The market orientation-performance link: the role of service reliability

Delivering what is promised has been defined in the service quality literature as the dimension of reliability. It has also been identified as the single most important dimension of service quality. The 1990s have witnessed extensive work in the marketing literature on the construct of market orientation, which has been defined as the degree to which the marketing concept is implemented. There is also considerable evidence to support a link between market orientation and performance. If service reliability is salient to customers, and customer orientation is crucial in the application of the marketing concept, then it seems logical to assume a relationship between service reliability, market orientation and performance. Surely, the market-oriented firm devotes greater attention to service reliability, and being reliable pays off? Surprisingly, these links have not been demonstrated empirically. This article seeks to address that shortfall. Specifically, we consider the role of service reliability on the market orientation-performance relationship. We begin by discussing market orientation and performance, before reviewing relevant theory on service reliability and building a model describing the interaction among the constructs. Next, we describe an empirical study of service firms in the UK, wherein we investigate the effects of service reliability on the relationship between market orientation and performance. We conclude with a discussion of the results and consider their implications for theory and practice.

[1]  John C. Narver,et al.  Does Competitive Environment Moderate the Market Orientation-Performance Relationship? , 1994 .

[2]  A. Kaldor.  Imbricative Marketing , 1971 .

[3]  P. Kotler.  A Generic Concept of Marketing , 1972 .

[4]  J. Farley,et al.  Corporate Culture, Customer Orientation, and Innovativeness in Japanese Firms: A Quadrad Analysis , 1993 .

[5]  A. Parasuraman,et al.  Refinement and reassessment of the SERVQUAL scale. , 1991 .

[6]  Gregory G. Dess,et al.  Measuring organizational performance in the absence of objective measures: The case of the privately-held firm and conglomerate business unit , 1984 .

[7]  F. Webster.  The rediscovery of the marketing concept , 1988 .

[8]  Bo Edvardsson,et al.  Quality in Service and Quality in Services Organisations : A Model for Quality Assessment , 1988 .

[9]  Leonard A. Schlesinger,et al.  Breaking the Cycle of Failure in Services , 1991 .

[10]  Robert W. Ruekert.  Developing a market orientation: An organizational strategy perspective , 1992 .

[11]  Rosann L. Spiro,et al.  The marketing concept in perspective , 1988 .

[12]  A. Caruana,et al.  The link between market orientation and performance in the Australian public sector , 1997 .

[13]  Bernard J. Jaworski,et al.  Markor: A Measure of Market Orientation , 1993 .

[14]  Bernard J. Jaworski,et al.  Market Orientation: The Construct, Research Propositions, and Managerial Implications , 1990 .

[15]  A. Felton,et al.  Making the marketing concept work , 1959 .

[16]  F. Reichheld.  Loyalty-based management. , 1993, Harvard business review.

[17]  Ke Te Le Mei Ru He Deng Yi.  Marketing management: analysis. planning. implementation and control , 2000 .

[18]  C. Grönroos.  A Service Quality Model and its Marketing Implications , 1984 .

[19]  Rohit Deshpandé,et al.  Measuring Market Orientation: Generalization and Synthesis , 1998 .

[20]  Leyland Pitt,et al.  Market orientation and business performance: some European evidence , 1996 .

[21]  A. Parasuraman,et al.  Quality counts in services, too , 1985 .

[22]  J. Pearce,et al.  The impact of grand strategy and planning formality on financial performance , 1987 .

[23]  Christian Grönroos,et al.  Service Management and Marketing: Managing the Moments of Truth in Service Competition , 1992 .

[24]  A. Parasuraman,et al.  Alternative scales for measuring service quality: A comparative assessment based on psychometric and diagnostic criteria , 1994 .

[25]  S. Macstravic.  Marketing myopia. , 1998, The Healthcare Forum journal.

[26]  A. Parasuraman,et al.  A Conceptual Model of Service Quality and Its Implications for Future Research , 1985 .

[27]  K. Seltman.  Marketing for management. , 2004, Marketing health services.

[28]  B. Snoj,et al.  Marketing aspects of service quality. , 2001 .

[29]  Albert Caruana,et al.  Assessment of the three-column format SERVQUAL : an experimental approach , 2000 .

[30]  R. Sitgreaves.  Psychometric theory (2nd ed.). , 1979 .

[31]  F. Webster.  The Changing Role of Marketing in the Corporation , 1992 .

[32]  Franklin S. Houston.  The Marketing Concept: What it is and What it is Not , 1986 .

[33]  F. F. Reichheld,et al.  Zero defections: quality comes to services. , 1990, Harvard business review.

[34]  Richard A. Heiens.  Market Orientation: Toward an Integrated Framework , 2000 .

[35]  L. Cronbach.  Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests , 1951 .

[36]  C. Grönroos.  The Marketing Strategy Continuum: Towards a Marketing Concept for the 1990s , 1991 .

[37]  A. Parasuraman,et al.  SERVQUAL: A multiple-item scale for measuring consumer perceptions of service quality. , 1988 .