A configurational approach to the impact of trade fairs and trade missions on firm export activity

Monreal-Pérez, Joaquín; Geldres-Weiss, Valeska V.

doi:10.1016/j.brq.2018.11.001

Cited by 5 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…The results confirm the findings of the literature, demonstrating that trade fairs are an excellent opportunity for companies, particularly for SME, to open up to international markets, which increases their exports (Gerschewski et al, 2019;Monreal-Pérez and Geldres-Weiss, 2019;Gerschewski et al, 2020), as well as to promote product innovations (Kim and Mazumdar, 2016;Bathelt, 2017;Golfetto and Rinallo, 2017).…”

Section: Theoretical Contributionssupporting

confidence: 86%

“…Finally, it appears that the "company size" does not have significant influence on the SME's export performance. Hence, regardless of their size, trade fairs are useful to any company, which is partially corroborated by several authors (Evers and Knight, 2008;Measson and Campbell-Hunt, 2015;Kalafsky and Gress, 2020) concerning the importance of trade fairs for SME, especially industrial micro/small companies (Silva, 2014;Monreal-Pérez and Geldres-Weiss, 2019;Gerschewski et al, 2020).…”

Section: Theoretical Contributionsmentioning

confidence: 61%

“…2.5 Small and medium-sized enterprisesinnovate to networking and networking to export Trade fairs are important events for promoting product innovations (Dawson et al, 2014;Santos and Mendonça, 2014;Kim and Mazumdar, 2016) and exports (Geldres-Weiss and Monreal-Pérez, 2018;Gerschewski et al, 2019;Monreal-Pérez and Geldres-Weiss, 2019). However, studies do not make the connection between product innovation and exports in the context of trade fairs, even though they highlight the role of networking in product innovation (Dawson et al, 2014;Jalal and Haim Hilman, 2015;Foroudi et al, 2016) and exports (Measson and Campbell-Hunt, 2015;Geldres-Weiss and Monreal-Pérez, 2018;Gopalakrishna et al, 2019;Vissak et al, 2020).…”

Section: Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Product Innovation Stimulates Networking Capacitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nevertheless, exporting offers SMEs the opportunity to maximize profits (Gkypali et al, 2021). In this regard, trade fairs offer a unique advantage for smaller companies in accessing exports through the generated contacts or business networks (Measson and Campbell-Hunt, 2015;Geldres-Weiss and Monreal-Pérez, 2018;Monreal-Pérez and Geldres-Weiss, 2019;Gerschewski et al, 2020;Kalafsky and Gress, 2020). For instance, by acquiring space in a trade fair (at a reasonable cost), they get a chance to exhibit their products and/or services and establish contacts, same as larger competitors (Silva, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A new approach of innovation and network on export in trade fair context: evidence from Portuguese SMEs

Silva

Moutinho

Vale

2021

JBIM

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between product innovation and network and their export performance, particularly in trade fair context. Moreover, this paper conducts a comparative study among services/industrial small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and considers the home-country context. Innovation and internationalization are stagnant themes in the recent literature on trade fairs, so they require to be renewed. Design/methodology/approach The empirical study includes a survey with 341 SMEs’ respondents separated into both industrial/producer and service/other. A conceptual model was developed and examined from three different perspectives: Model A encompasses all surveyed SMEs, Model B includes only industrial/producer SMEs and Model C comprises service/other SMEs. Data analysis happened in two steps. The first step included the structural equation model (SEM) and the assessment of hypotheses (from three different perspectives). Thus, it was possible to make a comparative analysis between the models. In the second step, the ordered logit model (OLM) is used to study relationships between control variables and the criteria variable export performance. Findings The SEM’s results confirm a conceptual model about a dynamic trajectory that SMEs, mainly industrial/producer, can take advantage of: innovate to networking and networking to export. The results allowed to verify when comparing services/industrial SMEs that the tangibility which characterizes the innovation of industrial SMEs' products contributed significantly to the performance of business networks and exports. The study also reveals, through the OLM, two catalysts for the success of the SME’s export performance: export experience and continued participation in trade fairs. The OLM results also reveal that the size of the companies is not relevant, so trade fairs are marketing tools accessible to any company, regardless of their size. Finally, the study considered home-country context of the surveyed SMEs, which allowed additional interpretations to be drawn. Research limitations/implications The study does not reflect the individual's personality in his network capacity and the export performance was measured based on the level of satisfaction and not on real sales results. However, the study provides relevant practical implications and can support future studies. Practical implications The study offers important implications for SME. The results reveal that presenting product innovations at trade fairs is a useful tool for SMEs to create networks, which facilitates their export performance, especially for industrial SMEs residing in small economies such as Portugal. This study is also relevant for business associations of industrial SMEs and/or public or semi-public SME promotion agencies. Originality/value This paper contributes to the literature on trade fairs, suggesting a new innovation, networking, export (INE) framework to reflect on the participation in international trade fairs. So, this research especially combines product INE performance in a particular context – international trade fairs for SME. It also considers the home-country context of the SMEs, which adds depth to the study. Finally, the comparative study also provides insightful implications for industrial SMEs on how to improve the export performance from trade fairs by leveraging innovation and networking.

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Section: Theoretical Contributionssupporting

confidence: 86%

Section: Theoretical Contributionsmentioning

confidence: 61%

Section: Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Product Innovation Stimulates Networking Capacitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A new approach of innovation and network on export in trade fair context: evidence from Portuguese SMEs

Silva

Moutinho

Vale

2021

JBIM

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“…The existence and size of a network of foreign offices is always linked to financial resources. The presence of foreign offices in export markets is an important support, such as fairs or trade missions, which can improve a company's export competitiveness [14].…”

Section: Theoretical Aspects Of Tpomentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of Export Trade Promotion Organizations on Export Development in Latvia in the Context of Globalization

Veinbergs

Skadina

2021

SHS Web of Conf.

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Research background: The impact of globalization in the 21st century is increasingly bringing change in the world’s political, economic, social and technological processes. It has become much easier to get information about relevant events across the borders, which lead to the visibility and accessibility of international business environment. International organizations promote and encourage small countries in the same manner as large ones in order to integrate them into the world’s economic development. As a result, most countries become partners and benefit through this globalization process which can be seen as a triggering factor for a successful cross-border trade. Purpose of the article: This paper aims to analyse the impact of Trade Promotion Organizations (TPO) on business in Latvia and its usefulness for export activities as well as contribution of TPO program to GDP growth in Latvia in the period from 2004 to 2019. Methods: In this research authors have used a case study method and analysed the experience of TPO in the global trade environment. Secondary data were obtained from statistical databases and research literature; regulations of international organizations in relevant countries - from publicly available sources. Findings & Value added: Results of this research indicate that organizations which promote and support Latvian export positively influence activities and high-quality cooperation with exporting companies and entrepreneurs who want to trade abroad. At the end of the research, the authors summarize their findings about TPO’s support activities to exporters in Latvia and other countries.

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The Effects of Timing and Order of Government Support Mechanisms for SME Exports

Fey

2022

Manag Int Rev

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When small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) enter export markets, they face liabilities of smallness and foreignness. Their chances of success increase if they receive some support. Thus, many governments provide some export support for SMEs having realized that success in exports helps firm success and creates positive spillovers. We test the efficacy of three such support mechanisms: support for strategic export planning, support for trade fair participation and participation in ministerial visits and compare their relative results in various “time dimensions” (Jones & Coviello, J Int Bus Stud 36(3):284–303, 2005). Unlike past studies, we go beyond testing the effect of one support mechanism and compare the effect of the above different support mechanisms. We also show the importance of considering different dimensions of time – chronological “clock” time, “stopwatch” reference time, time sequence, and effect length time. We found evidence for the benefit of receiving multiple support mechanisms and we explored the sequence of receiving multiple support mechanisms. More specifically, our results suggest that exports are best facilitated by first receiving support to attend a trade fair, then developing an export plan; and then participating a ministerial visit abroad. Also, our study suggests that effect length is an important, previously ignored, dimension of time to consider. Empirically, hypotheses are tested on a longitudinal data set of Estonian SMEs receiving different types of government export support during 2009–2017. The data set was constructed from registry data covering the entire population of Estonian firms.

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A configurational approach to the impact of trade fairs and trade missions on firm export activity

Cited by 5 publications

References 37 publications

A new approach of innovation and network on export in trade fair context: evidence from Portuguese SMEs

A new approach of innovation and network on export in trade fair context: evidence from Portuguese SMEs

Impact of Export Trade Promotion Organizations on Export Development in Latvia in the Context of Globalization

The Effects of Timing and Order of Government Support Mechanisms for SME Exports

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