The role of market orientation, knowledge-related resources, and reputational assets on firm performance: An integrative resource-based model.

摘要

In today's competitive market place companies strive for survival and battle to achieve superior performance. In the long run, only those firms that continuously outperform others, are the ones that survive. Different explanations have been offered in economics, strategy, and marketing to explain the superior performance of firms. This dissertation contributes to the existing literature on superior performance by integrating recent advances in evolutionary economics, strategic management, marketing strategy and organizational theory. Drawing heavily on the resource-based theory of the firm, on evolutionary approaches to competition, and the organizational learning and market orientation literatures a resource-based model of superior performance is proposed and tested. This model focuses on firm-specific intangible resources as key drivers of superior performance. In particular, the role of a market-oriented culture, of a firm's market-sensing capability, innovativeness, and imitation capability and its reputational assets is highlighted. Additionally, the model highlights the importance of a market-oriented culture to develop and foster market-sensing skills, innovativeness and imitation capabilities in an organization; resources which may be key for the survival and success of the firm.; A field survey design was used to test the integrated resource-based and knowledge-based model of firm performance. The model was empirically tested using structural equations modeling (i.e., LISREL 8.14).; Overall, the model indicates a significant effect of market orientation on firm performance, which is mediated by the role of the knowledge-related resources. However, the direct association of market orientation and performance is not supported (which is consistent with some previous findings). All the hypothesized relationships linking market orientation and a firm's knowledge-related resources are supported. In terms of the effects of a firm's knowledge-related resources on performance, organizational innovativeness appears as the most important one, having significant associations with both overall firm performance and new product performance. As hypothesized, reputational resources are also an important determinant of firm performance. Finally, market turbulence appears to have a moderating effect on the relationships between market orientation, market-sensing capabilities, and imitation capabilities, and overall firm performance. However, the moderating effect does not exist for the associations with new product performance, and for the effects of innovativeness.