Export Behavior, Export Performance and International Marketing Strategy on Export Promotion of Small and Medium Enterprises: An International Trade Perspective in Developing Countries

Abstract

The aim of this Doctoral Seminar-I is to examine why the majority of SMEs in the developing countries like Ethiopia remain focused on the domestic market, while few choose to sell a proportion of their goods abroad, even though they face similar market conditions and operate in the same location. A variety of explanations to this problem exist in the literature examining the export promotion strategy of SMEs. Following the recognition of a gap in international marketing strategy such as: standardization and adaption, managerial determinants and export behavior including expansion and involvement based on the literature studies, this Doctoral Seminar-I seeks to shed light on the issue from the Ethiopian context. The seminar proposes an integrated theoretical framework, developed from the analyses of the extant literature review, to address an explanation why some SMEs export do not succeed to achieve the exporting of their products in the context of developing countries like Ethiopia. The proposed framework consists of a synthesized integration of the following theoretical perspectives: the resource-based view of the firm; stage theory; network theory, international entrepreneurship theory; and contingency theory which mostly applicable in the context of SMEs. Here, the key assumptions underlying the integrated framework that SMEs export behaviour represents a complex event, and therefore no single theoretical framework is robust enough to explain the phenomenon in detail. In addition, as none of the theoretical frameworks are without weakness it is argued their integration offsets the weaknesses of each, thereby offering a deeper explanation of the factors underlying export behaviour, international marketing strategy and managerial determinants.