No abstract

Most studies of the market orientation-performance relationship are cross-sectional and use managerial surveys; this paper explores the impacts of customer and competitor dimensions of market orientation on an objective measure of financial performance, using a quasi-longitudinal analysis of archival and secondary data. The content analysis includes 150 SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) filings by 75 firms that had undergone an initial public offering. The results show that customer orientation leads to superior financial performance, with the type of firm, managerial heterogeneity, and firm size as significant moderators. Surprisingly, competitor orientation does not relate positively to firm performance, nor are the moderating results significant.