EFFECT OF MARKET ORIENTATION ON SMALL BUSINESS PERORMANCE IN SMALL TOWN IN MALAYSIA AN EMPRICAL STUDY ON MALAYSIAN SMALL FIRMS.docVIP

EFFECT OF MARKET ORIENTATION ON SMALL BUSINESS PERORMANCE IN SMALL TOWN IN MALAYSIA: AN EMPRICAL STUDY ON MALAYSIAN SMALL FIRMS Muhammad Masroor ALAM Universiti Utara Malaysia Abstract: Most research on market orientation, and performance was related to big firms. In this study, based on the theoretical framework, a model was developed to investigate the effect of market orientation on business performance in small firms. To test the relationships among the variables, data from 53 small firms in the small town of Chunglun at Sintok, Kedah was used. The findings show that the three components of market orientation are related positive to business performance of small firms. The further analysis also confirmed that customer orientation and competitor orientation are strong predictors of small firm performance. The findings of this study confirm that market orientation behavior also applies to small firms. Keywords: market orientation, Malaysia, small firms, performance Introduction enterprises. In this study small business Small and medium sized business from SME sector is on focus which is a major contributor to Malaysian operate with 5 to 50 full time employee economy. For a very long time, SMEs and annual sales turnover of around sector accounted for a large portion of the total number of business in the (Hashim, 2000). Malaysian economy. THE small and Since small business play an medium Industries Development Corp important role in Malaysian economy, it is therefore business is considered as a sub sector understanding of why organizations are of SMEs in Malaysia, along with micro size enterprises operates in various Malaysian business context. industrial sectors and contributes not only in greater production but also in business success is when customers RM200, 0