Assessing the relationship between market orientation and organizational culture in midwestern hospitals: An empirical study

A market orientation is described as the degree to which hospitals gather and disseminate market intelligence, and utilize that intelligence in strategic decision making. Even though the literature addressing the role of a market orientation in hospitals has demonstrated a positive correlation between market orientation and organizational performance, previous studies had noted that this orientation had not been embraced in hospitals as rapidly or widely as expected. This study drew a random sample of 287 community hospitals in the midwestern states of Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin to assess the current degree of market orientation in these hospitals and assess the relationship between market orientation and organizational culture. Findings indicated a higher degree of market orientation than reported in previous studies, and found a strong relationship between the degree of market orientation and organizational culture characteristics. Future research is needed to further explicate this relationship, utilizing multiple respondents and a nationwide sample.