How to calibrate conventional market-oriented organizational culture in 21st century production-centered firms? A customer relationship perspective

This study explores how the organizational culture represented by conventional market orientation practices influences B2B relationship outcomes and financial returns for production-centered supplier firms. The market orientation practices of 187 large-sized production-centered supplier firms in the U.S. Midwest region are empirically studied using both combined approach and component-wise approach. The multiple regression analysis results confirm the positive effects of an overall market-oriented organizational culture on financial return in production-centered firms. However, a weak link between customer satisfaction and financial return reveals the unique challenge faced by production-centered firms. Our investigation on the three behavioral components of market orientation presents a previously undiscovered pattern for production-centered firms. Interfunctional coordination within a production-centered firm is not related to either customer satisfaction or financial return. Furthermore, interfunctional coordination lessens the positive impacts of customer orientation on customer satisfaction and financial return. Managerial implications on how to optimize market-oriented organizational culture for production-centered firms are discussed. & 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. “Manufacturing is one of the bright spots of a generally disappointing recovery, and there are signs – preliminary, but hopeful, nonetheless – that a sustained comeback may be under way.” Paul Krugman, Economist and Nobel PrizeWinner, New York Times, May 2011