Proceedings of Annual South Africa Business Research Conference
11 - 12 January 2016, Taj Hotel, Cape Town, South Africa, ISBN: 978-1-922069-95-5
The Impact of Market Orientation on Non-Economic
Performance of Small Businesses in Botswana
Olumide Olasimbo Jaiyeoba* and Mornay Robert-Lombard **
With regard to market orientation (MO), researchers have found a match between MO
and business performance to date (Jaiyeoba, 2013). Few works have addressed non
economic consequences such as the effect of MO on the operational level of employees
or the effect of MO at a customer level most especially in developing economies. This
limited amount of research is somewhat questionable given that employees attitudes and
behaviour and customer satisfaction have been widely recognized in the
conceptualization of MO (Jaiyeoba, 2013; Marandu and Themba 2012). Snowball
sampling was used to select 249 owner-managers of small businesses in the Gaborone
metropolis. Stepwise regression analysis and structural equation model (AMOS 18) were
used to examine the data collected. This study is quantitative and descriptive in nature.
Questionnaire was used as survey instrument by requesting owner-managers of small
businesses to complete the instrument.
MO activities of small businesses was found to be significantly and positively related to
customer satisfaction, repeat purchase and employee consequences in this study. Thus
marketers and managers need to focus on customers and employees motivation in order
to improve non economic performance of small businesses and explicate the strategic
decisions that small business managers will need to understand and respond to.
Keywords: market orientation, customer satisfaction, employee consequences, repeat
purchase and Botswana.
Track: Marketing
1. Introduction
Market orientation (hereafter referred to as MO) is derived from the application of
marketing concept. The marketing concept holds that the key to business success is
through the determination and satisfaction of the needs, wants and aspirations of target
markets (Mahmoud et al.,2011;Jaiyeoba, 2013). A vast majority of the stream concerning
MO consequences have concentrated on its relationship with business performance
(Narver and Slater,1990; Jaworski and Kohli,1993; Sanjaya, Vasudevan and Gaur 2011).
However, limited research have addressed other possible consequences such as the
effect of MO on the operational level of employees (Jaworski and Kohli, 1993; Jaiyeoba,
2013; Marandu and Themba 2012) or the effect of MO at a customer level (Krekapa et al,
2003; Webb et al, 2000;Jaiyeoba, 2013) most especially in developing economies. Such
limited amount of research is somewhat surprising given that employees attitudes and
behaviour and customer satisfaction are two central pillars that have been widely
recognized in the conceptualization of MO (Krekapa et al, 2003; Chang and Chen,1998;
Marandu and Themba 2012).
_________________________________________________
**Professor Mornay Robert-Lombard, Department of Marketing Management, University of Johannesburg,
Republic of South Africa. Email: mornayrl@uj.ac.za
*Dr. Olumide Olasimbo Jaiyeoba, Department of Marketing, University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana.
Email: olujaiyeoba@yahoo.com
Proceedings of Annual South Africa Business Research Conference
11 - 12 January 2016, Taj Hotel, Cape Town, South Africa, ISBN: 978-1-922069-95-5
The population of Botswana is about two million. The most common parameters used to
categorize small businesses in Botswana are annual turnover and number of workers.
Despite the rate of growth of small businesses, it is still compounded by a lot of
challenges in Botswana(LEA, 2009; BIDPA 2010). The constraints are more pronounced
where the entrepreneurs and or management team lack a clear understanding of the
marketing concept and, in particular, a marketing strategy that is market oriented to
enable them to understand their customers better and as a result realize superior
business performance.
This study makes a significant contribution to the theoretical literature, especially in the
marketing context of small businesses in Botswana. The study’s framework has the
potential to be adapted and validated not only in Botswana, but for other developing
countries as well. The proposed framework is furthermore significant because it can be
used to identify the contribution MO makes to the non economic performance of small
businesses in Botswana. This research thus offer deeper insight into the little researched
area of small businesses marketing practices, most especially in the service industry in
Botswana.
The use of these research findings will help small businesses, policy makers,
practitioners, researchers and other stakeholders to commit resources to investment in
order to become market oriented. The proposed framework also indicate the importance
of positive influence of overall MO on employees commitment, and customer satisfaction
of small businesses in Botswana. Thus, by applying this model, more companies in
Botswana could accept MO as an instrument for assisting them in achieving their
business objectives. The results achieved in this research represent significant
contributions both from theoretical perspective as well as for management in the service
industry.
This study offers useful and candid insights into the application of MO by small
businesses, distilled from in-depth investigation of the motivations underlying
respondents’ marketing decisions and initiatives. It thus supplements the largely
quantitative studies of MO in the literature to date. This study responds to the suggestion
for marketing scholars to adapt or adopt existing models, constructs, frameworks,
definitions, and also to an assertion that, what does not get measured does not get
managed and as a result, empirical evidence explicating the employment of extant MO
construct in small businesses in Botswana.
From a theoretical perspective, the findings of this study reinforce the research position
stressing the role of the employees in the MO relationship and the operational level of the
business incorporating new evidence into this emerging field of study. Increase in one or
more of these interrelated variables should help service providers improve their
judgmental and objective performance. The results thus show that employee orientation,
through the dimension of informal generation of information, influences the satisfaction of
contact personnel, the quality of service perceived by the customer with respect to
customer satisfaction. It also corroborates the influence exerted by the contact
personnel’s satisfaction on the perception of quality and on the satisfaction of customers
receiving the service.
The proposed framework for this study thus explicate the need for managers to familiarize
themselves with tastes and preferences of consumers. It also assist them to understand
the dynamic nature of the environment in which they operate and then can they achieve
an improvement in their performance measured not only in terms of sales and profit
dimension, but also champion the philosophy of team spirit among employees and add
Proceedings of Annual South Africa Business Research Conference
11 - 12 January 2016, Taj Hotel, Cape Town, South Africa, ISBN: 978-1-922069-95-5
value to their target market. Therefore, being market oriented in Botswana can give small
businesses a particular edge over their competitors by understanding and satisfying the
customer’s needs thus generating higher levels of customer satisfaction. The findings of
this study reinforce the conclusions of similar research in other parts, of the world which
suggest that MO behaviour among small businesses is significantly and positively related
to non economic performance. This study thus provides small businesses with a more
understandable guide to specific market oriented activities. Hence, service providers
seeking differentiation through customer service and delight have to pay attention to their
employees’ needs before internal marketing can be truly effective.
Furthermore, small businesses executives, who are able to inject market oriented
measures into their businesses, have a distinct possibility of adopting a market oriented
culture as a means of achieving competitive advantage. By using their flexibility and
informal style of doing business, supported by an intuitive and experiential learning style
and a personalized relationship approach, small businesses, with higher levels of MO,
can develop deeper customer insights in turbulent markets. This research fills a gap in the
literature relating to the influence of marketing in small businesses in emerging
economies including Botswana. Findings significantly refine the body of knowledge
concerning the impact of MO on the non economic performance of the business, and
thereby offer conceptual framework for marketing planners.
2. Research objectives



To investigate the impact of the market orientation (MO) behaviour of
Botswana’s small businesses on customer satisfaction.
To determine if market orientation (MO) behaviour of Botswana’s small
businesses has impact on employees consequences.
To investigate the impact of market orientation (MO) behaviour on
repeat purchase.
3. Literature Review and Hypotheses Development
The MO concept has its origin in a management philosophy known as the marketing
concept (Raaij and Stoelhorst, 2008; Aziz and Yassin 2010). The concept of MO has
appealed to generations of managers and has been one of the marketing’s most
influential ideas (Rojas-Mendez, Kara and Spillan, 2006; Hussain, Ismail and Akhtar
2015). Over the years, the majority of the MO research have used either Kohli and
Jaworski (1990) or Narver and Slater’s (1990) seminal definitions. Since, the seminal
study of Kohli and Jaworski (1990), the term MO found a broad appeal in the marketing
literature.
The literature describes MO as a set of behaviours and processes (Kohli and Jaworski,
1990 cited in Keskin, 2006; Boohene, Agyapong and Asomaning 2012), or an aspect of
culture (Narver and Slater, 1990 cited in Keskin, 2006; Asikhia 2010) to create a superior
customer value. By using a cultural framework, Slater and Narver (1995) and Dubihlela
(2013) extend the boundary of the MO concept by incorporating the development of
information about competitors, and interfunctional collaboration. Accordingly, MO is thus,
a cognitive, behavioural and cultural aspect of a firm’s marketing concept that puts the
customer at the centre of the business and its development (Deshpande and Webster,
1989; Ramesh and Ramesh 2014).
Proceedings of Annual South Africa Business Research Conference
11 - 12 January 2016, Taj Hotel, Cape Town, South Africa, ISBN: 978-1-922069-95-5
MO is therefore an essential contrast of healthy businesses competing in highly
demanding and sophisticated modern economies (Shoham and Scwabsky, 2006; Zebal
and Goodwin 2011). Researchers therefore agree that MO is the way businesses
manage all their multiple stakeholders and examines the extent to which businesses
behave or are inclined to behave, in accordance with the marketing concept (Cervera,
Molla and Sanchez 2001; Shehu and Mahmood 2014). MO thus involve the process of
integrating activities with emphasis on delivering superior customer value rather than
focusing on costs (Kohli and Jaworski,1990; Awwad and Agti 2011). Deshpande (1999)
and Asikhia (2010) conclude that different theoretical contributions and various empirical
studies have led to accepted view that the components and themes of MO include
customer orientation, competitor orientation, interfunctional coordination, long-term focus
and profitability.
Market intelligence not only pertains to monitoring customer’s needs and preferences, but
also includes an analysis of how customers might be affected by factors such as
government regulation, technology, competitors, and other environmental forces (Kara,
Spillan and DeShields, 2005; Jaiyeoba, Marandu and Kealesitse 2015). It mainly
represents a response of businesses to current and future market demand for a sustained
competitive advantage. The eventual outcome of MO within a business is an integrated
effort by individuals and across departments, which in turn, delivers superior business
performance (Kohli and Jaworski, 1990;Ramesh and Ramesh 2014). The implementation
of the marketing concept or MO has been interpreted as a stage of development and
posited to lead to greater customer satisfaction and business commitment of employees
(Kohli and Jaworski, 1990; Narver and Slater, 1990; Marandu and Themba 2012). Hult,
Ketchen and Slater (2005) cited in Morgan and Mason (2009) and Asikhia (2010)
demonstrated the value of a market information processing perspective on MO.
The customer consequences include the perceived quality of the products or services
with which a business provides customer satisfaction and loyalty with the business
products and services (Jaworski and Kohli, 1996; Akomea and Yeboah 2011). MO
enhances customer-perceived quality of the business products and services by helping
to create superior customer value and thus enhances customer satisfaction and loyalty
(Kirca, Jayachandran and Bearden, 2005; Dauda 2010). This is because such businesses
are better positioned to anticipate customer needs and to provide such goods and
services that meet and even exceed these needs. In this respect, an immediate effect of
enhancing a business service quality is an increase in the level of customer satisfaction.
Improving service quality for the customer encourages repurchasing, attracts new
customers, reduces non essential services and, therefore, increases income while
reducing costs. Customer orientation is thus crucial for service quality improvement. It
entails a sufficient understanding of the target customers and responsiveness to their
needs so as to create continuous and superior customer value in service. The business
and employees gather, disseminate and respond to customer information for service
excellence.
The main goal of market-oriented businesses should be the creation and retention of
satisfied customers (Day, 1994; Hooley and Shepherd, 1990; Vieira 2010). According to
Narver and Slater (1990) and Asikhia (2010) to maximise its long-run performance, the
business knows, it must build and maintain a long-run mutually beneficial relationship with
its buyers and support such statements like “stay close to the customer”, put the customer
Proceedings of Annual South Africa Business Research Conference
11 - 12 January 2016, Taj Hotel, Cape Town, South Africa, ISBN: 978-1-922069-95-5
at the top of the business chart, and define the purpose of a business as the creation and
retention of satisfied customers. It also indicates that businesses that offer superior
customer value are expected to enjoy superior long-run competitive advantage and
superior profitability (Day, 1994; Awwad and Agti 2011). We therefore hypothesize that:
H1: The level of MO is positively related to the level of customer satisfaction.
Previous research has established the positive impact of a businesses’ MO on
employees’esprit de corps (Jaworski and Kohli, 1993; Shoham and Rose, 2001; Marandu
and Themba 2012). MO thus provides employees with a sense of belonging, direction,
and feelings of contributing towards satisfying customer needs, thereby leading to greater
esprit de corps. Kohli and Jaworski (1990) and Zebal and Goodwin (2011) suggest that
their use of esprit de corps is similar to the teamwork concept in a services marketing
context (Zeithaml, Berry and Parasuraman, 1988; Awwad and Agti 2011). MO also
provides psychological and social benefits to employees and enhances esprit de corps
and teamwork. Team spirit is commonly discussed in the context of group cohesiveness.
Dunham and Pierce, (1989) thus conclude that members of cohesive groups participate
more in group activities, accept group goals more readily, and are absent from work less
often than members of less cohesive groups.
MO is a positive driver of business commitment. By providing team spirit, it can enhance
employees’ pride, which, in turn, should increase their commitment to the firm. Dubinski,
Howell and Ingram (1986) and Chao and Spillan (2010) emphasise the importance of
salespeople’s socialisation, which can enhance workers’ understanding of their role
definition and provide an understanding about the tasks to be performed. In combination,
these benefits should enhance employees’ task specific self esteem and help resolve
conflicting job demands. A well developed MO could therefore serve as initiation and
socialisation mechanisms for the workforce, thereby enhancing business commitment
indirectly. Moreover, a related goal, especially in service businesses, is to satisfy
employees.
A satisfied employee is committed to the business and has high esprit de corps (Kohli
and Jaworski, 1990). Heskett, (1995) observe that profitability and revenue growth result
from customer loyalty, which in turn, is created when highly satisfied employees deliver
superior customer satisfaction. Such employees, especially in boundary spanning roles,
provide better service and make a positive impact on consumers. This study thus
explicates the effect of MO behaviour on employees consequences. The employee
consequences thus represent a central pillar in the conceptualization of MO (Narver and
Slater, 1990; Kohli and Jaworski, 1990).
Additionally, Ruekert (1992) and Vieira (2010) propose and verify that there is a
significant positive correlation between the level of MO and employee’s satisfaction and
business commitment. Sanchez del Rio, Armario and Castro (2005) and Zebal and
Goodwin (2011) conclude that it is necessary to understand the role played by the
employees of the business in effectively establishing MO. They went on to postulate that
explicating the contrary would lead to an important limitation in understanding and
establishing suitable policies for its development.
Proceedings of Annual South Africa Business Research Conference
11 - 12 January 2016, Taj Hotel, Cape Town, South Africa, ISBN: 978-1-922069-95-5
MO enhances business commitment by instilling a sense of pride and camaraderie
amongst employees (Kohli and Jaworski, 1990). In this case, business commitment
includes: willingness to sacrifice for the business, team spirit and customer orientation
(motivation of employees to satisfy customer needs), and job satisfaction. Furthermore,
MO can reduce role conflict among employees (Dauda, 2010). Kohli and Jaworski (1990)
propose that MO provides a number of psychological benefits to employees. The reason
is that MO emphasises the business-wide dissemination and responsiveness to the
intelligence, and all employees should work closely in order to achieve the same goals.
There is strong evidence supporting the relationship between MO and employee attitudes
and behaviours. Several authors report that MO has positive consequences for employee
behaviours such as customer orientation, job satisfaction and business commitment
(Ruekert, 1992; Jaworski and Kohli, 1993; Marandu and Themba 2012). However, others
argue that these employee attitudes and behaviours are antecedent to MO (Harris, 1998;
Martin and Grbac, 1998). Given the business wide nature of MO, it is plausible that
employees who are satisfied and motivated will be more likely to undertake these positive
behaviours and act in the best interest of the firm.
Through the working toward the same goals, employees feel worthwhile and,
consequently, become more satisfied with their jobs and more committed to their
business. The studies conducted by Jaworski and Kohli (1993), Piercy, Harris and Lane
(2002) and Jones, Busch and Dacin (2003) as cited in Rodrigues and Pinho, (2010) and
Zebal and Goodwin (2011) are some examples that underline the positive consequences
of MO on job-related employee attitudes. The reasoning behind this link is that MO raises
employee morale, job satisfaction, and commitment to the business because all
departments work toward the common goal of customer/citizen satisfaction.
Given the social and business support people receive in a market oriented environment, it
seems reasonable to assume that MO is an important variable influencing job related
attitudes. Besides, commitment is a consequence of MO as it encourages teamwork, give
employees a sense of pride in belonging to the business through a common value system
and common goals (Naude and Desai, 2003 as cited in Rodrigues and Pinho, 2010). As
part of a successful team, employees believe they are making an important contribution,
which is expected to lead to higher levels of commitment and high levels of job
satisfaction.
Kennedy, Goolsby and Arnould (2002) and Dauda (2010) have developed the customer
mind set construct to verify that customer orientation affects the workplace and employee
performance. Customer mind set is proposed to be positively to be associated with
desirable outputs such as satisfaction, business commitment and employee performance.
Business commitment refers to the feeling of belonging, employees have towards the
company, which consequently influences their ability to perform above and beyond
expectations in achieving the company’s goals. This concept comprises different aspects
related to the individual’s attachment to the business. The three perspectives of
commitment are affective or attitudinal perspective, continuance or calculative perspective
and normative perspective (Reichers, 1985).
Commitment can be expressed as the relative strength of an individual’s identification
with and involvement in the goals, objectives and mission of the business. Commitment is
thus an element of the business culture that resembles an enduring business glue
Proceedings of Annual South Africa Business Research Conference
11 - 12 January 2016, Taj Hotel, Cape Town, South Africa, ISBN: 978-1-922069-95-5
obligating employees to each other and creating a sense of pride in belonging to the
business (Kohli and Jaworski, 1990; Jaworski and Kohli, 1993; Mahmoud 2011). Lack of
commitment from employees can be harmful to a business resulting in poorer
performance arising from inferior service offerings and higher costs. When top
management team promotes the MO concept in the business, junior managers and
workers are encouraged to track changing markets, share market intelligence with others
in the business, and be responsive to the market needs (Jaworski and Kohli, 1993;
Asikhia 2010).
Jaworski and Kohli (1983) and Zebal and Goodwin (2011) found that esprit de corps and
commitment are consequences of MO. However, the findings of this study indicate that
low levels of motivation, satisfaction and commitment directly impede the development of
MO. Recent literature in marketing shows clearly that when it comes to achieving success
in a business, it is of vital importance for its business culture and climate to focus on
satisfying the customer’s needs, from top management down to the lowest level of
employees. Kennedy, Goolsby and Arnould (2002) and Asikhia (2010) consistent with
earlier investigations of MO, postulate that the true concept of marketing can only be
achieved when customer orientation is considered to be a working philosophy for all of a
business employees.
From this perspective, and from the point of view of the employee’s role, Kohli and
Jaworski (1990) and Jaworski and Kohli (1993) are considered to be pioneers in
proposing and validating the positive and direct effect of MO on business commitment
and corporate spirit. Additionally, Ruekert (1992) and Mahmoud (2011) propose and
verifies that there is a significant positive correlation between the level of MO and
employee’s satisfaction and business commitment.
It is necessary to understand the role played by the business employees in effectively
establishing the MO. Postulating the contrary would lead to an important limitation in
understanding and establishing suitable policies for its development. Accordingly, Piercy,
Harris and Lane (2002) and Duada (2010) indicate that the analysis of the
interrelationships between the businesses strategies and policies for MO, and the
characteristics of the employees in terms of beliefs, attitudes and behaviours is currently
an important area of research, albeit only very occasionally studied most especially
among small businesses. We thus hypothesize that:
H2: The level of MO is positively related to the level of employees commitment.
The marketing literature indicates that the adoption of the marketing concept is a
foundation for successful performance (Nwokah, 2008). It defines a distinct business
culture or business philosophy that puts the customer at the centre of the business
thinking about strategy and operations. Although the marketing concept is central to the
marketing literature, very little research has been done in terms of creating a valid
measurement scale and testing the construct empirically (Pulendran, Speed and Widing,
2003). Narver, Slater and MacLauchlan (2000) and Asikhia (2010) postulate that MO is
believed to be a source of competitive advantage if it produces value for customers that is
rare and difficult to imitate. Day (1999) and Shehu and Mahmood (2014) thus argue that
MO is a strategic necessity for externally oriented culture; distinctive capabilities in market
sensing and anticipatory strategic thinking; as well as a configuration that enables the
Proceedings of Annual South Africa Business Research Conference
11 - 12 January 2016, Taj Hotel, Cape Town, South Africa, ISBN: 978-1-922069-95-5
entire business to continuously anticipate and responds to the changing customer
requirements and market conditions.
Improving service quality for the customer encourages repurchasing, attracts new
customers, reduces non essential services and, therefore, increases income while
reducing costs. Consequently, the strength of the relationship between MO and the
business performance will strongly depend on the effectiveness and efficiency of the
marketing effort. Once MO has been developed, the company’s ability to derive superior
performance is attributed to the subsequent skills it builds which allow for a better
understanding of the needs of its target market (Gounaris, Stathakopoulos and
Athanassopoulos, 2003; Asikhia 2010). A market oriented approach may remain elusive
unless the business has managed to effectively communicate the values of MO and the
behaviours towards the customer that comes along with it (Harris and Ogbonna, 1999;
Dauda 2010). We furthermore hypothesize that:
H3: The level of MO is positively related to the level of repeat purchase.
4. Methodology
The study employed a snowball sample of managers and business owners in the small
businesses domain within Gaborone and its environs. The reason for opting for non
probability rather than probability sampling was that the sampling frame of the key
informants was not available. Questionnaire was administered to owner-managers of
small businesses. In addition, the study was confirmatory in nature in order to improve
the understanding of small businesses MO behaviour in Botswana context. The final pool
of small businesses to whom questionnaires were sent totaled 400 and only 249
(consisting over 60% response rate) usable questionnaires were returned by the
respondents. The questionnaires was pretested prior to collecting data and respondents
were asked to identify items they found unclear, ambiguous or confusing. As a result of
the pretest, minor adjustments were made to the questionnaire. The majority of the
respondent personnel were managers; accounting for about 50% of the total. This
suggests that most respondents were sufficiently experienced to be able to provide
meaningful response to broader policy issues relating to MO.
After comparing the responses of the early and late respondents on a number of
characteristics, no significant difference was found suggesting that the sample is free
from response bias. The sample size and the response rate are consistent with related
studies. The questionnaire and scale measures (MARKOR scale) were adopted from
constructs used in the questionnaire of Kohli and Jaworski, (1993). The items in the
questionnaire were measured with the aid of a five point Likert type Scale. The
management behaviours were measured by items adopted from Jarworski and Kohli
(1993) and Gray, Matear and Matheson (1998). Reliability analysis was conducted on all
the multi items scales to check the internal consistency of the scales. This study adopted
a cut off of 0.5 for Cronbach’s coefficient even though Nunnally (1998) posit minimum
threshold to be 0.70. Using 0.5 as the cut off is not without precedent most especially in
developing economies. It has been adopted in related studies (Blankson and Stoke, 2002;
Blankson and Cheng, 2005; Jaiyeoba, Marandu and Kealesitse 2015).
Proceedings of Annual South Africa Business Research Conference
11 - 12 January 2016, Taj Hotel, Cape Town, South Africa, ISBN: 978-1-922069-95-5
The coefficient alpha values for intelligence generation, intelligence dissemination or
interfunctional coordination, and intelligence responsiveness or taking action are
0.63,0.60,and 0.55 respectively, indicating that the MARKOR scale developed by Kohli
and Jaworski, (1993) was also reliable instrument for measuring MO in Botswana.
In order to ascertain whether the measures retained construct validity (i.e. measured what
they are suppose to), an exploratory factor analysis using principal components and
Varimax rotation technique was conducted to examine the underlying dimension of MO
construct and explicate the underlying factor structure or psychometric competence of the
scale items in this empirical study. In determining the factors, common decision rules
employed in empirical research was applied: minimum Eigen value of 1; KMO measure of
sampling adequacy greater than 0.5 and Bartlett’s test of sphericity are significant,
which indicate that the items are appropriate for factor analysis. This analysis thus test
for the distinctiveness of overall MO, non economic dimensions and validate the
measurement models. All factor loadings included in this study were statistically
significant at the 0.01 level and exceed the arbitrary 0.5 standard (0.50-0.92). Thus, these
measures demonstrate adequate convergent validity. The validity of the scale therefore
explicates the unidimensionality of the components of each scale (Gerbing and
Anderson,1998), with a principal component factor analysis. These findings thus reduce
plausibility of threat to validity in this study, by presenting a description of MO construct
and explicative market orientation model, grounded on the marketing concept.
5. Research Findings and Discussion
Table 1 Consequences of MO (customer satisfaction)
Dependent variable: customer satisfaction
Independent variables
B
S.E.
EXP(B)
Sig.
(β)
Intelligence generation
0.601
0.340
1.824***
0.077
0.82
Intelligence dissemination
1.195
0.334
3.303*
0.000
2.30
Constant
-1.501
0.601
0.223**
0.013
Cox & Snell R
0.088
square(Adjusted)
Nagelkerke R
0.134
square
Significant at the 0.01, 0.05 level, and 0.1 level as *, **, and *** respectively.
Table 1 illustrates that two MO components, intelligence generation (β =0.82, p< 0.01)
and intelligence dissemination (β =2.30, p<0.01) are significantly and positively related to
customer satisfaction behaviour of small businesses in Botswana. The intelligence
generation and intelligence dissemination components of small businesses account for
8% variation in customer satisfaction level of small businesses. Therefore hypothesis H1
is supported.
Proceedings of Annual South Africa Business Research Conference
11 - 12 January 2016, Taj Hotel, Cape Town, South Africa, ISBN: 978-1-922069-95-5
Table 2 Consequences of MO (Business commitment)
Dependent variable: Employees’ Business commitment
Independent variables
B
S.E.
EXP(B)
Sig.
(β)
Intelligence generation
0.697
0.414
2.008***
0.093
1.00
Intelligence responsiveness
1.044
0.494
2.839**
0.035
1.84
Constant
-4.287
0.936
0.014*
0.000
Cox & Snell R
0.028
square(Adjusted)
Nagelkerke R
0.053
square
Significant at the 0.01, 0.05 level, and 0.1 level as *, **, and *** respectively.
The findings of this study as reflected in Table 2 suggest that while intelligence
generation (β = 1.00, p< 0.1) and intelligence responsiveness (β = 1.84 , p<0.05) were
found to be statistically significant and positively related to employees’ business
commitment among small businesses in Botswana. Intelligence dissemination was
dropped from the stepwise regression equation because of its low or insignificant
contribution. Therefore, intelligence generation and responsiveness attributes of small
businesses in Botswana have significant relationship with small businesses employees
commitment. It thus appears that MO nurtures a bonding among employees and
promotes a feeling of belonging to a team that is dedicated to meeting customer needs.
Intelligence generation and intelligence responsiveness component of MO behaviour,
therefore account for 2% variation in the level of employees business commitment of
small businesses in Botswana. Therefore, it can be concluded that the above findings
support hypothesised relationship between MO and employees’ business commitment.
Thus hypothesis H2 is supported.
Table 3 Consequences of MO (esprit de corps)
Dépendent variable: esprit de corps
Independent variables
B
S.E.
EXP(B)
Sig.
(β)
Intelligence generation
0.773
0.319
2.167**
0.015
1.17
Intelligence dissemination
1.343
0.314
3.832*
0.000
2.83
Constant
-2.329
0.585
0.097*
0.000
Cox & Snell R
0.132
square(Adjusted)
Nagelkerke R
0.189
square
Significant at the 0.01, 0.05 level, and 0.1 level as *, **, and *** respectively.
Proceedings of Annual South Africa Business Research Conference
11 - 12 January 2016, Taj Hotel, Cape Town, South Africa, ISBN: 978-1-922069-95-5
As illustrated in table 3, intelligence generation (β = 1.17, p< 0.05) and intelligence
dissemination (β = 2.83, p<0.01) are significantly and positively related to the
employees’esprit de corps of small businesses in Botswana. Intelligence responsiveness
was however found not to be significantly related to employees’esprit de corps of small
businesses in Botswana.
The intelligence generation and intelligence dissemination component of MO behaviours
of small business in Botswana account for 13% variation in the level of employees team
spirit of small business as indicated in the calculated adjusted R2. This increase in
employees’ esprit de corps suggest that small business in Botswana should place more
emphasis on intelligence generation and dissemination, so that the benefits derived from
the information can be enhanced when shared among functions in the business. This
study’s findings show that team spirit could assist employees to engage in behaviours
that results in long term customer satisfaction and other customer oriented behaviours.
Considering the information provided above, hypothesis H2 is therefore supported.
Table 4 Consequences of MO
Dependent variable: repeat customer
Independent variables
B
S.E.
EXP(B)
Sig.
(β)
Intelligence responsiveness
1.004
0.416
2.729**
0.016
1.73
Constant
-2.295
0.504
0.101*
0.000
Cox & Snell R
0.022
Square(Adjusted)
Nagelkerke R
0.033
square
Significant at the 0.01, 0.05 level, and 0.1 level as *, **, and *** respectively.
Table 4 indicates that repeat customers of small business in Botswana are a positive
function of intelligence responsiveness component (β =1.73, p<0.05) of MO behaviour of
small businesses in Botswana. Intelligence responsiveness thus account for 2% variation
in the level of repeat purchase among small businesses in Botswana. Therefore
hypothesis H3 is supported.
The path analysis illustrated by Tables 5 and 6 indicate that MO behaviour of small
businesses are significantly and positively related to team spirit and customer satisfaction
level of small businesses in Botswana. The model chi-square (ᵡ2/df) is 5.2 which
resonates with Tabachnick and Fidell (2007) recommendation. The Root mean square
error of approximation (RMSEA) is 0.078 which provides parallel support to Steiger’s
protocol (2007). The path analysis therefore explicates the hypothesized relationship
between MO and non economic performance of small businesses in Botswana.
Proceedings of Annual South Africa Business Research Conference
11 - 12 January 2016, Taj Hotel, Cape Town, South Africa, ISBN: 978-1-922069-95-5
Table 5
Regression Weights: (Group number 1 - Default model)
Estimate
S.E.
C.R.
P
Label
Overall MO
<---
e8
.582
.026
22.271
***
par_15
Intelligence generation
<---
Overall MO
.858
.046
18.803
***
par_1
Intelligence dissemination
<---
Overall MO
.780
.055
14.071
***
par_2
Intelligence responsiveness
<---
Overall MO
.267
.042
6.333
***
par_3
Business commitment
<---
Overall MO
.049
.050
.987
.324
par_4
Esprit de corps
<---
Overall MO
.325
.063
5.145
***
par_5
Business performance
<---
Overall MO
.307
.074
4.164
***
par_6
Customer satisfaction
<---
Overall MO
.175
.060
2.913
.004
par_7
par_8
Intelligence generation
<---
e5
.398
.018
22.181
***
Intelligence dissemination
<---
e6
.507
.023
22.271
***
par_9
Intelligence responsiveness
<---
e7
.385
.017
22.271
***
par_10
Business commitment
<---
e1
.439
.020
22.181
***
par_11
Esprit de corps
<---
e2
.576
.026
22.136
***
par_12
Business performance
<---
e3
.673
.030
22.136
***
par_13
Customer satisfaction
<---
e4
.548
.025
22.181
***
par_14
Table 6
Standardized Regression Weights: (Group number 1 - Default model)
Overall MO
Intelligence generation
Intelligence dissemination
Intelligence responsiveness
Business commitment
Esprit de corps
Business performance
Customer satisfaction
Intelligence generation
Intelligence dissemination
Intelligence responsiveness
Business commitment
Esprit de corps
Business performance
Customer satisfaction
<--<--<--<--<--<--<--<--<--<--<--<--<--<--<---
e8
Overall MO
Overall MO
Overall MO
Overall MO
Overall MO
Overall MO
Overall MO
e5
e6
e7
e1
e2
e3
e4
Estimate
1.000
.782
.666
.373
.065
.312
.257
.182
.624
.746
.928
.998
.950
.967
.983
The implementation of the marketing concept among service businesses is also a
yardstick or an indicator for customer satisfaction. This is demonstrated in the empirical
finding. It thus explicate the fact that businesses that understand the peculiar of
customers among service in Botswana will be able to satisfy them. The result therefore
shows that MO is significantly and positively related to the level of customer
consequences of small businesses in Botswana. Team spirit is very important for
growth in businesses. The results also demonstrate that the MO of small businesses is
significantly and positively related to the level of team spirit among small businesses in
Botswana. Team spirit is thus important for businesses that know the value of their
customers and are willing to serve them proactively.
MO components including intelligence generation, intelligence dissemination, and
intelligence responsiveness of small businesses in Botswana significantly determine the
Proceedings of Annual South Africa Business Research Conference
11 - 12 January 2016, Taj Hotel, Cape Town, South Africa, ISBN: 978-1-922069-95-5
levels of employees’ business commitment, employees’esprit de corps, customer
satisfaction, and repeat customer. Kohli and Jaworski (1990) and Asikhia (2010) posit
that the company’s ability to keep their promise is highly dependent on the extent to
which employees are customer centered. This finding lend credence to Pelham (1997)
and Shehu and Mahmood (2014) studies in which they postulate that a business firm
with superb market information collection and processing capabilities can predict more
precisely and make rapid changes in the market place. The empirical finding also
resonates with Deshpande (1999) and Asikhia (2010) findings in which he argue that
the starting point of MO is market intelligence, which includes customer’s verbalized
needs and preferences, but also an analysis of exogenous factors that influence those
needs and preferences.
The empirical finding in the context of intelligence dissemination among small
businesses in Botswana also resonate with Deshpande (1999) and Zebal and Goodwin
(2011) findings in which they posit that effective dissemination of market intelligence is
important because it provides a shared basis for concerted actions by different
departments of a business. It is therefore, expected that the information dissemination
process will play a seminal role in Botswana’s small businesses efforts in creating value
for its customers.
The intelligence responsiveness of small businesses finding in Botswana, contrast with
Deshpande (1999) and Dauda (2010) findings in which they paradoxically postulated
that the responsiveness to market intelligence takes the form of selecting target
markets, designing and offering products and services, catering for their current and
anticipated needs, and producing, distributing and promoting products in a manner that
elicits favourable end customer response. Asikhia (2010), therefore conclude that
responsiveness may take the form of selecting target markets, designing and offering
products or services that cater for their ardent and anticipated needs, hence producing,
distributing and promoting the products in a way that elicits favourable customer
response.
Nakara and Sivakumar (2001), cited in Alhakimi and Baharun (2009) and Jaiyeoba,
Marandu and Kealesitse (2015) conclude that the higher the level of uncertainty
avoidance, the lower the level of responsiveness to market intelligence. This finding
resonates with Spillan and Chao (2010) and Zebal and Goodwin (2011) study of small
businesses, in which they argue that, the mere fact that a firm has generated a great
deal of market intelligence, does not mean that it will be able to respond to its
customers with superior service. This finding lends support to Marandu and Themba’s
(2012) findings in Botswana in which they confirm that the intelligence generation
dimension of MO has a significant effect on both commitment and team spirit. It is thus
likely that high levels of employee commitment and morale are essential for solving
conflicts, openness in communication, willingness to share information, willingness to
change and joint decision making among small businesses in Botswana.
MO level is thus determined by a business capability to generate intelligence from the
business broad environment; disseminate this intelligence throughout the entire
business; and take action in response to generated and disseminated intelligence. This
suggests a strong relationship between employee commitment and the level of MO.
This finding lend support to Marandu and Themba’s (2012) finding in Botswana, which
Proceedings of Annual South Africa Business Research Conference
11 - 12 January 2016, Taj Hotel, Cape Town, South Africa, ISBN: 978-1-922069-95-5
provide an empirical support for the posited link between MO and business
commitment.
Marandu and Themba (2012) results also provide further credence to the notion that the
marketing concept is a worthwhile business philosophy to implement even in a
developing nation context. Marandu and Themba (2012) conclude that their study in the
Botswana’s retail sector resonates the fact that employees are fond of the business they
work for and are willing to make personal sacrifices in order to achieve organisational
goals.
The finding with respect to lack of significant and positive relationship with respect to
intelligence dissemination, contrast (Quinn, 1992 cited in Kara, Spillan and DeShields
2005) and Mahmoud (2011) in which they argue that successful sharing of information
gives marketers the opportunity to modify interpretations, and to provide new insights.
The significant and positive relationship between intelligence responsiveness and
business commitment resonates with (Kara, Spillan and DeShields, 2005; Zebal and
Goodwin 2011) findings in which they postulate that superior performance can only be
achieved by responding continuously to the customer’s ever changing needs and
preferences.
Therefore, it can be confirmed that hypotheses H1, H2 and H3 are supported in this
study. That implies, that overall MO of small businesses in Botswana has a significant
relationship with the non economic performance of small businesses in Botswana.
These findings lend support to Kohli and Jaworski (1990) and Zebal and Goodwin
(2011) in which they argue, that by spreading a sense of pride and camaraderie among
employees, MO enhances business commitment, employee-team spirit and customer
orientation.
These findings thus establish congruence with (Kohli, Jaworski and Kumar,1993) and
Dauda (2010) findings which suggest that MO is an important prerequisite in the
creation of superior customer value, as market oriented businesses have distinctive
capabilities that enable them to learn from the market, and to distribute market based
information throughout the business. Kohli and Jaworski (1990) and Zebal and Goodwin
(2011) thus argue that a satisfied employee is committed to the business and has high
esprit de corps.
Shoham et al., (2005) cited in Vieira (2010) and Marandu and Themba (2011)
conclude that committed employees are more likely to go beyond required norms to
contribute to business goals and are willing to put more effort into the well being of the
business. Managerial consideration and direct communication between managers and
workers therefore form part of employee orientation or internal marketing, so their
application by the business should contribute to the positive reciprocal response of the
workforce, in the form of greater satisfaction with their work and an improvement in its
quality (Aryee, Budhwar and Chen, 2002; Zebal and Goodwin 2011).
6. Managerial and Theoretical Implications
The key intended contribution of the study is further exploration of the MO concept within
the specific context of small businesses in Botswana. More research needs to be
conducted to expand the MO philosophy to the service providers. Hence, subjecting the
Proceedings of Annual South Africa Business Research Conference
11 - 12 January 2016, Taj Hotel, Cape Town, South Africa, ISBN: 978-1-922069-95-5
framework to analytic rigor would allow scholars and practitioners to understand more
fully the interrelatedness of the service implications of small businesses in Botswana.
This study thus contributes to the discourse by providing further evidence on the
interplay between MO and its consequences in Botswana. The study therefore offer
benefit to the discourse by explicating a more concrete and detailed understanding on
the non economic performance generating mechanisms of MO.
With regard to theoretical implications, the findings from this study appear to be
somewhat contrary to Western based studies, including the contention by Harris (1998)
that the dimensions of MO may not be applicable in the small business context, and the
conclusions of Blankson and Omar (2002) and Stokes (2002) that small business owner
manager has limited conceptualisation of marketing and therefore, thinks of marketing
only in terms of promotion.
The study also provides some initial support to Sheth (2011) contention that emerging
markets are different from mature markets in terms of social structural characteristics
and business practices and that these markets are less likely to use MO as a competitive
strategy. By exploring social structural consequences of MO in the Botswana context,
the present study extends the works of several researchers who have called attention to
the difficulties and challenges that businesses might face in developing and
implementing MO in different cultural contexts ( Harris,1996; Nwankwo, 2004; Nakata
and Sivakumar, 2001;Shehu and Mahmood 2014).The emerging markets offer a
valuable opportunity to both academics and practitioners to test existing marketing
theory and practice advanced in mature and developed economies.
The overall MO was found to have significant and positive effect on team spirit and
customer satisfaction of small businesses which resonates with extant literature, (Kohli
and Jaworski 1990). The theoretical implication of this study is the evidence that it
provides for the important role of intangible business variables such as non economic
outcomes of MO on small businesses in strategy implementation.
From the above discussion it follows that MO makes a good case for exploring how
managers make sense of a well known concept, including to what extent their
understanding overlaps with the intended meaning of the theoretical concept. It should
thus be noted that researchers have yet to arrive at a consensus definition of the
meaning of MO. However, the research literature agrees on several important points. For
example, all studies of MO hold that a focus on customers’ needs and wants is the core
element of MO. Competitors are also usually included in the domain of the concept
(Narver and Slater,1990;Jaiyeoba, Marandu and Kealesitse 2015). Another important
point is that most studies have adopted an information processing perspective on MO
(Kohli and Jaworski,1990; Asikhia 2010). This implies that market oriented businesses
stand out in their ability to collect, interpret, disseminate, and respond to information
about customers and competitors.
From a theoretical perspective, these findings reinforce the research position stressing
the role of the employees in the MO relationship and the operational level of the
business incorporating new evidence into this emerging field of study. In addition, the
attitude of the people who make up the business such as management and employees
represent essential factor in the development of a true MO in so far as the business
Proceedings of Annual South Africa Business Research Conference
11 - 12 January 2016, Taj Hotel, Cape Town, South Africa, ISBN: 978-1-922069-95-5
leaders have power to shift business systems and structures in favour of the employees
to initiate market oriented behaviours. The study has thus made a modest contribution to
theoretical development by highlighting the relevance of MO, which may indeed be a
precondition for small success and survival in Botswana.
In terms of theoretical contributions, this study added to existing literature by expanding
and testing some limits of MO’s influence on owner managers and employees
perceptions and behaviour. The study also found support for owner manager’s MO mind
set among small businesses in Botswana. This study thus posit that MO provides clear
and consistent direction for small business management’s commitment to the small
business goals of serving customers which is inextricably related to lower levels of role
conflict and ambiguity among small businesses. Therefore, for owner managers while
conveying market information to its employees, the challenge is for managers to provide
the climate with the right amount of emphasis on the long term horizon while attaining
the necessary short term goals.
On the basis of the strong role that MO theoretically plays in generating superior
customer value. This empirical study confirms that MO is positively and significantly
related to business performance of small businesses in Botswana. Therefore as a
business strengthens its MO, it increases its opportunities to create superior customer
value, which may manifest itself in increases in sales to new and current customers and
increases in performance of small businesses. However, when a business does not
create superior value for prospective customers, it gives them no reason to purchase its
products. Also, when a business does not create superior value for current customers, it
gives them no reason to continue to purchase its products. A poor alignment with
prospective customers and a poor relationship with current customers reduce revenues
and increase costs.
The results help us advance toward a contingency theory on MO in developing countries.
The developing countries institutional context ( socioeconomic, regulative, and cultural)
shape
consumer preferences for market oriented
behaviours and employee
preferences to engage in them, suggesting potential boundary conditions for MO theory
in emerging markets including Botswana.
The study contributes to the extant MO literature where there is paucity of empirical
studies investigating the role of intangible business variables, among small businesses.
Therefore, future research should consider using integrative approaches to create new
insights to the complex relationships between strategy and other business constructs.
This study thus identifies some important contingency factors enriching the literature on
MO. The empirical context of this study is quite novel and useful for businesses
intending to operate in emerging economies such as Botswana most especially among
small businesses.
The empirical results provide several implications for the managers of small businesses
in Botswana. Managers should not myopically focus on improving one perspective of MO
in isolation in order to generate creative marketing programmes among small
businesses in Botswana. Instead, managers should learn that the combination of
particular dimensions of MO would provide a business competitive advantage through a
generation of novel or meaningful incentives for marketing programmes. The study
results show that MO has a significant effect on employees’ business commitment, team
Proceedings of Annual South Africa Business Research Conference
11 - 12 January 2016, Taj Hotel, Cape Town, South Africa, ISBN: 978-1-922069-95-5
spirit, customer satisfaction and repeat customers. Apart from adding to the body of
literature on small business MO, owner managers may reappraise the factors or
strategies within the context of their aims and objectives by employing and or
benchmarking the strategies in their marketing practices. More specifically, the findings
reported here suggest that owner managers may develop different marketing
deliberations based on their skills, experiences and motivations (Harris and Ogbonna,
2001; Dubihlela 2013).
The high impact of MO on non economic performance suggests that managers should
not neglect the role of MO in delivering superior results. They must bring in practices
enhancing the market sensing and relating capabilities of their units. Regular gathering
of market information from current, potential and lost customers so as to make decisions
based on them enhances MO. The marketing departments of small business could play
a catalyst role in information gathering as well as in interfunctional coordination resulting
in greater information dissemination and response.
This study offers important contributions for both researchers and managers in the field
of service innovation. MO, as an inter-firm phenomenon, may therefore, favour the
design of MO strategies that offer superior value to the market. This study thus identifies
MO as an element that fosters interfunctional strategies among small businesses in
Botswana.
Additionally, there are important implications for service managers most especially
among small businesses in Botswana. Hence, businesses that are more market oriented
will obtain higher levels of customer perception of service quality, achieving a
sustainable competitive advantage. There is a need to also increase the level of
knowledge of the customers’ need and preferences so as to adjust service assets to
customer to customer expectations. In order to do so, MO sets forth the essential
guidelines to be established in the firm at an operational level, increasing the efficiency
and effectiveness of its marketing actions.
The results of this study should encourage small businesses managers, who must
constantly combat the cost advantages of large businesses to focus on strengths allied
with MO such as innovation, value co-creation, employee engagement and customer
centric initiatives. In fact the study model indicates that MO has a significant effect on
employee and customer consequences in Botswana.
Thus, marketers and managers need to focus on customers and employees motivation
in order to improve the performance of small businesses in Botswana. It is thus critical
for small businesses in Botswana to get support from employees from all ranks to
successfully facilitate the market oriented activities. The competition landscape,
changing tastes and preferences of customers has been dramatically altered in recent
years. Such dramatic turbulence underscore the need for managers of small businesses
to understand their target market and respond to their respective target market needs
strategically. The business implications of this study are determined by the stakeholder
orientation and its requirements to consider the different agents that may have any
influence on the performances of the business. In this context, managers are required to
develop an employee orientation from a perspective typical of marketing.
Proceedings of Annual South Africa Business Research Conference
11 - 12 January 2016, Taj Hotel, Cape Town, South Africa, ISBN: 978-1-922069-95-5
As for MO, since the customer focus and employee empowerment are the most
important practices, small businesses should take into consideration and formulate
plans on how to enhance customer focus and employee empowerment. Small
businesses should emphasise continuous customer satisfaction assessment and also
assess the current trends so as to increase the satisfaction level among customers.
Employee empowerment can be enhanced by using teams. Teams like work groups,
task teams, functional teams, and self management teams in organisation should be
empowered to manage their work and therefore make faster and constructive decisions
for businesses.
The findings of this study have implications for policy makers, practitioners (owners and
managers) and other stakeholders. The government quests of finding solution to the
problems of small businesses in Botswana should not only concentrate on finance, but
strategies to training and orientating small businesses on the critical role of marketing to
their development. The results of the study suggest that the owners and managers
should allow their products and services to emerge out of a customer’s need.
Coordinated marketing is an important strategy that ensures high performance within the
business, the positive relationship between inter-functional coordination and
performance within the small businesses indicate that by working together, employees
and owners or managers would be able to provide superior goods and services to
customers.
7. Limitations and Further Research Direction
Although this study provided relevant and interesting insights into the understanding of
the role of MO on non economic performance amongst small businesses in Botswana. It
is important to recognise the limitations associated with the study.
From the methodological point of view, the non-probabilistic sample data collection
procedure may impose some limitations to the external validity of the findings.
Moreover, since it is a cross-sectional data, the results might not be interpreted as a
proof of a causal relationship but rather lending support to the previous causal scheme.
Also, this study’s results are based on small businesses that were included based on
snowball sampling. Therefore, the study’s findings have limited generalisability and may
not be extended to other environments. Service providers will greatly benefit from such
a framework that embraces the marketing orientation construct and service
performance. Research emphasising MO concepts as they relate to the service sector
most especially small businesses is sparse. Clearly, more conceptual and empirical
research needs to be conducted to expand the MO philosophy from product marketer to
service provider in Botswana. Another limitation is the synthesis of the sample for small
businesses. The focus of this study in Botswana was restrained to first line personnel
from a single service industry among small businesses. Again, its application and
examination with back office personnel and, also in the non service context should
precede its adoption and, clearly future research towards this direction is also
imperative.
In terms of research direction, the transferability of the MO concept into the service
context therefore poses two key questions. The first one is how to assess the extent of
MO quantitatively yet comparatively for different markets. The second one is how to
improve managerial relevance of results by assuring a more holistic, yet practical insight
Proceedings of Annual South Africa Business Research Conference
11 - 12 January 2016, Taj Hotel, Cape Town, South Africa, ISBN: 978-1-922069-95-5
into this concept. This dilemma clearly shows methodological implications of MO
conceptualisation. Namely, if MO is understood as an implicit or planned strategy, only
owner managers responsible for strategy development can assess it. If MO is defined
as set of manifest business activities, employees who are responsible and perform
these activities are more adequate as the target population. But, if MO is conceived as
implementation of the marketing concept, customer perception is decisive. Then
customers should be considered as (final) assessors as applied in the study of Brady
and Cronin (2001). Therefore the researchers in this empirical study strongly advise that
future studies should take customers into consideration as assessors of MO in small
businesses. Thus, the issue of implementation and improvement in MO most especially
among small businesses in the service industry is worth some attention from a
theoretical standpoint. The proposed modified approach is therefore theoretically
grounded and empirically tested, but analytically not fully verified, remaining a challenge
for future research in this field of study. Additional work here is especially needed in
exploring the psychometric nomenclature of the MO construct in the service industry
Another research direction is to probe into the different MO application between large
companies and small and medium sized businesses. This could be a very insightful and
interesting theme in future researches. Another research direction is to explore other
mediating variables between MO and small business non economic performance. Such
kind of research can greatly help small businesses to adopt appropriate actions and
change programs to implement MO strategy.
Some other interesting directions for future research also spring from this study. One
direction relates to the need of constructing a single measurement of marketing
orientation that will comprise both the attitudinal and behavioural dimensions of the
marketing concept. Such measure would facilitate further research in the field of
marketing and specifically the investigation of relationships and or causalities between
the adoption of MO and other managerial considerations.
8. Conclusions
This study has sought to contribute further to knowledge concerning MO and non
economic performance by applying the established model to small businesses in
Botswana under somewhat unique circumstances. Based on the findings, the
synthesised MO model is applicable to small businesses in Botswana with different
cultural and political system as compared with the western world. The study findings
has thus increase confidence in the cross cultural applicability of MO model. Of course,
this study must be replicated in other diverse market environments and over time to
increase the generalisability of the theory. Understanding more about business
strategies in Botswana can be enormously helpful for businesses interested in
collaborating and or competing with Batswana businesses most especially in the service
industry.
The study findings generally resonate with the results of Jaworski and Kohli (1993) as
well as Narver and Slater (1990) and Shehu and Mahmood (2014). It also offers one
more support for the robustness of Jaworski and Kohli’s (1993) model. However, a
closer look into the results reveals some interesting insights. These results indicate that
upper management’s ability to enhance operational efficiencies of small businesses
may lie in the focused efforts to develop and embrace a business wide commitment to
Proceedings of Annual South Africa Business Research Conference
11 - 12 January 2016, Taj Hotel, Cape Town, South Africa, ISBN: 978-1-922069-95-5
MO. To complement these efforts, special attention and resource allocation must be
committed to the overall educational opportunities of small business employees,
including membership and participation in seminars, workshops, conferences and other
development programmes. A focus on unique and novel approaches to achieving
customer satisfaction and the proactive search for, and development of, new markets
also are recommended.
This study thus provides an ability to generalise from previous primary research about
the consequences of MO. As discussed in the introduction, our potential goals
materialised. MO therefore affects business performance and has behavioural
consequences. These impacts survived the test of multiple context for studies of MO in
enhancing our confidence in the generalisability of its impact on small business
performance in the service industry. Moreover, managerially important and as yet
untested, the positive impact of MO on performance might be greater than previously
assumed because of its indirect impact on performance through business commitment
and esprit de corps. Therefore managers should expect more from investing in
implementing and strengthening MO in their businesses.
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