Organizational Structure as an explanatory factor of market orientation

Abstract

This work is centred on the study of the organizational precedents of market orientation. It sets out from the consideration of the market as an intangible resource of organizational learning and ponders the effect on it of formalization, centralization, complexity and integration. The conceptual model set out after revising the relevant bibliography is checked by an empirical study. This was carried out with firms of less than twenty workers from the industrial sector of Andalusia, southern Spain. The results confirm the effect of formalization, integration and centralization on the firms' marketing orientation, but they do not allow it to be stated that there is a relationship between firms' marketing orientation and complexity. The implication for management is the need to check the organizational structures in order for them not to slow down the introduction of market orientation. © 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.