EXPLORING THE APPLICABILITY OF THE MKTOR SCALE IN PREDICTING UNIVERSITY PERFORMANCE: A FOCUS ON UNIVERSITIES OF TECHNOLOGY IN SOUTH AFRICA

Abstract

Since 1990, there has been a growing body of research that portrays marketing as a philosophical foundation of the discipline and invariably market orientation as the operationalisation of the marketing concept. However, there is limited empirical evidence that supports the link between market orientation and University performance. Hence, the study was conducted with the main objective of exploring the applicability of the MKTOR scale as a social learning approach in predicting university performance. The study is located within a quantitative stream of research, and a sample of 507 fulltime employed academics who are au fait with the functioning of their institutions was conveniently chosen within the six universities of technology in South Africa. The statistical analysis of the collected data included descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and factor analysis. Lastly, structural equation modelling was undertaken to assess the relationship between the extracted dimensions of MKTOR scale (through exploratory factor analysis) being the predictors and university performance as an outcome. The results of the study support and confirm the applicability of the scale in predicting university performance among universities of technology in South Africa. The author further provides the possible recommendations emanating from the findings as well as limitations, and suggests future research opportunities.

Keywords

• Social learning theory, university performance, customer orientation, competitor orientation, inter-functional coordination