Purpose With its focus on the context of small firm internationalization, this paper aims to assess the important contribution of strategic determinants that influence export performance (EP), considering the mediating effect of competitive strategy. Design/methodology/approach Based on survey data from 247 Portuguese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) exporting textiles, members of the Portugal’s Textile Association (ATP), this research adopted a quantitative methodological approach, conducting an exploratory and transversal empirical study. Findings The paper finds suggest that entrepreneurial orientation (EO) has a positive and significant influence on differentiation and EP. Moreover, the results also highlight the role of intangible resources (IR) in the design of both differentiation and cost leadership strategies, which drives EP. Finally, absorptive capabilities (ACAPs) are highly related with EP. Practical implications The paper provides empirical evidence that EO, IR and ACAPs are predictors of competitive strategies and EP. Moreover, and alongside with firm’s resources, this study validates that competitive strategy does matters for small firm managers and the development of one type of competitive advantage is also a major performance enhancer. Originality/value This study provides fresh insights into entrepreneurship and strategic management literature, as it considers the importance of multiple factors to SMEs business growth. Moreover, this paper presents empirical evidences of the strategies that small firm managers should pursue and policy makers should support. Finally, this is an original study applied to the Portuguese textile industry.

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Purpose This research draws upon the resource-based view and the dynamic capabilities view’s premise that a firm’s resources and capabilities determine competitive advantage. Specifically, the purpose of this paper is to develop and test a model entailing simultaneously the impact of intangible resources; and dynamic capabilities and entrepreneurial orientation on export performance. Design/methodology/approach Therefore, the authors developed a study based on a survey of 265 Portuguese exporting companies. Data were submitted to a multivariate statistical analysis and a linear regression model was applied in order to predict the influence of the intangible resources on export performance. The structural equations model was used for this purpose. Findings The results show that export performance is directly impacted by dynamic capabilities and entrepreneurial orientation. However, intangible resources do not have a significant direct impact on entrepreneurial orientation; they do have an indirect effect through the mediation of dynamic capabilities. These findings highlight the catalyst role of dynamic capabilities and entrepreneurial orientation, leveraging the role of intangible resources as antecedents of export performance. These findings are valuable inputs for exporting managers and public entities. Originality/value While previous authors have attempted to analyse certain aspects of this process (linkage between intangible resources and export performance), this research developed a framework that combines these ones with entrepreneurial orientation and dynamic capabilities.

This study analyses the relationships among entrepreneurial orientation, organisational resources, dynamic capabilities, and export performance. Specifically, we propose that entrepreneurial orientation enhances the attraction of financial, informational and relational resources thus affecting export performance through dynamic capabilities. This model is empirically tested with data from 265 managers of exporting companies in Portugal. Results validate ten out of eleven direct relationships of the model and confirm the mediating effect of organisational resources and dynamic capabilities on export performance. Entrepreneurial orientation contributes to the attraction of relational and informational resources, relational resources boost the development of informational and financial resources, and these three types of organisational resources directly affect the development of dynamic capabilities and export performance. In what concerns the managerial implications, managers, public policy makers, and researchers aiming to contribute to firms' competitiveness and performance must clearly understand how resources affect the development of differentiated dynamic capabilities.

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This chapter assesses the important contribution of entrepreneurial orientation's strategic determinant that influences export performance. Based on survey data from 247 Portuguese small-and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), findings suggest that entrepreneurial orientation has a positive and significant influence on export performance. This study deepens our understanding and provides novel insights into entrepreneurship and strategic management literature, since it combines multiple factors and has obtained the importance of each construct in SMEs business growth. Moreover, this chapter presents further evidences of the strategies that small firm managers should pursue and policy makers should promote.

This paper develops a framework to test the relationship between intangible resources and export performance, considering the mediating effect of innovation. Based on survey data from Portuguese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) exporting footwear findings suggest that: (1) innovation has a direct and positive influence on export performance; and (2) innovation does have a mediating effect on the relationship between intangible resources and export performance. 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 growth.

The new paradigm of today's world economy is characterized by the mobility of production resources and the ability to combine them in an efficient way. The strategic management research has recognized the importance of studying the companies' resources and capabilities and its usefulness to achieve competitive advantage. This perspective is consistent with the Resource-Based View (RBV) and with the Dynamic Capabilities View (DCV). The source of competitive advantage is much more correlated with intangible resources, since these are rarer and socially complex, making their imitation difficult. Consequently, intangible resources are considered strategic resources, since it allows creating perceived value by the customer, outperforming the competition, competing in new markets and being use in a wide range of products and services. On the other hand, the processes for absorbing external knowledge became an essential element for firms to adapt to changes in the competitive environment. Thus knowledge plays an important role in firms' internationalization process.Building on well-established theories, our research explores the influence of intangible resources and absorptive capacities in export performance of Portuguese small and medium enterprises (SMEs) of footwear associated to the Portuguese Footwear, Components and Leather Goods Association (APICCAPS). Based on survey data from 42 firms, our empirical results indicate that globally intangible resources and absorptive capacity have a positive and significant influence on export performance. On one hand, the intangible resources that most contribute to this end are reputational resources, access to financial resources and relational resources, and on the other hand the absorptive capacities that most contribute to export performance are exploitation of knowledge, transformation of knowledge and general knowledge acquisition.Keywords: Intangible resources, absorptive capacities, export performance, SMEs, Portuguese footwear industry, PLS-SEM. ResumoO novo paradigma da atualidade da economia mundial carateriza-se pela mobilidade dos recursos produtivos e pela capacidade de combiná-los de forma eficiente. A investigação em gestão estratégica tem reconhecido a importância do estudo dos recursos e capacidades das empresas, bem como a sua utilidade para alcançar vantagem competitiva. Esta perspetiva é consistente com a Resource-Based View (RBV) e com a Dynamic Capabilities View (DCV). A fonte de vantagem competitiva surge mais correlacionada com recursos intangíveis, dado estes serem raros e socialmente complexos, dificultando a sua imitação. Consequentemente, os recursos intangíveis são considerados estratégicos, uma vez que permitem criar valor percebido pelo cliente, superar a concorrência e competir em novos mercados, sendo utilizados numa ampla gama de produtos e serviços. Por outro lado, os processos para absorção de conhecimento externo tornaram-se um elemento essencial para as empresas se adaptarem às mudanças no ambiente competitivo. O conhecimento des...