Purpose

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of internal market orientation on the adoption of external market orientation among the retail banks in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This study adds to the previous research regarding external market orientation. It also develops an empirical model on the basis of the results.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used a self-administered structured questionnaire to collect data from the front-line marketing and non-marketing employees from the banks. Data were collected from 98 branches of all the 49 banks that operate in the UAE. Two major emirates of the UAE, namely, Abu Dhabi and Dubai, were considered for data collection. Each bank contributed responses from a minimum of two branches, and 113 completed questionnaires were received out of 196 respondents approached for data collection. The reliability, convergent and discriminant validity issues of the data were assessed, and the results of these confirmed the appropriateness of the data used in this study.

Findings

Direct entry regression and multivariate analysis of variance were used for identifying the conclusions surrounding the hypotheses of the study. The results measured the extent of internal market orientation and employees’ organisational commitment. They both confirmed their positive role on the adoption of external market orientations among the retail banks in the UAE. The results of the study further provided evidence that once an external market orientation focus is adopted, this benefits customer loyalty and satisfaction in addition to overall positive business outcomes for the banks concerned.

Originality/value

The findings of this study support the theoretical arguments of the role of employees and internal market orientation on the adoption of external market orientation. This study further identifies the reason why the adoption of external market orientation is critical for the success of banks.

中文翻译：

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内部市场导向对零售银行采用外部市场导向的作用

目的

本研究的目的是调查内部市场导向对阿拉伯联合酋长国 (UAE) 零售银行采用外部市场导向的作用。这项研究增加了以前关于外部市场导向的研究。它还在结果的基础上开发了一个经验模型。

设计/方法/途径

本研究使用自填式结构化问卷从银行的一线营销和非营销员工那里收集数据。数据收集自在阿联酋运营的所有 49 家银行的 98 家分行。阿联酋的两个主要酋长国，即阿布扎比和迪拜，被考虑用于数据收集。每家银行至少提供了两家分行的答复，从 196 名接受数据收集的受访者中收到了 113 份完整的问卷。评估了数据的可靠性、收敛性和区分有效性问题，这些结果证实了本研究中使用的数据的适当性。

发现

直接输入回归和多变量方差分析用于确定围绕研究假设的结论。结果衡量了内部市场导向的程度和员工的组织承诺。他们都证实了他们在阿联酋零售银行采用外部市场导向方面的积极作用。该研究的结果进一步证明，一旦采用外部市场导向重点，除了相关银行的整体积极业务成果外，这还有利于客户忠诚度和满意度。

原创性/价值

这项研究的结果支持了关于员工和内部市场导向对采用外部市场导向的作用的理论论证。这项研究进一步确定了为什么采用外部市场导向对银行的成功至关重要。