Investigating the impact of market orientation on the performance of furniture and home decoration manufacturing companies in Khormadasht industrial town of Tehran

Dissertation for Master's Degree in Executive Management

Marketing and Export Orientation

December 2013

Abstract:

Market orientation and its impact on business performance is one of the important topics in market and customer management. In the current research, we examined the relationship between market orientation and performance in furniture and home decoration manufacturing companies in Khormadasht Industrial Estate, Tehran, where the statistical population of the research was experts and managers of the companies. From the target statistical population, 120 people were selected by stratified random sampling, and the questionnaire was distributed among them, and 104 questionnaires were collected and analyzed. To investigate the relationship between market orientation and (customer) performance, Tessi et al. The results of the research were measured and to analyze the questionnaire data, the Smirnov-Kolmogorov test and the Pearson and Chirgi correlation tests were used. was used The results of the research showed that there is a meaningful relationship between market orientation and performance, at the same time inter-departmental coordination has the greatest impact on performance and competition and customer orientation have the greatest impact on performance. And this shows that in general  Market orientation plays an important role in improving company performance. Chapter One

Research Overview

1-1 Introduction

Today, the success of companies and institutions depends on their understanding of customers, competitors and other factors affecting the market. The needs and demands of customers are always changing, and understanding these changes is vital for the success of companies. On the other hand, the competitors are also looking to attract more customers and will not spare any efforts in this way. Also, changes in market conditions and rules, including technological changes, have an impact on the success of institutions in the market. Knowing and predicting these factors and providing a suitable solution to deal with them plays a key role in the success of the institution in the target markets. Therefore, orientation to the market and customer needs is the first characteristic of new marketing.

Successful managers are those who keep their organization in sync with the current conditions. This synchronization is possible when the employees and managers accept the issue of orientation to the market as a culture and vision and customer satisfaction is the focus of the company's activities in order to satisfy the needs of the customers. In the meantime, the manufacturers must try to establish a relationship between what they offer and the needs of the people and try to produce a product that fulfills the needs of the customers and is in line with their demands. Among the competing organizations, the organizations that are able to better meet the needs of the customers certainly have a higher performance level. The research conducted in the years 1987 to 1990 shows a positive relationship between orientation to the market and the company's performance.

Other researches conducted in the same field show that market orientation has many social and psychological benefits for the organization's employees and creates a positive attitude in employees through giving importance to them and employee participation. In the organization's decisions, and moreover, for organizations to operate in a competitive environment, market orientation is a requirement. Organizations that operate in turbulent markets need to change and adapt their products in accordance with these changes, and on the contrary, stable markets do not require such a necessity. In this research, based on the view of Naror and Slater, customerism, competitiveness and inter-task coordination are considered as dimensions of market orientation, and the contribution of each of the components and also  The impact of market orientation on the customer performance of furniture and home decoration manufacturing companies in Khormadasht industrial town of Tehran is investigated. 1-2-Statement of the problem By comparing the approaches of researchers in the field of market orientation to this issue, we can conclude that a number of them consider market orientation as the result of implementing the marketing concept in the organization.In this sense, a market-oriented company is a company that is more sensitive to the market and establishes stronger relationships with customers and uses these abilities to make the organization more profitable. (Pedro Rainer Lara and Emma Demoza Vasquez; 2004).

The concept of market orientation, which is the basis of modern marketing, states that a company will achieve more profits if it knows the needs of customers and satisfies them better than its competitors.

RA Hines believes that the concept of marketing is a discussion only at the level of managers, while Kohli and Jaworski (1990) have considered the concept of marketing as a business philosophy and market orientation is the implementation of this

An important part of the marketing orientation literature is related to the study of the degree of implementation of the marketing concept in the organization. According to the concept of marketing, the most important element of market orientation is customer orientation. Contrary to the emphasis of researchers and consumers and the need to pay special attention to customers; The managers of the companies emphasize on the competitors. Therefore, the managers should be considered competitor oriented. The difference in focusing on the components of market orientation between managers and researchers clarifies the difference in public attitude towards market orientation and shows the importance of each component. According to these points, some researchers have considered market orientation as a problem beyond customer orientation and have considered other factors such as competitors and government laws. According to these people, market orientation considers the entire organization, while the concept of marketing focuses on the activities of the marketing department, and according to the mentioned points, market orientation can be considered a complex concept, the success of its implementation in the organization is related to the successful implementation of marketing. While the performance of an organization based on the concept of marketing is not necessarily a proof of its being market-oriented. Until the mid-1950s, the traditional view of the market was that the key to profitability was more sales volume. Therefore, the responsibility of marketing was to sell as many products as possible (Webster, 1988; 56). Marketing methods  It mainly focused on the short-term time horizon of the tactical processes of personal selling, advertising and sales promotion. In this sense, short-term time horizon to long-term time horizon  And tactical sales marketing approaches turned into strategic sales marketing approaches, and the desire of business organizations was also focused on the detailed examination of consumer and customer needs. The concept of marketing became the ruling philosophy of business enterprises, and the term market orientation It was used to implement the marketing concept. (McCutty; 1984; 97).

Numerous studies show that there is a positive relationship between market orientation and business performance, market orientation and improvement of employee attitudes, and market orientation with sales force and customer satisfaction.

Market orientation is actually  One aspect of organizational culture is where employees place the highest value on company profitability and customer retention through superior value creation. Market orientation is one of the main and important topics in market and customer management and has a direct relationship with the business performance of the organization and a business unit. Nowadays, the success of companies depends on their knowledge of customers and competitors and other factors affecting the market. Market and customer needs are changing. Market-oriented companies have a competitive advantage in the speed of responding to market and customer needs and act effectively in response to market opportunities and threats. The central value in market orientation is that it prepares the organization to deal with new business conditions and can obtain the necessary information from the market and prepare itself to respond to the needs of the market. Market orientation is one of the abilities and capabilities that allow companies (Di; 1994; 178) to gain a strong positional advantage. In other words, market orientation is perceived as a philosophy and behavior towards determining and understanding the needs of target customers and the adaptability of the sales organization's response in order to meet those needs better than competitors and thus create a competitive advantage. The concept of market orientation actually has marketing foundations (James and Segarnava; 2007; 298) which refers to the state of mental participation or business management philosophy based on integration and coordination to meet customer needs. Market orientation is a central foundation of marketing.