Export Stages and Export Barriers: Revisiting Traditional Export Development

Abstract

This study revisits the stage model dialogue by testing seven hypotheses on the relationship between stages of export development and the infl uence of export barriers. Empirical data are based on a sample of 145 New Zealand fi rms, and the analysis combines a six-stage framework with an illustrative list of barriers, while going a step further than previous research by examining the effect of covariates.Empirical results demonstrate that resource constraints, marketing barriers, knowledge and experience barriers, and export-procedure barriers are "export stage dependent. " However, regarding export-stagedependent barriers, differences exist only when we compare the early to the very advanced stages of development. These results also refute the grand hypothesis, which suggests an inverse relationship between export stages and the infl uence of export barriers. While the stage model typology still provides a practicable basis for need-based segmentation, it does not capture completely the heterogeneity associated with the middle stages.

Exploration of Chinese SMEs' export development: The role of managerial determinants based on an adapted innovation‐related internationalization model

“…For example, firms may suffer from inadequate or untrained personnel to conduct export activities or a lack of excess capacity for export activities. This is consistent with the argument that a lack of skills and pessimism are prevalent at the awareness stage (Kahiya & Dean, ). Likewise, as elaborated in the U‐model and I‐models, firms build up their knowledge and experience of foreign markets gradually throughout the exporting process (Lohrke, Franklin, & Kothari, ); thus, knowledge and experience barriers are perceived in the early stages.…”

“…As firms move forward along the stages, the impact of external barriers increases, whereas the impact of internal barriers (e.g., resource demand) declines. This might be explained by the fact that as a manager's experiential knowledge accumulates, the company can better control internal barriers (Kahiya & Dean, ); meanwhile, the more commitment there is to foreign operations, the more exposure there is to international market risks, which are usually not controlled by individual companies, such as international competition and global financial market fluctuations (Barnes, Chakrabarti, & Palihawadana, ).…”

“…Aligned with this notion, the findings demonstrate that in the more advanced export stages, the influence of managerial commitment and capabilities tends to be smaller. Regarding market barriers, firms in the advanced stage are more likely to recognize that the domestic marketing mix is not completely transferable to a foreign market and, hence, may identify the need to modify the export marketing mix for international operations (Kahiya & Dean, ). Likewise, as firms adopt export strategies in the end stage, they would be exposed to the direct market competition in foreign markets.…”

“…For example, as a significant part of the Go Global policy and the recent One Belt, One Road initiative, policymakers in China are interested in understanding how to best encourage nonexporters to initiate internationalization while encouraging current exporters to increase their level of international involvement. The efficacy of export support from the government is determined by effectively identifying firms’ needs, with export barriers and drivers being useful proxies for understanding these needs (Kahiya & Dean, ). Akin to this, export barriers have attracted much research interest, but existing studies tend to lack sufficient debate on the institutional context within which internationalization decisions are embedded (Lattemann et al, ).…”

Discourses on Institutions “Intentions of Umbrella Organizations for Internationalization”

“…Product quality and standards are expected to be higher in a local economy with plenty of strong actors. Considering the national benefits internationalization provides, the first thing that comes to mind is that it is an important driver of economic growth (Kahiya, 2013;Kahiya and Dean, 2016;Pinho and Martins, 2010). Besides, internationalization helps national industries in improving and increasing productivity, and creating new business opportunities, in addition to increasing social welfare as an outcome of economic growth (Lages and Montgomery, 2004).…”