The influence of distributor support and price adaptation on the export performance of small and medium-sized enterprises

Abstract

Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. Abstract:Although a number of studies have examined the antecedents of export performance, little empirical attention has been given to the influence of distribution support and price adaptation on export performance in comparison with other determinants. To address this gap in literature, this study develops a new model, which integrates these two constructs as key variables affecting export performance. A sample of senior managers of export firms in Italy is used to test the hypotheses. The results suggest that support given to the distributor has a strong and positive impact on the firms' export performance. In addition, the findings indicate that distribution support plays a mediating role in our model. Contrary to expectations, the results show that price adaptation has no significant impact on export performance. Although in the literature price adaptation and export performance is assumed to have a linear relationship, further analysis shows a non-linear (U-shaped) relationship between price adaptation and export performance. The implications of these findings along with the limitations of the study are discussed.

Relationship Between Inflation and Real Economic Growth in Rwanda

“…It tests the interaction between existing measurements for EP relevant in other countries identified during the literature review. The fact that researchers such as Singh and Mahmood (2014) and Sousa and Novello (2014) have applied explanatory research in their EP studies underlines the value of this approach.…”

“…First, the respondents were encouraged to rate their overall perceived satisfaction with EP in SSA in the last three years on a seven-point Likert scale, ranging from 'extremely dissatisfied' to 'extremely satisfied' (similarly applied, e.g., by Akyol and Akehurst 2003;Cadogan et al 2012;Freeman and Style 2014;Lee and Griffith 2004;Navarro-García et al 2015;Sousa and Novello 2014;). They were told that the overall satisfaction about EP should include the areas of international sales growth, export business profitability, the firm's image in foreign markets, international expansion, and market share (Cavusgil and Zou 1994;Navarro-García et al 2015;Navarro et al 2010 ).…”

“…Exports represent the preferred method for entry into foreign markets (Lado et al 2004;Zhao and Zou 2002) since they offer firms a comparatively high level of flexibility with relatively small necessary investments thus permitting a fast entry into new markets (Katsikea et al 2007;Leonidou 1995;Sousa and Novello 2014). Research on export modalities is of high interest to three major stakeholders: public policymakers, managers, and researchers (Katsikea et al 2000;Sousa 2004).…”

“…In 2012, SSA countries imported US$496.50 billion worth of goods and services (United Nations Statistics Division 2014). The increasing demand for foreign products together with a relatively high level of uncertainty in the region makes SSA predestined for exports rather than alternative market entry methods such as foreign direct investment (Boly et al 2014;Riddle 2008;Sousa and Novello 2014).…”

“…A focus on the EP of SMEs is specifically important since they in particular profit from a combination of flexibility with limited resource commitments , while their significant contributions to national economies underline their relevance for policymakers (Sousa and Novello 2014). Further, there is a need to investigate the specifics of EP in selected regions/countries (Navarro-García et al 2015;Rambocas et al 2015).…”