Introduction
It has been established over time that the most successful companies value their customers’ needs. In marketing field this is normally referred to as market orientation. From the definition, market oriented company’s put the needs of the customers first. This is normally achieved through several ways, some of these ways are; making products that meet their target customers’ demand through identification of the customer’s needs and wants, making the product more valuable to the customer, making the product available at the market in an appropriated time and obviously tactfully informing the customer about the availability of the product. Such a business is called market oriented business because of its sharp focus on the target market. This paper analyses market concepts and orientation of Al Masaood a United Arab Emirates (UAE) company as a case study.
Brief history of the company
The Al Masaood Company is an official dealer of Nissan cars in the Abu Dhabi the capital city of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Al Masaood is a member of the Masaood group that collectively represents the interest of the Masaood family. The Masaood family was established about 50 years ago by a man called Mohammed Bin Masaood. The company has reached a multinational status not only in United Arab Emirates but in the entire world. The success of the Al Masaood business group is mainly attributed to the management proficiency and experience of the company’s entire workforce. Each company in the United Arab Emirates is entirely committed to serving both the UAE and the outside market. This factor has enhanced the corporate responsibility of the company since it has enhanced the economic development of the country.
Purpose of the report
The purpose of this report is to analyze the market orientation of the Al Masaood Company. In order to successfully analyze the market orientation of the company, a set of interview and questionnaires were used to get relevant information from the company’s marketing department.
Literature review
Research has shown that market orientation more often than not addresses how an organization is adoptive to changes that enhance its competitive advantage. Market orientation that adopts innovation is capable of bridging its market needs and gap exhaustively. According to Robert (42) it is imperative for the companies to integrate innovation when carrying out research related to market orientation in order to foster the company’s market niche. The dynamic nature of the markets demand regular changes or rather adjustments with regard to this market demand. Market orientation therefore involves the company’s culture and behavior especially with respect to its clientele. A typical market driven business is primarily supposed to be adequately prepared to deal with the changing or developing needs of the customers and be in a position to respond timely to these changes. Implementation of these basic concepts enables the market oriented business to successfully deal with its threats and opportunities in the best way possible. In general, integration of organizational culture and innovation is vital to enhancing an in-depth research analysis of market orientation.
Research Methodology
In order to successfully carry out a research to obtain certain objective, it is important to consider the sample of the population that can provide a more reliable and accurate information that can thereafter be constructively used. In our case, the marketing department of Al Masaood Company was approached with an aim of establishing the market orientation concept of the company. Data collection process was through interview questionnaires that the selected sample was given to fill. The interview and questionnaire succinctly addressed the major of objective of the research process in an easy and straight forward way that reduced the burden on the part of the correspondent. Analysis of the results was then based on the response of the correspondent.
Research Results
Analysis and discussion of results
Based on the findings of the research, the three interviewed correspondents of showed a great concern and emphasis on the need to implement and foster market orientation concept. As a further reference to the importance of the market concept, one of the correspondents explained succinctly the three behavioral characteristics of the orientation market. These characteristics include the customer orientation which aims at giving the customer value, competitor orientation which focuses on the competitor; inter functional orientation which employs resources to create value.
From the response it is clear that the company conducts frequent surveys in order to determine the customer’s current and future needs. The surveys are also meant for both the end use and the intermediaries. Surveys are conducted regularly especially when needed and at least once a year based on the findings obtained in the data collection process. Industrial information that is important to the firm are normally collected in the chamber of commerce, through competitor analysis and users feedback. This is a typical characteristic of a market oriented company. The Al Masaood Company holds frequent meetings to discuss the customers future needs, they also share this vital information in the inter departments of the company. The company responds to these future needs of the company though not as first as required according to the correspondents. The delay of the response is attributed to the slow shipping process.
More so, the Al Masaood company responds and encourages customers comments and complaints positively, the company has also formed a department dealing with such complains. As a characteristic of a customer oriented business Al Masaood offers after sales services to its customers, it promptly provides this service through a dedicated department that deals with these services. The company also values clientele’s commitment as it means a lot to them, they show this commitment by regular follow-up of the clientele. Another major milestone that the company shows with regard to the market orientation strategy is the creation of customer value through a continuous strategy to find new ways of ensuring that customer is satisfied. This satisfaction is measured in a monthly, six months or yearly basis. Based on this discussion, it can be concluded with 95 percent confidence level that the Al Masaood company employees market orientation concept.
Conclusion and recommendation
As exhaustively discussed above, there is a great demonstration that the Al Masaood Company practices market orientation strategy in ensuring that it maintains its clientele. There is a great commitment shown to the customer as revealed by the follow-up done to determine if the customer is satisfied. The company is also proactive to the future needs of the customers and it thus works extra hard to ensure that these needs are fully met. The Al Masaood Company case study is thus a clear example of a company that enhances its business by creating value on its products.
I will recommend the following issues to the company I order to foster its market oriented target. The response to the customer needs should be adjusted in order to bridge the gap that a competitor may take advantage. The company should also maintain a consistent trend of survey with regard to the changes of the customer needs and thus be in a good position to establish the changes that may be evident as a result market changes.
Works Cited
Hurley, Robert F, et al. “Innovation, Market Orientation, and Organizational learning: An Integration and Empirical Examination”. Journal of marketing 6.2 (1998): 42-45.