The need to deliver superior value to consumers has assumed paramount importance in the present day global business environment, and more so because India has opened the textile industry for multinationals. Consequently, the textile industry has been exposed to global market forces after the phasing out of the multi-fiber agreement. Narver and Slater (1990) have emphasized that market orientation is the culture that creates the necessary behavioral value among buyers thus leading to a continuous superior performance for the business. Therefore, companies that are more oriented towards the market are better positioned. The subject of market orientation has been of interest to both researchers and practitioners, for several years: The major focus, however, is on studying what market orientation is and its impact on the organization. Very little effort has been made to study the factors that impede or promote market orientation. Much of the research has been carried out in developed countries, with data collected from a wide variety of industries. Industry-specific studies and emerging markets like India have largely remained ignored. Using a modified version of the Market Orientation (MARKOR) scale and a partial replication of the study of Jaworski and Kohli (1993), the authors bridge the research gaps by investigating the antecedents of market orientation with special reference to the Indian textile industry.

The Indian textile industry has been the pioneer of India’s transformation from an agrarian economy to an industrial economy. The Indian textile industry contributes 14% of industrial production, 4% of GDP, 35% of export earnings, 35 million direct employment generation, and around 65 million additional employment generation, it can hardly be over emphasized that the growth and development of textile industry has an imported bearing on the growth of the Indian economy. The Indian textile industry has advantages like strong cotton base, expanding the man-made fiber industry and a large pool of technical and managerial manpower. Proper utilization of these could have helped the industry in attaining a sound global position. However, due to protection hitherto provided by the government from import penetration through high tariff barriers and quota regime in international markets, the industry became complacent.

As a result, the Indian textile industry is plagued with problems of long manufacturing and delivery time; poor supply chain coordination, poor material and technology, and people who have no knowledge about the market. Marketers too seem to be complacent and any conscious effort in brand building and fruitful promotional activities seem to be missing. A huge market and opportunities, as a result, remain untapped. Further, the industry is undergoing a complete metamorphosis as a result of setting up of WTO and gradual phasing out of quantitative restrictions and dismantling of tariff barriers aimed at complete integration of textile trade after 2004.

Management Research Journal, Market Orientation, Textile Companies, Global Business Environment, Market Orientation, Industrial Economy, Indian Textile Industry, Industrial Production, Growth and Development, Indian Textile Industry, Foreign Textiles, Indian Markets, Business Environment, Market Orientation, Market Intelligence, Literature Review.