The Effect of Market Orientation and International Experience on Performance with Regard to the Mediating Role of Global Marketing Strategy

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1 International Journal of Economy, Management and Social Sciences, 2(10) October 2013, Pages: TI Journals International Journal of Economy, Management and Social Sciences ISSN The Effect of Market Orientation and International Experience on Performance with Regard to the Mediating Role of Global Marketing Strategy Ali Mokhtari 1, Mohammad Reza Hosseini Moghadam 2 *, Masoud Monazzami Borhani 3, Samira Sabaghian 4 1 Associate professor, Imam sadiq University, Tehran, Iran. 2 MA in Business Management, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran. 3 MA in Executive Administration, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran. 4 BA in Business Management, Binaloud University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran. A R T I C L E I N F O Keywords: Market orientation International experience Global marketing strategies Performance A B S T R A C T Performance of companies with international experience is one of the significant subjects in current situation. The aim of this research is to examine market orientation, international experience, global marketing strategies, and the performance of manufacturing companies in Mashhad, Iran. This research is a practical and descriptive- survey study. In order to collect data, we have used questionnaire. The validity and reliability of questionnaire were confirmed using construct and content validity and Cronbach's alpha respectively. The large and medium size manufacturing companies of Mashhad industrial towns have been chosen for this purpose. Probability random sampling has been used in this research. We have used PLS software in order to analyze the data. The data analysis of 75 related companies show that there was a significant relationship between market orientation and companies' performance. Moreover, there was a strong association between international experience and companies' performance. Furthermore, the role of global marketing strategies as an intermediate variable in related to market orientation and international experience with company's performance did not confirm Int. j. econ. manag. soc. sci. All rights reserved for TI Journals. 1. Introduction A penetration view to the surrounding world reveals that: today's world is differing from the past." Globalization of economy, mass production, existence of surplus capacity in most markets, time-based competition, mass of information, information efficiency, increasing knowledge and power of markets and dynamic environment of manufacturing and service companies are some characteristics of the modern world. Regarding this situation, what is the secret of companies' success and survival in today's competitive market? (Ibrahimi, 2003). Regarding Literature review of organizational performance and success and strategic management theories, the answer is creating, maintaining and sustaining competitive advantage. Pundits believe that organizations need to obtain and maintain sustainable competitive advantage in order to comply with competitive necessities. It is obvious that, to serve this purpose a smart competitive approach is required, which is ambiguous in terms of science and complex in terms of sociability and management. (Monavarian, 2000). Previous studies have approved the positive effect of company's strategy on global market performance. (e.g., Birnik & Bowman, 2007; Craig & Douglas, 2000; Kustin, 2010; Zou & Cavusgil, 2002). Marketing strategy is an approach in which companies react to the competitive market situation. (Zou & Cavusgil, 1994). The absolute feature of marketing is to meet customer needs through representing appropriate products and services (Dwairi, 2004). Because market orientation companies forecast and meet customer needs by appropriate products and services, they could increase customer satisfaction and loyalty (Slater & Narver, 1998). Today's studies relating to these relationships display that market orientation activities improved organization's competitiveness through motivating staff (Ahmed, Rafiq & Saad, 2003) and then companies reach high performance. On the other hand, market orientation and attention to the environment are the main marketing elements and significant factors in order to enable companies to comprehend the market and create appropriate product and service strategies to meet customer needs and demands (Deshpande & Farley, 1998). The value of international experience for global marketing has been considered in marketing literature (Qian & Delios, 2008). Many international companies follow social rationality in * Corresponding author. address: mr.hoseyni2011@yahoo.com

2 The Effect of Market Orientation and International Experience on Performance with Regard to the Mediating Role of Global International Journal of Economy, Management and Social Sciences, 2(10) October their marketing functions; however, the low experienced companies are reversed (Douglas & Craig, 1992). In the end, in this research, we are going to examine the impact of market orientation and international experience accompanied by intermediating role of global marketing strategy on performance. The necessity and importance of this study is containing the most significant factors of global organizations' success in all areas such as industry, service, and business. Since, there is not any similar study in Iran; this study can be a prominent research. 2. Literature review 2.1. Market orientation Market orientation is a degree to which an organization perceives its customers' needs and uses this kind of information in order to forecast the future of organization and also meet customers' needs. Consequently, organizations will be able to provide more value for customers (Huseman, 2010). Kara et al (2005) express that market orientation is a significant source of sustainable competitive advantage. Since imitation is difficult, the company should focus on finding opportunities for growth and reduce the procrastination in response to the opportunities. They assert, "Market orientation is a fundamental aspect of organizational culture that creates competitive values, norms, artifacts, and behaviors which provide an opportunity for organization to obtain competitive advantage". Farrell (2000) draw a comparison between marketing and market orientation and states that marketing concept is the way in which an organization thinks about products and customers, however market orientation undertakes essential activities to implement the marketing concept. This comparison suggests that while organizations may assume that they are serving customers and seeking customer satisfaction, their actions can be seen as a real proof of their market orientation Market intelligence generation The first action of market orientation is generation of market intelligence that consists of four independent and interdependent steps. 1- Gathering and analyzing information about needs and preferences of current customers. 2- Analyzing the external factors of industry (such as government regulations, economic trends, technology and other environmental forces) which may influence on customer needs and demands. 3- Monitoring, forecasting and analyzing competitors' action and the way in which they could effect on needs and preferences of potential and current customers. 4- Gathering and monitoring market intelligence through formal or informal methods. In order to be a real market oriented company, organizations should maintain the dynamic nature of current and future needs of different customers (Kotler, 1994). Due to the dynamic nature of the environment, we need market intelligence to monitor the effect of external factors such as governmental regulations, economic trends, technology and other environmental forces on customer needs and preferences (Kotler, 1994). These factors influence on organizational performance. Furthermore, in order to analyze environmental changes and their effects on customer needs and preferences, market intelligence is needed. Since a significant share of industrial exchanges includes international trade, market intelligence requires continuous monitoring and evaluating of external environmental changes in the industry (Kohli & Jaworski, 1990) Market orientation dissemination Market orientation dissemination includes two dimensions: 1- Dissemination of existing and anticipated information across the organization with regard to the needs and preferences of current and potential customers, current and potential competitors and other external factors. 2- Effective use of published information through encouraging participants of all sectors and individuals to share information about needs and preferences of current and potential customers, current and potential competitors and other external factors. Market intelligence effectiveness requires the participation of all sectors of an organization. Variety of sectors and individuals that are aware of market needs and changes and ways of responding to them is an important factor (Kohli & Jaworski, 1993). Kohli & Jaworski (1990) state that a horizontal communication system is an effective way of disseminating information. Since the generation of market intelligence increases through involving all sectors and individuals, the advantages of intelligence dissemination spread for all sectors. Each sector or person of organization can share information with others Market intelligence responsiveness

3 866 Ali Mokhtari et al. International Journal of Economy, Management and Soci al Sci ences, 2(10) October 2013 The third function of market orientation is market intelligence responsiveness, which consists of three steps: 1- Development, design, implementation and adaptation of products and services (tangible or intangible) to meet the needs and preferences of current and potential customers. 2- Development, design, implementation and adaptation of systems for product and service promotion, distribution and pricing in response to the current and potential customer needs and preferences. 3- Utilization of market segmentation, diversification of products and services, and other marketing instruments in order to develop, design, implement and adapt products, services and systems which are related to promotion, distribution and pricing. While the purpose of intelligence generation and dissemination is to develop market knowledge (Kohli & Jaworski, 1990), the main aim of intelligence responsiveness is to use market knowledge towards strategy recognizing, understanding, creating, selecting, implementing and modifying responsiveness in order to face market needs and changes (Hunt & Morgan, 1995) International experience Company experience is one of the influential factors on gaining international competitive advantage. A company with a history of more than a year in business may gather experiences and develops some different aspects of market. A company may recruit people who have worked in overseas markets and have international marketing experiences. With this action, this company took the first step in international marketing.(naeemi ghahroodi,1997) The value of international experience in global marketing is so clear in marketing literature (Qian & Delios, 2008). Many international companies are looking for social rationality in marketing operations, although less experienced companies are reversed (Douglas & Craig, 1992). Experienced international companies are more likely to identify strategic markets for entering in response to the market environmental changes (Sambharya, 1996). As the primary emphasis is on intangible skills and firm resources, performance background is one of the physical resources of organization. (Barney, 1991). International experience enables firms to choose better markets and suitable strategy and implement it effectively (Douglas & Craig, 1989). Empirical evidences show a positive relationship between export performance and international experience (Wu, 2011) Global marketing strategy This study shows the lack of agreement on what makes global marketing strategy. This study includes three orientations (Wu, 2011). 1. Standardization strategy 2. Coordination Strategy (Adaptation) 3. Integration Strategy In standardization strategy, a company follows global marketing strategy regarding its own products, price and structure (Fritz & Dees, 2009). Coordination or adaptation strategy is a perspective in which global marketing strategy focus on specifications and Characteristics of value chain activities (Zou & Cavusgil, 1996). Integration strategy includes fundamental principles of global marketing strategy in order to unite competitive movements of different sections of company in global market (Ghoshal, 1987). Global marketing strategy plays an important role in company performance in global market. Thus, the inconsistent findings in previous studies by many scientists on various aspects of global marketing strategy have been described (Schike et al, 2009). Managers face two challenges of entering the global market: first, identification and definition of global strategy. Second, after knowing what they are going to do in global market, they have to direct their efforts towards that strategy. Two groups of factors determine the type and quality of global strategy and company s capability to enter global markets: firstly, external factors of industry, which displays industry capacity for globalization, and secondly, organization Internal factors that would facilitate the achievement of global strategy. External factors refers to four factors which contains: market factors (Homogeneous market needs, global customers and internationalization of distribution ways), economic factors ( economies of scale in global production and distribution, increased product development costs), environmental factors ( reduction of transformation costs, communication improvement, government policies and technology changes) and competitive factors ( global competitors, Competitive interdependence among countries and the opportunity to benefit from a global competitor activity (Yip, Loewe & Yoshino, 1988). Organization internal factors for determination global marketing strategy Includes structure (to centralize global authority and no gaps between different parts of a company), people (using foreign people and frequent trips, managerial processes of global planning, global budgeting and international groups) and culture (Zou, Shaoming, 1995) Performance Kara et al (2005) organized market orientation consequences into four groups: organizational performance, customer accomplishments, innovation accomplishments and staff accomplishments. Marketing strategy literature state, that market orientation provides capabilities that lead to the best organizational performance through market sensitivity and communication with customer. Organizational performance

4 The Effect of Market Orientation and International Experience on Performance with Regard to the Mediating Role of Global International Journal of Economy, Management and Social Sciences, 2(10) October consists of cost-oriented performance scales, which reflect performance after calculating the components of a strategy, and incomeoriented performance scales, which do not calculate strategy implementation costs. Performance is one of the important concepts in managerial studies. Undoubtedly, it is the best criteria for measuring success in business corporations. In international marketing, rate of return on investment (ROI), sales, sales growth and total performance are used as the measures of firm performance. (Zou, cavugel, 2002). Marketers are very interested in using different strategies and directions to effect on company performance in terms of high technology product. Success in new products and innovations may consider as a dimension of corporate performance (Baker & Sinkula, 2005). 3. Hypothesis development and conceptual model There is a great interest in market orientation as an influential intangible factor on organizational performance in marketing concepts (Homburg et al, 2003). Market orientation is a business culture that leads to performance generation with creation of superior value for customers (Slater and Narver 2000). Some experiential studies examined the impact of market orientation on performance. Some researchers found that market orientation increase business performance (e.g., Chang and Chen). While others did not find any significant direct effects of market orientation on performance (e.g., Han et al 1998; Siguaw et al., 1998). Anyway, new attitudes about market orientation process and performance indicate that when a company reaches its values completely, market orientation requires complementary organizational competencies, then it is recognized that how market orientation and organizational competencies represent their market orientation through established companies, which are important resources for competitive advantage (Morgan et al, 2009). Therefore, the first and second hypotheses are as follows: H 1: Market orientation has a positive effect on company's performance. H 2 : Global marketing strategy of a company comes under the influence of market orientation. Katsikeas (2006) asserts that we can clarify some marketing strategies as a liaison for better performance through an appropriate method. The more clarification could be obtained by standardizing and adaptation analyses at different levels of marketing (e.g., Zuo & Cavusgil, 1994). Moreover, it is possible to understand the significant relationship between global marketing strategy and performance beneath the level of marketing mix elements (Griffith et al, 2003; Harvey, 1993; Okazaki et al, 2007; Ryans et al, 2008; and Wind, 1986). Thus, the third hypothesis is as follow: H 3 : Global marketing strategy influences the positive performance of the company. It is expected that international experience of company will have a direct impact on marketing strategy. However, this effect could be different among various companies. Naturally, small and medium size companies have lower global experience and resources in comparison with large companies and their global experience is under the impact of future global strategy limitations (Prater & Ghoh, 2006). On the other hand, global marketing strategy has a great effect on performance. Hence, the fourth and fifth hypotheses are as follows: H 4 : International experience exerts an influence over global marketing strategy of the company. H 5 : International experience of the company has a positive impact on performance. There is a lack of study in the field of relationships between market orientation and international experience with global marketing strategy, particularly in domestic industries of Iran and the existent studies show indirect and weak relationships between variables. Furthermore, there is no comprehensive model that contains these competencies and each of these studies introduced a factor as an intermediate variable separately. However, the relationship between international experiences and company's strategic capability to enter global markets could be summed up in following paragraph (based on previous studies): Each activity beyond the international boundaries such as establishing an agency, participation in other industries, exporting and international cooperation increase our knowledge of international interactions and leads to increase in capability of global marketing strategy and provide the company with a competitive advantage for entering a global market. Therefore, the two last hypotheses are as follows: H 6 : Global marketing strategy mediates the relationship between market orientation and performance. H 7 : Global marketing strategy mediates the relationship between international experience and performance.

5 868 Ali Mokhtari et al. International Journal of Economy, Management and Soci al Sci ences, 2(10) October 2013 Market Orientation Global Marketing Strategy Performance International Experience Figure 1. Conceptual model of research 4. Methodology This study is an applied research in terms of purpose and a descriptive-survey research in terms of the methods used to collect and analyze data. The research variables are market orientation, international experience, global marketing strategy and performance Data collection Questionnaire is one of the best ways of collecting information in survey studies. As it is clear how to measure variables of this research, the best method of collecting data is questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of 23 items, with five-point Likert scales in which 19 items are ranged from totally disagree to totally agree and also 4 items in the end of the spectrum are ranged from much weaker than competitors to so much better than competitors. The 23 items have divided into 4 parts: market orientation with 6 items, international experience with 3 items, global marketing strategy with 10 items and performance with 4 items. Items related to market orientation consisted of three sections: market intelligence generation, market intelligence dissemination and market intelligence responsiveness that are derived from Kohli & Jaworski (1993). The second part items which related to international experience are derived from Cavusgil, Zou & Naidu's, (1993) and third parts items( global marketing strategies) included 3 parts: global marketing standardization, global marketing coordination and global marketing integration that are derived from (Zou & Cavusgil's, 2002 and finally items related to the performance are derived from Baker & Sinkula, 2005) population and sample The population of this study contains of all medium and large manufacturing firms of industrial town of Mashhad that export goods. According to statistics of Industries and Mines Organization of Khorasan Razavi, the total number of these companies is 90. Given that senior managers of company are the most knowledgeable people in the company, they have selected for responding to the questionnaire. We have used probability sampling in this study. As generalization of results is very critical, simple random sampling was used and sample size was determined by Morgan table. 75 of 90 firms were selected randomly using Morgan and Jersy table. Regarding the researcher presence during responding process, all 75 questionnaires were returned Validity and reliability of instrument All procedures relating to the validity and reliability of measuring instrument were completed. In order to examine questionnaire reliability, all questions were obtained from reliable sources. Then pre-test was conducted to evaluate the potential problems. Besides, measurement instrument has examined by some experts. Finally, exploratory factor analysis was used to examine structural validity. Table 1 displays the results of exploratory factor analysis for these four variables respectively: market orientation, international experience, global marketing strategy and performance.

6 The Effect of Market Orientation and International Experience on Performance with Regard to the Mediating Role of Global International Journal of Economy, Management and Social Sciences, 2(10) October Table 1. of Exploratory Factor Analysis Market orientation (MO) MO1 MO2 MO3 MO4 MO5 MO International experience (IE) IE1 IE2 IE Global marketing standardization (GMS) GMS1 GMS2 GMS3 GMS Coordination of marketing activities (CMA) CMA1 CMA2 CMA3 CMA Integration of competitive action (ICA) ICA1 ICA Performance (P) P1 P2 P3 P Based on the data that is shown in table 1 and with regard to Pallant's (2009), opinion items with loading factor less than o.3 should be removed. Thus, IE3, GMS1 and GMS2 were excluded in the first stage of factor analysis. Table 2 shows the results of the second stage of factor analysis. Table 2. of Exploratory Factor Analysis Market orientation (MO) International experience (IE) Global marketing standardization (GMS) Coordination of marketing activities (CMA) Integration of competitive action (ICA) Performance (P) MO IE CMA ICA P MO IE CMA ICA P MO GMS CMA P MO GMS CMA P MO MO Reliability of measurement instrument was evaluated using Cronbach's α coefficient, which is the most common test for internal consistency of multifactor scales. Table 3display this coefficient for research variables. Table4 shows Cronbach's α coefficient after doing factor analysis and eliminating the cases lower than quorum. The reliability coefficient alpha values above 0.6 are considered suitable for instrument validity. Table 3. of the reliability study P ICA CMA GMS IE MO P Table 4. of the reliability study elimination measures ICA CMA GMS IE MO 0.734

7 870 Ali Mokhtari et al. International Journal of Economy, Management and Soci al Sci ences, 2(10) October Data analysis 5.1. Demographic characteristic of respondents The average age of respondents was 42 years. The average of their work experience and working in managerial posts were 17 and 12 years respectively. The minimal amount of managerial experience is 1.5 years and the maximum amount of that is 45 years. 80% of respondents were male and 20% were female. From the total 75 respondents, 14 people had diploma, 5 people had associated degree, 32 people had license, 17 had master degree and 7 people had PhD. Food industry with 33.8% and agricultural industry with 1.4% of frequencies have the most and the least frequencies among all industries respectively test Table 6 indicates the average and standard deviation for research variables. Table 5. Mean and Std MO IE GMS CMA ICA P Mean Standard deviation Figure 2 shows structural equation modeling and research path diagram. As the model displays, path coefficient among variables, and their significance level are specified. P-value is the probable value in which variable significance is examined. When the P-value is more than 0.05, indicating that path and path coefficients would not be significant, thus the related hypotheses would be rejected. Path coefficients and P-values have been displayed on structural equation modeling Research hypotheses examination Research hypotheses have been evaluated by using path coefficient and significance levels. P-value shows the significance of path coefficient. If this value is lower than 0.05, the path and path coefficient will be approved. Otherwise, that path coefficient will not be significant and the related hypothesis is rejected (Fornell & Larcker, 1981). H 1: Market orientation has a positive effect on company's performance. As table 6 shows, the path coefficient between market orientation and performance is 0/39. Thus, according to the significance level (P=0/012), which is lower than 0/05, the related hypothesis is approved. Table 6. Path coefficient Market orientation on performance Direct path Market orientation performance Path coefficient S.E Significant level p=0.012 H 1 Confirmed H 2 : Global marketing strategy of a company comes under the influence of market orientation. H 2a : There is a significant relationship between market orientation and standardization. H 2b : There is a significant relationship between market orientation and Coordination. H 2c : There is a significant relationship between market orientation and Integration. According to table 8, the path coefficient of the impact of market orientation on global marketing strategy elements is for standardization and the p-value is 0.314, which is more than 0.05, thus the related hypothesis is rejected. This hypothesis is confirmed for coordination s (0.768), because p=value is that is lower than Since p-value is equal to that is more than 0/05, this hypothesis is rejected for the last element, which is integration (0.136). Table 7. Path coefficient Market orientation on elements of the global marketing strategy Direct path Market orientation standardization Market orientation Coordination Market orientation Integration Path coefficient S.E Significant level 0.314p= 0.001p= p=0.281 H 2a H 2b H 2c Confirmed

8 The Effect of Market Orientation and International Experience on Performance with Regard to the Mediating Role of Global International Journal of Economy, Management and Social Sciences, 2(10) October Q1 Q2 Market Orientation Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 β=-0.11 P=0.31 β=0.77 P<0.01 β=0.14 P=0.28 standardization β=0.39 P=0.01 β= P=0.50 Q20 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 Q19 β=-0.30 P=0.01 β=0.11 P=0.14 β=-0.24 P=0.03 Coordination Integration β=0.45 P=0.03 β=-0.02 P=0.38 β=0.16 P=0.05 Performance Q21 Q22 Q23 International Experience Q7 Q8 Q9 Figure 2. Diagram structural equation modeling and path H 3 : Global marketing strategy influences the positive performance of the company. H 3a : There is a significant relationship between standardization and performance. H 3b : There is a significant relationship between Coordination and performance. H 3c : There is a significant relationship between Integration and performance. As table 8 indicates, path coefficient of global marketing strategy elements and performance is -.001with of p-value that is more than 0.05 for standardization, so the related hypothesis is rejected. The related hypothesis for coordination and performance with and p- value=0.031 that is lower than 0.05 is approved. These coefficients for integration elements are and p=0.382, so the related hypothesis is not confirmed. Table 8. Path coefficient elements of the global marketing strategy on performance Direct path standardization performance Coordination performance Integration performance Path coefficient S.E Significant level p=0.496 p=0.031 p=0.382 H 3a H 3b H 3c Confirmed

9 872 Ali Mokhtari et al. International Journal of Economy, Management and Soci al Sci ences, 2(10) October 2013 H 4 : International experience exerts an influence over global marketing strategy of the company. H 4a : There is a significant relationship between international experience and standardization. H 4a : There is a significant relationship between international experience and Coordination. H 4a : There is a significant relationship between international experience and Integration. Regarding table 9 that show coefficients of relationships between international experience and global marketing strategy elements, this value for international experience and standardization is with the p-value of 0.011, which is lower than 0.05, the related hypothesis is confirmed. This value for international experience and coordination is 0.106, p-value= so the related hypothesis is not approved. Finally, path coefficient for international experience and integration is with significance level of which is lower than Therefore, the related hypothesis is approved. Table 9. Path coefficient international experience on elements of the global marketing strategy Indirect path International Experience standardization International Experience Coordination International Experience Integration Path coefficient S.E Significant level p=0.011 p=0.139 P=0.031 H 4a H 4b H 4c Confirmed Confirmed H 5 : International experience of the company has a positive impact on performance. According to table 10, path coefficient for the impact of international experience on performance is 0/15. As p=0/04 that is lower than 0/05, the related hypothesis is approved. Table 10. Path coefficient international experience on performance Direct path International Experience performance Path coefficient S.E Significant level p=0.049 H 5 Confirmed H 6 : Global marketing strategy mediates the relationship between market orientation and performance. H 6a : Standardization intermediate the relationship between market orientation and performance. H 6b : Coordination intermediate the relationship between market orientation and performance. H 6c : Integration intermediate the relationship between market orientation and performance. In this hypothesis, the elements of global marketing strategy are considered as intermediate variables between market orientation and performance. As table 11 shows, not all relations between market orientation and performance with the intermediated role of global marketing strategy were significant. Thus, it is concluded that none of the global marketing strategy elements have significant role between market orientation and performance. Table 11. of the relationship between market orientation and performance with Mediating Role of global marketing strategy Indirect path Market orientation performance Market orientation performance Market orientation performance By variable standardization Coordination Integration H 6a H 6b H 6c H 7 : Global marketing strategy mediates the relationship between international experience and performance. H 7a : Standardization intermediate the relationship between international experience and performance. H 7b : Coordination intermediate the relationship between international experience and performance. H 7c : Integration intermediate the relationship between international experience and performance. In this hypothesis, global marketing strategy dimensions are considered as intermediate variables between international experience and performance. According to the table 12, since no relations between international experience and performance accompanied by the intermediate role of global marketing strategy were significant, none of the dimensions of global marketing strategy has effects on international experience and performance relations.

10 The Effect of Market Orientation and International Experience on Performance with Regard to the Mediating Role of Global International Journal of Economy, Management and Social Sciences, 2(10) October Table 12. of the relationship between International Experience and performance with Mediating Role of global marketing strategy Indirect path International Experience performance International Experience performance International Experience performance By variable standardization Coordination Integration H 7a H 7b H 7c Regarding approved and disapproved hypotheses, final model of this study is represented. As it is displayed in figure 3, approved relationships are shown with a straight line and disapproved relations are shown with a dotted line. Market Orientation standardization Coordination Performance Integration International Experience Significant relationship Non-significant relationship Figure 3.The final result of the research model 6. Discussion, conclusion and suggestions In this study, various statistical technics have been used in order to examine the intermediate role of global marketing strategy on the relations between market orientation and international experience in industrial towns of Mashhad- Iran. Research hypotheses have examined using PLS software. Examination of final model, which is extracted from hypotheses results, indicates that market orientation has a positive and significant effect on performance. This result is concurred with the studies of Narver and Slater (1990), Farly, and Webster (1993). Moreover, the relationship between international experience and performance is approved, which is in agreement with studies of (Wu, 2011), (Barney, 1991) and (Douglas and Craig, 1989). Although the relationship between market orientation and coordinating of marketing functions and the impact of coordinating of marketing functions on performance were significant, the impact of global marketing strategy as an intermediate variable on the relationship between market orientation and performance has not been confirmed. Furthermore, the intermediate role of global marketing strategy on the relationship between international experience and performance has not been approved although the relationship between internatial experience and global marketing standardization, coordination and integration on performance has been approved. According to the obtained results, six following advices are recommended:

11 874 Ali Mokhtari et al. International Journal of Economy, Management and Soci al Sci ences, 2(10) October 2013 The first and most important suggestion is organizational restructuring with regard to development of internal organizational factors those impacts on organizational strategic capability to enter a global market. The second advice for performance increase is to transfer technology and management knowledge through management contracts, international manager employment, educational cooperation with foreign institutes and participants by sending managerial and technical recruits. The third suggestion is to develop international knowledge and experience through establishing and developing an international research and studies institute in factories and industrial towns in order to teach instructions and principles for entering global village. Although global marketing strategy intermediate the impact of market orientation and international experience on performance, this effect is not significant. Thus, the fourth suggestion is that industries should pay more attention to global marketing strategy. To this end, companies need advertising to increase their popularity and decision makers have to develop their knowledge about different countries and foreign markets environments through global market research. Finally, according to jent and Hensi(1995) international marketing success requires various skills. One of these most important skills is strategic skills in international marketing (Karkkainen, 2005). Therefore, it is suggested that companies that export engineering and technical service should hold international marketing strategy courses with emphasis on strategic coordination in order to increase strategy skills of their managers and experts. Our research limitations consist of: 1- The time of doing this research was coincident with boycotts and price raise, which had influenced on most companies functions, thus managers of the companies were reluctant to answer the questions. 2- Another limitation of this study is related to the period. The period of this study was limited. Sampling period should be broad enough to involve all the factors that affect respondents' behavior. For example, political and economic revolutions could affect people's behavior and decision-making. 3- Market orientation comes under the influence of internal and external factors. These factors are called antecedents, which include macro and micro environmental factors and organizational internal factors. It is recommended that these factors to be considered in future researches. References [1] Ahmed, P., Rafiq, M., & Saad, N. (2003). 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