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Customer orientation

22 July, 2015 - 17:47

From the perspective of the theory of professional development, it can be assumed that the ideas and beliefs about the world of business contained in cognitive structures and the cognitive map of occupations affect the motivation for starting your own business. This motivation can therefore be seen as a manifestation of a belief by which individuals are guided.

As we know from Wickham's research 1, one of the motives for founding a firm is when the entrepreneur stands slim chances of finding a job, and being self-employed is the most advantageous solution for him/her. The second type of motivation stems from the fact that the entrepreneur notices a market opportunity and decides to run his/her own company. Among other things which distinguish the two types of motivation is the object towards which the action is directed. In the first case, the focus is on the person starting the company. As a further consequence, it can be predicted with high probability that the entrepreneur will act to meet their own needs, and not those of the customer, as might be expected from the second type of motivation to start their own business. This limits the potential profits of the company and will only allows him/her to maintain it in very favourable market conditions. There is the risk that such people do not fully identify and understand the rules of the market game.

This relationship with the customer can be very important for the development of the newly-established company.

K. Tajeddini, U. Elg and M. Trueman refer to a series of studies from various sources indicating the importance of customer orientation. “There is clearly a need for a customer-focused strategy if companies are to survive in the long term. Furthermore, as recognition of the economic significance of small firms has grown research has found that customer orientation is especially important.”  2 They also found that "those entrepreneurial orientated small-sized retailers who tend to be proactive in anticipating the latent needs of customers are able to respond that current and future customer needs and wants, thereby generating a pioneering advantage over competitors" 3.

The demonstration of such a relationship allows us to draw the conclusion that customer orientation is not something natural, even when you have experience of running your own business and regular contact with customers. It can thus be assumed that the mere transfer of rational knowledge, such as marketing, is not sufficient to shape this orientation. This is confirmed by G. Morgan's statement (...) that "it is impossible to develop new ways to organize and manage, while still thinking the old way". 4

This means that cognitive schemata, perceptions, and beliefs about clients include content that, intuitively and automatically applied, can lead to non-proeffective behaviours and decisions.

The aim of this study is to reach precisely this content, to determine the level of consumer orientation competency (COC).

Establishing a competence-based approach involves the allegation formulated against entrepreneurship education that, as Kirby says, "only rarely... is the focus on developing in their students the skills, attributes and behaviour of the successful entrepreneur".  5 According to the general definition, competence consists of the knowledge, skills and attitudes, and its determinants are specified behaviours. Kirby's accusation thus relates to the competency aspects of the individual's functioning in business. This analysis can identify potential areas of special influence in shaping entrepreneurial competence.

In this study, the competence of customer orientation will be construed in accordance with Brown's approach as a behavioural construct, to observe "a tendency or predisposition to meet customer needs". 6

This should be distinguished from the understanding that "in marketing philosophy, customer orientation seeks to measure the extent to which decisions and activities in the organization are customer-based. Alternatively customer orientation in service firms is directly related to perceptions of quality, employee performance and service environment, leading to successful external marketing, enhanced customer satisfaction, and enhanced company performance” 7. For example, this type of study was conducted Olalekan Asikhia among Nigerian small and medium-sized enterprises 8.

The approach presented in this paper focuses on the individual and their cognitive schemata, perceptions and beliefs about the customer. It is assumed that the individual has a high customer orientation competence if this content reveals a high awareness of the importance of the customer, orientation on active recognition of their needs, and addressing these in the course of cooperation. In addition, it is recognised that those so minded would indicate that they need knowledge about the customer to conduct business effectively. It is a quest for answers to the questions:

  • Do they believe in the importance of the customer for their business?
  • Do they focus on identifying and satisfying their needs?
  • What action would they potentially to take towards the customer?
  • Do they need knowledge about the customer?