A comparison of the market orientation model in Czech and German high-tech companies

Abstract

A Market orientation belongs to the permanent factors of success and even in the periods of economic instability it helps to keep a company in a good condition. This article aims to compare the Czech and German model of market-orientation of high-tech companies in the manufacturing industry. the overall index of market orientation in the Czech Republic and Germany is almost identical. Subsequently, invariance was tested using the method of Multigroup Confirmatory Factor Analysis. a comparison of absolute terms of the models shows that significant difference among the coefficients exists in the item regarding obtaining information about competitors - i.e. competitor intelligence generation. the research did not demonstrate statistically significant differences between the models. All criteria consistently confirm configural, metric and partial scalar invariance. the only rejected equivalence is scalar invariance. In this study, therefore, no significant differences were demonstrated between the models of market-orientation of Czech and German high-tech companies. There are other studies that deal with the measurement invariance models of market-oriented high-tech companies. Using Czech and German data, this work has helped to clarify that the two versions of the measuring instruments (English and Czech) are indeed equivalent to each other. Based on the research findings, academics and managers are recommend the use both measuring scales indiscriminately as valid tools for determining the index of market orientation in high-tech firms in the manufacturing industry. For now, there is no similar or comparable research in the Czech Republic or Germany. For this reason, it seems appropriate to replicate this research in the future, including discussions with authors who deal with the issue of market orientation.