Global Journal of Management and Business Research, E: Marketing, Volume 21 Issue 4

success of Sri Lankan patents and investigate the moderating effect of patent ownership on the two predictors’ MO & DF. The study would also explore the use of market orientation and diffusion amongst the two patent ownership groups. This study comprises four parts. The first part reviews the literature relevant to commercialising innovation, innovation's market orientation, and the diffusion of inventions. Next, the research methodology with data analysis techniques is described, followed by a discussion on study findings. Finally, the study concludes with theoretical and practical implications and directions for future research. II. L iterature R eview Amongst the body of literature on innovation, an emerging and increasingly important topic is the commercialisation of innovation (Schilling, 2005). The commercialisation of innovation takes place in many forms. It could be through transfers, licensing, startups, spin-offs or joint ventures. Within the plethora of innovation literature, the study project commonly known as SAPPHO (Scientific Action Predictive Patterns with Heurnst Origin – Freeman 1967) validated the need to couple new technology with market needs to gain success. The SAPPHO study is a landmark study that added significantly to the knowledge stock on innovation. Forty years thereon, Radosevic and Yoruk (2012) used the same set of success factors to test them out in a knowledge-intensive enterprise industry in Central and Eastern Europe. The results confirmed the continuing relevance of the SAPPHO study. Radosevic and Yoruk study focused on the innovation success factors at the organisation level. The SAPPHO study identified five areas of success. These factors were – better understanding consumer needs, paying more attention to marketing, effective use of outside technology and scientific knowledge, better efficiencies in development and more senior and experienced responsible personnel. Critically analysing these, the attributes of understanding consumer needs and paying attention to marketing could be categorised under a banner of market orientation defined by Kohli and Jaworski (1990) as a set of behaviours and activities that are present in an organisation that is related to generating market intelligence and disseminating the information across the organisation and acting upon the information to cater superior customer value. Nerver and Slater (1995) confirmed Kohli and Jaworski (1990) definition and findings and identified three behavioural characteristics: customer-oriented, competitor-oriented, and inter-functional-oriented. Studies focusing on high technology and radical innovation suggest that market orientation positively impacts such firm performance as it benefits from prior knowledge of solving customer problems and prior knowledge in serving markets. This understanding complements the new technology development creating better acceptance (Schweitzer et al., 2016). A majority of empirical studies carried out show a positive relationship between market orientation and organisational performance (Atuahene – Gima, 1996, 2001, 2005; Tsai et al., 2008; Lukas & Ferrel, 2000; Deshpande et al., 1993, 2004; Vega-Vazquez et al., 2012; Oswald & Brittel, 2017). In their study, Slater and Narver (1994) stated that the likelihood of market- oriented organisations innovating and bringing out new products was greater. Certain studies have empirically tested MO for its moderating influence (Migliori et al., 2018). The empirical research carried out by Vega- Va'zquez et al. (2012), while indicating the positive impact of market orientation on new product development and innovation, stated MO had less impact on radical innovation as customers could not articulate their future needs based on their current experiences. Christensen (1997) study supports this view by demonstrating organisations limitations by addressing only expressed customer needs through incremental innovation and not radical innovation that caters to latent customer needs. However, Slater and Narver's (1998) study contradicts this finding stating market orientation enables the understanding of expressed and latent customer needs. Oswald and Brittel (2017) study support the premise of a significant relationship between market orientation and innovation for both incremental and radical innovation. The salient point of difference in the two schools of thought is that the level of market orientation required for radical innovation success is a deeper and wider understanding of emerging customer requirements (Slater & Mohr 2006; Henderson, 2006). Market orientation may also slow down a firm’s response time in instances that demand fast responses to environmental stimuli (Abbate & Cesaroni, 2014). From past studies, it is clear that the degree of market orientation may vary in impact on firm performance, technology transferability, or commercial potential, but it is undisputed that MO positively impacts the commercial success of innovation. Therefore, the study puts forward the hypothesis: Hypothesis 1: There is a positive relationship between Market Orientation and successful patent commercialisation. Diffusion in innovation literature has taken different perspectives, with various study models focusing on the multiple aspects of the diffusion process. These diffusion models classify under attributes of technology, communication of technology functionality and alignment with user needs. Rogers, 1995 define diffusion as a process that spreads innovation amongst potential adopters over a while. In theory, put forward by Rogers, he outlines four components or elements that affect the diffusion process: the invention itself, the communication © 2021 Global Journals Global Journal of Management and Business Research Volume XXI Issue IV Version I Year 2021 ( ) E 33 The Impact of Market Orientation and Diffusion on Commercial Success of Patented Innovation in Sri Lanka