An Assessment of the Exporting Literature: Using Theory and Data to Identify Future Research Directions
Summary (3 min read)
Internationalization
- In reviewing the role of exporting within the internationalization of firms, Johanson and Vahlne s (1977) so-called Uppsala Internationalization Model is considered a core contribution, as the model positions exporting as a stage of internationalization.
- Specifically, these authors (Johanson and 6 Vahlne 1977, 2009) posit that exporting is often the initial step in an establishment chain.
- The RBV asserts that firms can achieve a sustainable competitive advantage based on the organization of their resources (Wernerfelt 1984).
- Dynamic capabilities may be replicated by other firms, but it is the configuration of key resources that leads to a firm s competitive advantage (Eisenhardt and Martin 2000).
- Grant (1996) describes the key areas and roles in which knowledge as an input is a means for production.
Transaction Cost Economics
- TCE, sometimes referred to as transaction cost analysis (Rindfleisch and Heide 1997), views the firm and the market as alternative governance mechanisms (Coase 1937).
- Institutionalization requires firms to balance and respect relations within the internal and external environment.
- To begin the bibliometric evaluation of the exporting literature, the authors identified articles related to the topic by searching 35 academic journals from the inception of the topic's emergence in the literature.
- Then, the authors used MDS to determine each period's stress value (or, goodness of fit).
- This was done using the occurrence of publications appearing in research groups in subsequent time periods and provided the basis for an analysis of the domain's development across the study's four periods (Samiee, Chabowski, and Hult 2015).
Exporting Literature Intellectual Structure, 1958-1992
- Illustrated in Figure 1 are the seven research groups from the first period of their study.
- By incorporating topics related to the internationalization process, a staged approach to exporting is established during this time period (Johanson and Vahlne 1977; Wiedersheim-Paul, Olson, and Welch 1978).
- By emphasizing smaller firms, there appears to be a greater focus on the processes related to the entry decisions of this unique condition (Dichtl et al. 1984; Reid 1984).
- Anchored by research emphasizing organizational characteristics (Cavusgil 1984a), the exporting literature also focused on the export decision-maker (Group 6) and export marketing behavior (Group 7).
- This allowed for greater detail in research at the managerial level (Reid 1981) and the marketing function (Cavusgil and Nevin 1981).
Exporting Literature Intellectual Structure, 1993-2002
- The twelve research groups in this period are displayed in Figure 2.
- Another chain of groups emphasizing internationalization (Groups 6-8) relates to internationalization models and processes (Andersen 1993; Johanson and Vahlne 1990).
- Extending this approach, research on internationalization, innovation, and organizational capabilities of small firms (Group 2) shows the multifaceted nature of topics that are studied related to the internationalization process.
- Another 20 topic which emerged centered on commitment, trust, and export channel performance (Group 6).
- One research clique focusing on export management, marketing strategy, and performance (Group 7) supports the trend to relate the export literature to performance outcomes.
Exporting Literature Intellectual Structure, 2013-2016
- The fourteen research groups during this four-year time period appear in Figure 4.
- This position must be taken into consideration as the topic of firm internationalization (Group 1) represented by the traditional approach is distinctive in its contribution to the domain.
- Still, anchored by an emphasis on market entry growth via learning (Zahra, Ireland, and Hitt 2000), three topics focusing on rapid international expansion (Group 9), knowledge intensity and international expansion (Group 10), and knowledge, learning, and innovation (Group 12) are connected to the overall view of internationalization models.
- As the focal group in a chain of research topics, the clique emphasizing resources, positional advantage, and performance (Group 4) possesses a holistic perspective of the export process.
- This perspective was extended even further with a separate and complementary focus on dynamic capabilities (Group 7) and resources and capabilities (Group 8) during this time frame.
Longitudinal Development of Exporting Research
- To note the longevity of particular research topics, as shown in Figure 5, influential publications appearing in research groups were coupled across time periods to show expansion or contraction for a given subject.
- This specific area expanded in the last period of the study to emphasize research related to rapid international expansion (Group 9), knowledge, learning, and innovation (Group 12), knowledge intensity and international expansion (Group 10), learning, innovation, 24 and internationalization speed (Group 13), experience and internationalization speed (Group 14), and knowledge intensity and internationalization models (Group 11).
- For this portion of the manuscript, the authors go deeper to address 25 boundary conditions and theoretical fundamentals.
- Once these concepts are presented, the authors offer implications based on recent exporting research and discuss the implications of their findings for practitioners 26 by providing thoughts concerning this study's application to export management, international marketing, and public policy.
Implications for Exporting Theory from the Domain s Intellectual Structure
- The first opportunity for advancing the exporting literature comes from a scarcity of studies emphasizing the differences of capabilities, implementation, and performance in the internationalization process stages (Johanson and Wiedersheim-Paul 1975; Morgan, Katsikeas, and Vorhies 2012).
- Though recent work has looked at differences in exporter status as well as dynamic capabilities in the application of knowledge management (Gashi, Hashi, and Pugh 2014; Villar, Alegre, and Pla-Barber 2014), relatively little work has been done relating these two topics together.
- The third opportunity which may further the exporting domain relates to the synthesis of internationalization process inexperience cost with capabilities, implementation, and performance (Eriksson et al.
Implications for Future Exporting Theory from Recent Research
- On a more recent basis, the exporting literature can benefit from integrating organizational sense making and coordination capabilities.
- Broadly speaking, different innovation typologies should be investigated to better understand the impact innovation has on firm and country export performance by measuring data at the innovation, firm, and country level (Shaffer, Chastagner, and Umesh 2016).
- As customers needs and wants fluctuate as demand changes, firms are required to be flexible to accommodate these changes within their organizational structures and with their trading partners.
- Host market spillover effects have been found to improve firm product offerings (Frambach, Fiss, and Ingenbleek 2016; Silva, Gomes, and Lages 2017).
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Frequently Asked Questions (12)
Q2. What future works have the authors mentioned in the paper "This is a repository copy of an assessment of the exporting literature: using theory and data to identify future research directions" ?
Future research should try to identify actions that can be taken by firms to move between different relationship stages as a result of economic change. Future researchers may consider a counter approach and test under which conditions psychic distance promotes learning, thus leading to more successful future market entries. Using institutional theory as a lens, future researchers may examine legitimacy issues within cognitive and regulatory contexts. Thus, future studies could explore how institutional gaps impact country image and attractiveness as well as how these gaps impact the development and success of export exchanges.
Q3. What are the main factors that help to stabilize firms?
Normative forces help to routinize actions and behavior, allowing firms to stabilize (Emery and Trist 1965; Meyer and Rowan 1977; Terreberry 1968).
Q4. What is the definition of a necessary and sufficient condition for marketing practice?
Managing relationships between exchange partners is a necessary and sufficient condition for marketing practice as marketing actions cannot take place without the exchange of value between trading parties (Alderson 1965).
Q5. What are the main factors that contribute to the quality of partner relationships?
other dimensions such as reciprocity and cooperation have been included as contributing factors to the overall quality of partner relationships (Palmatier et al. 2006).
Q6. What is the fifth direction that could benefit the exporting literature?
A fifth direction that could benefit the exporting literature relates to an integration ofinternationalization inexperience cost and export marketing strategy (Eriksson et al.
Q7. What is the fourth topic that has not been studied much?
The fourth topic that has not been studied much relates to the combination of researchrelated to dynamic capabilities and social networks in emerging market export contexts (Teece, Pisano, and Shuen 1997; Zhou, Wu, and Luo 2007).
Q8. What are the main factors that managers must consider when coordinating export strategy?
As resources can be categorized as organizational, entrepreneurial, and technological in nature, there are many human and technical factors which managers must consider when coordinating export strategy (Dhanaraj and Beamish 2003; Gashi, Hashi, and Pugh 2014).
Q9. What are the three general issues which have become prominent in recent exporting research?
More directly, there are three general issues which have become prominent in recent exporting research: (1) information, knowledge, and learning; (2) resource configuration, market-oriented35organizational culture, and strategy; and (3) networking and inter-organizational relationships.
Q10. What is the first opportunity for advancing the exporting literature?
The first opportunity for advancing the exporting literature comes from a scarcity ofstudies emphasizing the differences of capabilities, implementation, and performance in the internationalization process stages (Johanson and Wiedersheim-Paul 1975; Morgan, Katsikeas, and Vorhies 2012).
Q11. What is the reason for the differences in the rate of innovation acceptance in export markets?
Based on innovation s disruptive nature, the rate of innovation acceptance in export markets will likely differ due to customers need to perceive value in new or modified offerings (Silva, Styles, and Lages 2017).
Q12. What was the basis for the analysis of the domain's development?
This was done using theoccurrence of publications appearing in research groups in subsequent time periods and provided the basis for an analysis of the domain's development across the study's four periods (Samiee, Chabowski, and Hult 2015).