A Resource-Based Approach to the Study of Export Performance

2013

Advances in International Marketing, 2011

This study identifies key variables that contribute most to the discrimination between firms with high export performance levels and those with low export performance levels. Data were collected through a structured multi-item questionnaire involving a randomly selected sample of 105 exporting firms. Discriminant analysis was used to identify the key discriminating variables. Exporters with high-performance levels differed significantly from those with low levels. Strategy implementation, experience in international business and training, economic factors, size of the firm, cultural factors, strategic orientation, education, and political/legal factors, listed in order of importance, were identified as key discriminators between the two types of firms.

Review of Managerial Science, 2012

Despite family firm's dominant role in economies worldwide, there is little empirical knowledge on their internationalization. Drawing on a sample of Austrian firms, this paper investigates the impact of family influence and various governance factors on internationalization. The findings reveal an inverted U-shaped relationship between family influence and internationalization. Family firms with medium family influence are the most internationally active companies. This indicates that concerning internationalization the advantages of being a family firm are highest when the family's ownership share and involvement in management and governance boards is not too extensive. Additionally, neither the incumbent generation, nor the level of non-family executives in the management board, nor the C. Mitter existence of a supervisory board has a significant influence on going international. Since advisory boards seem to foster internationalization, they might be an adjuvant means of equipping family firms with the necessary capabilities, know-how and contacts to operate internationally.

European Business Review, 2012

Revista de Administração de Empresas, 2011

O artigo tem como objetivo analisar a influência das características da localização ao longo do processo de internacionalização. O conceito-chave localização é comparado transversalmente para fundamentar a análise empírica dos casos, com base em cinco modelos de internacionalização. A pesquisa caracteriza-se por sua abordagem longitudinal e por procedimentos metodológicos embasados na teoria adaptativa. A análise dos dados foi realizada em duas etapas: descritiva e pelo método de comparação constante, com o auxílio do software ATLAS/TI. À luz das propriedades do conceitochave, emergiram quatro manifestações significativas e de predominância distinta ao longo do tempo: modismo, vantagens (transacionais e comparativas) e desvantagens locacionais. As vantagens comparativas foram determinantes no início e impulsionaram o modismo na região. As vantagens transacionais encontram-se presentes em fases recentes, devido à abertura de subsidiárias no exterior, enquanto as desvantagens locacionais se destacam em decorrência de fenômenos do acaso não previstos.

Journal of Small Business Management, 2013

Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how both technological and non-technological innovations influence export intensity in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). In addition, the authors report results for each firm-size category of micro-, small and medium firms, and thus reflect SME heterogeneity. Design/methodology/approach The research methodology is based on the analysis of the Eurobarometer 2014 data set from 28 EU Member States, Switzerland and the USA covering the period 2011–2014. To statistically test the three defined research hypotheses on individual and joint effects of both types of innovation, a multiple treatment model was estimated. The advantage of this empirical strategy is that it takes into account the endogeneity of both technological and non-technological innovations. Moreover, the authors employ the production approach or the direct test of complementarity between technological and non-technological innovations. Findings Empirical findings...

Marketing

Napomena: Rad je prezentovan na naučnoj konferenciji "Izazovi i problemi savremenog marketinga" održanoj na Zlatiboru od 17. do 19. novembra 2017. godine i publikovan u zborniku radova čiji je izdavač časopis Marketing.

European Management Review, 2017

This study provides a theoretical analysis of SME strategic postures and presents empirical evidence of strategic types of international SMEs across three European countries, namely Italy, Finland and Greece. Empirical investigation based on a sample of more than 550 international SMEs is performed through cluster analysis. Findings suggest there are four broad strategic types, i.e. the entrepreneurial/growth oriented group of firms, a marketing/selling group of business, a cluster of firms which lack strategic orientation and strategy, and the cluster which focuses on innovation/technology and core manufacturing competencies. The taxonomy provides a description and an explanation of international strategic postures and the basis for theorizing on SMEs' international behaviour and outcome consequences. Any programs-business-and policy-wise-which aim to stimulate internationalization would benefit greatly from tailoring recommendations to the nature of the strategic types.

Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development

Purpose-Success in export ventures has been linked to managerial capabilities. This study seeks to examine the influence of exporting motivators on managerial perceptions of United Kingdom (UK) manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) by investigating the links between export motivators and decision bias (i.e. predictable behaviour). Design/methodology/approach-Based on the Uppsala and Resource-based view perspectives (using a sample of UK independent manufacturing SMEs and utilizing a survey, correlation analysis and factor analysis), this study finds and describes the effect of the most recurrent motivators and clusters of motivators from the literature on the SMEs' decision to export by investigating the dimensions. Findings-This study finds that export motivators can be separated into specific dimensions leading to potential selection bias. In addition, the importance of size, knowledge of foreign markets and unsolicited orders show an association with the perceptions of motivator stimuli towards specific dimensions (research, external, reactive). Practical implications-Government policy and SME export strategy need to understand managerial perceptions and bias better in order to allocate resources efficiently towards stimulating exporting. Originality/value-The literature and empirical work on the topic has been fragmented and conflicting focusing on specific motivators but not necessarily explaining the selection or origin of motivators even less on SMEs. Dimensions have not been taken into account as clusters of motivators.

Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 2014

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the antecedents of export performance within the parameters of the structure-conduct-and-performance (SCP) paradigm, resource-based view (RBV), rational choice (RC) and perceptual view (PV), theoretical templates. Design/methodology/approach – The study surveyed continuing manufacturing exporters from New Zealand (n=118) using an electronic method. Linear regression analysis was used to determine the relationships among the groups of predictors and three types of measures. Findings – The results found that strategic factors (encapsulating RC) were strong predictors of both export intensity (EI) and export intensity growth, followed by export barriers (representing PV). Conversely, firm factors (representing an amalgamation of SCP and RBV variables) generated lower explanatory power in predicting export performance. Regarding measures of export performance, EI carried the highest efficacy. Practical implications – This research sugges...

Journal of International Management, 2021

We explore the mechanisms through which subnational informal institutions exacerbate or ameliorate voids in national formal institutions. Informed by a within-country, cross-sub-region case comparison, we find two exacerbating mechanisms: Competition between the logics embedded in national and subnational institutions and the sabotage of a formal national institution by a void in a subnational informal institution. We also find two ameliorating mechanisms: Strong subnational informal institutions substitute for weak national institutions and bridge voids in formal institutions. Finally, we identify the conditions of expectation alignment and engagement associated with the competition, sabotage, substitution, and bridging mechanisms. Our findings contribute to institutional theory by providing a more subtle and contingent understanding of the interaction between informal and formal, and subnational and national, institutions. Our results also suggest ways in which constrained managers and bureaucrats can reduce the effects of voids in national formal institutions.

Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science

International new product launch speed is a crucial goal for firms, as it has major implications for their performance. The authors examine whether and how (1) the price and number of attributes of a new product, (2) the number of developed (emerging) countries in which it has been launched, and (3) the nature of the firm that originally launched it (i.e., multinational versus not) affect the new product's speed of launch from developed countries to emerging ones (i.e., trickle-down) or vice versa (i.e., reverse innovation). In order to test the hypotheses, the authors use data on new product launches in the global packaged food industry in 2001-2014. The results indicate that a lower price accelerates trickle-down, while a higher price and more attributes accelerate reverse innovation. Further, having been launched in more countries and having been launched by a multinational firm both accelerate trickle-down and reverse innovation.

Science Technology & Society, 2012

This paper attempts to compare the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) belonging to two types of clusters [industry and technology] in India. They are compared in terms of the technological efforts, nature of competition and competitive strategy, outward orientation, research and development intensity etc. First part of the paper gives the economics of clustering and the second part analyses the inter-cluster differences, if any, between the firms belonging to 13 clusters drawn from Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram, classified into industry and technology clusters. The analysis reveals that there are clear differences between firms in the two clusters. The firms in the technology cluster are more outward oriented and R and D intensive compared to their counterparts in industry cluster. They also differ in terms of the nature of markets they face and the type of competitors. While the firms in the technology cluster face an oligopoly market and competition from established foreign firms, those in the industry cluster face a freely competitive market and competition predominantly from established local firms. Process innovations are used by firms in the technology cluster for sustaining competitive advantage. In the case of firms in the industry cluster, productivity improvements are emphasised upon. In the multiple regression analysis, age, size, foreign equity participation, dummy for cluster, market share and the number of patents emerge as significant variables in explaining the innovative activities and competitiveness of firms.

Small Business International Review

Este documento analiza los determinantes de la capacidad de innovación y la relación entre ésta y la internacionalización, utilizando la técnica multivariante de regresión lineal. Los resultados sugieren que hay cuatro variables organizacionales (determinantes), principalmente que influyen positivamente en la capacidad de innovación de una PYME y que la capacidad de innovación tiene una relación positiva con la internacionalización exportadora. Se discuten las características de los hallazgos teniendo presente el modelo de investigación propuesto.

2020

Nombreuses sont les recherches developpees en sciences de gestion pour permettre aux grandes entreprises d’apprehender le risque a l’international et d’identifier le mode d’entree le plus approprie pour penetrer un marche etranger. En revanche a ce jour, il n’existe pas de cadre theorique ni de methodologie adaptee aux petites et moyennes entreprises (PME) pour le faire. Or, pour les PME, la bonne connaissance des risques a l’international et le choix du mode d’entree sont particulierement importants, car une erreur de decision peut remettre en cause la perennite de l’entreprise. Ainsi, dans le prolongement des recherches sur le choix du mode d’entree dependant du degre d’engagement souhaite et de controle voulu par la PME, nous integrerons le risque percu par le dirigeant. L’objectif de cet article est de developper un cadre d’analyse global et systemique qui permettrait d’aider les PME et de les conseiller pour optimiser le choix de leur mode d’entree dans les marches etrangers.

Technology Leadership for Innovation in Higher Education, 2019

This chapter explores how technology leadership fosters an innovative technology mindset as manifested in Turkish universities' strategic plans which all show a general focus on technology. Using MAXQDA18 for conducting content analysis of these institutions' strategic plans, the study finds significant differences between successful and unsuccessful universities in terms of technology leadership for innovation. It also demonstrates the universities' outcomes as a result of their efforts in technology leadership and innovative mindset with specific regard to the context of emerging markets. Moreover, given that universities play a significant role in economic and societal development, this study offers valuable findings for policymakers, practitioners, and researchers.

Journal of Small Business Management

This study examines how digital technologies affect the international expansion of female-led small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Digital technologies have the potential to democratize entrepreneurship by providing access to international market knowledge and facilitating interactions with customers and partners. Building on the original Penrosean specification of the resource-based view and the notion of versatility of resources, we propose that digital technologies impact positively SME internationalization through the mediation of international market intelligence. Furthermore, we posit that female entrepreneurs will leverage the enabling effects of digital technologies more than their male counterparts. The hypotheses are tested on a representative sample of 300 Bulgarian SMEs. Implications for policy and research are advanced.

2017

The theoretical perspective of the resource based view has contributed to the understanding of strategic management and entrepreneurs actions. Given its significant relevance, this article aims to identify the competitive resources developed by international entrepreneurs of exporting companies. A multiple case study was carried out with four companies located in the Brazilian Northeastern semi-arid region. We carried out 31 interviews and analyzed them along with documents and bibliographic material. Content analysis was supported by the ATLAS.ti software. The resources knowledge, team, liquidity, brand, production, quality and relationships stand out in the results. Therefore, the tangible and intangible nature of resources is evidenced and reveals the importance of the development of resources for internationalization by international entrepreneurs.

Sustainability

In the last decades, the academic literature has devoted considerable attention to the determinants of export performance. In result of those research efforts in identifying and examining the influence of such determinants, the literature presents a wide set of variables associated with higher levels of exports. This paper provides a contribution to that literature by trying to evidence the impact of firm certification—namely, in terms of the firm’s quality, environmental, and health and safety management systems—on export performance. The paper analyses an unbalanced sample of 1684 Portuguese industrial SMEs for the period 2010 to 2020, uses other determinants of internationalization as control variables, and explores the possibility of moderating effects on the certification–internationalization relationship. Two alternative econometric methods are employed: a random-effects model and a Tobit model. The results evidence the importance for firms, especially in the low or medium–low...

International Small Business Journal: Researching Entrepreneurship, 2015

This article examines the determinants of customer orientation and the quadratic effects of customer orientation on export performance. The relationship between customer orientation and export performance has been assumed to have a linear relationship, neglecting the possibility of non-linear relationships. While most studies have been conducted in developed countries, we test our model in Brazil, an emerging market economy. The findings suggest that technology intensity and competitive intensity are key determinants in explaining success in an export market. Our findings also indicate that the relationship between customer orientation and export performance is quadratic (U-shaped) rather than linear. The implications of these findings are discussed.

2021

Uluslararasi pazarda basarili olmayi amaclayan firmalarin, sahip olduklari yetkinlik, bilgi birikimi ve tecrubelerini rekabet avantaji saglama acisindan kullanmalari onemlidir. Bilgi cagina gecisle birlikte firmalar icin onemi artan entelektuel sermaye boyutlarindan yapisal sermaye, insan sermayesi ve musteri sermayesinin basariya ulasmada payi buyuk olacaktir. Yapisal sermaye acisindan firma ozelliklerinin, insan sermayesi acisindan yonetici ozelliklerinin ele alindigi bu calismada ihracat performansinin firma ve yonetici ozelliklerine gore farkliligi incelenmistir. Kolayda orneklem yontemiyle ulasilabilen Istanbul’daki 249 ihracatci firma yoneticisi calismanin orneklemini olusturmaktadir. Veri analizinde SPSS 21 kullanilmistir. Verilerin normal dagilima uymasi sonucu farklilik testleri icin Anova ve t testlerine yer verilmistir. Analiz sonucunda ihracat performans duzeylerinin firma buyuklugu, deneyimi ve faaliyet gosterilen sektor ile yonetici egitim durumu, yonetici kademesi ve ...

Small Business Economics, 2019

The purpose of the study is to analyse the joint impact of external factors of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), such as export promotion programmes (EPPs), which encompass trade mobility-, information-, education-, and trainingrelated programmes, and internal factors of SMEs, which encompass export-related resources, preceding-year export performance, and its impact on current-period export performance. The study tests their relationship with structural equation modelling using a random sample of 95 exporting SMEs in an emerging economy, Peru. The results indicate that experiential knowledge provided by trade mobility-related programmes and export performance of the preceding year positively influence the resources of SMEs oriented towards export activity as well as current export performance. Moreover, the results highlight the need to review the efficacy and design of EPPs, acknowledging the available resources of SMEs as well as the internationalisation theories of the firm, in order to enhance their influence on the international development and export performance of SMEs. Finally, the study has extended the knowledge about emerging economies by showing the role EPPs play in SMEs' export performance.

Journal of International Marketing, 2018

Exporting research is an established facet of the field of international marketing. That stated, the radical increase in recent export activity necessitates a sustained research effort devoted to the topic. In this article, the authors provide a qualitative review of the core theoretical exporting areas and evaluate the exporting domain quantitatively over six decades (1958–2016). For the quantitative analysis, they use multidimensional scaling and apply established bibliometric principles to offer an understanding of the field and to provide suggestions for future exporting research. For the evaluations, the authors used data from 830 articles with 52,191 citations from 35 journals. Using cocitation analysis as the basis to evaluate the data, they propose a series of intellectual structure implications on exporting that relate to internationalization process stages, dynamic capabilities, knowledge scarcity, social networks, export marketing strategy, absorptive capacity and learnin...

Family Business Review, 2006

Successful international expansion requires the managerial capabilities necessary to configure and leverage a firm's resources in the international marketplace. Because family firms can face unique challenges in building their managerial capabilities, the purpose of this study is to compare the managerial capabilities of family and nonfamily firms according to the degree of their internationalization. Using the most recently available longitudinal database of Australian small-to-medium-sized enterprises, the results of this study indicate that the managerial capabilities of family firms lag behind those of their nonfamily counterparts as they expand internationally, particularly at high levels of internationalization. The implications of the findings for research, policy, and practice are discussed.

Journal of Management, 2021

The resource-based view (RBV) has evolved into a preeminent theory of strategic management. It is widely used by international business (IB) scholars since there is considerable synergy in core research questions pursued by IB and strategy researchers. However, in research on multinational enterprise (MNE) behavior, the use of RBV remains limited relative to other influential perspectives, such as the eclectic paradigm, the Uppsala model, and institutional theory. This is not surprising since the RBV was developed to explain performance differentials between country-centric firms with dominant product businesses rather than large MNEs with an expansive product-geographic scope. We describe how these limitations arise from the wider range of outcomes and explanatory variables, multiple levels of analysis, and the spatial, economic, and institutional barriers that are relevant to MNEs. We discuss the application of RBV to MNE research by the first author and other IB scholars. We then...

Journal of Risk and Financial Management, 2022

The objective of this paper is to empirically examine the relationship between the firms’ ownership and control structure, in particular the presence of foreign capital, and their internationalization levels, measured in terms of intensity and diversification. The international performance of Portuguese SMEs, which is crucial for the domestic economy’s growth, depends on a multitude of factors, with the existence of foreign investment inflows directed to industrial SMEs being a usually forgotten factor. This paper fills that gap using a balanced panel data of 5722 firms for the period from 2010 to 2017, researching if the presence of foreign capital influences the level and scope of internationalization, and controlling the effects of other variables such as profitability, age, size, indebtedness and sector of activity. The origin of foreign capital is also considered, being researched if issues of institutional or development differences exert any influence over firms’ internationa...

Thunderbird International Business Review, 2014

Despite their heavy dependence on international markets, small developing countries or small states have been underrepresented in the internationalization literature. Unlike developed or large developing countries, small states face dual constraints of relatively weak institutions and a narrow resource base along with an open market environment. A changing domestic environment in small states requires firms to adapt and a process approach was employed in order to examine sustained internationalization firms from Trinidad and Tobago (TT). Analysis of the findings indicates that changing economic circumstances result in varying domestic production and market resource availability. In response, firms from small states may engage in phased rather than staged patterns of activity that include accelerated, reverse, and inward internationalization.

International Small Business Journal: Researching Entrepreneurship, 2012

Although a number of studies have examined the antecedents of export performance, little empirical attention has been given to the influence of distribution support and price adaptation on this issue. To address this gap in the literature, this article develops a new model which integrates these two constructs as key variables affecting export performance. The results suggest that support given to the distributor has a strong and positive impact on export performance. In addition, the findings indicate that distribution support plays a mediating role in the model. Contrary to expectations, the results show that price adaptation has no significant impact on export performance. Although in the literature price adaptation and export performance is assumed to have a linear relationship, further analysis shows a non-linear (U-shaped) relationship between these two constructs. The implications of these findings along with the limitations of the study are discussed.

Sustainability, 2018

A substantial part of contemporary R&D policy in developed countries is focused on the support of R&D in the private sector. Such intervention is theoretically justified by a higher propensity to innovation and consequently to higher competitiveness, which promotes sustainable economic growth. Most of the empirical research done so far focuses mainly on the leverage effect, the effect on innovation activity or on estimating the crowding out effect of public support. Although the outcomes of this research are quite contradictory, only a few studies focus on the effect of public support of private R&D on the private bodies’ performance indicators, which are naturally connected with a company’s economic sustainability. In this article we use counterfactual design and show that the R&D policy of supporting the private sector leads to higher innovation activity, but it does not lead to higher value added and productivity for supported subjects, at least in the short run. Such a finding s...

Logistique & Management, 2018

Logistics service providers (LSPs) play strategic roles in contemporary global supply chains. The resources and capabilities at the disposal of LSPs make them easily adaptable to the needs and exigencies of their clients. Though opportunism is a threat to business relationships, the LSP-Client relationship studied here shows opportunism can be both a threat and an opportunity in resource and capability utilisation. This paper finds opportunism not only as a threat but also as an incentive in enhancing LSPs resource capability. Opportunism has a double-edged dual effect demonstrated by the curvilinear relationship between opportunism and resource capability in relation to performance. The paper highlights implications for theory and management and future research directions.

BAR. Brazilian Administration Review, 2007

Poor conceptualization of the export performance construct may undermine theory development efforts and may be one of the reasons behind the often conflicting findings in empirical research on the export performance phenomenon. This article reviews the conceptual and empirical literature and proposes a new analytical scheme that may serve as a standard for judging content validity and a guiding yardstick for drawing operational representations of the construct. A critical assessment of some of the most frequently cited measurement frameworks, followed by an analysis of recent (1999-2004) empirical research, leaves no doubt that there are flaws in the conceptualization and operationalization of the performance construct that ought to be addressed. A new measurement model is advanced along with some guidelines which are suggested for its future empirical validation. The new measurement framework allegedly improves on other past efforts in terms of breadth of coverage of the construct's domain (content validity). It also offers a measurement perspective (with the simultaneous use of both formative and reflective approaches) that appears to reflect better the nature of the construct.

International Small Business Journal: Researching Entrepreneurship, 2016

This article explores the role of firm-level human capital for the internationalization of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Building on the resource-based view of the firm and theories of SME internationalization, we hypothesize that the level of human capital will vary with SME internationalization strategy and will be of considerable importance for firms that follow a strategy of accelerated internationalization. At the same time, we suggest a threshold point, after which additional firm endowments of human capital become less productive. We test our ideas using a unique dataset of all manufacturing SMEs in Belgium which internationalized between 1998 and 2005. Findings indicate a significant curvilinear (inverted U) association between the level of human capital and the firm’s export intensity when firms choose a strategy of accelerated internationalization.

Multinational Business Review, 2021

Purpose This study aims to advance an international political economy (IPE) perspective that geo-political events can have long-lasting imprint effects on countries and their firms. The study also aims to explore the idea that shared political history and geography combine to create specific structural conditions that shape the international competitiveness of all firms in a region. In particular, the authors consider whether the Monroe Doctrine of 1823, which asserted American influence in the Western Hemisphere, contributed to the creation of institutional structures across Latin America (LA) affecting the strategies of all firms to this day. The authors also illustrate the IPE perspective using the example of the contemporary international competitiveness of LA business groups. Design/methodology/approach The authors illustrate the IPE perspective using the example of the contemporary international competitiveness of LA business groups. The exploratory framework of this study lea...

International Marketing Review, 2018

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present several opportunities that can emerge from using a multilevel approach to study the antecedents of export venture performance, and provide scholars with the conceptual and practical tools for developing multilevel models of export venture success. Design/methodology/approach Essay. Findings The paper shows the problems which scholars face if they continue to engage in using single venture data to test models that are inherently multilevel in nature. Research limitations/implications There may be a need to revisit previous works that utilize samples of single ventures to assess models of export venture performance that are implicitly multilevel. Practical implications This paper outlines the practical issues that researchers need to consider when conducting multilevel research in the export venture performance field. Originality/value This paper is the first to focus on the multilevel nature of the export venture performance construct.

Innovation, Engineering and Entrepreneurship, 2018

The main goal of this study is to analyze the influence of absorptive capabilities on competitive advantage. Based on survey data from 247 Portuguese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) findings suggest that: 1. Acquisition, assimilation and exploitation's absorptive capabilities are positively associated with cost leadership; 2. Transformation's absorptive capabilities are not positively associated with cost leadership; 3. Acquisition and transformation's absorptive capabilities are positively associated with differentiation; and 4. Assimilation and exploitation's absorptive capabilities are not positively associated with differentiation. This study deepens our understanding and provides novel insights into strategic management literature, since it combines multiple factors and has obtained the importance of each construct in SMEs business competitive advantage. Moreover, this paper presents further evidences of the strategies that small firm managers should pursue and policy makers should promote.

Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 2010

This article draws on theories about the internationalization process of small– and medium–sized enterprises (SMEs) and feminist arguments to explain gender differences in export propensity. Findings are based on a large–scale survey of Canadian SMEs. After controlling for sector, firm, and owner attributes, female majority–owned firms were significantly less likely to export than firms owned by men. The implications for entrepreneurship and feminist theory, export policy, and research are considered.

International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 2020

This paper analyses the role that individual entrepreneurial orientation (IEO) plays in the success of international entrepreneurship moves. We focus on the mediation effect of international entrepreneurship in the relationship between IEO and firm performance. We argue that entrepreneurial experience constitutes an important source of IEO and propose an objective measure of IEO. The hypotheses are empirically analysed using a 22-year panel of family SMEs. Our results confirm the hypotheses and provide a better understanding of the role of IEO in the success of corporate strategies such as internationalisation. Specifically, IEO is found to improve firm performance indirectly by increasing the speed of internationalisation, and this effect is non-linear. Our study contributes to the literature by extending international entrepreneurship literature by offering a more complete view of the causes and consequences of IEO. Finally, our results also contribute to the literature on family firm heterogeneity.

Applied Economics, 2011

There is a strong expectation in the literature that exporting and innovation activities (particularly R&D) are strongly related, and that the need to be innovative is increasing over time due to globalisation. In this study, we find that R&D is endogenous in a model that determines which British establishments enter export markets, and when such simultaneity is taken into account the strength of the exportinnovation relationship is generally quite weak (especially in the non-manufacturing sector). Rather, we find that the size of establishments and firms; foreign ownership; the extent of international cooperation ; and most importantly the industry sector to which the establishment belongs; are the most significant in explaining which establishments are able to overcome entry barriers into overseas markets.

Asia Pacific Business Review, 2017

Organisational learning plays a vital role in enhancing firm performance, particularly for companies operating in foreign markets. Knowledge gained from various markets needs to be integrated for it to have a significant impact on performance. This study seeks to demonstrate how organisational learning can transform knowledge into performance through an organization-wide commitment to learning, a knowledge integration system and an organisational capability to learn. A survey undertaken in South China would show that there is a sequential chain of effects among these constructs.

Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 2017

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the network promotion role of export promotion programmes in driving small and medium enterprises’ (SMEs) export performance. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on a dual institutional and network-based approaches to internationalisation, the study tests an integrative model that explores the mediating role of SMEs’ relationships in the link between government export promotion programmes (both informational and experiential forms) and export performance. The model was tested using a sample of 160 UK small and medium exporter firms. The data were analysed through a structural equation modelling technique. Findings The study finds that whilst both informational and experiential export promotion programmes improved all forms of SMEs’ relationships, only experiential forms had an indirect effect on export performance. Further, only relationships with foreign buyers had a positive impact on export performance. Research limitations/impl...

Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 2017

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the determinants of small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) propensity to export using data from a North African country, namely Algeria. Drawing on the extended resource-based view, the study examines the role of firms’ resources and capabilities in explaining the probability to export. Design/methodology/approach The study employs the nascent fuzzy c-means clustering technique to analyse a sample of 208 Algerian SMEs. The sample included both established and potential exporters operating across various sectors. A combination of online and face-to-face methods was used to collect the data. Findings While a preliminary analysis established the existence of five clusters exhibiting different levels of resources and capabilities, further discernment of these clusters has shown significant variances in relation to export propensity. In short, clusters exhibiting combinations that include higher levels of export-oriented managerial reso...

Journal of Small Business Management, 2015

This research uses the absorptive capacity concept as a theoretical lens to study the effect of e-business upon the internationalization performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), addressing the following research issue: To what extent are manufacturing SMEs successful in developing their potential and realized absorptive capacity in response to the environmental uncertainty brought about by their internationalization? Results of a survey study of 588 manufacturing SMEs indicate that e-business capabilities have a significant impact on internationalization performance to the extent that these capabilities are developed as a response to increased environmental uncertainty. Moreover, these capabilities are realized through the development of networking, advanced manufacturing, and marketing capabilities that also respond to environmental uncertainty.

Kybernetes, 2020

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the perceptions of young entrepreneurial aspirants towards sustainable entrepreneurship in Pakistan.Design/methodology/approachThe study is based on descriptive and cross-sectional data collected using a survey questionnaire. The study’s respondents were students, all of whom were studying for their Master’s degree of Business Administration (MBA) at several Pakistani universities (both public and private sectors). A total of 412 usable cases were used to obtain the outcomes.FindingsBy using the structural equation modeling, the findings suggest a positive and significant impact of eco-friendly people, green marketing factors, changing consumer behaviour and favourable market conditions on sustainable entrepreneurship.Practical implicationsThe study’s findings are beneficial in understanding the concept of sustainable entrepreneurship and the significant factors that may affect sustainable entrepreneurship along with the main components in socia...

International Marketing Review, 2019

Purpose Drawing on Resource-based Theory, the purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the effect of International Strategic Brand Management (SBM) on export performance within the Business-to-Business (B2B) context. To be able to purposely assess the relationship, this paper also sets out to discover what antecedent international resources, (financial resources) and international capabilities (market information, branding and marketing planning) contribute to the ability of B2B exporters to effectively manage their brands abroad. Design/methodology/approach A mixed method firm-level approach was employed. First, a qualitative study of 34 in-depth interviews explored the focal inter-relationships and constructs identified within the literature. A survey of 208 successful UK exporters was then conducted and the results were analysed using structured equation modelling. Findings The results confirm that certain marketing capabilities (branding and marketing planning) are advant...

Strategic Change, 2018

Motivating non-exporters to go abroad: investigating the role of Government using evidence from a developing country.