Concept of Strategic Orientations
In rapidly globalizing world, firms use different methods to achieve competitive advantage. And achieving strategic competitiveness is not easy in complex and turbulent markets, these difficulties are increased when organizations do not have a clear understanding of what affects their performance (Altindag et al., 2011). There is no accepted unified definition of strategic orientation of an organization (Hakala, 2011). And here is the definition of S.O in the literature, Strategic Orientation is the organization present and planned resource deployments and interactions that indicate how an organization will achieve its objectives or targeted performance level (Otieno et al., 2012). Also, Zhou et al. (2005) stated that S.O is the strategic directions applied by an organization to create the proper behaviors for the continuous superior performance of the business. Strategic orientations in new product development means the set of behaviors' and activities implemented to match innovation goals (Jeong et al., 2006). And concerned with the firms’ decisions it take to gain superior performance (Slater et al, 2006). Also, S.O is firm specific, culture-based, and complex capabilities that can be lead to competitive advantage (Zhou et al., 2005).
Meanwhile, Sorensen and Madsen (2012) define that S.O is the set of broad strategic choices applied in the pursuit of sustainable superior performance, and is a predisposition for creating the proper employee, manager, and overall organization behavior and activities for attaining superior performance. Strategic orientations are seen as values that direct and influence the activities of an organization and generate the behaviors intended to ensure its viability and performance (Hakala, 2011). Strategic orientation reflects an outward-looking view of the fit between strategic choices and environment and strategic orientation as a strategic choice should lead the way firms get, allocate, and deploy resources to generate dynamic capabilities (Zhou and Li, 2010).