JBIM 27.1.20.pdf (514.93 kB)
International experience, commitment, distribution adaptation, and performance: a study of Ghanaian firms in B2B export markets
journal contribution
posted on 2020-01-27, 10:05 authored by Gloria Sraha, Revti R Sharma, Dave Crick, Jim CrickPurpose – This study aims to contribute to the existing understanding of export practices in sub-Saharan African firms with a contextual focus on Ghanaian exporters operating in business-to-business (B2B) markets. Underpinned by resource-based theory and its association with the relational view, it examines how the interplay between various decision makers’ international experience, export commitment and distribution adaptation decisions influence firms’ performance.
Design/methodology/approach – The study uses a mixed methods approach, using survey data from 116 internationalising Ghanaian businesses across three sectors, supplemented with qualitative insights from 18 follow-up interviews.
Findings – The study establishes a full mediation effect of export commitment on the association between international experience and export performance; also, the moderating effect of distribution adaptation on export commitment – performance relationships. Unique insights are provided into the perceived role of trustworthy, intermediaries as “stakeholders” that add to a respective firm’s resource base; that is, in building capabilities in overseas markets and informing evolving business model decisions to overcome potential export barriers.
Originality/value – The insights from sub-Saharan African firms provide contextual value given the relatively under-represented existing research from the region. Original insights highlight ways in which decision makers build capabilities and that they do not always follow a forward moving internationalisation process, so use different measures of performance regarding B2B product-market ventures over time.
Design/methodology/approach – The study uses a mixed methods approach, using survey data from 116 internationalising Ghanaian businesses across three sectors, supplemented with qualitative insights from 18 follow-up interviews.
Findings – The study establishes a full mediation effect of export commitment on the association between international experience and export performance; also, the moderating effect of distribution adaptation on export commitment – performance relationships. Unique insights are provided into the perceived role of trustworthy, intermediaries as “stakeholders” that add to a respective firm’s resource base; that is, in building capabilities in overseas markets and informing evolving business model decisions to overcome potential export barriers.
Originality/value – The insights from sub-Saharan African firms provide contextual value given the relatively under-represented existing research from the region. Original insights highlight ways in which decision makers build capabilities and that they do not always follow a forward moving internationalisation process, so use different measures of performance regarding B2B product-market ventures over time.
History
School
- Business and Economics
Department
- Business
Published in
Journal of Business and Industrial MarketingVolume
35Issue
11Pages
1715-1738Publisher
Emerald Publishing LimitedVersion
- AM (Accepted Manuscript)
Rights holder
© Emerald Publishing LimitedPublisher statement
This paper was accepted for publication in the journal Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing and the definitive published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1108/JBIM-05-2019-0197.Acceptance date
2020-01-22Publication date
2020-04-20Copyright date
2020ISSN
0885-8624Publisher version
Language
- en
Depositor
Dr James M. Crick. Deposit date: 27 January 2020Usage metrics
Categories
No categories selectedLicence
Exports
RefWorks
BibTeX
Ref. manager
Endnote
DataCite
NLM
DC