a framework for understanding the implementation of the marketing concept. The authors synthesize extant knowledge on the subject and pro...

Market orientation: Antecedents and consequences

This research addresses three questions: (1) Why are some organizations more market-oriented than others? (2) What effect does a market orientation have on employees and business performance? (3) D...

Market-Driven Versus Driving Markets:

The purpose of this article is to discuss two approaches to being market oriented—a market-driven approach and a driving-markets approach.Market driven refers to a business orientation that is based on understanding and reacting to the preferences and behaviors of players within a given market structure.Driving markets, on the other hand, implies influencing the structure of the market and/or the behavior(s) of market players in a direction that enhances the competitive position of the business. There are three generic ways of changing the structure of a market: (1) eliminating players in a market (deconstruction approach), (2) building a new or modified set of players in a market (construction approach), and (3) changing the functions performed by players (functional modification approach). Market behavior can be modified directly or, alternatively, indirectly by changing the mind-set of market players (e.g., customers, competitors, and other stakeholders).

Market orientation: Review, refinement, and roadmap

Over the past ten years, significant progress has been made in the market orientation area. Scholarly attention has focused on the definition, measurement, and impact of a market orientation. Attention has also focused on organizational drivers of market orientation and its enhancement. Despite progress, several research challenges remain and rich opportunities exist for further work in the area. This paper critically reviews the “state-of-the-art” and offers a roadmap for future work in the area. The review primarily focuses on (1) the meaning of market orientation, (2) its relationship with several emerging topics/themes in the literature (e.g., market information processing, organizational learning, knowledge use, industry foresight and driving markets), (3) the quality of market-oriented behaviors, (4) impact of market orientation, and (5) issues in enhancing market orientation. We conclude with a conceptual synthesis and methodological suggestions.

Reducing Marketing’s Conflict with Other Functions: The Differential Effects of Integrating Mechanisms:

To operate effectively, marketing must work in harmony with other functional departments in a firm. This study focuses on marketing’s interactions with three functions that play a key role in the achievement of marketing goals—finance, manufacturing, and R&D. The authors combine insights from previous studies and interviews with practicing managers to identify six integrating mechanisms proposed to mitigate manifest interfunctional conflict (behavior that frustrates marketing initiatives). In addition, they investigate the role of internal volatility (turbulence within an organization) in shaping manifest conflict. Based on a large-scale, multi-informant empirical study, the authors identify the more effective of these six integrating mechanisms. Furthermore, they argue and demonstrate these mechanisms are differentially effective across the marketing-finance, marketing-manufacturing, and marketing-R&D interfaces. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Market orientation in United States and Scandinavian companies. A cross-cultural study

Although the market orientation concept has received increasing research attention, the vast majority of published work has been focused on organizations based in the United States. Although this approach has advantages, it limits our understanding of the concept in global markets. The purpose of this research is to examine how a country context affects: (1) levels of organizational antecedents that drive a market orientation including a focus on top management, interdepartmental relations, and organizational systems; (2) levels of market orientation; and (3) strength of linkages between market orientation and its antecedents and consequences. Using a multiple-informant survey design, data were collected from SBUs in the U.S. and Scandinavia (i.e. Denmark, Norway, and Sweden). The findings indicate that (1) organizational antecedents are affected by national context; (2) the effects of the antecedents of market orientation are similar in U.S. and Scandinavia; (3) market orientation affects overall performance in both the U.S. and Scandinavia; and (4) strong effects of market orientation on esprit de corps are evident in both cultures. While the results suggest that the proposed conceptual framework does generalize to a Scandinavian context, it is also clear that the culture and political-economy of a country influences the robustness of the generalization across political-economies and national cultures. Managerial implications and directions for future work in an international context are discussed.

Sales and Marketing Integration: A Proposed Framework

In this paper, we identify sales and marketing activities and common impediments to their integration. We then discuss the concept of sales–marketing integration and distinguish it from related concepts such as involvement and communication. Following this, we discuss approaches businesses can use to improve sales–marketing integration as well as their potential costs and drawbacks. The paper concludes with a set of propositions identifying the conditions under which sales–marketing integration has the greatest impact on firm performance.

Effects of Supervisory Behavior: The Role of Individual Differences among Salespeople

The author investigates the effects of supervisory initiation of structure and consideration on salespeople who differ in their specific self-esteem, need for clarity, sales experience, and self-pe...

Relational behavior in business markets: Iplications for relationship management

Abstract In this study, we examine the role of seven distinct aspects of a suppliers relational behavior with buyers in business markets. These behaviors are hypothesized to influence buyer satisfaction, and in turn, the share of a buyers business enjoyed by a supplier. The strength of the linkages between these behaviors and buyer satisfaction are hypothesized to vary depending on the age of the buyer-supplier relationship, importance of the product purchased, and environmental dynamism. Findings from a study involving 454 organizations suggest that several relational behaviors have a significant influence on buyers satisfaction with suppliers, and that buyer satisfaction is positively related to the share of business enjoyed by suppliers. Further, the age of the buyer-supplier relationship, and product importance appear to moderate the strength of the linkages between these behaviors and buyer satisfaction.

Generating Competitive Intelligence in Organizations

Marketing strategy begins with customer and competitive intelligence. However, in sharp contrast to customer intelligence, there is little research on how competitive intelligence (CI) is actually generated within an organization. The absence of this knowledge makes it difficult to identify ways to improve the CI generation process. Drawing on both depth interviews with full-time personnel who conduct competitive intelligence and academic literature in related fields, the authors derive a novel conceptual framework that describes three interdependent phases of the competitive intelligence generation process: (1) organizing for competitive intelligence, (2) searching for information, and (3) sense-making. Dimensions of efficacy at each phase are also identified, and they are posited to be influenced by factors pertaining to: (1) the intelligence network, (2) the business environment, (3) the information environment, and (4) analyst characteristics. This framework departs from the existing literature by identifying core components of the competitive intelligence generation process, highlighting its iterative nature, and identifying variables germane to its success. The emergent frameworks implications for managing the competitive intelligence generation process are discussed and future research directions are suggested.