The marketing concept is posited as the philosophical foundation of the marketing disciplines and market orientation invariably refer to the operationalisation of the marketing concept into a management orientation. Engaging in marketing activities may be important but market orientation is a vital ingredient in determining an institutional success, despite inherent barriers towards its successful implementation. A higher education institution (HEI) can be market oriented only if it understand its market. This study was conducted with the main objective of seeking to establish Universities of Technology (UoTs) implementation levels of market orientation, possible barriers to market orientation and their influence on university performance. A non-probability sampling method (convenience sampling) was used in the study. The sampling frame for the study included full-time employed academics in all six UoTs in South Africa. Pre-testing and a pilot study preceded the main survey and reliabilities were measured using the Cronbach alpha coefficients. Out of 1250 questionnaires sent to participating institutions, a total of 528 responses were received and this resulted in a return rate of 42.24% for the main study. The statistical analysis of the collected data included exploratory factor analysis, descriptive statistical analysis, correlation analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling to test the posited hypotheses. The findings of the study supported the predetermined theoretical and the empirical objectives as well as the hypotheses of the study. The findings further indicated that the market orientation of UOTs in South Africa was determined by seven fundamental factors within the institutions being market intelligence generation, interfunctional coordination, customer orientation, market intelligence dissemination, intelligence response design, intelligence response implementation and interdepartmental dynamics. Furthermore, three key barriers to market orientation were identified, namely internal, external and organisational environmental factors. In addition, the study also found a significant impact of market orientation on university performance as consistent with previous market orientation studies undertaken in other contexts. Recommendations emanating from the study will address various concerns on effective incorporation of the market orientation paradigm. Commitment and communication from top management to all units to support market orientation is critical. The support of those making strategic decisions is needed to garner the necessary support of other employees in UoTs, especially top and senior management buy-in and support. Marketing information generation should be a starting point when developing or adapting marketing strategies. HEIs should realise that marketing information dissemination is an effective way to reach prospective students and to create credible and persuasive communication channels. The development of a marketing strategy should also involve the inter-functional coordination and interdepartmental dynamics that enables HEIs to meet students’ needs and enhance service delivery to all its stakeholders. Key aspects that need to be prioritised includes: establishment of structures for marketing coordination, marketing efforts to be driven by teams to bring about synergy and cross fertilisation of ideas across departments and marshalling of resources in order to improve performance of all business units. Managers in different HEIs can also enhances performance of their instituions by implementing these key recommendations. This study will significantly contribute to the critical challenge facing HEIs, being to create the combination of the culture and the climate that maximises organisational learning, resources and capabilities to create superior university performance that is prescribed by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DoHET). Other HEIs could learn from this study and utilise the research to diagnose and remedy barriers within their operational spheres.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar a incorporação de temas societais à orientação para o mercado de uma organização, buscando discutir como a orientação das empresas em marketing pode evoluir para o conceito de marketing holístico. Por meio da revisão bibliográfica buscou-se fazer uma análise de vários temas ligados ao comportamento estratégico de uma organização, trazendo uma reflexão sobre a evolução das orientações adotadas possíveis, destacando, em especial, a orientação para o mercado, com sua análise em clientes e concorrentes. Também foram discutidos conceitos ligados à atuação responsável das organizações como a responsabilidade social corporativa, o marketing societal, a análise de públicos interessados, além da teoria dos stakeholders e governança corporativa. Foi realizada uma pesquisa empírica exploratória, do tipo estudo de caso, na qual se buscou verificar como uma organização orientada para o mercado pode trabalhar os demais conceitos discutidos na revisão bibliográfica em seu posicionamento. Além disso, foi feito um estudo de quão alinhada ao conceito de marketing holístico a organização está. O trabalho contribui para verificar que, no caso estudado, conceitos societais e de atuação socialmente responsável podem coexistir com a orientação para o mercado, contribuindo para a entrega de valor superior ao cliente e a avaliação positiva por sua parte da atuação da empresa. A pesquisa também evidenciou que as dimensões do marketing holístico estão presentes na organização estudada, mostrando alinhamento com o questionamento proposto neste trabalho. / The purpose of this work was study the association of societal themes to the market orientation of an organization, discussing how the companies marketing orientation can evolve to the concept of holistic marketing. The theory included in this study supported an analysis of several themes related to the strategic behavior of an organization, allowing a deeper thought about the evolution of the adopted orientations, especially market orientation. Furthermore, some concepts related to the responsible acting of the companies were discussed, as corporate social responsibility, societal marketing, analysis of publics of interest, as well as stakeholder theory and corporative governance. An exploratory research was made – a case study – aiming to verify how a market-driven organization can apply in its market positioning the others topics discussed in the present study. Besides, it was made a study of how much aligned the organization is to the marketing holistic theory. The research showed that, in the case studied, the societal concepts and the socially responsible behavior coexist with the market orientation positioning, helping to provide superior value to the customers and to improve their positive evaluation of the organization. The research also proved that the holistic marketing dimensions exist at the studied company, showing alignment with the questioning of this study.

O objetivo do presente estudo é analisar a importância do marketing de relacionamento para a estratégia competitiva de orientação para mercado, com foco em organizações business to business. Para atingir tal objetivo, foram estudados aspectos do processo de formação estratégica nas empresas, assim como os aspectos das estratégias de crescimento e competitiva. Alinhado ao estudo das estratégias competitivas, foi estudada a teoria de orientação para mercado e a importância do desenvolvimento do marketing de relacionamento em mercados altamente competitivos, para a obtenção de desempenho superior de uma empresa em relação a seus concorrentes. Para complementar e enriquecer o estudo, foi realizada uma pesquisa de campo por meio de um estudo de caso no mercado empresarial de inseminação animal, com foco no mercado de bovinos. A empresa estudada foi a IVP do Brasil, empresa líder de mercado que detém 90% de participação comercializando produtos para inseminação animal da IMV Technologies, multinacional francesa. A pesquisa de campo foi conduzida junto à empresa e a um grupo de clientes. Os principais resultados indicam que a liderança da empresa se dá em função de seu alto desempenho no principal fator-chave de sucesso do mercado em que atua. A crescente concorrência, tanto em quantidade quanto em valor ofertado, exige que a empresa desenvolva ações de intimidade com seus clientes, se desejar continuar na liderança deste mercado. / The purpose of this study is to analyze the importance of relationship marketing for competitive strategy of market orientation, with focus on business to business organizations. To achieve this goal, some topics were investigated in detail, such as the strategic building process in companies and the growth and competitive strategies. Subsequent to the study of competitive strategy the market orientation theory was also studied as the importance of the development of relationship marketing in high competitive markets, to achieve superior performance. As a complementary study that enriches the investigations, a field research was conducted as a case study in the animal insemination business market, with focus on the cow market. The company studied was IVP of Brazil, leader in this market with 90% market share, trading animal insemination products from IMV Technologies, a French multinational company. The field research was conducted in collaboration with the company and involving a group of their customers. The main results point to the fact that the company leadership is a result of its high performance in the major key success factor of the market, under consideration. As the competition with quality grows more efficiently, the company must develop customer intimacy strategies, if it would like to keep its leadership in this market.

A adoção do marketing na estratégia da organização encontra grande repercussão na literatura da Administração. Dentre as estratégias, a orientação para o mercado tem-se apresentado como uma forma da organização fazer frente a mercados cada vez mais competitivos. Diversas pesquisas tem demonstrado a associação da orientação para o mercado, com performances empresariais positivas, além de promover a entrega de valores superiores para seus clientes. Esta pesquisa aborda a verificação da existência de elementos e antecedentes que apontem para uma orientação para o mercado na Sicredi Sul SC, que é uma cooperativa de crédito com mais de 16 mil associados, com atuação em 9 municípios no sul do estado de Santa Catarina. Para a viabilização da pesquisa foi realizado um estudo exploratório e utilizada, como base para orientação das entrevistas, a escala MARKOR, elaborada por Kohli, Jaworski e Kumar (1993). Assim, utilizando esta escala como guia, foram realizadas 23 entrevistas, incluindo o presidente do conselho de administração, a diretoria executiva a gerência regional, assessores, gerentes gerais e administrativos das agências da cooperativa, entre os meses de maio e junho de 2017. As respostas apontaram que a Sicredi Sul SC apresenta, ainda que de forma moderada, algumas evidências de orientação para o mercado. A geração de inteligência foi o item que se destacou positivamente, já a disseminação das informações e a resposta apresentaram necessidades de avanços. Quando analisados os antecedentes para a orientação para o mercado identificou-se a oportunidade da criação de um plano de marketing que coloque a Orientação para o Mercado no centro da estratégia para que este conceito seja incorporado na cultura da cooperativa pesquisada e possibilite gerar um valor superior a seus associados. / The adoption of marketing in the strategy of the organization finds great repercussion in the administration literature. Among the strategies, the market orientation has been presented as a way to the organization face increasingly competitive markets. Several researches have demonstrated the association of market orientation with positive business performances, as well as promoting the delivery of superior values to its clients. This research aims to verify the existence of such elements and antecedents in Sicredi Sul SC, which is a credit cooperative with more than 16 thousand associates working in 9 municipalities in the south of Santa Catarina state. In this research, an exploratory study was carried out and used as a basis for the orientation of the MARKOR interviews, elaborated by Kohli, Jaworski and Kumar (1993). Thus, using this scale as a guide, 23 interviews were conducted between May and June 2017. It was interviewed the chairman of the board of directors, the regional management executive board, advisors, general and administrative managers of the cooperative agencies. Responses pointed out that Sicredi Sul SC presents an average level of market orientation, highlighting its capacity to generate market information and having to improve in the dissemination and response to the market. When analyzing the antecedents of market orientation, the opportunity was identified to the creation of a marketing plan that places market orientation at the center of the strategy, so this concept can be incorporated into the culture of the studied cooperative and allowing to generate a higher value to its associates.

Market orientation has been primarily studied as a set of firm-level behaviours linked to the: generation of, dissemination of, and responsiveness to market intelligence (market-oriented behaviours). However, it has rarely been studied under an organisational culture perspective; the investigations that have conceptualised and operationalised market-oriented organisational cultures have overlooked a market-oriented managerial mind-set dimension. A concept to help address this research gap is the firm s dominant logic, which highlights the degree to which managers assumptions are manifested into their corporate cultures. The firm s dominant logic is integrated with the market orientation literature to conceptualise and operationalise the customer value-oriented dominant logic (CVODL) construct. The CVODL construct is defined as the extent to which managers assume that creating customer value should drive performance. The CVODL construct contributes to the marketing literature by extending current conceptualisations and operationalisations of market-oriented organisational cultures through a managerial mind-set viewpoint. This doctoral study examines the link between a CVODL and managers making resource investments into the departments of their corporations that they perceive to create value for their customers (an alternative to market-oriented behaviours). Functional resource investments are studied as an alternative form of implementing the marketing concept than market-oriented behaviours. A conceptual framework was developed to conceptualise the antecedents and consequences of the CVODL under the dynamic managerial capabilities perspective. The conceptual framework was tested using a multi-industry and national-level sample of American corporations, through structural equation modelling (SEM). These results show that a CVODL drives different forms of implementing the marketing concept, namely, intelligence responsiveness and CVO functional resource investments, both of which were positively related to sales performance. The results also highlight a new driver of market-oriented behaviours under the dynamic managerial capabilities perspective. This doctoral thesis helps managers to foster a market-oriented organisational culture, as well as investigating the ways in which such corporate cultures can drive sales performance. Limitations and avenues of future research are also discussed.

Over the past two decades, research in both the management accounting and marketing disciplines has reported insightful developments, theoretically and empirically, in which both are implicated, yet research into the interface between the two disciplines remains relatively unexplored. In the management accounting literature, a strategically-orientated approach has evolved in which customers, customer satisfaction, customer value and competitive positioning have developed as key management themes requiring a re-evaluation of the existing management accounting information for decision-making. In marketing, research on �market orientation�, has emphasised similar and interrelated themes of customers, competitors, and the interfunctional coordination of organisational activities in the creation of customer value and the ascertainment and calculation of profits. Taking market orientation as a point of departure, in this thesis a conceptual framework is developed which reflects the theoretical links between management accounting and market orientation at a product decision-making level. The undertaking of two in-depth organisational case studies is reported in which market orientation and management accounting for each functional area is analysed and discussed. A greater functional and organisational emphasis on customers� vis-�-vis competitors was found as was an emphasis on informal means of information communication and coordination between functional areas. Despite consistent cross-functional understanding of customers� product-attribute needs in both case studies, the findings indicate the use of �traditional� accounting information for product-level decision-making and an absence of market-orientated accounting information. Exploration and description of the industry and organisational context in both case studies provides an insight into several factors - formality, strategic orientation, organisational structural costs and resource capability � that appear to influence market orientation and the adoption of market-orientated accounting for product decision-making.

Since its conception, the concept of ‘market orientation’ has been largely regarded as an employee-perceived phenomenon due to its focus on employees as the unit of analysis. The examination of market orientation from customer perspective (‘perceived market orientation’) remains an under-researched topic, particularly within the non-profit sector. The present study seeks to address this research gap through an investigation of the role of ‘perceived market orientation’ in affecting ‘customer participation’ with churches as the research context. The use of churches as a research context has become increasingly common in studies of non-profit and services organisations. Although the implementation of marketing techniques in the church context has been extensive, there has been little examination of the effectiveness of these methods in encouraging church participation. Consequently, previous studies in this area have failed to contribute to a theoretical understanding of how marketing can be used to motivate participation. It is thus apparent that there is a need for more research in this area to examine the potential role of concepts such as ‘perceived market orientation’ and ‘brand image’ in affecting church participation. This research incorporated two stages of research design in the form of qualitative and quantitative techniques. The qualitative phase involved in-depth interviews with Church Goers (CGs) and Non Church Goers (NCGs). Insights gained from the interviews helped the present author to incorporate relevant constructs as predictors of church participation in the conceptual framework. The quantitative phase involved the distribution of self-administered questionnaires using convenience sampling technique. CG respondents were approached through Assemblies of God (AOG) church leaders in Melbourne metropolitan and suburban areas whereas NCG respondents were recruited through newspaper advertisement. A total of 564 usable questionnaires were obtained representing 42% of the total number of respondents approached in both groups. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) were employed to establish construct reliability and validity as well as measurement invariance. Subsequently, the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique was employed to analyse the hypothesised relationships between key constructs in the conceptual framework. The results of the study indicate that ‘perceived market orientation’ plays an important role in affecting the church participation of both CG and NCG respondents. An examination of corollary hypotheses reveals that ‘interfunctional coordination’ performs the strongest effect on church participation. Further, ‘customer orientation’ was only found to be significantly associated with church participation in CG group whereas ‘competitor orientation’ was not found to be positively associated with church participation in either group of respondents. The ‘brand image’ construct in the present study was developed to examine the church’s ability in creating a unique brand identity (uniqueness), monitoring brand values (reputation), and managing brand communications (orchestration) from the perspectives of existing (CG) and prospective (NCG) members. The analysis found that ‘brand image’ is a unidimensional construct which is positively associated with ‘perceived market orientation’, ‘perceived benefits’, and ‘church participation’ in both sample groups. The study also examines the significance of ‘perceived benefits’ in affecting church participation. The construct was found to be significantly associated with church participation in both sample groups. Among the three dimensions of ‘perceived benefits’, the construct of ‘social benefits’ was found to perform the strongest effect on church participation in both sample groups. The present study offers significant practical implications for non-profit managers in general and church leaders in particular. Due to the significance of market orientation and brand image in encouraging customer participation, it is recommended that non-profit managers and church leaders embrace market orientation and brand orientation to reach out their target segments more effectively.

This thesis proposes an alternative way of establishing a link between market orientation and electoral success, by focusing on market orientation as a message instead of as a management function. Using interpretive textual analysis the thesis examines the advertising messages of the highest polling political parties for evidence of voter orientation and competitor orientation in the 1999 and 2002 New Zealand general election campaigns. Relating manifest market orientation to a number of statistical indicators of electoral success the thesis looks for plausible associations between the visual manifestation of market orientation in political advertisements and parties' achievement of their party vote goals in the 1999 and 2002 elections. It offers party-focused explanations for electoral outcomes to complement existing voter-centric explanations, and adds another level of scholarly understanding of recent electoral outcomes in New Zealand.While the thesis finds little association between demonstration of competitor orientation in political advertisements and electoral success, it finds a plausible relationship between parties that demonstrated a voter orientation in their political advertisements and goal achievement. The parties that achieved their party vote goals in 1999 and 2002 tended to demonstrate an affinity for their target voter groups by showing images of voters and their environments and images of party leaders interacting with voters. They demonstrated concern for the satisfaction of the needs of existing voters by using words of togetherness and proving they had met their previous promises. They did not change their policy or leadership messages dramatically between campaigns. There was a visual consistency to their television, print and billboard advertising messages which rendered the messages easy to recognise and remember. They were clear about what they were offering in exchange for the party vote and recognised the need to offer something in addition to previous offerings in order to attract new voters.

自從解嚴之後，臺灣地區的非營利機構如雨後春筍般出現，隨著非營利事業的成長，非營利機構對社會的影響力日漸增加，但不可避免的，其所面臨的競爭壓力也與日俱增，在此情況下，如何有效地管理非營利機構已經成為一個重要的議題，本研究嘗試從行銷的角度為非營利機構的管理提出建言，研究者希望能夠為市場導向應用在非營利機構的合理性提出理論與實證的基礎，修改營利機構市場導向的架構，使之更適用於非營利機構。 　　本研究係採用個案研究法，由文獻回顧與實務訪談的結果發展觀念架構，再由觀念架構各變數間的關係找出相關的命題，最後整理命題以得出研究的結論與建議。本研究的訪談是採用人員深度訪談，利用開放式的訪談題目針對個案機構的受訪者進行深入的訪問。 　　本研究主要是針對臺灣地區聲譽卓著、會務發展有成的非營利機構進行訪談，受訪機構包括兒童燙傷基金會、慈濟慈善基金會、陽光社會福利基金會、伊甸殘障福利基金會、消費者文教基金會、董氏基金會、人本教育基金會、耕莘文教基金會、金車教育基金會與臺灣世界展望會等十家非利機構。限於時間與資源，研究者無法將所有類型的非營利機構涵蓋在內，也未針對觀念架構進行實證研究。 　　本研究主要得到下列的結論，一是非營利機構應採行市場導向；二是非營利機構若要採行市場導向需從高階管理者能力的培養與心態的改變、強化組織內的互動、調整組織的制度等方面來著手；三非營利機構若要採行市場導向需注意理念或服務的顧客價值，並了解顧客價值是否充足。 　　另外，研究者對非營利機構提出下列的建議，一是若理念或服務缺乏正面的顧客價值，則非營利機構可利用說服、法律或社會規範等方式來讓顧客接受理念與服務；二是若顧客知識不足，則非營利機構應先教育顧客，以提升顧客知識；三是未來目標顧客與資源的競爭將日趨激烈，非營利機構對於競爭應更加重視；四是非營利機構應更加重視績效評估的工作；五是隨著組織規模的擴大，非營利機構的管理者要更加注意員工的反應；六是非營利機構應更加重視目標顧客的反應。

<p>Through the years customer orientation is an area of marketing that has received much attention. One of the key aspects of customer orientation is the “ability of the salespeople to help their customers”. There has been research on how salesperson’s behavior influences customer orientation. However, previous research has been conducted on the business unit level. At the moment there is no research done on how a salesperson’s individual behavior affects a company’s overall customer orientation. Therefore, this dissertation will try to fill the research gap on how salesperson’s individual behavior affects overall customer orientation.The study is performed on the three major electronic retail stores in the Swedish market. Twelve types of behaviors were selected and were tested with the mystery shopper method and observations of customers in the stores. Two other behaviors of salespeople were discovered. The results show that many of the behaviors described in theories do apply to salesperson’s individual behavior. However, there are some behaviors that are more common than others. The conclusion is that even though there are some common salespeople behaviors, it is very individual how salespeople behave towards customers.</p>