Abstract
M.Comm.
Although the marketing concept has been the cornerstone of the modern
marketing discipline for twenty years, insufficient attention has been given to its
implementation. In recent years there has been renewed interest from academics
and practitioners regarding the marketing concept and market orientation. Market
orientation, the skills and competencies related to it have accordingly prevailed in
the marketing and management literature. This resurgence of interest is not
surprising, since the implementation of the marketing concept represents the
foundation of high quality marketing practice.
Market orientation is a business philosophy that makes the customer the focal
point of the company's entire operation. Becoming market orientated therefore
requires significant changes in the culture, processes and structure of the
traditional organization. Market orientated organizations nonetheless has an
important competitive advantage in providing customer value and achieving
superior performance. Market orientation is therefore a significant cause of
business success.
All over the world it has been recognized that the small business sector plays an
important, if not critical role in the social and economic development of a country.
This also applies to South Africa. Small businesses inadvertently have been
more reluctant than larger firms to embrace the marketing concept to obtain
organizational goals. The relative importance of both small businesses and
market orientation in the business environment led to this study concerning the
market orientation of small businesses. Therefore the research problem chosen
for this study is to determine the market orientation of small businesses in South Africa.