Market intelligence effect on perceived psychic distance, strategic behaviours and export performance in industrial SMEs

Abstract

Purpose-This paper has two objectives in the area of industrialised small-and medium-sized industrial company (SME) export activity. First, it responds to the gap in the literature on the role of market intelligence in the interrelations between perceived psychic distance, marketing mix decisions and export performance. The second objective concerns the influence of resource heterogeneity (size and export department) in the proposed model. Design/methodology/approach-The current paper tests a posited research model and its hypotheses using the data from a multi-sector sample of exporters (196 Spanish industrial SMEs). The data are analyzed using a partial least squares approach. Findings-The results of the empirical study show that: strategic decisions to adapt marketing mix elements to suit foreign markets have a positive effect on export performance; strategic adaptations are more numerous when export managers perceive a greater psychic distance; an export department helps develop market intelligence ability, which positively moderates the impact of strategic adaptations on export performance; and size does not have a significant effect on the interrelations studied. Practical implications-Export managers in industrial SMEs can use the results and conclusions of this present paper to systematise their decision-making in export activity. Originality/value-This paper makes a significant contribution towards covering an important gap in research into industrial SME exporters, by demonstrating the importance of market intelligence in export activity.

Competitor Intelligence and Product Innovation: The Role of Open-Mindedness and Interfunctional Coordination

“…CI scales concerning how the direct and indirect competitor information was collected and processed were based on Narver and Slater [35] and Navarro-García et al [82]. This construct revealed Cronbach's alpha value of 0.837.…”

Key determinants of SMEs’ export performance: a resource-based view and contingency theory approach using potential mediators

“…Internal factors include (MDs and ODs. The MDs include technical and technological skills, motivation to export, networks, perceived benefits from exporting, expected export outcomes, cultural and psychological distance, export stimuli, self-efficacy and risk-taking propensity (Bandura, 1995;Morgan, 1997;Audretsch, 2001;Filipe Lages and Montgomery, 2004;Oviatt and McDougall, 2005;Foreman-Peck et al, 2006;Sousa and Bradley, 2006;Siu et al, 2007;Saini and Martin, 2009;Harvie, 2010;Tang, 2011;Alsaaty and Makhlouf , 2012;Freeman et al, 2012;Love et al, 2016;Navarro-García et al, 2016). The ODs include firm size, skilled labor, finance, firm experience, export commitment and attitude toward risk (Hultman et al, 2009;Saini and Martin, 2009;Harvie, 2010;Stoian et al, 2011;Freeman et al, 2012;Fernando et al, 2017).…”

“…The author focused on the effects of MD on firms' EP through subjective and objective measures. The results show that in addition to objective measures, subjective measures are an effective approach for assessing EP and establishing a connection between EP and the managers' roles and decisions Rose and Shoham, 2002;Sousa, 2004;Beleska-Spasova, 2014;Navarro-García et al, 2016). Furthermore, Chugan and Singh (2015) examined a firm's commitment regarding exports by evaluation the level of managerial resources devoted to export activities.…”

Mapping the structure and evolution of JISIB: A bibliometric analysis of articles published in the Journal of Intelligence Studies in Business between 2011 and 2017

“…Bearing this in mind, it is possible to observe that the intelligence is implemented in different areas of the organization, which means that the approach given to it varies according to the people who develop it or the area where it is developed. This has given rise to different intelligence terminology, within which can be highlighted the following: business intelligence (Gilad and Gilad, 1985;Søilen, 2017), collective intelligence (Devouard, 2011;Sheremetov and Rocha-Mier, 2004;Shimbel, 1975), competitive intelligence (Calof and Dishman, 2007;Davenport and Cronin, 1994;Du Toit, 2003;Du Toit and Sewdass, 2014;James, 2014;Tuta et al, 2014), economic intelligence (Larivet, 2009;Menychtas et al, 2014;Perrine, 2004;Seiglie et al, 2008;Smith, 1953), market intelligence (Maltz and Kohli, 1996;Navarro-Garcia et al, 2016), marketing intelligence (de' Rossi, 2005;Kelley, 1965;Zhou and Lai, 2009), science and technology intelligence (Castellanos and Torres, 2010;Chang et al, 2007;De Coster et al, 2013;McCormick et al, 2015;Mortara et al, 2009), among others, such as financial intelligence, public intelligence, and competitor intelligence.…”