Implications of market orientation on the environmental transformation of industrial firms

Abstract This article examines the role of industrial firms' market orientation as a moderator of the economic–ecologic conflict. Specifically, the authors consider the effect of industrial firms’ market orientation on perceptions of the environmental pressure exerted by stakeholders and the environmental practices implemented in response to that pressure. Because market orientation is related to the collection and assessment of and response to opportunities and threats, market orientation should act as a driver of perceptions of and responses to environmental pressures exerted by stakeholders. An empirical analysis of a sample of Spanish industrial firms shows that market orientation is linked to more intense perceptions of pressure from nongovernmental stakeholders. However, the results are not conclusive with respect to the relationship between market orientation and the intensity of the response to environmental pressures characterized by the implementation of environmental practices.

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

[2]  M. Drumwright.  Socially Responsible Organizational Buying: Environmental Concern as a Noneconomic Buying Criterion , 1994 .

[3]  Sandra Rothenberg,et al.  Green Schemes: Corporate Environmental Strategies and Their Implementation , 1997 .

[4]  Sanjay Sharma,et al.  Proactive corporate environmental strategy and the development of competitively valuable organizational capabilities , 1998 .

[5]  Óscar González-Benito,et al.  Cultural vs. operational market orientation and objective vs. subjective performance: Perspective of production and operations , 2005 .

[6]  Linda C. Angell,et al.  Integrating environmental issues into the mainstream: an agenda for research in operations management , 1999 .

[7]  M. Clarkson.  A Stakeholder Framework for Analyzing and Evaluating Corporate Social Performance , 1995 .

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

[9]  Kenneth B. Kahn.  Market orientation, interdepartmental integration, and product development performance , 2001 .

[10]  C. Prahalad,et al.  Competing for the Future , 1994 .

[11]  Katy Mason,et al.  Pitfalls in evaluating market orientation: an exploration of executives' interpretations , 2005 .

[12]  R. Freeman.  Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach , 2010 .

[13]  P. Antunes,et al.  Stakeholder participation in the design of environmental policy mixes , 2006 .

[14]  S. Wheelwright,et al.  Restoring Our Competitive Edge: Competing Through Manufacturing , 1984 .

[15]  Lata Gangadharan,et al.  Environmental compliance by firms in the manufacturing sector in Mexico , 2006 .

[16]  D. Rondinelli,et al.  Proactive corporate environmental management: A new industrial revolution , 1998 .

[17]  Perry Sadorsky,et al.  The Relationship Between Environmental Commitment and Managerial Perceptions of Stakeholder Importance , 1999 .

[18]  François A. Carrillat,et al.  A meta-analysis of the relationship between market orientation and business performance: evidence from five continents , 2004 .

[19]  M. Russo,et al.  A Resource-Based Perspective On Corporate Environmental Performance And Profitability , 1997 .

[20]  Timothy J. Brennan,et al.  “Green” preferences as regulatory policy instrument , 2006 .

[21]  Alan C.B. Tse,et al.  Market orientation and business performance in a Chinese business environment , 2003 .

[22]  R. Blum,et al.  A cross-cultural study , 1969 .

[23]  Tom Connor,et al.  Customer‐led and market‐oriented: a matter of balance , 1999 .

[24]  John C. Narver,et al.  The Effect of a Market Orientation on Business Profitability , 1990 .

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

[26]  Bernard J. Jaworski,et al.  Market orientation: The construct, research propositions, and managerial implications. , 1990 .

[27]  Spiros Gounaris,et al.  Internal-market orientation and its measurement , 2006 .

[28]  Nigel Roome,et al.  Developing environmental management strategies , 1992 .

[29]  R. Klassen,et al.  The impact of environmental management on firm performance , 1996 .

[30]  James M. Sinkula,et al.  The synergistic effect of market orientation and learning orientation on organizational performance , 1999 .

[31]  Petra Christmann.  Effects of “Best Practices” of Environmental Management on Cost Advantage: The Role of Complementary Assets , 2000 .

[32]  Andreas R. Ziegler,et al.  Integrated Product Policy and Environmental Product Innovations: An Empirical Analysis , 2007 .

[33]  R. Handfield,et al.  ‘Green’ value chain practices in the furniture industry , 1997 .

[34]  Kendall Roth,et al.  Why Companies Go Green: A Model of Ecological Responsiveness , 2000 .

[35]  M. J. Á. Gil,et al.  An analysis of environmental management, organizational context and performance of Spanish hotels , 2001 .

[36]  J. Aragón-Correa.  RESEARCH NOTES. STRATEGIC PROACTIVITY AND FIRM APPROACH TO THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT. , 1998 .

[37]  John C. Narver,et al.  Strategic Management Journal Research Notes and Communications Customer-led and Market-oriented: Let's Not Confuse the Two , 2022 .

[38]  Joseph O. Rentz,et al.  A conceptual and empirical comparison of three market orientation scales , 2005 .

[39]  Kirk L. Wakefield,et al.  Eco-Orientation: An Extension of Market Orientation in an Environmental Context , 2000 .

[40]  David T. Wilson,et al.  A Longitudinal Study of the Impact of Market Structure, Firm Structure, Strategy, and Market Orientation Culture on Dimensions of Small-Firm Performance , 1996 .

[41]  G. Luffman,et al.  Determining the scope and impact of market orientation profiles on strategy implementation and performance , 2003 .

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

[43]  Ulrich Guntram,et al.  Responding to the environmental challenge , 1992 .

[44]  John C. Narver,et al.  Market‐oriented is more than being customer‐led , 1999 .

[45]  Yadong Luo,et al.  Determinants of local responsiveness: perspectives from foreign subsidiaries in an emerging market , 2001 .

[46]  E. Iyer,et al.  Corporate Environmentalism: Antecedents and Influence of Industry Type , 2003 .

[47]  Bernard J. Jaworski,et al.  Market orientation: Antecedents and consequences , 1993 .

[48]  A. Verbeke,et al.  Proactive environmental strategies: a stakeholder management perspective , 2003 .

[49]  Paul A. Zandbergen,et al.  Ecologically Sustainable Organizations: An Institutional Approach , 1995 .

[50]  Haw‐Jan Wu,et al.  Environmentally responsible logistics systems , 1995 .

[51]  Bernard J. Jaworski,et al.  Market orientation in United States and Scandinavian companies. A cross-cultural study , 1996 .

[52]  Joseph Sarkis.  Manufacturing’s role in corporate environmental sustainability ‐ Concerns for the new millennium , 2001 .

[53]  Stephen Fineman,et al.  GREEN STAKEHOLDERS: INDUSTRY INTERPRETATIONS AND RESPONSE* , 1996 .

[54]  Gordon R. Foxall,et al.  Multiple Stakeholder Orientation in UK Companies and the Implications for Company Performance , 1997 .

[55]  David Berkowitz,et al.  Market Orientation and New Product Development in Global Industrial Firms , 2000 .

[56]  Jeanne Liedtka,et al.  Corporate social responsibility: A critical approach , 1991 .

[57]  R. Lamming,et al.  THE ROLE OF SUPPLY MANAGEMENT CAPABILITIES IN GREEN SUPPLY , 2001 .

[58]  John B. Unipan,et al.  Green Buying: The Influence of Environmental Concern on Consumer Behavior , 1997 .

[59]  A. Campbell,et al.  Corporate strategy: The quest for parenting advantage , 1995 .

[60]  Lucie K. Ozanne,et al.  Challenges of the “green imperative”: a natural resource-based approach to the environmental orientation–business performance relationship , 2005 .

[61]  Gordon R. Foxall,et al.  External moderation of associations among stakeholder orientations and company performance , 1998 .

[62]  Clayton M. Christensen,et al.  CUSTOMER POWER, STRATEGIC INVESTMENT, AND THE FAILURE OF LEADING FIRMS , 1996 .

[63]  Gordon E. Greenley,et al.  Market orientation in a multiple stakeholder orientation context: implications for marketing capabilities and assets , 2005 .

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

[65]  Stanley F. Slater,et al.  Additional Thoughts on the Measurement of Market Orientation: A Comment on Deshpande and Farley , 1998 .

[66]  Michael E. Porter,et al.  Green and Competitive : Ending the Stalemate , 1996 .

[67]  Christian Homburg,et al.  A Multiple-Layer Model of Market-Oriented Organizational Culture: Measurement Issues and Performance Outcomes , 2000 .

[68]  S. Hunt,et al.  The Comparative Advantage Theory of Competition , 1995 .

[69]  Rohit Deshpandé,et al.  The Market Orientation Construct: Correlations, Culture, and Comprehensiveness , 1998 .

[70]  François A. Carrillat,et al.  A meta-analysis of the relationship between market orientation and business performance: evidence from five continents , 2004 .

[71]  Ad J. de Ron,et al.  Sustainable production: The ultimate result of a continuous improvement , 1998 .

[72]  Joseph Sarkis,et al.  Manufacturing strategy and environmental consciousness , 1995 .

[73]  Fred Langerak,et al.  An Appraisal of Research on the Predictive Power of Market Orientation , 2003 .

[74]  J. Aragón-Correa.  Strategic proactivity and firm approach to the natural environment , 1998 .

[75]  Mahesh Gupta,et al.  Environmental management and its impact on the operations function , 1995 .

[76]  Kee-hung Lai,et al.  Market orientation in quality-oriented organizations and its impact on their performance , 2003 .

[77]  Robert D. Klassen,et al.  Environmental Management in Operations: The Selection of Environmental Technologies* , 1999 .