This paper employs organizational learning theory to examine the short-term effect of past export performance, and internal (management) and external (market) forces on marketing strategy adaptation and current export performance. Results from a survey of over 500 export managers indicate that current-period performance improvement (in terms of performance achievement, export intensity, and performance satisfaction in the current year) is influenced by the firm's commitment to exporting. Further, the authors found that while performance satisfaction feeds performance improvement in the following year, both the previous year's export intensity and export performance achievement produce a negative impact on current-period performance improvement. More importantly, the level of development in the export market facilitates marketing strategy adaptation in the short term, as does export intensity in the previous year. However, satisfaction with previous-year performance negatively influences the degree of distribution adaptation. Implications for international business researchers and practitioners are also discussed. Journal of International Business Studies (2008) 39, 304–325. doi:10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8400339

The authors employ a resource-based view perspective to understand how a set of capabilities (organizational learning, relationship, and quality capabilities) influences product strategy (product quality and product innovation) and export performance (relationship performance and economic performance). Using two types of respondents from the same firm, they find strong support for the capability–strategy–performance link. The results indicate that managers should invest in relationship management capabilities to improve product innovation and product quality, which in turn leads to export performance enhancement. Furthermore, the findings reveal that though product quality is a critical aspect in international markets, both product innovation and relationship performance play a greater role in enhancing economic performance. The authors conclude with implications for international marketing theory and practice.

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In this article, the authors develop a new measurement scale (the RELQUAL scale) to assess the degree of relationship quality between the exporting firm and the importer. Relationship quality is presented as a high-order concept. Findings reveal that a better quality of the relationship results in a greater (1) amount of information sharing, (2) communication quality, (3) long-term orientation, as well as (4) satisfaction with the relationship. The four multi-item scales show strong evidence of reliability as well as convergent, discriminant and nomological validity in a sample of British exporters. Findings also reveal that relationship quality is positively and significantly associated with export performance. Suggestions for applying the measure in future research are presented.

Technological exporters are constantly challenged by the trade-off between two types of strategic orientations: customer and technology. Nonetheless, research directly addressing this topic is scarce, and few recommendations exist about the best orientation to emphasize. Using two respondents in the same firm, the export manager and the research-and-development manager, the authors find that customer orientation is as important as technological orientation in the development of exploratory innovation capabilities. However, when past performance is poor, customer orientation has a greater role. Exporters with poor past performance may achieve higher export performance levels by focusing more on customers than on technology. Conversely, firms performing well may risk export performance if they ignore technology orientation. These firms also need to maintain high levels of customer orientation.