Felix Mavondo

How critical is internal customer orientation to market orientation

Abstract This paper investigates the relationship between internal customer orientation and market orientation. It builds on the notion that organisational dynamics and managerial action in areas such as employee training, effective communication systems, and managing human resources are critical to building an internal customer orientation and consequently, a market orientation. A path model is used to investigate the direct and indirect impact of hypothesised variables on internal customer orientation and market orientation. The findings suggest that integration between departments, the dissemination of market intelligence, and management support for a market orientation are important for its development, however, training programs may not be effective. The results are based on a study of Australian based companies extensively involved in international marketing.

Psychic distance and the performance of international retailers – A suggested theoretical framework

Research into firm internationalisation has identified psychic distance as a key factor in explaining variations in both expansion patterns and organisational performance. Despite the substantial growth in research on the internationalisation of retailing, most contributions have been highly descriptive and generally bereft of coherent theoretical frameworks. This paper postulates that the psychic distance concept may provide an appropriate theoretical framework to explain variations in the organisational performance of retailers operating in the international arena. It is recognised that psychic distance alone cannot explain variations between countries inretailers’ performance. Other factors, such as the strategic decision making process, entry strategy adopted, the nature of the retail offer and the extent of adaptation, and organisational and managerial characteristics also influence the organisational performance of international retailers.

Integrating a virtual learning environment into an introductory accounting course: determinants of student motivation

Technological change is altering the way educators deliver subject content. The phenomenal growth and widespread acceptance of the Internet has seen the creation of the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) in higher education. For the ease of integration of VLEs in higher education, software companies have provided products such as WebCT and Blackboard. From a pedagogical perspective, new technologies must be evaluated in an effort to establish whether their introduction has had a beneficial impact on learning outcomes. To this end, this investigation examines the attitudes of undergraduate accounting students in relation to a number of design features and attributes of WebCT (e.g. bulletin boards, on-line assessment and chat room) as a VLE. Responses from 292 on-campus undergraduate students provided data which associates four factors with improved student motivation. This study found that student satisfaction with the use of a VLE is significantly associated with the provision of: lecture notes, bulletin board, on-line assessment and other tools (chat and video summaries). The diagrammatic representation of the variables identified in this study provides a useful reference point for those educators contemplating the implementation of a VLE.

A study of competitive strategy, organisational innovation and organisational performance among Australian manufacturing companies

Abstract This paper is part of a larger study of competitive advantage, organisational innovation and organisational performance. The paper is based on preliminary tests performed on Australian manufacturers participating in the Best Practice Program. The main aim is to provide a conceptual model and establish critical constructs for operationalisation of the main concept as seen by company executives. The purpose was to establish what managers consider the important items for various scales in order to facilitate a common understanding between academics and practitioners. The findings are interesting in that they indicate what practitioners believe to be important elements of the research constructs. The results also indicate possible future findings by pointing out the relationships among the constructs.

Explaining export development through psychic distance

Comments on a previous article published in IMR by Stottinger and Schlegelmilch. The article examined the explanatory power of the psychic distance concept in terms of export development and organisational performance. Argues that while Stottinger and Schlegelmilch make several important contributions to the internationalisation literature, two particular aspects of the article merit further comment. States that the authors do not fully operationalise the psychic distance concept and proposes an alternative interpretation of their results which challenges the intuitively appealing assumptions of the internationalisation process.

Cultural orientation: its relationship with market orientation, innovation and organisational performance

The relationships among organisational culture, business environment, business strategy and functional strategies are rarely investigated in a holistic perspective. This leads to reductionism in modelling and prevents the full exploration of the potentially complex relationships among cultural orientation, business strategy and functional strategies and their impact on organisational performance. This paper, based on a sample drawn from food manufacturing businesses in Zimbabwe, recognises the pervasive impact of organisational culture on organisational strategy and functional strategies. As a result, it acknowledges the multi‐level impact of cultural orientation – allowing for the building of a conceptual model, linking cultural orientation, business environment, organisational strategy, functional strategies and performance – which is subsequently empirically tested.

Market Orientation: Scale Invariance and Relationship to Generic Strategies Across Two Countries

This article presents a scheme for investigating scale invariance for the market orientation construct across different countries by examining the psychometric properties of the operationalisation of market orientation (Narver and Slater, 1990). We investigate the measurement of market orientation in two countries (Australia and Zimbabwe—one being an example of a developed economy, the other of a developing economy). We then proceed to test the relationship between market orientation and Porters (1980) generic strategies. The results suggest that the psychometric properties of the market orientation construct differ in important respects across countries. However, tests for convergent, predictive and discriminant validity using the generic strategies are fully supported for Zimbabwe while for Australia they are supported mutatis mutandis.

Measurement Invariance of Marketing Instruments: An Implication across Countries

Researchers have used the Narver and Slater’s construct (1990), hereafter (N&S), to operationalise market orientation (MO). The assumption is that the construct is universally equivalent across cultures, countries and research contexts. We develop a way of testing the invariance of N&S operationalisations as an example of how researchers can establish measure invariance across diflerent cultures, countries or languages. In this particular study we test the N&S operationalisation across Australian and UK samples. The results suggest that the conceptualisation of MO is similar in the two countries at a weak factorial invariance level. Thereafter the operationalisation is diferent ie intercepts are significantly diflerent and item reliabilities are also different. These results suggest that because measure equivalence is not strong, contextualisation of findings is necessary since generalisability may be limited. The significance of this research is in alerting researchers to the assumptions, rarely tested, that underlay comparisons across qualitatively distinct populations. We suggest researchers test these assumptions before substantive tests of theories are undertaken.

Regulation, Deregulation, and Free Market: The Food Manufacturing Industry in Zimbabwe

Abstract This article investigates the relationship among environment, strategy, and organizational characteristics and performance in an industry at various stages of deregulation in a developing economy. The focus of the study is organizational adaptation under different market conditions. The article seeks to establish the contingency perspective of adaptation. The research findings suggest that once an organization has chosen its strategy, organizational characteristics must be consistent with that strategy irrespective of the environment in which the organization operates. The results, with respect to organizational variables, indicate that the environment is neither a quasi-moderator nor a homologizer. However, with respect to organizational performance, the environment influences the form of the strategy–performance relationship hence it is a quasi-moderator. The article then discusses the implications of these findings for managers and policy makers within the context of a developing economy and for academic research in general.

Internal Customer Orientation: Antecedents and Consequences

Market orientation contnbutes to organizational performance but what are the antecedents to superior market orientation. This paper empirically tests and establishes the relationship between internal customer orientation and market orientation. The paper informs on the antecedents to internal customer orientation and market orientation.