Linking market orientation and company performance: preliminary evidence on Kohli and Jaworski's framework

Abstract

Marketing continues to provide a focus for empirical research; not only to define its nature and scope, but also its impact on an organization's performance. While there is little precise agreement regarding the definition and manifestation of marketing, the consensus view is that marketing emphasizes customer's needs and their satisfaction. In a recent article, Kohli and Jaworski (1990) operationalize the marketing concept and put forward certain propositions that link elements of a market orientation, contextual factors and business performance. This paper examines a number of these propositions empirically, concluding that the market orientation — business performance relationship is situation-specific subject to various moderating influences.