Annotated Bibliography
Hurley, R. F. & Hult, T. M. (1998, July). Innovation, market orientation, and
organizational learning: An integration and empirical examination. Journal of
Marketing, 62, 42-54.
In this article, the authors posited that a market-oriented organizational culture should focus on innovation and not on learning. They asserted that organizations that had a higher capacity for creating innovations were more capable of achieving high levels of performance and of gaining a competitive edge. To prove this, they conducted a survey research by distributing questionnaires in the 56 organizations of a large government agency where 9, 648 employees participated. The results of the study were statistically analyzed and they showed that a higher level of innovativeness in an organization’s culture resulted in a greater capacity for innovation and adaptation and that a higher level of innovation and adaptation translated to a culture that emphasized participative decision making, development, and learning.
The study conducted by the authors was based on a quantitative research, which lent credibility to their findings and assertions. They also based their hypotheses and propositions on previous research, which further validated their claims. However, their claims seemed to have been one-sided in that they focused only on stressing that innovations could provide organizations with a competitive advantage without indicating how this could be ensured or implemented. This could be a cause for concern because if organizations focused only on innovations without focusing on how they could be converted to revenues then the organization might end up with many unfinished or underdeveloped products or innovations that might just become liabilities instead of assets for the organization.
Slater, S. F. & Narver, J. C. (1995, July). Market orientation and the learning
organization. journal of Marketing, 59, 63-74.
In this article, the authors asserted that knowledge would be a key differentiator
that would provide organizations with a competitive edge. However, they proposed that a learning organization could be supported only by a market-oriented and entrepreneurially driven organizational culture, which in turn must be complemented by a climate that fostered a learning organization. In particular, they posited that an organization could sustain a competitive advantage and a high level of performance only if they had the resources and skills that would enable them to provide their customers with superior value; that would enable their products and processes to remain unique and difficult to replicate; and that would enable them to create multiple applications.
The assertions made by the authors in this article were very strong in that they were well supported by prior research. In addition, their assertions did make sense in that in the information age when knowledge and information are of utmost importance, it becomes necessary for organization to manage their knowledge well and for them to continue to develop this knowledge by making sure that information can flow freely within the organization. In addition, the authors made a very good point in indicating that only if the organization cultivates a culture and climate that supports and values learning will learning be sustained because only through these will learning become integrated into the organizational members’ values and beliefs so much so that they would unquestioningly support it.
Conclusion
These two articles were selected because they supported each other with regards to the value of knowledge and a market-oriented culture in providing organizations with a competitive edge. Of the two, Slater & Narver’s (1995) article would be rated as 1 and Hurley & Hult’s (1998) article would be rated as 2, with 1 being the higher rate. This is because the former’s assertions about the importance of organizational learning were more holistic than the latter’s, which focused mostly on the need for innovation. While innovation is a part of organizational learning, other organizational learning initiatives such as knowledge transfer and the structures that support learning, are not necessarily a part of innovation but are just as important in enabling organizations to gain and sustain a competitive advantage.
