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Although there are a growing number of studies which have investigated links between market orientation and performance in service firms, there has been limited research which compares the market orientations of goods and service firms. The results of this study, based on a large multi‐industry sample of New Zealand companies, suggest that to improve business performance service firms should develop information systems to track profitable customers and products, develop a corporate culture which emphasises the needs of stakeholders, and develop policies to encourage ethical conduct. To improve marketing performance firms should improve their levels of market orientation, develop a corporate culture which emphasises the marketing concept and innovation, adopt more proficient new product development processes and explore the possibilities of electronic commerce.

The service sector is an increasingly important source of job creation and economic wealth, and accounts for more than 75 per cent of the GDP of many developed economies. Yet there has been surprisingly little research into the relationship between market orientation and service firm performance. This editorial reviews the major research themes relating to market orientation and service firm performance and suggests an agenda for future research to improve understanding of this important marketing and management issue.

The aim of this article is to identify company characteristics which are linked to improved performance in hospitality firms. It compares the levels of market orientation and other company characteristics, including corporate culture, innovation procedures, use of information technology and ethical policies of hospitality firms with the most highly market‐oriented service firms from other sectors which took part in a large multi‐industry study in New Zealand. Suggests that hospitality managers should encourage their organisations to become more customer‐focused, to develop a corporate culture which encourages innovation, and to make greater use of Web‐based marketing to improve company performance.

Although universities are increasingly competing for international students, little has been written about the influence of cross‐cultural values on the positioning of international education brands. This study investigates the values that students in three Asian markets place on overseas university education, and the media they use to gain information about universities. The results suggest that a common media mix can be utilized in Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong, and that a standardized or adapted branding strategy could be adopted, depending on how many of these markets universities wish to target. The results have important implications for the positioning of international university brands in Asian markets.

This study utilises the inter‐relationship between market orientation and innovation in order to examine alternative mechanisms through which market orientation contributes to service firm performance. Three mechanisms (direct, mediated and moderator) are examined using regression analysis and structural equation modelling in a sample of 231 firms which develop new services. Market orientation is found to contribute to performance through a dual mechanism in that it contributes both directly and through innovation, with innovation mediating the contribution. These results emphasise that researchers should consider the inter‐relationships between multiple sources of advantage in seeking explanations of firm performance.

This paper sets out to identify the knowledge and skills that marketing practitioners need to possess and use, to improve marketing management and firm performance.

The data from a survey of marketing managers, academics and senior students in New Zealand, relating to the skills essential to work as a marketing manager, were analysed by analysis of variance to assess the extent of convergences or divergence among the responses of the three groups.

The essential skills are an ability and willingness to learn about product‐markets, to solve marketing problems, to communicate with internal and external stakeholders, and to work in teams, plus the knowledge of a wide range of marketing subject areas needed to set these skills in context. To progress from junior to senior posts, marketing graduates need to develop strategic thinking, leadership and management skills, and must demonstrate knowledge of strategic planning, product and brand management, communication and promotion, and consumer behaviour.

This study extends previous research by incorporating the views of three stakeholder groups about a broad range of knowledge and skills. Further, research is required to assess the generalisability of the results from these relatively small samples located in only one institution (albeit large and influential), and to investigate whether experience alone is a sufficient basis for junior marketers to acquire the knowledge and skills to become effective marketing managers and planners, or whether academics should help them to fast‐track their careers by means of targeted courses for intending practitioners.

Broad agreement between practitioners and academics suggests that relevant knowledge and skills are probably being taught. However, the differing view of students suggests that the effectiveness of university courses must be questioned.

The study reports the opinions of three stakeholder groups on a vital aspect of marketing education.

The purpose of this study was to identify those factors that are supposed to be the most important in terms of small business success in tourism industry. The empirical data is collected within one region in Finland. The respondents were asked to evaluate the importance of the given factors for the firm's success and how highly the respondent evaluated the company's expertise in each factor in their operations. Questionnaires were sent by mail to a total of 214 tourism businesses. The final response rate was 43% (92 businesses). According to the analysis of the data, the respondents emphasise the importance of customer orientation, good skills in leadership, internal marketing and a good reputation of the firm and the product. The impact of external advice (incubators, consultants, research organisations) was evaluated as the least important factor of success. So, market orientation seems to play a key role in the performance of small and micro tourism firms. Customer orientation is also well mastered according to the businesses. The greatest development needs would be in the areas of price and accessibility, as well as in customer orientation. The results of this study indicate that there are no statistically significant differences in the views held by slowly or fast growing tourism businesses regarding the importance of the success factors. The same factors are considered important and less important in both slowly and fast growing businesses. Neither were there any statistically significant differences in these businesses as to the expertise in these success factors.

This paper investigates how three marketing‐related sources of advantage – market orientation, new service development and brand investment – contribute to service firm performance by operationalising the sources‐position‐performance framework in a multi‐sector sample of service organisations. New service development and brand investment are found to contribute to the attainment of positional advantage and thence to performance. Market orientation, when considered in combination with these other sources, does not contribute directly to positional advantage and performance. Cost, brand and new service success positions are found to contribute to service firm performance.

It is well known that the results of academic marketing research are not widely used by practitioners. This is attributed to a range of factors including language barriers and poor communication between the academic and practitioner communities. In spite of this, there exists little research within marketing that has focused on how potential users of academic research such as business or marketing managers prefer to receive research information. To start filling this void in the research literature, we report a study of managers' media preferences for receiving academic research information.

A survey of managers who had taken part in a larger study into the competitiveness of service enterprises was conducted. Cluster analysis was used to assess different media preference segments.

Findings contradict expectations derived from media richness theory. For example, a substantial number of managers prefer written communication modes, which according to media richness theory are not effective ways of communicating complex information such as academic research results. Cluster analysis suggested that three media preference segments existed.

Further research should investigate why managers appear to prefer particular communication modes, particularly printed media.

The paper examines the appropriateness of different types of media used to communicate complex academic research information to practitioners. Findings should be useful to academics that aim to disseminate effectively their findings to practitioners.

Attempts to consider how a founder has reduced equivocality in relation to support networks and reducing risks, especially in an international environment. Presents the case studies of five Danish and Australian born global companies. Considers different global models and their limitations. Presents the findings of recent surveys in this area. Concludes that internationalization has not been the primary objective in the founding process and gives direction for further research.