Worldwide international trade and economic development with an emphasis on Australia

In this paper, we investigate the contribution international trade makes to growth in small population developed economies, with an emphasis on Australia, using complex network analysis. We also investigate the opportunities available so these economies to improve their position within the international trade network through membership of a trade integration bloc, and we discuss the role that firm-level actions play in the generation of the macro-level patterns of trade and development. Complementary case study data from Australian firms regarding their process of integration with the international trade network are drawn upon to elaborate these actions. The findings indicate that economic growth is primarily driven by the formation of new international trade connections. However, such connections are difficult for small firms to make, which poses potential problems for countries whose economies are dominated by small firms

Understanding the pre-internationalization phase decision heuristic of Australian SMEs

Since the 1970s, the Uppsala stages model has been one of the dominant explanations of firm internationalization. The model's focus on internationalization as a firm's gradual and incremental process of increasing international involvement has attracted much debate, with one criticism being that it is unclear in explaining how the internationalization process first originates within a firm. In this paper, the Uppsala model is extended through the incorporation of a pre-internationalization phase to explore the antecedents of firm internationalization. Adopting the Uppsala model's theoretical underpinnings, this paper develops and operationalizes a pre-internationalization phase decision heuristic in the form of an ‘export readiness index'. Four constructs are proposed that drive and inhibit export commencement decision-making during a firm's preinternationalization phase: export stimuli, attitudinal/psychological commitment, resources and lateral rigidity. Through a survey of Australian exporting and non-exporting small-medium sized enterprises (SMEs), the Export Readiness Index (ERI) is developed through factor analysis and tested using logistic regression. Results of the study and their potential implications are discussed

Capabilities development and deployment activities in born global B-to-B firms for early entry into international markets

This paper sets out to understand how entrepreneurial founders of born global firms acquire, transform and deploy new knowledge resources for early internationalization. Adopting a dynamic capabilities view and using a sample of high-tech B-to-B firms, we report that the new firm’s early entry into international markets is executed through three transitionary phases. Founders transform the operational capabilities they endow to the firm, develop dynamic capabilities for use in opportunity exploitation, and deploy these to develop knowledge-intensive products that they take to chosen niche markets. The paper contributes to the B-to-B global marketing literature by uniting it with born global and INV internationalization research, and elucidating the three phases through which founders manage early internationalization. The roles played by entrepreneurial founders and particular capabilities are discussed

The internet and foreign market expansion by firms

The Internet holds the potential of reducing the uncertainty associated with doing business in foreign markets. Thus, marketing scholars have underscored the potential of the Internet to reduce substantially the search costs of companies and consumers. In addition, the Internet provides opportunities for almost costless distribution of information goods. Overall, the Intenet provides the capacity to significantly increase the efficiency of market transactions

Capability presence in the newly internationalizing firm

We investigate the enablers of early internationalization of the firm. We posit that for firms to internationalize early in their lifecycles, sets of capabilities must be present at the firm’s formative stage and that these capabilities build upon routines that the founders bring into the new firm. These capabilities are aligned to establish a platform for internationalization unencumbered by the administrative heritage often observed in well-established firms. We model this phenomenon, testing it in a cross-national setting of early internationalizing firms in Australia and the United States. To do so, we draw upon a dynamic capabilities framing, conceptualizing and measuring the dynamic capabilities that founders apply in their early internationalization activities

Through the eyes of Chinese: the theory of planned behaviour in relation to Australian products and services

An expanded theory of planned behaviour (TPB) model was used to examine the influence of attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, self-identity, and past behaviour on Chinese consumers’ intention to purchase Australian products and/or services. Data were obtained via an electronic survey completed by 3,171 respondents in China. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed support for the ability of the expanded TPB model to predict Chinese consumers’ intentions to purchase Australian products and services. Specifically, attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, self-identity, and past behaviour all predicted purchase intentions

The importance of trade in economic development: Australia in the international trade network

This article uses complex network analysis to investigate the question of the contribution international trade makes to growth in small-population, developed economies, with an emphasis on Australia. Using a longitudinal data set, the empirical work investigates the opportunities available to these economies to improve their position within the international trade network, looks at one common tool for doing so (free trade agreements), and discusses the role that firm-level actions play in the generation of the macro-level patterns of trade and development. The latter uses a complementary case study data from eighteen Australian firms regarding their process of integration with the international trade network. The findings indicate that economic growth is driven primarily by the formation of new international trade connections. However, such connections are difficult for small firms to make, which poses potential problems for countries with economies dominated by small firms