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The innovation and learning perspective in market oriented service
organisations
The issue of market orientation has been developed over the past twenty years. This
topic can be approached from various perspectives (Lafferty and Hult, 2001). We
have chosen to apply the cultural perspective. One of the topics that emerges in the
discussion about market orientation is the link with the concept of a learning
organisation (Slater and Narver, 1995). Gradual changes should be a better way to
implement the idea of market orientation in a firm than radical shifts. Another issue is
the impact of the innovative character of the firm on the link between market
orientation and performance. Moreover, the ideas of learning and innovation are
closely linked together. So, our research question refers to the link between the
concepts of market orientation, the learning organisation and innovativeness. All
three concepts have relationships with the organisation’s culture. We will apply our
ideas in an empirical study in the services sector.
Market orientation
The concept
Much has been said the past twenty years about the need to be market oriented. But
why? As Day points out (1999, p. ix): “Our answer is that in an era of increasing
market turbulence and intensifying competition, a robust market orientation has
become a strategic necessity. Only with superior skills in understanding, attracting
and keeping customers can firms devise strategies that will deliver superior customer
value and keep this strategy aligned with changing market requirements.” The basic
premise is that market oriented firms perform better than firms that are not (or less)