Being market-oriented for a better performance. A quantitative study on market orientation and performance in the Dutch primary education sector

Abstract

The education sector is currently under high pressure due to all ongoing developments. These developments force primary educational institutions to become market-oriented. The expectation in this research was that by being market-oriented, the performance of the primary educational institutions could increase. If the extent of being market-oriented in Dutch primary educational institutions has an effect on their performance is examined by the use of a confirmatory research approach. In order to investigate this relationship, twenty hypotheses are composed, and a survey was carried out among school boards of primary educational institutions to investigate the relationship. After the survey, the hypotheses were tested with a multiple regression analysis. The findings show support for the relationship between market orientation and overall performance, client satisfaction, resource acquisition, and peer reputation. Focusing on the components of market orientation (customer orientation, competitor orientation, employee orientation, and interfunctional coordination), being customer-oriented also has a positive influence on the overall performance, client satisfaction, resource acquisition, and peer reputation. Furthermore, being competitor-oriented has a positive influence on peer reputation. However, the results show no support for the other formulated hypotheses. By investigating these relationships theoretically and empirically, this study contributes to the literature on market orientation and performance. Keywords: market orientation, performance, primary education sector