Market Orientation and Business Success of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in Port Harcourt

In theory, marketing orientation (MO) represents an established concept using a wide spectrum of approaches, methods, and tools and it may be considered as a strategy achieving sustainable competitive advantage. Although this concept has been thoroughly examined in various studies there is a research gap regarding the business success of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Port Harcourt and its environment. This paper aims to examine and evaluate the degree of marketing orientation in businesses from SMEs in Port Harcourt and its environs. Thus, to identify relationships between their marketing orientation and business success, a meta-analysis was used to explore the behavioral perspective for marketing orientation measurement using MARKOR scales as a base. It was shown from the Meta-analysis that, marketing orientation of businesses and their success on the market via chosen business performance indicators will exhibit better financial, economic, respectively market results. These findings will help businesses identify beneficial elements of marketing orientation that could be implemented to improve business success and position on the market. It was then recommended amongst others that managers should endeavor to foster a market orientation in their organizations while paying close attention to the selection of target markets and the allocation of effort among competing opportunities to maximize the potential for sales growth, customer retention, market share, and profitability. Thus, to overcome the shortcomings, future researchers should present empirical evidence, especially on a large data set on market orientation and SMEs' performance in Nigeria. Keyword: Market Orientation, Business Success of SMEs International Academy Journal of Management, Marketing & Entrepreneurial Studies asasubmitpaper@gmail.com 89 framework. It is a range of techniques, plans, strategies motivated by demand or expectations of customers which a firm should adopt to be in tune with Lb customers by understanding the desired customer value. In scientific literature, die term of market orientation is frequently confronted with the term of market orientation. Some authors equate these two terms, others refer to one of them. On the other hand, Kohli and Jaworski (1996) defined marketing orientation from the behavioral perspective defining activities for the marketing oriented business, which are gaining information about market regarding current and future needs of the customer, disseminating this information across all departments of an organization and organizations ability to respond to this information. Kohli and Jaworski (1993) predominantly see the consequences of marketing orientation in customer satisfaction, employee loyalty, and the financial performance of the business. Waris (2005) revealed a proportional relationship between employees' commitment and marketing orientation and explained that their loyalty acts as an incentive for employees to be aware of customer needs and the actions of competitors. Although some studies suggested a negative or non-significant relationship between market orientation and business performance Han, Kim, & Srivastava, 1998), Most findings indicate a positive relationship between market and business performance (Slater and Narver, 2000). In this study, however, MO will be discussed from the perspective of Competitor Orientation, Operational Efficiency, and customer intelligence. The importance of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to the economic growth and development of a country cannot be over-emphasized. Indeed, SMEs have been described as a catalyst for economic growth and development in many countries, including developing countries (Asikhia, 2010a; 2010b; Oke, Burke. & Myers, 2007; Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria SMEDAN, 2010). Due to this important role, successive Nigerian governments have implemented different policies to encourage the establishment of new SMEs and ensure the success and long-term performance of existing SMEs. Most of these policies are financially aimed at improving Inc access of SMEs to tow-cost capital (Asikhia, 20l0a Sanusi, 2003). For example, a survey of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria in 2015 by SMEDAN in collaboration with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) estimated the population of MSMEs to be about 37 million (SME Online, 2016). The survey indicated that the MSMEs accounted for 48% of Nigeria’s GDP and 60% of jobs (SME Online, 2016). These MSMEs spread across all the sectors-industrial, commercial, Agricultural and service of the Nigerian economy. However, the performance of Most SMEs in Nigeria remains less satisfactory as many fold up as soon as they open for business. For example, a survey showed that 80% of SMEs in the country folded up before their fifth anniversary (SMEDAN, 2008 cited in Asikhia, 2010a). This suggests thin access to funds is not effective in guaranteeing the performance of SMEs in the country (Arninu, Olayinka, Akinkunmi, Salau, & Odesaiiya, 2015; Asikhia, 2010; Sanusi, 2003). Rather, it is important to encourage SMEs to adopt market orientation (MO) to enhance their performance (sales growth, profit growth, market share growth, and others) in the highly competitive market involving numerous large and aggressive hems. In line with this, one study noted that being market-centric is seen as a permanent solution to a business problem of becoming More profitable Asikhia, 2010a). A study argued that, given the limitations or funding and technology of SMEs, need to focus More on customers, monitor competitive trends, and react appropriately to market intelligence (Mahmound, 2011). All of these are some of the components of MO as identified by pioneer scholars of the subject (Jaworski & Kohli. 1990; Narver & Slater, 1990). International Academy Journal of Management, Marketing & Entrepreneurial Studies asasubmitpaper@gmail.com 90 Statement of the Problem Organizations are ready to adopt the market orientation construct but observed inadequacies involved in the implementation frameworks which have prevented them from doing so effectively. In the service sector, the consumer and the producer are likely to be in direct personal contact as most is desired; therefore the use of construct is expected to be more relevant in service organizations that have created a vacuum. The implementation is inadequate with the special requirements of service firms and therefore different to operationalize. The concepts appear invincible for the true needs of the SMEs service firms and little research has only been made available for the framework in the service industry. Generally, there is much emphasis on marketing in large organizations with marketing in new and small ventures facing some problems (Hills & Hultman. 2006; Kraus. & Fink, 2010). The failure of SMEs in Nigeria is identified as a factor contributing to the Marketing gap (Aminu et al., 2015; Asikhia, 2010a). In the marketing gap, lack of MO by SMEs is a significant factor. Stokes and Blackburn (1999) affirmed this when they noted that SMEs do not adopt MO. MO is defined as a culture in which organizations strive to create value for their customers and superior performance for the business by focusing on customer needs and long-term profitability (Narver & Slater, 1990). MO enables a business to have a good understanding of its customers, competitors, and environment (Kara, Spillan, & DeSheilds, 2005), all of which affect profit and other objectives of the business. Narver and Slater (1990) identified five key dimensions of MOcustomer orientation, competitor orientation, inter-functional coordination, long-term focus, and profitability. Unfortunately, the marketing activities of many SMEs in Nigeria are devoid of all or most of these key dimensions of market orientation, in tandem with the observation of stokes and Blackburn (1999). For example, many SMEs in the country find it difficult to compete with their large counterparts in their target markets and due to the economies of scale advantage of these large organizations, many SMEs resign to fate and show little or no interest in collecting competitive intelligence, consistent with the views of Wilson and Gilligan (197). Consequently, the performance of many SMEs in Nigeria has been undermined, leading to a high rate of SMEs’ failure in the country. There is considerable research on MO within the context of developed countries covering all types and sizes of companies, there are few studies in developing countries. The bulk of these studies targeted large firms. In Nigeria, only a few studies have examined the MO of SMEs. In light of this, the need for a proper study became eminent hence this study. Adapted from: Michael. L. ; Maktoba. O. & Robert, W. (2011). Market Orientation and Innovators’ Success: an Exploration of the Influence of Customer and Competitor Orientation, Journal of Technology Management & Market orientation, 6(3) 4861. MARKET ORIENTATION Competitor Orientation Operational Efficiency Customer Intelligence Market Share Customer Retention BUSINESS SUCCESS