Market Orientation and New Product Development in Global Industrial Firms

The purpose of this article is to evaluate the impact that market orientation has on new product success in a cross-national context. In a six-country study, two aspects of market orientation—market intelligence and customer orientation—were examined relative to traditional determinants of new product success. Antecedents of market orientation are also investigated. The results generally support the importance of market orientation to new product success. Market intelligence was found to be the most critical skill required regardless of country of origin, followed in most cases by customer orientation. Technical skills played a larger role in product success for more export-oriented economies such as Korea. In terms of antecedents, the most important organizational characteristic for developing a market orientation is cross-functional integration. Managerial implications are drawn concerning the findings.