Market orientation in social services: An empirical study of motivating and hindering factors among Israeli social workers

This article examines the professional and organizational factors that promote or impede the adoption of a market orientation among social workers in social service organizations. We argue that market orientation is important, as it can strengthen the social workers' relationships with citizens as clients, resulting in the development of better services. The study is based on a structured questionnaire administered to 186 social workers in 86 social service organizations in Israel. Three dimensions of market orientation were examined: intelligence generation, intelligence dissemination, and responsiveness. The findings indicate that innovation and perceived organizational politics promote or impede the adoption of a market orientation and significantly contribute to its explanation. In addition, the perception of marketing as part of the social work profession explains the adoption of a market orientation better than sense of self-efficacy does. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.