Market Orientation Of Latecomer Firms:Perspectives On Behavioral Tendency And Process Analysis

For latecomers, the bidirectional dependence of resources is an important external relation, and how to correctly balance, make decision and overcome the dilemmas become the focuses.This paper analyzed the market orientation of the two dimensions on latecomers from the aspects of a behavioral tendency and process. Starting from the two dimensions of resource dependence, which are interdependence and unbalanced forces, the concept and structure of bidirectional resource dependence of latecomers were constructed, on which basis, the market orientation of latecomers was elaborated. Then through historically vertical research on typical cases, the interaction between latecomers and environment was focused on from the dimension of process analysis, especially on how the two outcomes were evolved step by step in the interaction between latecomers and customers: one is customer lock-in dilemma and the other is surpassing capability.By using a quasi experimental method of policy capturing, latecomers managers’ behavioral tendency of market orientation under the bidirectional resource dependence was verified. The acquired experimental data are used to seeming unrelated regression method analysis and finally hypothesis was testified and the research conclusions were drawn. Research results show that: 1) The manager of latecomers usually tends to select the responsive market orientation when he/she is faced with the pressure coming from customers.2) The manager of latecomers appears his/her preference to the proactive market orientation based on the corresponding abilities. 3) When balancing between the responsive market orientation and proactive market orientation, the manager dose not show a certain behavioral orientation, that is to say, latecomers may have the two market orientations existed in different developing steps.In the research of the customer lock-in dilemma, taking a clue of event path, we selected a typical Chinese state-owned enterprise and extract 1,299 events of manufacturing, quality and marketing in its 40-year history. Following the procedures of the grounded theory approach, we divided them into four categories and three phases, and spotted an event-trend graph. The event categories, internal implementation, quality delivery, customer feedback and demand input, constitute basic processes of latecomers’ value circle. Latecomers’ capability construction process under the responsive market orientation is further discussed, and how the enterprise enters the customer lock-in dilemma is revealed. Research results show that: 1) Latecomers’ value circle, accompanying with a reverse competence-deficiency-improvement, shapes a “value-competence” dual circle; 2) In the open period, technology introduction and customer need to build substitutive pipelines, which take both positive and negative effect on the dual circle; and 3) In the market blowout period, the circle is easy to be broken by tight customer ties, and latecomers might goes into customer lock-in dilemma.In the research of surpassing capability, two typical enterprises, Samsung and Huawei, were selected as the comparative case, of which their developments are divided into the industry entering stage, responsive market orientation driving stage, and bi-driving stage of responsive market orientation and proactive market orientation. By analyzing the capability construction of different stages, the process of latecomers’ surpassing capability is discussed. A thinking mode of “duality” was deduced and an approach for latecomers to realize surpassing was proposed, that is a bidirectional circle system of “value-capability” and “capability-value”.This research put the question of latecomers’ market orientation into the united pattern of bidirectional resource dependence, and combining realities and theories, it provided a new perspective for the research of latecomers, as well as a theoretical system for the research of latecomers’ market orientation.