The Impact of Competitive Environment on the Market Orientation - Performance Relationship in the Banking Industry

Several researchers have established a positive relationship between market orientation and firm performance, while others established negative or no relationship. These mixed results probably suggests that there are some moderating variables impacting on these relationship (Kumar and Subramanian, 2000; Aragon et. al., 2003; Strandholm et. al. 2004; Russo and Harrison, 2005; Brown and Blackmon, 2005; Zuniga-Vicente, et. al 2004). And several other researchers suggests that environmental factors could moderate this relationship. To test this assertion empirically, this study looks into the impact of competitive intensity on the relationship between market orientation and firm performance using sample data from banks in Nigeria. The results show that there is a significant positive impact of competitive intensity on the relationship between market orientation and business performance in banks