Is Market Orientation Affected by the Size and Diversity of Customer Networks?

Paul D. Ellis ()
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Paul D. Ellis: Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Management International Review, 2010, vol. 50, issue 3, No 3, 325-345

Abstract: Abstract The link between market orientation and firm performance is well documented. However, less is known about those factors which lead to firms being market oriented in the first place. Existing antecedent research has emphasized factors internal the firm. A complementary emphasis on external, network-specific factors is taken in this study. Data collected from a sample of international trade intermediaries reveal that market orientation is affected by both the size and diversity of firms’ customer networks and trading activities. Network diversity both promotes and hinders a market orientation. In low diversity environments, increasing levels of network and geographic diversity boost a firm’s market orientation. In high diversity environments, additional diversity confounds the interpretation of market intelligence with adverse consequences for market orientation.

Keywords: Market orientation; International trade intermediaries; Customer networks (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
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DOI: 10.1007/s11575-010-0037-0

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