The influence of innovation on customer orientation: A study of SMEs in the East Midlands.

Purpose: This paper seeks to examine the relationship between organisational customer orientation and innovation orientation amongst the small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the East Midlands.
Design/Methodology/Approach: Data collected via a questionnaire distribution among small-and medium-sized Chinese restaurants in the East Midlands. Reliability and validity, Cronbach’s alpha, regression analysis and fluencies analysis were employed. The factors evaluated including customer orientation and innovation orientation.
Findings: The outcomes indicate that there is a significant and meaningful relationship between customer orientation and innovation orientation at Chinese restaurants in the East Midlands.
Originality/Value: Different from previous researches on the general position of customer-oriented and innovativeness, this paper exclusively examines the influence of innovation orientation on customer orientation in small-and medium-sized Chinese restaurants, one of the most popular ethnic restaurant niche markets in the East Midlands foodservice industry.