The impediments to developing a market orientation: an exploratory study of small UK hotels

The aim of this paper is to redress a literature imbalance through identifying, describing and analysing the impediments to the development of market orientation in the context of small UK hotels. The paper begins with a clarification of the nature and domain of market orientation. Thereafter, extant research into the performance implications of market orientation is briefly discussed and existing research into market orientation obstacles critically summarised. The paper then introduces the findings of exploratory interviews which demonstrate that the barriers to developing market orientation for small hoteliers are vastly different from those which are conventionally forwarded. The paper culminates with a series of conclusions and implications for theorists and practitioners.