دانلود رایگان مقاله انگلیسی عوامل موثر بر عملکرد صادراتی: تفاوت بین خدمات و تولید شرکتهای کوچک و متوسط - اشپرینگر 2018

Abstract

We explore the relationships among knowledge sourcing, innovativeness, and export performance of a firm, and investigate how these links differ between service and manufacturing companies. Based on survey data from 4347 East German firms, we develop a structural equation model which enables us to disentangle the direct and indirect (via innovativeness) impact of knowledge sourcing on a firm’s export performance. We find that both internal and external knowledge influence a firm’s exports both directly path and indirectly via firm innovativeness (mediator variable). For service firms, external knowledge sourcing is more important for enhancing internal knowledge and innovativeness than for manufacturing companies.

5 Conclusions and Implications

The main objective of this study is to investigate the driving forces behind international activity of SMEs, focusing on differences between the manufacturing and service sectors. To this end, we have developed a structural equation model based on survey data from 4347 firms from East Germany, which enables us to capture the complexity of the relationships among knowledge sourcing, innovativeness, and export performance of a firm. Another advantage of this modeling approach is the opportunity to take into consideration various aspects of constructs; for example, firm innovativeness is assessed in terms of product and process innovations, applying patents, etc.

Overall, the findings from the empirical analysis provide strong support for our propositions. Indeed, both internal knowledge—measured via R&D intensity and share of highly educated workforce—and external knowledge—captured through collaboration activities, licensing technology, and government support—influence a firm’s international engagement both directly path and indirectly via firm innovativeness. Yet, we find that the direct effect of knowledge sourcing is quite small, which highlights the role of innovativeness as a mediator variable in firm export behavior. These results may explain the inconsistent findings with respect to the link between R&D and export activity and/or export intensity from previous studies (e.g., Barrios et al. 2003; Becchetti and Rossi 2000; Kirbach and Schmiedeberg 2008; Lejpras 2015). Future studies should, thus, include outputoriented measures of innovation as mediator effects when investigating relationships between R&D (an input-oriented measure) and firm internationalization and/ or performance (outcomes of innovation), in general.