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For firms with less than 500 employees, do market learning style and market focus predict a radical innovation orientation, when new product development and growth targets achieved are considered? A total of 353 small business decision makers in the United States were surveyed. The results present what the researcher has described as The Market Oriented Innovator s Dilemma because while previous research asserts that market oriented firms innovate and enjoy greater performance, this study s findings indicate that entrepreneurially oriented firms generate higher levels of radical innovation orientation and greater opportunities for competitive advantage; market oriented firms do not. Thus, the dilemma for market oriented firm managers who want to achieve a competitive advantage based on radical innovation: market oriented firms should pursue their market driven cultures at the risk of generating limited levels of innovativeness and innovative capacity, recognizing that the short term benefits of market orientation could translate into significant obstacles to radical innovation and competitive advantage in the long term.

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Staci Lugar Brettin, Doctor of Business Administration, is Assistant Professor of Marketing and Management at Indiana Institute of Technology in Fort Wayne, Indiana, U.S.A. She is the recipient of the 2014 Award for Innovative Teaching Practices and the 2012 Athena Award. She is a regular contributor to the Business Education Innovation Journal.

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