Does location matter to export performance?

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to build on the resource-based view to analyze the influence of location effects on a firm's ability to develop export-related resources and capabilities which then impacts on export performance. Design/methodology/approach – To test the proposed hypotheses, a sample of small-to-medium exporting firms located in Australia is analyzed using partial least squared modeling. Findings – The findings show that access to location specific advantages (i.e. access to sources of supply, government agencies, export-related services and infrastructure, managerial labor skills, and network opportunities) are essential antecedents for the firm's ability to develop export-related resources and capabilities which in turn drives export performance outcomes. Research limitations/implications – Results from this study are from one state in Australia, and caution should be exercised when generalizing findings to other geographic regions. Practical implications – These findings suggest that location effects do indeed present challenges to regional SME firms. Indeed the substantial impacts of sourcing experienced managerial staff with export-related skills affirm the critical role of human resources. This offers insights concerning the recruitment and reward policies for remote firms having to compete with firms in more attractive or sort after metropolitan locations. Also the findings suggest that managers should give serious thought to the appropriateness of the resources and capabilities needed to increase their export performance. Originality/value – Even though the role and importance of firm location has been highlighted in the export literature, previous export studies have not focussed on dimensions of location as antecedents to firm resources and capability development.

Relationship Between Inflation and Real Economic Growth in Rwanda

“…For the regions they researched, they found a positive influence of this factor. However, Freeman and Styles' (2014) research about Australian firms showed a neutral influence. This indicates that the factor adaptation of product strategy may have a positive influence in some regions and is relevant for German SMEs which target SSA.…”

“…Consequently, multiple approaches are necessary to gain quantitative and qualitative data (Collis and Hussey 2014;Saunders 2012). Actually, many EP studies (e.g., Freeman and Styles 2014;Rambocas et al 2015) have applied this philosophy.…”

“…Consequently, this study started with semi-structured interviews examining the factors known to influence EP as well as searching for additional ones prior to developing a questionnaire. A good reason to include exploratory research as a first step is the positive experience of Freeman and Styles (2014), Lacka and Stefko (2014), and Nalcaci and Yagci (2014) who gained new insights about EP for other regions by conducting interviews.…”

Pluripotent Dynamic Capabilities in the Internationalization of Firms: Focus on Learning, Innovating and Networking in SMEs from Sweden

“…The following capabilities or capability dimensions from different studies could be classified under Cluster 1 (C1) as follows: (a) external collaboration (Lefebvre et al, 1998), (b) relational capability (Freeman and Styles, 2014;Lages et al, 2009;), (c) supplier and customer relationship capabilities (Kaleka, 2002), (d) communication capability (Zou et al, 2003), (e) relational-building capability (Morgan et al, 2004), (f) leveraging foreign distributer competences (Knight and Cavusgil, 2004), (g) alliance and network development capabilities (Freeman et al, 2006), (h) cooperation capability (Flor and Oltra, 2005), (i) networking capability (Bianchi, 2009;Chen et al, 2009;Raymond and St-Pierre, 2013;Van Geenhuizen, 2008;Weerawardena et al, 2007), (j) parental network capabilities (Elango and Pattnaik, 2007), (k) external communication as a sub-dimension of commercial capabilities (Camison and Villar, 2009), (l) meeting foreign customer demands and requests as dimensions of adaptive capability , (m) network capability upgrading , (n) marketing communication capability (Murray et al, 2011), (o) customer relation capability as the export marketing capabilities' dimension (Kaleka, 2011), (p) "building of sound and long-lasting relationships" as a sub-dimension of export-related organizational capabilities (Leonidou et al, 2011), (q) customer relationship capabilities as a component of dynamic marketing capabilities (Kaleka, 2012), (r) channel management and delivery management as a function of specialized marketing capabilities (Morgan et al, 2012), (s) alliance management capability (Khalid and Larimo, 2012), (t) channel networking capabilities (Boso et al, 2013), (u) listening to customers and scanning the business environment as components of dynamic capabilities (Al-Aali and Teece, 2014), (v) network learning capability (Weerawardena et al, 2014), and (w) distribution network as a function of marketing capability (Bortoluzzi et al, 2014).…”

“…According to the business network and relational-based literature, there are different definitions as well as dimensions for NC provided by related researchers Mu and Benedetto, 2012;Ritter et al, 2002;Walter et al, 2006). As depicted in Table 2 (Freeman and Styles, 2014;Kaleka, 2012, Morgan et al, 2012Murray et al, 2011;Raymond and St-Pierre, 2013;Zou et al, 2003); (e) innovation (innovative) capability (Bianchi, 2009;Guan and Ma, 2003;Hortinha et al, 2011;Luo et al, 2005;Yi et al, 2012); (f) technological competence and unique product development (Knight and Cavusgil, 2004); (g) production capability as a component of technological capabilities (Flor and Oltra, 2005); (h) technological capability (Chen et al, 2009;Yiu et al, 2007); (i) innovation and technology capabilities as a sub-dimension of capability for internationalization (Camison and Villar, 2009 product innovation (Bortoluzzi et al, 2014) ; and (q) differentiation capability (Chen et al, 2014).…”