Market Orientation in the Shanghai Automotive Industry: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

This paper focuses on whether companies can develop market orientation (MO) to improve business performance (BP) in the Shanghai automotive industry, operating in an emerging economy, and finds that companies within the Shanghai automotive industry do adopt a MO at different levels, with most companies at or below the middle level. In order to measure BP, this research employs both subjective and objective measures, and the research findings indicate that MO is positively correlated with BP by a subjective measure, and that companies with a higher degree of MO are more likely to display higher levels of BP. However, if objective measures are used, the results are mixed. There is a significant positive association between MO and annual profit per employee and return on total assets, a weak positive association between MO and annual sales per employee, and no relationship between MO and return on equity.