Mediated effect of export assistance on export performance of Serbian manufacturing SMEs

Abstract

<jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Purpose</jats:title><jats:p>The purpose of this paper was to examine the intervening role of export-related resources in the relationship between export assistance (EA) and export performance (EP) as well as the role of competitive intensity as a driver for the adoption of EA programmes by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Design/methodology/approach</jats:title><jats:p>The proposed model was tested on the sample of 119 SMEs that export from the Republic of Serbia. The data were gathered through an online survey. In order to test the hypotheses, partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Findings</jats:title><jats:p>The results revealed that export-related resources (intellectual, relational and managerial resources) fully mediate the relationship between EA and EP. It was shown that competitive intensity in export markets had a positive effect on the amount of EA that SMEs receive from the government, EU and other organisations.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Research limitations/implications</jats:title><jats:p>The number of firms that participated in the survey is small. Furthermore, the responses may be biased due to the auto-selection of SMEs. The research included only SMEs from different manufacturing industries. Thus, the implications of the research cannot be applied to the service sector.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Practical implications</jats:title><jats:p>The findings of the conducted research are relevant for the managers of SMEs since they show the importance of using EA as an external resource. The use of EA improves EP through the enhancement of intellectual, relational and managerial resources. The results of this study also support further government investment in EA as it was found that EA is an effective tool for the improvement of EP of SMEs.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title content-type="abstract-subheading">Originality/value</jats:title><jats:p>The effect of EA on EP was tested in Serbia, the research context in which this effect was not tested before. Besides, the proposed model gives insights into the factors that affect engagement in EA programmes, which is a topic rarely examined in the literature.</jats:p></jats:sec>

Antecedents and consequences of market orientation in international B2B market: role of export assistance as a moderator

“…Leonidou, Palihawadana, and Theodosiou (2011) highlight the necessity of export assistance and mention that it helps firms to stimulate and increase export operations through adopting a proactive, systematic and planned approach from assistances. Government and other governmental associations design various export assistance programs to assist firms to overcome internationalization barriers that hinder exporting (Njegić, Damnjanović, & Komnenić, 2020). In Bangladesh, these programs are usually targeted at the international entrepreneurial apparel firms (Shamsuddoha et al, 2009).…”

“…Although export assistance is enormously beneficial for entrepreneurial firms (Jalali, 2012;Sharma et al, 2018;Sousa & Novello, 2014); however, prior research also reports a few non-significant results (Lages & Montgomery, 2005). One plausible reason for such inconsistent results may occur from the performance indicators under investigation (Njegić et al, 2020). An ideal way to evaluate the impact of export assistance is to examine the effects on firms' financial and non-financial performance, separately.…”

“…Entrepreneurial firms must understand the importance of export assistance and create awareness to utilize it prudently; especially firms operating in resource-constrained and environmentally challenged economies (Mostafiz et al, 2019b, c). In an emerging economy context, international entrepreneurial firms should get engaged and participate in various programs to effectively utilize benefits of export assistance to achieve financial liberty (Njegić et al, 2020).…”

“…Firms must identify their resource needs and align it with the required export assistance. We postulate that the entrepreneurs with high-level of DMC will make sure of the optimum utilization of export assistance, thus significantly improving the overall performance of the firm (Lages & Montgomery, 2005;Sousa & Bradley, 2009;Njegić et al, 2020).…”

“…International entrepreneurial firms from emerging economies usually operate in a resource-constraint and weak institutional setting. Therefore, firms getting more export assistance might have a high chance of success than firms with less support from the government and other potential associations (Njegi c et al, 2020). Synchronously, it is also crucial for an entrepreneur to optimally use the available assistance to create economic value for the firm.…”