International trade. Statistics

Purpose




The purpose of this paper is to synthesize and evaluate recent studies on determinants of export performance.




Design/methodology/approach




Using a vote-counting technique this paper reviews 124 papers published between 2006 and 2014 to assess the determinants of export performance.




Findings




The results indicate that significant progress has been made during these nine years and that: numerous new determinants are identified, data quality and statistical biases have received considerable attention, and interaction and indirect relationships are considered. However, at the same time, the research of export performance is still limited by a lack of synthetic theoretical basis, inconsistent empirical test results, and insufficiency in the research framework and statistical methodologies.




Originality/value




Export performance has received increasing attention over recent decades, but the area is still characterized by fragmentation and diversity hindering theoretical and practical development. This paper integrates the findings of recent studies on export performance and provides further discussion from both theoretical and methodological aspects, and points out the directions for future research.

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The determinants of export performance: a review of the literature 2006-2014

This study examines how international experience shapes managerial judgment in the formation of effective export promotion strategies. Drawing from contingency theory and the organizational learning perspective, the authors develop and test a model of the effects of different forms of international experience—duration, scope, and intensity—on the performance outcomes of promotion adaptation. Using data from 336 export ventures, the authors find that promotion adaptation relates positively to performance when duration is short and intensity is low, but there is a nonsignificant moderating effect for scope. However, the subsequent analysis suggests that scope, together with sociocultural distance and promotion adaptation, exerts a complex three-way effect on export performance, highlighting the need for more research attention in this area.

Export Promotion Strategy and Performance: The Role of International Experience:

Theory posits that export commitment is key to the effective implementation of resource-led strategy. The authors investigate the role of export commitment, considered a multidimensional construct, in linking export resources and capabilities to positional advantages achieved in foreign markets. They test their resource-based view assertions among a multi-industry sample of 150 Spanish exporters. The results show that experiential resources, specific export capabilities, and export market orientation (EMO) reinforce export commitment, which exerts a positive effect on perceived positional advantages. These perceptions also are likely to be positive if the firm adapts its marketing mix to the needs of its foreign markets. Moreover, the results show that EMO exerts a positive influence on marketing-mix adaptation. Resources linked to experience and informational knowledge about foreign markets foster the development of capabilities (i.e., specific export capabilities and/or EMO). Finally, the results indicate that specific export capabilities influence EMO. The authors conclude with a discussion of practical implications for facilitating export competitive strategy and success.

Antecedents and Consequences of Firms' Export Commitment: An Empirical Study

Because services account for an increasingly large percentage of the gross domestic product globally, achieving competitive advantage in the international markets depends to a great extent on the level of service the firm offers to its customers. Focusing on exporting manufacturers, this study draws from the resource-based view of the firm to develop and test a model of those key resources and capabilities that drive service advantage in the overseas markets. The author finds that exporting experience nurtures customer relationships and informational capabilities, and availability of finance facilitates informational and product development capabilities and enables exporters to achieve service advantage and superior venture performance in the overseas markets.

When exporting manufacturers compete on the basis of service: Resources and marketing capabilities driving service advantage and performance

Using the facilities–transformation–usage framework of service provision and drawing from control theory, the authors develop a theoretical model that examines the influence of different quality control initiatives on relative service quality in a business-to-business setting and, consequently, on export performance. They explicitly consider quality control initiatives that address service employees' performance and the customers' coproduction as well as selected firm characteristics as antecedents of such initiatives. They test the proposed model on data drawn from an export survey of service providers. The results show that export customer–oriented training, customer coproduction instructions, and work process standardization have a positive influence on relative service quality, which in turn positively affects export performance. However, adaptation to export customers' coproduction competence and motivation has a positive influence on relative service quality only when the customer integrati...

Service Quality and Export Performance of Business-to-Business Service Providers: The Role of Service Employee– and Customer-Oriented Quality Control Initiatives

This research is among the first to present a study of the drivers of service export performance. The authors develop and empirically test a theoretical framework of the antecedent and performance implications of cross-border customer relationships (CCRs) in the context of service exports. Survey data from 142 business-to-business service providers show that valuable CCRs have positive impacts on the export performance of services, but there is no influence derived from the number of cross-border relationships. The results also indicate a positive link between relationship marketing activities and the cross-cultural skills of service employees on the one side with valuable and numerous CCRs on the other. That is, relationship marketing activities receive positive influences from export commitment, customer orientation, and managers' cross-cultural skills.

Exporting Services Successfully: Antecedents and Performance Implications of Customer Relationships

Practitioners in B2B markets often view relationships as the decisive variable when asking them about drivers of the international performance of product-related services. However, evidence regarding the positive impact of relationships and relationship marketing remains mainly anecdotal. Most studies analyzing drivers of international performance focus on manufacturing firms. Studies that explicitly account for services only address services in general, rather than providing any detailed insights into product-related industrial services.

Internationalization of Product-Related Services: The Role of Relationship Marketing

Die deutsche Wirtschaft verzeichnet seit Jahren deutliche Exportuberschusse und zahlt damit zu den fuhrenden Nationen im Ausenhandel Mit einem Anteil von 9,5 Prozent am weltweiten Warenexport nimmt Deutschland noch vor China (8,8 Prozent) den ersten Platz ein (WTO 2008) Der Anteil der deutschen Dienstleistungen am Gesamtexport ist mit 15 Prozent jedoch gering und liegt damit deutlich hinter dem anderer europaischen Staaten zuruck Gemessen an ihrer gesamtwirtschaftlichen Bedeutung schopft die deutsche Dienstleistungsbranche damit ihre Exportpotenziale nicht aus (Bundesregierung 2008) Dabei hat sich das starke Auslandsengagement deutscher Unternehmen stets als Stutze der Konjunktur erwiesen Durch die Internationalisierung ihrer Wertschopfungsketten bleiben deutsche Unternehmen auf heimischen und internationalen Markten wettbewerbsfahig und sichern somit Beschaftigung und Ausbildungsplatze (DIHK 2008)

Maren von Selasinsky

Papers

Service Quality and Export Performance of Business-to-Business Service Providers: The Role of Service Employee– and Customer-Oriented Quality Control Initiatives

Exporting Services Successfully: Antecedents and Performance Implications of Customer Relationships

Internationalization of Product-Related Services: The Role of Relationship Marketing

Serviceorientierung als Erfolgsfaktor des Exports von industriellen Dienstleistungen