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Market orientation research: a qualitative synthesis and future research agenda

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Abstract

The prominence of market orientation as a core organizational concept, as well as recent discussions about its contributions and shortcomings, suggest that it is time to assess the large and expanding body of research surrounding the construct. Our research takes a systematic qualitative approach to assessing extant research on market orientation, identifying problems, patterns, and paradoxes in the literature. Specifically, we provide an integration of the burgeoning empirical research on market orientation, based on a thorough synthesis of articles published over more than 25 years of inquiry. Bringing together the different strands of inquiry that have guided knowledge accumulation on market orientation, we are able to identify major theoretical gaps and omissions in the literature. We also find that while market orientation research has made considerable strides over the years, much work still needs to be done as voids remain that need to be addressed in future investigations.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Editor Wolfgang Kursten and two anonymous reviewers for very constructive suggestions and ideas during the review process. Erik Markin provided assistance on previous drafts of this manuscript, for which we are grateful. We appreciate insightful comments from Alka Gupta on previous versions of this manuscript. Of course, all errors and omissions remain our own.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Culverhouse College of Commerce, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, 35487, USA

    Vishal K. Gupta

  2. James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA, 22807, USA

    Gizem Atav

  3. University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, 03824, USA

    Dev K. Dutta

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  1. Vishal K. Gupta
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Correspondence to Vishal K. Gupta.

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Gupta, V.K., Atav, G. & Dutta, D.K. Market orientation research: a qualitative synthesis and future research agenda. Rev Manag Sci 13, 649–670 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11846-017-0262-z

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