Strategic Orientations

This study examined the effect of strategic orientations (market, entrepreneurial, learning, and technological orientations) on organizational performance in the case of Addis International Bank, Ethiopia (an emerging economy). The study employed explanatory research design and quantitative research approach. Data were collected from 105 survey respond dents using self-administered questionnaire. Descriptive and correlation analyses, followed by multiple linear regression analysis, were used to test the hypotheses stated and answer the research questions. The findings of the study revealed that there is a strong and positive effect of entrepreneurial and technological orientations on organizational performance whereas market and learning orientations didn't have significant effect on organizational performance. Thus, to make these latter strategic orientations add value to the bank, it has to make co-alignment in strategy, structure, processes, and culture. Therefore, it is recommended that the Bank shall fully implement and configure strategic orientations as a source of competitive advantage and, thereby, achieve superior performance. Prior studies were made on strategy as a process and each construct individually. These findings contribute to the theory and practice of strategy and management by integrating all the strategy orientations together and providing recorded evidence from an emerging economy perspective.

Due to the competitive environment caused by the recent dramatic increase of the private investment in health sector, private hospitals have focused on various strategic orientations that are parallel to shifting paradigms in order to increase their performance. In this context, it has been observed that hospitals, being institutions providing service, have dramatically increased their efforts in order to improve their business strategies in accordance with quality and market orientation. As a result of this, in improving market orientation, organizational learning capability have contributed organizations in envisaging environment and market orientations, thereby decreasing the risks regarding organizational processes and in developing the organization. Yam and others (2005) have suggested that operations of organizations be changed by reconsturcting existing processes to be more market and quality oriented and inventing more programmes. On the other hand, it has been ascertained by various research that organizations which have organizational learning capability proved to be in open interaction with their external environment, to put experiences in use, to achieve administrative commitment, to adopt a participatory policy, to have leaders who are committed to the organization and in an attitude to provide positive reinforcement for the employees, to have tangible visions and missions, and to be improving company performance by accomplishing knowledge transfer properly and on time. (örn. Chiva et al., 2007; Jerez-Gomez et al., 2005; Leonard-Barton, 1992). It can be inferred from such evidence that company performance will boost provided that market and business oriented company strategies are reconstructed in the context of organizational learning. In accordance with these presumptions, a database consisting of 148 surveys carried out at 95 out of 118 private hospitals with beds in İstanbul. Hypotheses put forward within the scope of theoretical framework have been tested by correlation and regression analyses using SPSS 19 program. Analysis results proved that market orientation dimensions such as Competitor Orientation and Interdepartmental Coordination have a positive impact on Company Performance while Customer Orientation dimension has no effect on Company Performance. It has been observed that learning capability has a positive impact on the subdimensions of Firm Performance. Organizational Learning capability has a full mediating variable impact on the correlation between Competitor Orientation-Qualitative Performance and Customer Orientation-Qualitative Performance; and Organizational learning skill has a full intervening (mediating) variable impact on the correlation of Quality Orientation – Quantitative Performance and Customer Orientation-Quantitative Performance. On the other hand, Organizational Learning Capability has a partial intervening (mediating) variable impact on the correlation between Quality Orientation – Qualitative Performance. While showing interrelations and linear relations among factors in the scope of theoretical framework, our research has put forward that organizational learning capability has a full and a partial intervening variable effect in the scope of these relations.

Globalization is forcing family-owned companies need to be more flexible and faster organization structures to respond effectively to the customers’ growing various types needs on the certain line of producing high quality goods and services these days. With the start of a new paradigm era in strategic management field, family- owned firms began to choose different tools to maximize their sustainable performance against rivals. These tools include special strategic orientations including learning, entrepreneurship and innovation implications. Our study tries to explore the effects of strategic orientations implications into firm performance and their effects on growth and financial performance in Turkish family-owned companies.

The influence of different orientations on firm performance has been widely analysed in developed countries, but little is known on how strategic orientations affect new market entry and internationalisation speed in the distinctive operating environment of emerging markets. To address this gap, this study investigates how strategic orientation affects firms' new market entry and early internationalisation in the emerging market of Malaysia. We interviewed key representatives of 14 internationalised SMEs, focusing on the critical components of strategic orientation that facilitate a firm's new market entry and early internationalisation. The findings reveal that entrepreneur and market orientations are critical for new market entry through management commitment and market selection. Learning and networking orientations are critical for internationalisation speed through firm competencies. Managers can accelerate their firms' internationalisation process by cultivating similar characteristics.