استراتژی های محرک در بازار: فراتر از محلی سازی  Market driving strategies: Beyond localization

1. Introduction Based on the resource based view, firms should focus on building distinctive competencies that can lead to sustainable competitive advantage. Market orientation is a firm’s strategic behavior that places emphasis on understanding stakeholders such as customers and competitors for sustainable competitive advantage (Kohli & Jaworski, 1990; Lado, Maydeu-Olivares, & Rivera, 1998; Rogers, Ghauri, & George, 2005). Market orientation helps firms develop capabilities that support adaptation activities in order to more closely meet the needs of customers (Cadogan, Diamantopoulos, & De Mortanges, 1999; Kumar, 1997; Slater & Narver, 1998) and lead to higher performance (Day, 1994; Jaworski & Kohli, 1993; Narver & Slater, 1990). However, implementing adaptation in different markets may mean modifying marketing activities, and this may hinder companies from focusing on globally consolidating a set of valuable, unique and inimitable capabilities for sustainable competitive advantage in the long term (Barney, 1991; Sirmon, Hitt, & Ireland, 2007). A firm that is constantly changing in order to adapt to the local market trends may lose long-term focus and find its competitive advantage eroded over time (Ghauri et al., 2011). Narver, Slater, and MacLachlan (2004) suggest two forms of market orientation: responsive and proactive. Responsive market orientation consists of reacting to market changes and has been the focus of most research on market orientation. Proactive market orientation addresses latent needs. Narver et al. (2004) provide empirical evidence that responsive market orientation is insufficient for new product development. Global firms may seek a more standardized or market driving approach to foreign markets, which consists of influencing consumers and changing market conditions to suit their unique business model (Carrillat, Jaramillo, & Locander, 2004; Jaworski et al., 2000; Kumar, 1997; Hunt & Lambe, 2000). Hi-tech firms such as Apple, manufacturers such as Swatch and DeBeers, and retailers such as IKEA, Starbucks and Wal-Mart have been able to drive rather than be driven by the market that they enter, thanks to the firms’ innovative business systems (Harris & Cai, 2002; Jaworski et al., 2000; Kumar, Scheer, & Kotler, 2000). Pioneering change in the market and revolutionizing rather than responding to market trends create long-term value for the firm (Kumar et al., 2000). Kumar et al. (2000) describe market driving as implementing radically innovative business systems and creating a revolution in the customer value proposition. Jaworski et al. (2000: 47) define market driving as “changing the composition and/or roles of players in a market and/or behaviors of players in the market.” Overall, market driving is a proactive market orientation approach (Narver et al., 2004) that emphasizes the development of latent trends in the foreign market. Market driving firms educate consumers and exert an influence on their values, norms and behavior so that consumers are open to the firm’s business offering (Carrillat et al., 2004; Jaworski et al., 2000; Kumar et al., 2000). Despite work on market driving behavior and performance in the hi-tech sector (Hills & Bartkus, 2007; Neuenburg, 2010), there is little knowledge about the antecedents of market driving behavior. Why are some firms more market driving than others? This paper studies the different capabilities that lead to market driving behaviors. Capabilities are important for developing a firm’s competitive advantage, because they reflect the unique skills and core competencies that distinguish one firm from another (Hall, 1993; Hitt & Ireland, 1985; Snow & Hrebiniak, 1980). Market driving firms implement radical business innovation (Kumar et al., 2000) and are therefore difficult to imitate. These firms do not seek to adapt to current market conditions or follow established set rules of competition. They appear to have distinct capabilities that they are able to leverage while taking into account the characteristics of the specific market that they enter (Narver et al., 2004; Tuominen, Rajala, & Möller, 2004).