Sectoral variations in market orientation and performance among small service firms in Botswana

The quest for the diversification of Botswana’s mineral-led economy necessitates an

examination of other performing ones such as the Tourism-Transport and Finance-Consulting small

service sectors which have been identified as also contributing immensely to its economy. So, this

paper investigates variations in market orientation and performance among small service firms in

Botswana. In more specific terms, it involves analysis of variations with regard to tourism-transport

and finance-consulting firms. Set in Botswana, data were obtained, using a respondent-completed

questionnaire from 54 managers in the tourism-transport sector and 121 managers in the financeconsulting sector. Despite the focus of the study on sectoral variations among service firms in

Botswana, the study makes major contributions to our understanding of market orientationperformance link. First, the overall level of market orientation varied significantly between the two

sectors. Secondly, two of the three components of market orientation, namely intelligence generation

and intelligence responsiveness also displayed statistically significant differences between each

component and the two sectors. Thirdly, organizational commitment, team spirit and customer

satisfaction were significantly different between the two sectors. These findings suggest the need for a

sustained and systematic study aimed at finding out the relative importance of market orientation in

different sectors. Such a study may be helpful in suggesting differentiated marketing orientation

emphases that may help firms optimize their marketing budget. Notwithstanding the several scholarly

works on market orientation and firm performance, the value of market orientation in sub-Saharan

Africa has only begun to receive attention in Africa. Research evidence is scanty in the case of

Botswana.