This is just a sample and not a complete and perfect proposal

Relationship between Market Orientation and Company Performance

A Sample of Tentative Research Proposal

Sample of Research Proposal

This is just a sample and not a complete and perfect proposal

Contents 1. Background of the Study 2. Problem Statement of the Study 3. Research Questions 4. Research Objectives 5. Significance of the Study 6. Scope of the Study 7. Literature Review 8. Conceptualization and Conceptual Framework of the Study 9. Propositions and Hypotheses of the Study

10. Operationalization 11. Research Design 12. Time Plan 13. References

Sample of Research Proposal

This is just a sample and not a complete and perfect proposal

1. Background of the Study In a world where customer preferences change rapidly, new technologies and innovations are always emerging, any business organization has to adapt to the changes by responding its environment quickly and accordingly so that it can achieve the competitive advantage. There are different approaches or orientations available to business organizations to achieve business success. Among these approaches leading to business success, Market orientation or practice of marketing concept has become the dominant approach in the contemporary business practice. Market orientation is said to be nothing but putting the marketing concept into action. Marketing concept has been accepted as a business philosophy as well as a business function in todays dynamic and intensely competitive business environment. Marketing concept has had a powerful impact on the way marketers now think and plan. The power of the marketing concept becomes clearer when we compare its description with that of the selling concept. The selling concept is based on the premise that consumers do not buy enough of an organization's products on their own. Therefore the organization must undertake an aggressive selling effort. The marketing concept, on the other hand, assumes that consumers will buy products that satisfy their needs. Thus, an organization, that first attempts to understand their needs and then create and deliver the desired products, will not have to trick consumers into buying their products. Focus on consumer satisfaction may be expensive, but perhaps necessary for long-term profitability and continuity of the organization. In order to have market orientation, a firm must engage in: generation of market intelligence to identify the needs of the customers; generation of market intelligence to identify the competitive environment; and development of an organizationally coordinated response (Narver and Slater, 1990).In order to respond to customer needs, firms need information about the needs and preferences of customers that will provide the basic intelligence to prepare marketing plans. A customer orientation requires that a seller understands a buyer's entire value-chain, not only as it is today but also as it will evolve over time.

Sample of Research Proposal

This is just a sample and not a complete and perfect proposal Today the term market orientation has become a buzz word in day-to-day vocabulary of both marketing and non-marketing professionals as well as scholars. Over 50 years, market orientation had been treated as staying close to customer. However, last decade, proponents of market orientation (Kohli and Jaworski 1990; Narver and Slater 1990 etc.) have identified market orientation as a corporate culture which includes not only customer focus but also competitor and inter functional orientation of organization. Market oriented organizations develops mechanisms to continuously monitor, analyze, and respond to market changes. Market orientation is said to play an important role in bringing competitive advantage for any business sector at present. The goal of all organizations is to boost market share and profitability. A market orientation provides a unifying focus for the efforts and projects of individuals and departments within the organization, thereby leading to superior performance. In addition, market orientation is reported as providing psychological and social benefits to employees. Accomplishing customer satisfaction results in employees sharing a feeling of worthwhile contribution, as well as higher levels of job satisfaction and organizational commitment. The strategic importance of adopting a market orientation has been heavily discussed in a services sector. There has been a growing interest in studying market orientation among scholars in the services sector as services organizations work with intangible commodities in which service, quality, and customer orientation are very much crucial for business success in an increasing competitive posture. Services marketers have to deal with unique challenges because services marketing is different from traditional goods marketing. It has been widely cited in the literature that market orientation contributes to business performance of services organizations. There have been a number of empirical studies carried out in the western society on market orientation and business performance link in the services sector in the last decade. Among these studies, a considerable number of studies have investigated the link between market orientation and business performance in the service sector organizations such as banking, insurance, hotel etc. In addition, there has been an interest in identifying different factors that influence the market orientation- performance link. As a result, many studies have been carried out to investigate how different organizational factors like innovations, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty intervene to improve the link between market orientation and business performance. However, these researches have been carried out in western society. There is a lack of such studies in developing countries like Sri Sample of Research Proposal 4

This is just a sample and not a complete and perfect proposal Lanka. Specially, it is inevitable that there is a strategic requirement to undertake studies investigating market orientation and business performance in the services sector in Sri Lanka since the services sector has been making the highest contribution to the GDP in the economy. According to the annual report of Central Bank, Sri Lanka, 2007, the services sector contribution to the GDP is 59.6 % in 2007.In the services sector, banking is a major area of concern. The banking sector has sustained its profitability and capital adequacy levels in 2007. The banking sector is one of the most dynamic and vibrant sectors of the economy, with developments taking place during the last decade in terms of institutions, instruments, range of services, and the geographic coverage. Especially, the commercial banks have become intensely competitive at present. At present there are 23 commercial banks in operation in the country. 11 of these are locally incorporated and the balance is branches of foreign banks. Two of the local commercial banks are state owned. Every bank in the competitive industry is trying to survive and thrive in the business. This situation has paved the way for many players to adopt a market oriented approach in their organizations. This has resulted in an array of financial products and services and delivery channels broadened with the introduction of new schemes and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) based products and services, such as internet and mobile phone banking. There was a significant shift towards card-based payment modes and automated teller machine (ATM) facilities. Rapid technological advancement including an automated check clearing house that clears checks from most part of the country within three days, ATMs, credit cards, electronic funds transfer facilities and several financial derivatives are evidence to this. Several banks have introduced tele-banking and electronic business banking and many have extended banking hours with some services being made available 24 hours a day through automation. The banking system is now linked closely to the worldwide networks via SWIFT and credit card gateways.

However much the competitiveness is among the Commercial banks in Sri Lanka, two players only have been rated as the best in performance according to the prestigious sources in the banking industry. For, example, the Commercial bank of Ceylon and the Hatton National bank have been the only banks that have been rated as the best banks in Sri Lanka in 2007. Sample of Research Proposal 5

This is just a sample and not a complete and perfect proposal

Incident 01 The Commercial Bank The Bank has been adjudged Sri Lankas Bank of the Year six times by The Banker, a top notch global banking magazine and also been rated the Best Bank in Sri Lanka for ten consecutive years by the US based Global Finance magazine. In July 2007 the Bank was named the Best Bank in Sri Lanka by another prestigious international financial magazine Euromoney.

Commercial Bank has now won this award 10 out of the 15 times that Global Finance has published the results of its annual survey of Best Emerging Market Banks. The report covers best banks in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe.The Managing Director of Commercial Bank, Amitha Gooneratne says that: we feel justifiably pleased at being ranked Sri Lankas Best Bank for the tenth consecutive year. With this, Commercial Bank has established a level of consistency of performance that is unique in the region. The comprehensive evaluation by Global Finance of the Banks performance over the past year, includes growth in assets, profitability, strategic relationships, customer service, competitive pricing and innovative products. Among the other indicators looked at were market share, return on equity and earnings, key capabilities and services offered, and geographical range, recent or planned significant developments such as new launches, customer service endorsements and deployment of leadingedge technology. Global Finances evaluation showed that the Commercial Bank continued to retain its position of the largest private sector bank in terms of assets and profits in 2007 had the highest market capitalisation and best track record of dividends in the Banking and Financial Sector. The Banks market capitalisation as at December 2007, was Rs 34.2 billion, about 4 per cent of the total market capitalisation of the Colombo Bourse. Commercial Bank of Ceylon Limited has also been adjudged as The Best Bank in Sri Lanka by Euromoney Magazine (UK) The Euromoney Award for Excellence recognizes the Best Banks from over 100 countries worldwide, based on leadership, innovation and excellence in the services they provide. The Euromoney Award for Excellence 2007 is another first for Commercial Bank.

Sample of Research Proposal

This is just a sample and not a complete and perfect proposal Incident 02 The Hatton National Bank Hatton National Bank has won the prestigious Best Retail Bank in Sri Lanka award in The Asian Banker Excellence in Retail Financial Services programme for its performance in 2007. This event is the industrys celebration of the regions best retail bankers that recognizes their efforts in bringing superior products and services to their customers. The fast improving Hatton National Bank has chalked up record income and strong profit growth at a challenging time for Sri Lankas banks. HNB possesses a wide reaching franchise with 40 percent of its network in areas outside the more developed western provinces and a thriving micro finance portfolio. According to the Managing Director, Rajendra Theagarajah, the bank has attracted an 18 percent increase in deposits through its flagship savings products in a market that sees fierce competition for low cost deposits. The bank is also making good progress in expanding its channels and distribution beyond the traditional branch. It launched Internet banking and mobile phone banking in the local language, thus reducing the need for customers from less developed areas to travel long distances to make simple transactions.

Show data on market share, profits and ROA using a graph / charts
These two current incidents in the commercial banking sector in Sri Lanka highlight that the two private sector banks have achieved superior and consistent performance in terms of profitability, market share, Return on Investment (ROI), which are the major indicators of objective business performance. Further, they have shown that they are committed to relationship orientation, customer service, competitive pricing, and product innovations, which are the key attributes of the visible customer- oriented and market- oriented behavour of organizations. On one hand, based on this scenario, one can question whether there is any interrelationship among these indicators or variables based on the literature on customer orientation, competitor orientation, interfunctional coordination, customer satisfaction and loyalty, product innovations, corporate / brand image, and objective business performance. On the other hand, one can raise the question of as to why the other commercial banks in Sri Lanka do not show superior performance. This situation identifies the existence of a performance gap in the sector in terms of what lead a commercial bank to achieve superior and consistent performance and creates an interest in exploring the reality behind this phenomenon.

Sample of Research Proposal

This is just a sample and not a complete and perfect proposal 2. Problem Statement of the Study In clarifying the research problem of the study, it is important to look into the studies that have been carried out with reference to market orientation and business performance. Agarwal et al. (2003) cite that objective performance of a business involves financial or market-based measures such as capacity utilization, profitability, and market share. In marketing and organizational literature there has been much importance given to the studies investigating direct relationship between market orientation and business performance. According to Agarwal et al. (2003) a number of studies have empirically examined the relationship between management-reported market orientation and objective performance. These studies are Narver and Slater, 1990; Jaworski and Kohli, 1993; Deshpande et al., 1993; Slater and Narver, 1994; Greenley, 1995; Han et al., 1998. Some of these studies have found significant positive relationship between market orientation and business performance while others have not. These studies have been carried out in different sectors. According to Matear, (2002) recently, these mixed findings have created an increased interest among scholars to know as to how market orientation contributes to business performance in service sector organizations since services marketing is said to be fundamentally different from physical products marketing. On this ground, there have been a few studies in the services sector, which investigates the relationship between market orientation and business performance relationship. Among these service sector studies are Chang and Chens study in retail brokers,

(1998), Han et. al.s study in banking sector, (1998), Lado and Maydeu-Olivaress study in insurance sector, (2001), Matear et al.s study in services sector, (2002). Some of these studies have supported the direct relationship between market orientation and business performance (Eg. Chang and Chens study in retail brokers, 1998; Matear et al., 2002) while others have not supported the direct link between market orientation-performance link (Eg.Han et. al.s study in banking sector, 1998).However, even if some studies do not support the direct link between market orientation and performance, they have found mediating contributors in the studies on market orientation performance link. These mixed findings have given rise to explore alternative mechanisms which can intervene or bridge the market orientationperformance link. Among these mechanisms that mediates between market orientation and performance, service innovations and service quality, reliability, customer Sample of Research Proposal 8

This is just a sample and not a complete and perfect proposal satisfaction and loyalty have been studied in the recent past ( Matear et al., 2002). Even if these studies supported the mediating role of innovations and service quality, these constructs have failed to act as complete mediators to the relationship between market orientation and performance. On this standing, Matear et al.(2002) highlight that there should be further studies to examine how market orientation interacts with other sources of competitive advantage to yield superior performance for services firms. They argue that the existing literature suffers from a serious lack of studies exploring the interrelationship among market oriented behaviour, corporate image and reputation and business performance in service sector organizations. In the literature, it is widely discussed that market orientation contributes to business performance through creating and delivering customer perceived value. According to Kotler (2006), Customer value includes Product value, Service value, Personnel value and Image value. Therefore, it is interesting to study how market orientation can improve business performance of service organization through image value. This unexplored interrelationship provides a sufficient justification for the existence of the theoretical gap in the current literature. Based on the above understanding, the study formulates the research problem as follows; How could Market Orientation contribute to Business Performance through Corporate Image of the Commercial Banks in Sri Lanka? 3. Research Questions 1) Do the Commercial Banks in Sri Lanka exhibit Market Oriented Behavior? 2) Whether is there a relationship among the Market Orientation, Corporate Image and Business Performance of the Commercial Banks in Sri Lanka?, if any, what is the nature of the relationship? 3) Does the Corporate Image mediate the relationship between Market Orientation and Business Performance of the Commercial Banks in Sri Lanka?

Sample of Research Proposal

This is just a sample and not a complete and perfect proposal 4 Objectives of the Study oriented. 2) To identify the nature of interrelationship among Market orientation, Corporate Image and Business Performance of the Commercial Banks in Sri Lanka. 3) To explore the mediating effect of Corporate Image on the relationship between Market Orientation and Business Performance. 5 Significance of the Study The study contributes to fill the theoretical gap by addressing the interrelationship between Market orientation, Business performance and Corporate Image of the service firm, which has not yet been addressed in marketing literature. Addressing the theoretical gap of this nature can generate new knowledge which can provide marketing academics with new directions in undertaking further research in corporate marketing. Therefore, it can enrich the existing literature in the same area. The new knowledge discovered can guide investment decisions in market-based relational assets such as brands and corporate image, which lead to creation of customer value and in turn to superior business performance of service sector organizations. In general, Services marketing practitioners can use the new knowledge for better strategic decision making like effective and efficient corporate brand building in banks at the corporate level. Especially, Decision makers and marketing consultants in the commercial banking sector can make use of the knowledge discovered in identifying current strategic weaknesses and adjusting their corporate level strategies for competitive advantage and superior performance in the Sri Lankan Commercial banks through improved market oriented behavior and corporate image enhancement. In an era where sustainable competitive edge is based on hard-to imitate strategic competencies and intangibles, this study can contribute to the corporate marketing and branding practice as an emerging area of modern marketing. Ultimately, the strategic implications derived from the study can be applied to the other service sectors as well. 1) To measure the extent to which the Commercial Banks operating in Sri Lanka are market

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This is just a sample and not a complete and perfect proposal 6 Scope of the Study The theoretical scope of the study includes only the three constructs: Market Orientation, Corporate Image and Business Performance while the empirical scope of the study has been narrowed down to commercial banks operating in the Western province of Sri Lanka. The major focus will be on the corporate banking. 7 Literature Review Refer journal articles, past research and text books. (do not copy them) Get the meaning and write in your argumentative tone.( write authors name, year etc.) 8 Conceptualization and Conceptual Framework of the Study Conceptualization of the Study As an advancement of these two performance related relationships, there have been few studies investigating how market orientation and corporate image together influence business performance the study conceptualizes the interrelationship among market orientation, corporate image and business performance based on the facts and evidence in the existing literature which were presented in the previous section. Based on the past studies on market orientation, business performance and corporate image, the study has identified independent, dependent and mediating variables and developed hypotheses to fill the theoretical gap and explore the reality empirically in the Sri Lankan Commercial Banking sector. Market orientation and corporate image of the commercial bank is assumed to be the independent variable, which in turn influence business performance of the commercial bank. Further, corporate image is assumed to mediate the relationship between market orientation and business performance of the commercial bank in Sri Lanka. The study of the consequences of MO has almost exclusively focused on its final effect on the companys performance, but the way in which this relationship develops remains unexplored and requires further development. This situation is even more critical in the service industry, given that the inherent intangibility of services may considerably affect this relationship. In the service industry, the competitive advantage is fundamentally related to the companys intangible assets. Until now, the dominant logic has considered that MO Sample of Research Proposal 11

This is just a sample and not a complete and perfect proposal establishes the bases of creating value for the customer, and that this strategy enables the achievement of a sustainable competitive advantage resulting in better performance (Kohli and Jaworski, 1990; Jarwoski and Kolhi, 1993; Deshpande et al., 1993). However, this argument does not explain why a business might come to deliver value for its stockholders by trying to create greater value for its customers (McNaughton et al., 2002). Therefore, it is necessary to identify the mediating variables in the MO-performance relationship. Matear et. al (2002) has implied possibility of exploring the role of corporate image as a mediator to the market orientatio performance link. The study develops a model in which an indirect effect of the MO-performance relationship is represented through corporate image. Literature on marketing and branding establishes that corporate image is one of the variables that have a significant impact on the companys performance. Thus, it is relevant to look into the type of relationship existing between MO and corporate image. Conceptual Framework of the Study Based on the above conceptualization developed through extensive literature review, the conceptual frame work is depicted as follows; Figure -4

H1(+)

Market Orientation 1.Customer Orientation 2.Competitor Orientation 3.Interfunctional Coordination

H2 (+)

Reputation 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Access to Services Services Offered Personal Contacts Security Reputation

H3 (+)

Performance Objective Performance (Market Share, Profitability, Sales, Cash Flow)

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This is just a sample and not a complete and perfect proposal 9 Propositions and Hypotheses of the Study H1 There is a positive relationship between Market Orientation (Customer Competitor Orientation and Inter-functional Coordination) and Business

Orientation, Performance. H2 H3

There is a positive relationship between Market orientation and Corporate Image There is a positive relationship between Corporate Image and Business

Performance H4 Corporate Image enhances the relationship between Market Orientation and

Business Performance 10 Operationalization of the Constructs Construct Market Orientation Narver and Slater (1990), Deng and Dart (1994), Deshpande and Farley (1996), and Kennedy, Goolsby, and Arnauld (2003). The scale of intelligence generation derives from Kohli and Cronbachs alpha = 0.727 Competitor orientation Dimensions / Variables Customer Orientation Measurement Scales 1. We analyze in detail the evolution of 5 PointLikert Scale customers (transactions, satisfaction)in order to plan future actions 2. All the areas of the company consider that attending the interests of customers is more important than attending the own interests 3. We try to integrate and coordinate all the functions of the firm in order to achieve the customers satisfaction 4. We pay attention to the after-sales service in order to achieve a standard of zero defects or faults 1. In our company, we detect and analyze 5 PointLikert Scale any change in the competitors activities 2. In our company they are disseminated Sample of Research Proposal 13 Indicators

This is just a sample and not a complete and perfect proposal Jaworskis (1990) definition of a market orientation and the scale proposed by Matzuno et al. (2000). Intelligence Generation 1.We analyze the factors that influence on 5 PointLikert Scale the customers decisions 2.We encourage our employees to collect information about customers 3.We own complete and updated information of our customers and we make use of it to our activities 4.We consult our sales people about the (Adopted from Camarero,2007) Corporate Image Proposed by LeBlanc and Nguyen (1996) Cronbachs alpha = 0.80 Services offered Access to services Cronbachs alpha = 0.717 current and future products commercialized 1. Easy to use 2. Necessary time to carry out the transactions 3. Convenience in the service 4. Bank's schedule 5. Possibility to make complaints 1. Quantity of products and services available 2. Attractiveness of the products and services offered 3. Interest received on savings 4. Interest paid on loans Cronbachs alpha = 0.79 Personal contact 5. Commission paid for services 1. Friendliness and treatment received 2. Individualized treatment 3. Human contact 4. Financial advice 5. Accessibility for carrying out Cronbachs Sample of Research Proposal 14 5 PointLikert Scale 5 PointLikert Scale 5 PointLikert Scale Cronbachs alpha = 0.832 periodical reports which provide information about our competitors

This is just a sample and not a complete and perfect proposal alpha = 0.88 Security Cronbachs alpha = 0.83 Reputation consultations 1. Security in transactions 2. Security of deposits 3. Security of data 1. I believe that this bank does what it promises for its clients 2. This bank or savings bank has a good (Adopted from Flavian and Guinalu, 2005) Cronbachs alpha = 0.74 reputation 3. I believe that the reputation of this bank or savings bank is better than that of the rest of the companies 5 PointLikert Scale 5 PointLikert Scale

1. The company has increased its market Business Performance Srivastava et al. (1999), Siguaw et al. (1998), Sheth and Sisodia (2002) and Homburg et al. (2002a, b). (Adopted from Camarero,2007) Cronbachs alpha = 0.863 Economic / Objective Performance share 2. The company has increased the volume of trade with some customers 3. The company has increased its global benefits 4. The company has improved its competitive position 5. The company has reduced costs

5 PointLikert Scale

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This is just a sample and not a complete and perfect proposal 11 Research Design The following strategies are proposed to successfully carry out the study during the recommended period. Survey Research Approach A correlational / quantitative research will be adopted to collect the predetermined data to test the hypotheses Sampling Plan Target Population & Sample Unit In order to measure the market orientation and business performance, the unit of analysis will be the corporate level (Marketing) senior manager at headquarters of each commercial bank of the Western province in Sri Lanka. It is the corporate level managers who can better represent the overall market orientation of banks. In order to measure corporate image, corporate customers of the commercial banks will be the unit of analysis. It is the (corporate) customer who can better perceive the corporate image of the commercial banks. Sample Size The number of commercial banks of the country is 23 (consisting of 11 domestic and 12 foreign banks), headquarters located in (Colombo) the Western province of Sri Lanka. Therefore, the study will include 23 senior corporate (Marketing) managers, each of whom will represent one of the commercial banks in the Western province of Sri Lanka. 1150 corporate customers dealing with these 23 banks in the Western province of Sri Lanka will be selected. 50 corporate customers will be selected from each bank on the basis of contact details obtained from the management of each bank. Sampling Frame the list of commercial banks registered under the central bank of Sri Lanka. Currently there are 23 commercial banks operating in the Western province in Sri Lanka, 11 of which are domestic while the rest is from foreign countries. . (Refer the Appendix-01- ) Sampling Method Sample elements will be selected judgmentally.

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This is just a sample and not a complete and perfect proposal Contact Method The respondents will be contacted either directly after making appointment or by mail. Research Instrument ( Attach tentative Questionnaire) Self-Administrative Questionnaire will be used to collect the predetermined data required to measure the constructs. . (Refer the Appendix-02 ) A structured questionnaire mainly consisting of 5 point -Likert scales (Strongly Agree Strongly Disagree) will be used to measure the dimensions. Before conducting the questionnaire survey, a pilot study will be carried out with a few respondents to confirm validity of the constructs. A few in-depth- interviews with a few corporate managers will also be carried out to improve understanding of the quantitative findings of the study. Data Analysis Descriptive and Inferential Statistics (Rank-order Correlation analysis) will be used to measure the variables and test the hypotheses in the conceptual model. Since the sample size is small (<30), parametric statistical tests are not appropriate. When the distribution of rs is not normally distributed, for the test of hypotheses about the correlation, t distribution is not appropriate (Levin and Rubin, 2003). In this situation non-parametric statistics will be used to test the hypotheses about the rank-order correlation coefficient. For this purpose Spearmans Rank Correlation Values will be applied for the test of hypotheses. The data will be analyzed using the SPSS software and p value will be used to test significance of relationships. Validity and Reliability Cronbachs alpha will be calculated to measure the reliability / internal consistency of the measurement scales. If the value is >= 0.7, the scales will be sufficiently reliable. Since the all the constructs are measured using the existing scales adopted from the literature, face validity of the scales will be assured. In order to test the construct validity of the measurement scales, a confirmatory factor analysis will be performed by following the procedure recommended by Anderson and Gerbing (1988) (cited in Camarero, 2007). Sample of Research Proposal 17

This is just a sample and not a complete and perfect proposal 12 Time Plan (June 01st - 1st December 2008)
Month Task Literature review Data collection Data Analysis Report Writing
Printing , Submission & Viva

June

July

August

September

October

November

1 2

3 4 5

6 7 8 9

10 11 12

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13 References 1. Agarwal, S., Erramill, M.K. and Dev, C.S. (2003) Market orientation and performance in service firms: role of innovation Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 17 No. 1, pp. 68-82 2. Annual Report, Central Bank of Sri Lanka, 2007 3. Aydin, S. and Ozer, G. (2005) The analysis of antecedents of customer loyalty in the Turkish mobile telecommunication market European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 39 No. 7/8, pp. 910-925 4. Bosch, A. L.M.V.D., Jong, M.D.T. De. and Elving,W.J.L.(2005) How corporate visual identity supports reputation Corporate Communications: An International Journal,Vol. 10 No. 2, pp. 108-116 5. Camarero, C. (2007) Relationship orientation or service quality?: What is the trigger of performance in financial and insurance services? The International Journal of Bank Marketing, Vol. 25 No. 6, pp. 406-426 Sample of Research Proposal 18

This is just a sample and not a complete and perfect proposal 6. Castro, C.B., Armario, E.M. and Del Ro, M.E.S. (2005) Consequences of market orientation for customers and employees European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 39 No. 5/6, pp. 646-675 7. Chang, T.-Z., Mehta, R., Chen, S.-J. , Polsa, P. and Mazur, J. (1999), The effects of market orientation on effectiveness and efficiency: the case of automotive distribution channels in Finland and Poland Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 13 No 4/5, pp. 407-418. 8. Eberl, M. and Schwaiger,M (2005) Corporate reputation: disentangling the effects on Financial performance European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 39 No. 7/8, pp. 838854 9. Financial Times, The Sunday Times On Line, Sunday, February 18, 2007,Vol. 41 No 38), ISSN: 1391 0531 10. Financial Times, Daily Mirror, Thursday, May, 08, 2008 (http//www.dailymirror.lk/DM_BLOG/Sections/frmNewsDetailView.aspx) 11. Frat, A.F., Dholakia, N. and Venkatesh, A. (1995) Marketing in a postmodern World European Journal of Marketing,Vol. 29 No.1, pp. 40-56.

Annexure 1 Questionnaire 2 xxxxxxxxxxxCreated by Department of Management of Technology

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