An Empirical Study of the Relationship of Organizational Improvisation to Market Orientation

Abstract

In today's turbulent economy, managers frequently are forced, under pressures of time and competition, to make rapid decisions. Furthermore, they often lack information to execute appropriate strategies. At the same time, managers are expected to develop and improve market orientation, which, research shows, improves long-term business performance.This study examines a theoretical connection between the construct of organizational improvisation and market orientation and provides the first quantitative measurement of a proposed relationship between these two constructs. Using two established instruments (MKTOR and a scale to measure organizational improvisation), survey data were obtained from 234 top managers, and the extent of the relationship between organizational improvisation and market orientation was analyzed qualitatively. Results indicate a positive relationship between organizational improvisation and market orientation, both in proactive and reactive forms of improvisation. No moderating effect in this relationship was found in evaluating six demographic variables, including company revenue, manager’s experience, and job title. The positive relationship between organizational improvisation and market orientation persisted regardless of company size, manager’s experience, and job title within the firm.Implications of this study are that organizational improvisation may be a positive antecedent to market orientation and managers who wish to enhance market orientation may do well by implementing and encouraging organizational improvisation.