Integrating Market and Stakeholder Orientation Theory
Robert J. Duesing

Abstract
The paper compares and contrasts two similar yet different constructs: market orientation (MO) and stakeholder orientation (SO). This inter-disciplinary approach combines both the marketing and management literatures. Both constructs link the orientation to the organizational performance, use similar moderators, and emphasize the notion of balancing the orientations at the component level. However, MO and SO differ in three important ways. While the focus of SO is balancing the conflicting interests of stakeholders to satisfy all groups, MO focuses on balancing the interests to satisfy customers only. Secondly, the definition of SO emphasizes the orientation itself, however, the definition of MO emphasizes the mechanism by which the orientation is achieved. Finally, the SO literature occasionally suggests modifications to the components of MO: customer orientation and competitor orientation. The paper concludes with a discussion on how to build an integrative theory with implications and future research directions.

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