The process of export information exploitation in French and Romanian SMEs
Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development
ISSN: 1462-6004
Article publication date: 17 May 2011
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the exploitation of export information in small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in the contrasting institutional contexts of France and Romania.
Design/methodology/approach
The qualitative approach is based on 18 semi‐directed interviews with managers in Romanian and French exporting SMEs. With an absorptive capacity (AC) perspective, this study investigates export information processing in SMEs as a beginning‐to‐end process, including antecedents, inputs, and outputs.
Findings
The efficiency of export information acquisition and assimilation in SMEs reflects the richness of their international experiences, as well as the richness of export information sources accessed in foreign settings. The transformation and exploitation of export information in SMEs takes various forms: sense‐making, decision making, and development of new export market‐related know‐how and capabilities. The AC framework appears consistent with exporting SME managers' perceptions. The managers' testimonies are generally homogeneous across both countries.
Research limitations/implications
This research offers valuable insights into how SMEs can acquire relevant information and then assimilate, transform, and exploit that information. It neither establishes causality across the different dimensions of AC nor links information processing and exploitation to performance.
Originality/value
This research uses a dynamic AC framework to clarify export information processes. Contrary to the vast majority of existing studies that focus on a single element or phase of export information management, this study reviews the entire process, from the antecedents of information acquisition to the transformation and exploitation of export information.
Keywords
Citation
Mogos Descotes, R. and Walliser, B. (2011), "The process of export information exploitation in French and Romanian SMEs", Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, Vol. 18 No. 2, pp. 311-330. https://doi.org/10.1108/14626001111127098
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2011, Emerald Group Publishing Limited