The Influence Of Market Orientation On The Choice Of A Shipping Firm By Fruit Exporters Of Refrigerated Cargo N Kenya

Abstract

In the last few years, firms within the shipping business have transitioned from ahomogenous service business towards a heterogeneous market characterized by an increasein number of shipping firms, value offerings, well informed customer, rapid changes incustomer taste and preferences. The motivation of the study was to determine the influenceof market orientation on the choice of a shipping line by fruit exporters of refrigeratedcargo in Kenya. The study population consists of all the 39 fruit exporters of refrigeratedcargo as listed on the Fresh Produce Association of Kenya Website. A cross sectionaldescriptive survey was used. A questionnaire was developed to assist in collecting primarydata, while secondary data were obtained from renowned authors in the field of marketing.Analysis of data was done using descriptive and inferential statistics. The influence ofMarket orientation was measured using a construct developed by Narver and Slater’s(1990), customized for the shipping industry. The results reveal that Market orientationwas depicted by more emphasis on inter functional co-ordination compared to bothcustomer orientation and competitor orientation. Limitations encountered during research.The descriptive cross sectional research design could not measure changes inorganizational culture over time, the study was limited to a single industry put constraintson generalizing of the results. It was recommended that all studies done in future shouldadopt longitudinal research design to evaluate changes in organizational culture and theirinfluence on performance over time. Further, to capture representative view of industry,future studies need to use multiple informant approach.