An examination of the role for Business Orientation in an uncertain business environment

Business Orientation essentially characterises the pervading culture or style of an organisation. There are many types of Business Orientation, such as marketing orientation, production orientation or relationship orientation. The dominant presence of any of these alternative types of Business Orientation can have a profound influence on the development and evolution of an organisation's strategic outlook. The study's context is the turbulent economic environment that has afflicted many markets specifically in the two years following the global financial crisis of 2007/8. With this background, the paper investigates whether, in such an uncertain business environment, an over‐dependence on a dominant Business Orientation increases the risks involved in sustaining successful business performance. The study takes one industry, the UK touring caravan manufacturing industry, as a case study setting for the research and uses a mixed method approach across eight companies to examine this question. The research findings suggest that the case companies in the chosen sector require the presence of more than one Business Orientation to be able to respond effectively to such rapid and profound changes within the business environment. It is further suggested that those organisations with one dominant Business Orientation may find it more difficult to effectively adapt to changing market conditions. In addition, a further critical quality if a severe crisis is encountered, which threatens the immediate viability of an organisation, is the ability to re‐focus on the vital Business Orientation required for survival in the short‐term.