The antecedents of export performance of Brazilian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs): The non-linear effects of customer orientation

This article investigates the relationship between international entrepreneurial orientation (IEO) and international performance taking into account the moderating effects of politicization in internationalization decisions and international hostility.Using data from 208 Greek international SMEs, we found that IEO is positively related to international performance. We also found that neither politicization nor international hostility separately have any moderating effects on this relationship.However, the findings support the view that the combination of high levels of politicization and international hostility critically diminishes the effects of IEO on international performance. These findings enrich the international entrepreneurship field that has been relatively devoid of investigations examining decision-specific aspects of the firm.

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The implications of international entrepreneurial orientation, politicization, and hostility upon SME international performance

Thanos

Dimitratos

Sapouna

2016

“…Exporting has traditionally been the main route to internationalisation for the smallest firms (Lengler et al, 2016;Leonidou and Katsikeas, 1996). While levels of learning from market entry through exporting might be lower than for other 'high-control' modes (Zahra et al, 2000), exporting avoids the risks and sunk cost commitments of foreign direct investment or establishment of overseas subsidiaries (Lu and Beamish, 2006).…”

Section: Internationalisation As a Channel For The Impact Of Innovatimentioning

confidence: 99%

“…internationalisation) (Golovko and Valentini, 2011). For the smallest businesses, the primary means of foreign market entry is through exporting (Lengler et al, 2016;Leonidou and Katsikeas, 1996). These strategies are likely to be complimentary and reinforcing, determined by the drivers of innovation activity and exporting decisions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Innovation, internationalisation and the performance of microbusinesses

Henley

Song

2019

This article integrates internationalisation, and specifically exporting, into a conceptualisation of how innovation production leads to productivity performance in microbusinesses employing fewer than 10 people. Innovation production is reframed for the microbusiness context by focusing on knowledge acquisition and formalisation rather than on research and development (R&D) activity. Propensity score matching analysis is used to investigate British microbusiness survey data. It finds a causal process in which innovation promotes exporting activity. This in turn leads to improved productivity. In contrast to research on larger businesses, this study finds no direct link between innovation production and productivity. These findings are robust to various checks for potential endogeneity arising from feedback into innovation from internationalisation and from self-selection of high productivity firms into exporting.

“…Given that the effect of customer orientation on business performance has been observed for both exporting SMEs (Brockman et al, 2012;Lengler et al, 2016) and for multinationals expanding via the Internet (Colton et al, 2010), it follows that customer orientation may also play a role in the international performance of small firms engaging in cross-border e-commerce. E-commerce firms have many opportunities to obtain customer information via the Internet by tracking the purchasing habits of potential customers and the purchase histories of existing customers; this allows e-retailers to gain insights into customer behaviour (Alford and Jones, 2020; Leeflang et al, 2014;Lemon and Verhoef, 2016).…”

Section: Customer Orientation and Digital Marketing Tacticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strategic orientations and digital marketing tactics in cross-border e-commerce: Comparing developed and emerging markets

Goldman¹,

Herk

Verhagen³

et al. 2020

In this article, the impact of strategic orientations on the use of digital marketing tactics and, subsequently, on the international business performance of small electronic retailers (e-retailers) in cross-border electronic commerce (e-commerce) is analysed. Furthermore, these relationships are compared between e-retailers originating in both developed and emerging e-commerce markets. Using a sample of 446 small business-to-consumer e-retailers from 20 European countries, we find that the deployment of digital marketing tactics has a positive effect on international business performance. Of the strategic orientations examined, foreign market orientation is most associated with the use of digital marketing tactics. Remarkably, growth orientation only has a positive effect on e-retailers from developed e-commerce markets, while customer orientation negatively affects e-retailers from emerging e-commerce markets. The differences between e-retailers from developed and emerging e-commerce markets are prominent and show that markets should not be considered as either uniform or generalisable.