IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/krk/eberjl/v4y2016i4p51-66.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Foreign Market Knowledge and SME’s International Performance: Moderating Effects of Strategic Intent and Time-to-Internationalization

Author

Listed:
  • Mariola Ciszewska-Mlinarič

    (Kozminski University (Poland))

Abstract

Objective: The objective of the article are threefold. First, to examine the significance of knowledge based resources for internationalization of small and medium sized enterprises. Second, to verify the strategic intent as a factor enhancing SMEs’ ability to accumulate the knowledge about foreign markets. Third, to examine whether and how strategic intent and time-to-internationalization moderate the relationship between foreign market knowledge and SMEs’ international performance. Research Design & Methods: The study was conducted on a sample of 89 Polish firms operating in a low-tech but fairly internationalized sector. In line with a theoretical background, hypotheses are developed and tested with linear regression models. Findings: The findings reveal that foreign market knowledge (FMK) is positively associated with international performance (IP), and both, strategic intent and firm’s age at internationalization are moderators of FMK-IP relationship. Implications & Recommendations: Firms’ ability to clearly formulate the strategic intent brings important consequences for ability to accumulate knowledge. Strategic intent enhances the development of the stock of foreign market knowledge, which in turn enables firms to achieve better performance in international markets. Contribution & Value Added: The article seeks to contribute to the ongoing discussion on factors supporting the accumulation of foreign market knowledge by focusing on the role of strategic intent and time to internationalization in this respect.

Suggested Citation

  • Mariola Ciszewska-Mlinarič, 2016. "Foreign Market Knowledge and SME’s International Performance: Moderating Effects of Strategic Intent and Time-to-Internationalization," Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, Centre for Strategic and International Entrepreneurship at the Cracow University of Economics., vol. 4(4), pages 51-66.
    • Handle: RePEc:krk:eberjl:v:4:y:2016:i:4:p:51-66
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://eber.uek.krakow.pl/index.php/eber/article/download/192/pdf_1
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kolasa, Marcin & Rubaszek, Michal & Taglioni, Daria, 2010. "Firms in the great global recession: The role of foreign ownership and financial dependence," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 341-357, December.
    2. Zhou, Lianxi & Wu, Aiqi, 2014. "Earliness of internationalization and performance outcomes: Exploring the moderating effects of venture age and international commitment," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 132-142.
    3. Jan Johanson & Jan-Erik Vahlne, 2009. "The Uppsala internationalization process model revisited: From liability of foreignness to liability of outsidership," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 40(9), pages 1411-1431, December.
    4. Peter W. Liesch & Lawrence S. Welch & Peter J. Buckley, 2011. "Risk and Uncertainty in Internationalisation and International Entrepreneurship Studies," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 51(6), pages 851-873, December.
    5. Otto Andersen, 1993. "On the Internationalization Process of Firms: A Critical Analysis," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 24(2), pages 209-231, June.
    6. Mariadoss, Babu John & Johnson, Jean L. & Martin, Kelly D., 2014. "Strategic intent and performance: The role of resource allocation decisions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(11), pages 2393-2402.
    7. Yadong Luo & Rosalie L Tung, 2007. "International expansion of emerging market enterprises: A springboard perspective," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 38(4), pages 481-498, July.
    8. Paul D Ellis, 2011. "Social ties and international entrepreneurship: Opportunities and constraints affecting firm internationalization," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 42(1), pages 99-127, January.
    9. Jan Johanson & Jan-Erik Vahlne, 1977. "The Internationalization Process of the Firm—A Model of Knowledge Development and Increasing Foreign Market Commitments," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 8(1), pages 23-32, March.
    10. Forsgren, M., 2002. "The concept of learning in the Uppsala internationalization process model: a critical review," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 11(3), pages 257-277, June.
    11. Krzysztof Wach, 2015. "Incremental versus Rapid Internationalisation of Firms: Results of Exploratory Investigation from Poland," Entrepreneurial Business and Economics Review, Centre for Strategic and International Entrepreneurship at the Cracow University of Economics., vol. 3(4), pages 37-48.
    12. Peter W Liesch & Gary A Knight, 1999. "Information Internalization and Hurdle Rates in Small and Medium Enterprise Internationalization," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 30(2), pages 383-394, June.
    13. Shaker A. Zahra & Donald O. Neubaum & Morten Huse, 1997. "The Effect of the Environment on Export Performance among Telecommunications New Ventures," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 22(1), pages 25-46, October.
    14. Sea-Jin Chang & Arjen van Witteloostuijn & Lorraine Eden, 2010. "From the Editors: Common method variance in international business research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 41(2), pages 178-184, February.
    15. Jerzy Cieslik & Eugene Kaciak, 2009. "The Speed Of Internationalization Of Entrepreneurial Start-Ups In A Transition Environment," Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship (JDE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 14(04), pages 375-392.
    16. Casillas, Jose C. & Barbero, Jose L. & Sapienza, Harry J., 2015. "Knowledge acquisition, learning, and the initial pace of internationalization," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 102-114.
    17. Hadley, Richard D. & Wilson, Heather I. M., 2003. "The network model of internationalisation and experiential knowledge," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 12(6), pages 697-717, December.
    18. Zhou, Lianxi, 2007. "The effects of entrepreneurial proclivity and foreign market knowledge on early internationalization," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 281-293, September.
    19. Kent Eriksson & Jan Johanson & Anders Majkgård & D Deo Sharma, 1997. "Experimental Knowledge and Costs in the Internationalization Process," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 28(2), pages 337-360, June.
    20. Raluca Mogos Descotes & Björn Walliser, 2013. "Foreign market-related knowledge absorption and the international financial performance of SMEs," Post-Print hal-01369462, HAL.
    21. B Elango & Chinmay Pattnaik, 2007. "Building capabilities for international operations through networks: a study of Indian firms," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 38(4), pages 541-555, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Morais, Flávio & Ferreira, João J., 2020. "SME internationalisation process: Key issues and contributions, existing gaps and the future research agenda," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 62-77.
    2. Mário Franco & Rui Martins, 2023. "The Role of Networks in the Internationalization Process of Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises in the Wine-producing Sector," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 24(5), pages 990-1006, October.
    3. Stephanie E. Mansion & Andreas Bausch, 2020. "Intangible assets and SMEs’ export behavior: a meta-analytical perspective," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 55(3), pages 727-760, October.
    4. Mohamad D. Revindo & Christopher Gan, 2018. "Factors Affecting Variation in SMES' Export Intensity," LPEM FEBUI Working Papers 201820, LPEM, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Indonesia, revised May 2018.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Daniel R Clark & Dan Li & Dean A Shepherd, 2018. "Country familiarity in the initial stage of foreign market selection," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 49(4), pages 442-472, May.
    2. Anisur R. Faroque & Farhad Uddin Ahmed & Mahabubur Rahman & Mohammad Osman Gani & Sina Mortazavi, 2023. "Exploring the individual and joint effects of founders' and managers' experiential knowledge on international opportunity identification," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 22(4), pages 1274-1300, September.
    3. Christopher Williams & Ana Colovic & Jiqing Zhu, 2016. "Foreign Market Knowledge, Country Sales Breadth And Innovative Performance Of Emerging Economy Firms," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 20(06), pages 1-25, August.
    4. Vissak, Tiia & Francioni, Barbara & Freeman, Susan, 2020. "Foreign market entries, exits and re-entries: The role of knowledge, network relationships and decision-making logic," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(1).
    5. Yancy Vaillant & Esteban Lafuente & Manoj Chandra Bayon, 2019. "Early internationalization patterns and export market persistence: a pseudo-panel data analysis," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 53(3), pages 669-686, October.
    6. Wu, Aiqi & Voss, Hinrich, 2015. "When does absorptive capacity matter for international performance of firms? Evidence from China," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 344-351.
    7. Thomas Hutzschenreuter & Ingo Kleindienst & Christina Guenther & Martin Hammes, 2016. "Speed of Internationalization of New Business Units: The Impact of Direct and Indirect Learning," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 56(6), pages 849-878, December.
    8. Christian Schwens & Florian B Zapkau & Keith D Brouthers & Lina Hollender, 2018. "Limits to international entry mode learning in SMEs," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 49(7), pages 809-831, September.
    9. Martina Musteen & Deepak K. Datta & Marcus M. Butts, 2014. "Do International Networks and Foreign Market Knowledge Facilitate SME Internationalization? Evidence from the Czech Republic," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 38(4), pages 749-774, July.
    10. Zhou, Lianxi & Xu, Shou-Ren & Xu, Hui & Barnes, Bradley R., 2020. "Unleashing the dynamics of product-market ambidexterity in the pursuit of international opportunities: Insights from emerging market firms," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(6).
    11. Chakrabarty, Subhajit & Nag, Biswajit, 2014. "Perceptions of international trade barriers: Empirical study of small apparel firms," MPRA Paper 52635, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Hutzschenreuter, Thomas & Harhoff, Philippa-Luisa, 2021. "The accelerating effect of institutional environment unfamiliarity on subsidiary portfolio expansion in a new host country," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(3).
    13. Nuno Calheiros-Lobo & José Vasconcelos Ferreira & Manuel Au-Yong-Oliveira, 2023. "SME Internationalization and Export Performance: A Systematic Review with Bibliometric Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-36, May.
    14. Johanson, Martin & Martín Martín, Oscar, 2015. "The incremental expansion of Born Internationals: A comparison of new and old Born Internationals," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 476-496.
    15. Pattnaik, Chinmay & Singh, Deeksha & Gaur, Ajai S., 2021. "Home country learning and international expansion of emerging market multinationals," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 27(3).
    16. Stephan Gerschewski & Joanna Scott‐Kennel & Elizabeth L. Rose, 2020. "Ready to export? The role of export readiness for superior export performance of small and medium‐sized enterprises," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(5), pages 1253-1276, May.
    17. Surdu, Irina & Mellahi, Kamel, 2016. "Theoretical foundations of equity based foreign market entry decisions: A review of the literature and recommendations for future research," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(5), pages 1169-1184.
    18. Villar, Cristina & Dasí, Àngels & Botella-Andreu, Ana, 2018. "Subsidiary-specific advantages for inter-regional expansion: The role of intermediate units," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 328-338.
    19. Jain, Naveen Kumar & Pangarkar, Nitin & Yuan, Lin & Kumar, Vikas, 2019. "Rapid internationalization of emerging market firms—The role of geographic diversity and added cultural distance," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(6), pages 1-1.
    20. Fletcher, Margaret & Harris, Simon & Richey, Robert Glenn, 2021. "Retrospective and prospective learning: Accelerating the internationalization process," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 56(3).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    foreign market knowledge; strategic intent; age at internationalization; international performance; SMEs;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:krk:eberjl:v:4:y:2016:i:4:p:51-66. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Piotr Stanek, PhD. (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aekrapl.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.