Market orientation and its antecedents in the Polish local governments

Abstract

Purpose

Over the past few years there have been several attempts to reform the structure and functioning of the Polish local government units (LGU). Therefore, it is worth analyzing the application of the marketing concept in this context. More specifically the purpose of this paper is to determine the present level of market orientation (MO) of the Polish LGU, and indicate some factors stimulating the MO development.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey with use of CATI technique was conducted among 450 local government officials in Poland. Based on the gathered data a set of hypotheses related to MO level and its antecedents was examined by multiple regression analysis and analysis of variance procedures.

Findings

The overall MO level of the Polish LGU is moderate, 21 percent of the units can be considered as truly market‐oriented according to Western standards. The MO scores are diversified with respect to LGU types. Especially, they are significantly lower in smaller municipalities and districts as opposed to town municipalities and cities. Also, the scores for intelligence response are significantly higher than those concerning intelligence generation and intelligence dissemination. The results regarding antecedents of MO suggest that its IG and ID dimensions are positively related to the organization size, professional training of managers, and revenues in the medium‐sized units.

Practical implications

The survey results are valuable to local government managers, indicating areas where measures should be taken to increase the MO.

Originality/value

The paper represents a first application of the well‐known MARKOR scale to the Polish public sector.

Citation

Kowalik, I. (2011), "Market orientation and its antecedents in the Polish local governments", International Journal of Public Sector Management, Vol. 24 No. 1, pp. 57-79. https://doi.org/10.1108/09513551111099226