Market orientation and competitiveness of Polish manufacturing companies

Abstract

The paper examines different kinds of manufacturing companies with various levels of market orientation. Its main aim is to test whether their level of competitiveness is correlated with their level of market orientation. The paper is based on a quantitative research in which 334 manufacturing companies were examined. For measuring market orientation, the MKTOR scale developed by Narver and Slater was used. The competitive position of the analysed firms was determined using the Competitiveness Index developed by Fonfara. The statistical significance of the observed differences was tested using the Mann-Whitney U-test. The study shows that in every type of manufacturing companies, their competitiveness grows along with increasing market orientation. However, the extent of this growth differs depending on company type. The results also show that it is always beneficial to increase market orientation, as the firms with the highest market orientation belong to the most competitive 5% of manufacturing companies.