Market Orientation Theory on The Greenfish Designs Limited
Introduction
Market orientation is among the strategic marketing theories with the best outcomes for most products and services being offered by manufacturers and providers (Fricke, 2007). Through market orientation culture, firms are in a position to attain better business and monetary performance in complicated market circumstances. It has also been observed that for an organization like Greenfish Design Limited: The Midnight Pebble to succeed, there should be good marketing practices in use that will, in turn, promote business performance. Through market orientation, the Midnight Pebble will hop right back in market competition.
Analysis of Market Orientation
There are two theoretical foundations on market orientation theory, the one that defines it by organizational behaviors and the other, which is based on an organizational cultural trait (Lamb, 2013). For a behavioral approach, market orientation is coming up with market intelligence that involves contemporary and future desires, spreading of intelligence across departments, and the general responsiveness of the organization towards it. More specifically, market intelligence is all the actions that are directed towards developing an understanding of customers’ present and forthcoming needs and the factors that affect them.
The cultural approach, on the other hand, is about organizational culture that is most effective and efficient in creating the essential behaviors to create superior value for buyers (Mohiuddin, 2017). Many studies done on the theory have adopted the latter approach. The wish to create superior value for customers leads to three behaviors of the organization: considering the needs of customers, analyzing the way in which competitors respond to the needs of similar customers, and the harmonized use of the organization’s resources to produce a superior value to these same customers. The three behaviors can be grouped into three main components of market orientation: customer orientation, competitor orientation, and inter-functional coordination.
The importance of market orientation operation is associated to its established effects on organizational performance (AMA Winter Educators’ Conference., & American Marketing Association, 1990). The first association is with measurement. The organizational performance measure used can be comparative to that of its key rivals or absolute. It can either be rapid or longitudinal. Also, it can be financial, commercial, or global. There is a two-source variation that the measurement of market orientation suffers from. First, are the existing measurement scales are grounded on heterogeneous methods to the theory. Therefore, a group of studies uses a cultural measure, and the other one uses a behavioral measure, and if there is a third group, it develops its own system of measurement.
When the various respondents have differences, the second source of variation is got. Differences in awareness in the same organization pertaining to the degree of organization’s market orientation have been observed within the same departments, between departments, and between hierarchical positions. In addition, there may be differences between internal awareness and external awareness. These differences may be explained by interruption between a market orientation implementation and the organizational performance benefits. Another way the difference can be explained is through problems emanating from a common variance approach, which comes up when one respondent is questioned for assessing different concepts.
As seen earlier, market orientation has two competing approaches: the cultural and the behavioral (Holt, 2002). In the debate of the dominance of one approach, the developers of the theory, Narver, and Slate said that if a market orientation was just a set of actions entirely disjointed from a basic belief system, then whatsoever the culture of an organization, a market orientation could be easily fixed by the organization whenever they wanted. However, that is not what an individual sees. Both the cultural and behavioral approaches can be combined to give a dual approach. This is achieved by looking at the connection between organizational cultural behaviors. A general definition for this provided by Deshpande and Webster states that organizational culture is the design of common beliefs and values that aid individuals get to know the organizational functioning and therefore offer them standards for behavior in the organization. The two presented a market orientation framework that integrates the culture of the market that is before the behavior reflecting it.
The operational spectrum of the theory of market orientation, as a performance influence, emphasizes, on individuals’ perspectives, the administrative significance of research dedicated to the implementation of market orientation (Deshpande, 1999). Nevertheless, studies on the implementation of market orientation are only a few. The existing approaches fall short in three areas, each of which gives the research a particular direction.
To start with, the approaches existing are at chances with the nature of the influences for the transformation of the organization. Some studies have majored on converting the system values of an organization, while others have majored on the adjustment of its progressions and actions, consequently resounding historical debates which were to establish if market orientation is cultural or behavioral in nature. From a view of implementation, it has been proposed that the value systems’ transformation should lead to a change in organizational behavior.
Second, prevailing methods are not as concise as needed for them to be operational. Therefore, some provide limited practical recommendations, while others that provide a method designed around further stages do not come up with any tools that would permit these to be presented. There are two ways that can be followed. Research dedicated to qualifications of market orientation would make it possible for approaches to be improved by identification of the organizational characteristics expected to increase the market orientation of an organization. These can be a group in three: the characteristics of the organization, characteristics of the managers, and the characteristics of the associations among the different organizational departments.
Alternatively, when possible, control of the facilitating and controlling variables of the market orientation – organizational performance relation is to aid in ensuring the benefits anticipated from a transformation of the organization in the direction of the growth of market-oriented behaviors and culture. The main idea here would be to hypothesize an explanatory model of the market-oriented behaviors transformation degree- as a reliant variable, itself being positively reliant on the market-oriented culture transformation degree – as a mediating variable, itself being positively and negatively reliant on the characters of organization, managers and various departmental relations. The expected changes should steer improvement on organizational performance if the moderators and the mediators of the market orientation – organizational performance relation are controlled.
Third, studying market orientation implementation is likely to be connected to carrying out measurement of the approach, which is applicable to both the diagnosing stage of an organization’s market orientation degree and to the stage of regulating the changes taken.
Market Orientation in Greenfish Design Limited
The Greenfish Design Limited: The Midnight Pebble is a drink coaster with a luminous clock face that glows at night. It was engineered by Dr. Phil Green of Coventry University (Homburg, 2000). The product was made to help avoid inconveniences in checking the time at night and knocking of glasses of water at the bedside at night. The Midnight Pebble is a photoluminescent clock face that absorbs light in light and emits the light as green rays in darkness. This technology behind the clock face has been found to be effective as it solves the major problems people face at night, and furthermore, the light it emits has been proven not to disrupt sleep.
The original business model of Greenfish Design produced a few units of the clocks, and small orders were made. Later on, the business was dormant for a while, and now the company is coming back to business. For it to go back to its feet and even surpass the level it reached previously, the company has to adopt a strategic marketing theory. The most effective strategic marketing plan theory chosen is a marketing orientation, which has been found to have the best outcomes when implemented appropriately.
For Greenfish Design Limited to use market orientation, they will have to create their own. The process starts with the research process. In the first step, the company will have to develop a list of six companies probably related to the Midnight Pebble product. The companies to be chosen are to give Greenfish design Limited insights on market orientation. To make the selection of the six companies, considerations have to be made, the companies to be chosen should either be at the beginning level, transformation level or have achieved, market orientation. Examples of companies that can be used in the research process are Carlton Clocks, Brookpace Lascelles, London Clock company, and other related companies. Getting information from related companies will help Greenfish in getting relevant information.
After performing the research and the ground model has been developed, one can start the four-stage model (Fricke, 2007). The first stage is the initiation. This is one part that is frequently overlooked when shifting to market orientation. The first step in this section recognizes the threat, and for this case, they are the clock companies mentioned above. The Greenfish has to be prepared for the competitors in the external. Greenfish can do this by using strategies that compare to these of the rivals or are uniquely provided they keep in the market. Greenfish is developing a strategy to market itself back into competition in the market. The company should also initiate backstage preparations for the transformation for the company operations to stay on track. The company should look at ways to increase the sales of Midnight Pebble when it makes an official comeback by assessing the preferences customers have.
The second stage is reconstitution, which involves demarcation, value and norm development, reconnecting with the market and removing dissenters and hire believers, and finally having a collaborative strategy. Demarcations are used to make the reconstitution process official to the organization and the public in general. Greenfish Designs Limited will have to set a date of the event where the transformations to take place will be officially stated. In value and norm development, the company will have to redefine its cultures and behaviors according to the desired orientation of Greenfish. It can have a norm that in all that everybody does, they should consider the impact of their actions and decisions to the market. The current desire of the company is to build a broad customer base and know their customer preferences, so they can adjust the Midnight Pebble accordingly.
During the time of change, it will be like the company is in hibernation, whereby after developing the norm and values, the company will have to reconnect with the market and keep up with the changes in the external altogether (Mohr, 2010). This will be achieved through sponsoring and events as well as exhibition shows, which will help the public to know about the Midnight Pebble. As the company starts picking up, it will be in a position to spot dissenters and remove them and proceed to hire employees that will work to achieve the vision of Greenfish. From the move, the company will have a collaborative strategy that employees and employers can work together to accomplish.
The third stage is institutionalization, which involves putting into practice everything that was developed and presented in stage two (Lamb, 2013). It comprises the aligning of business to implement the plan effectively. Greenfish will look at their current progress and will tend to make the prior developments and presentations to be in line with what the company is accomplishing. Aligning the previous developments and presentations is to meet the customer needs in the market.
The final stage is the maintenance of the market orientation. It involves making changes to the previously implemented presentations and developments. It will help to ensure the new culture stays in shape.
Conclusion
There is no doubt that Greenfish Designs will soon be back in business if they use the market orientation strategy. The method is centered on customer orientation, organizational orientation, and inter-functional orientation. The three being as a guide to develop the three critical areas in the business will aid greenfish to come back in business after a short while. The theory has two approaches that help in explanation, that is the organizational culture and behavior. In later developments, the approach of behavior was integrated into the culture approach, making the theory more comprehensive.
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