Determinants and measures of export performance – comprehensive literature review

As one of the key indicators of the firm’s ability to leverage successfully its resources and capabilities in the international context, export performance has been one of the most extensively studied phenomena. A plethora of studies have been conducted pertaining to provide better understanding of the factors (firm- or environment-specific) and behaviours (e.g., export strategy) that make exporting a successful venture. Following a comprehensive literature review undertaking in this study the current state of the export performance literature could be summarisedas (i) methodologically fragmented in that there is a variety of analytical and methodological approaches, (ii) conceptually diverse, a large number of determinants have been identified as having direct or indirect influence on the firm’s export performance, and a large number of indicators have been used to conceptualise and operationalise the export performance measures, and (iii) inconclusive, the studies have produced inconsistent results of the impact of different determinants on export performance

Determinants of export strategy and performance : evidence from British exporters

How some firms achieve superior international performance relative to other firms in the same market, as one of the critical questions in international strategic management, is inextricably bound up in questions such as why firms differ, what initiates and drives their internationalization strategies, and what is the main source of their competitive advantage that generates superior performance in the international context. Firm export performance is regarded as one of the key indicators of the success of a firm's export operations, and as such has been extensively studied phenomenon. Numerous studies have been conducted pertaining to provide better understanding of the factors (firm- or environment-specific) and behaviours (e.g., export strategy) that make exporting a successful venture. However, the research results to date are far from uniform and conclusive. This thesis advances the resource-based view of the firm (RBV) as a valuable theoretical framework in identifying advantage-generating resources and capabilities as critical determinants of the export strategy and export performance. Conceptually, this research is an attempt to integrate the extant views of the firm's internationalization process, by employing a resource-based framework. The findings in this thesis were derived by analysing a set of primary data from 356 British exporters generated in 2007 via an electronic and Internet based survey. The findings in this thesis endorsed its main propositions. Particular internal, firm specific factors were found to be the most significant determinants of the export initiation process, the firm's degree of geographic diversification, and the firm's export strategy and performance. In particular, managerial, knowledge, planning and technology resources and capabilities were found to have a significant positive effect on export success. These resource factors are either skill-based or 5 knowledge/process-based resources or capabilities and as such have high levels of tacitness, complexity and dynamism, and consequently are firm-specific and difficult to duplicate. These resources and capabilities generate resource-based competitive advantage and become the driving factor of the firm-level performance differences. Furthermore, the study findings provide empirical validation of the proposition that resources and capabilities are two distinct concepts. This study therefore provides fresh empirical support for the RBV propositions. This thesis also contributes to the ongoing debate of the potential gap between academic research and practitioners' views of critical success factors. This dissertation contributes to the better understanding of the value and importance of particular internal, firm-specific resources and capabilities as determinants of the firm's export strategy and performance. The theoretical and methodological grounding of this study contributes to the advancement of export related research in several respects. First, by providing better specification of the nature of the effects - direct or indirect - of particular resource factors on export initiation, strategy and performance. Second, by examining both, the individual and concurrent effects of the resource variables on export strategy and performance. Third, by conducting exploratory as well as confirmatory factor analysis to validate construct measurements, and utilization of structural equation modelling to improve validity, reliability and error levels. Fourth, by employing a composite measure of export performance, including financial and non-financial options. Fifth, by contrasting the empirical findings with the management's subjective (perceptual) observations of the investigated relationships within a same data sample. 6 This study opens future research opportunities for applying the proposed resource based integrative framework in investigations of resource-strategy and resource performance relationships in different organizational contexts

Context, market economies and MNEs: the example of financial incentivization

This is a study of the impact of variety on the relative utilization of reward systems within and between capitalist archetypes: The study includes not only a closer focus on variety within and between coordinated market economies, but pays specific attention to the Japanese case, and a systematic comparison of the reward practices adopted by Multinational Enterprises vis-à-vis their local peers. The study uses the most recent wave of the international Cranet survey of HRM, and contrasts this with studies based on previous waves

Influence of CEO and firm characteristics on SME internationalization: evidence from California

Drawing on upper echelons and internalization theories, this study investigates the association of CEO’s demographic characteristics and firm-specific advantages (FSAs) with the internationalization of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). To address the gaps identified in the literature, it was hypothesized that the founder’s characteristics, including educational level, previous start-up and industry experience, immigrant status, various international experiences, and foreign language ability, will be positively associated with SMEs’ internationalization. Additionally, the SMEs’ age and size measured by the amount of start-up capital, number of employees, and annual sales would also have a positive association with SMEs’ internationalization. These factors were analyzed using logistic regression, based on two separate datasets. The first dataset consisted of archival data from 2,240 California firms collected by the U.S. Census Bureau, while the second dataset was collected by the authors through an online survey of 329 SMEs. The study found that the CEO’s educational level, immigrant status, and previous work abroad experience, were positively associated with firm internationalization. SMEs’ size based on annual sales and number of employees were firm factors associated with internationalization. The findings point to the importance of people’s development, by both firms and government initiatives, in supporting and boosting SMEs’ internationalization

The geography of British exports: country-level versus firm-level evidence

This study investigates the degree of regionalization of UK exporters. The firm-level findings, based on an original set of primary data of 356 UK exporters, are contrasted with the UK national trade flows as well as with the geographic spread of the UK, European and the world's largest MNEs. The analysis produced consistent findings of regionalization regardless of the classification thresholds or sales matrices employed. The findings also imply that country-level data supports the firm-level findings of regionalization. White the analysis presents relatively strong corroborating evidence of regionalization of UK exports, it also indicates that UK exporters might be more multi-regional and global oriented than previously thought. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. ALL rights reserved

Resource determinants of strategy and performance: the case of British exporters

This study adopts the RBV of the firm in order to identify critical advantage-generating resources and capabilities with strong positive export strategy and performance implications. The proposed export performance model is tested using a structural equation modeling approach on a sample of 356 British exporters. We examine the individual as well as the concurrent (simultaneous) direct and indirect effects of five resource bundles on export performance. We find that four resources/capabilities: managerial, knowledge, planning, and technology, have a significant positive direct effect on export performance, while relational and physical resources exhibited no unique positive effect. We also find that the firm’s export strategy mediates the resource-performance nexus in the case of managerial and knowledge-based resources. The theoretical and methodological grounding of this study contributes to the advancement of export related research by providing better specification of the nature of the effects – direct or indirect – of particular resource factors on export performance

Firm-specific, country-specific and region-specific competitive advantages: the case of emerging economy MNEs - Thailand

Increasing levels of regional economic integration have created a new source of international competitiveness for MNEs from an emerging economy, Thailand, in the context of ASEAN economic integration. Building on the theoretical framework of firm-specific advantages (FSAs) and country-specific advantages (CSAs) grounded in internalization theory, we introduce region-specific advantages (RSAs) and advance a novel regional dual-double-diamond model to analyse regional competitiveness. Using both primary and secondary data we find that most Thai firms derive their international competitiveness from CSAs rather than FSAs, and will benefit from ASEAN RSAs. Our study significantly advances the literature on international competitiveness of emerging-economy MNEs

Determinants and measures of export performance – comprehensive literature review

As one of the key indicators of the firm’s ability to leverage successfully its resources and capabilities in the international context, export performance has been one of the most extensively studied phenomena. A plethora of studies have been conducted pertaining to provide better understanding of the factors (firm- or environment-specific) and behaviours (e.g., export strategy) that make exporting a successful venture. Following a comprehensive literature review undertaking in this study the current state of the export performance literature could be summarisedas (i) methodologically fragmented in that there is a variety of analytical and methodological approaches, (ii) conceptually diverse, a large number of determinants have been identified as having direct or indirect influence on the firm’s export performance, and a large number of indicators have been used to conceptualise and operationalise the export performance measures, and (iii) inconclusive, the studies have produced inconsistent results of the impact of different determinants on export performance

Geographic orientation and performance: evidence from British exporters

The main objectives of the study are to investigate the regional competitive orientation of British exporting SMEs, to explore the relationship between the firm’s level of geographic diversification and its organizational characteristics and to assess the nature of the international (geographic) diversification/export performance nexus. The main contribution of this study is in providing novel empirical evidence on the degree of regional orientation among British exporting SMEs and its implications for their performance. The findings imply that while British exporters are predominantly regional in their geographic spread, they might be more multi-regional and global oriented than previously thought