Strategic Type, Market Orientation, and the Balance between Adaptability and Adaptation

Abstract

This study examines empirically if the strategic balance between adaptability and adaptation—as reflected in the degree of and emphasis in market orientation—is defined by the strategic type of a business. Based on a survey of 194 manufacturing companies with national and international operations, the analysis shows that strategic types are systematically associated with characteristic degrees of and emphases in market orientation. Differences in the degree of market orientation reveal a distinctive pattern: (1) reactors do not have a significantly greater market orientation than defenders, analyzers, or prospectors; (2) defenders do not have a significantly greater market orientation than analyzers or prospectors; and (3) analyzers do not have a significantly greater market orientation than prospectors. Differences in the emphasis in market orientation reveal that no strategic type has (1) a stronger interfunctional emphasis than prospectors, (2) a stronger competitor emphasis than analyzers, and (3) a weaker emphasis in their market orientation than reactors. Moreover, both prospectors and analyzers appear to have stronger customer emphases than defenders. Finally, the analysis indicates that these findings are not contingent on business performance and environmental turbulence.