STUDY OF THE COORDINATION BETWEEN BUSINESS LEVEL STRATEGIES AND MARKET ORIENTATION IN THE CONTEXT OF ORGANIZATIONAL LIFE CYCLE STAGES

To have a forward and movement towards development in today's changing and uncertain condition, not only should organizations expand their tangible and intangible resources and inner capabilities, but also respond more efficiently to environmental changes with more attention to the environment and strengthen their position among competitors while increasing their competitive power. This study aims to investigate active companies in food industry in Mazandaran Province to determine whether different stages of organizational life cycle (introduction, growth, maturity, and decline) can affect the relationship between competitive strategies in business level and market orientation. To define the conceptual model of the study, strategic reference points including control input (low or high) and focus (internal or external) were considered. On this basis, business level strategies and different stages of life cycles were determined, and the relationship between the two has been evaluated on market orientation. In terms of practical purposes as well as research methods and data collection, the present study is among the non-experimental and descriptive research surveys, and is regarded as correlation research series. According to the results of the study, it can be concluded that there is a correlation between business-level strategies and market orientation with the stages of organizational lifecycle.