Beyond Differentiation

Abstract

Although the relationship between competitive strategy and export performance has been addressed previously in the literature, the moderating effect of the competitive intensity of this relationship is little explored, especially in emerging economies. This study aims to address the moderating effect of competitive intensity in the relationship between differentiation competitive strategy and the export performance of Mozambican small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The study involves the analysis of 250 questionnaires directed to Managers of Mozambican SMEs, using structural equation modeling and Partial Least Squares (PLS/SEM) algorithm (SmartPLS 3.0). The findings show that differentiation strategy has a positive influence on export performance. However, competitive intensity has a negative moderating effect on the relationship between differentiation competitive strategy and export performance.