How to Improve Marketing Capability and Export Performance of Emerging Market SMEs in Crises?

Abstract

This paper examines how and to what extent strategic flexibility of international strategic partnerships (ISPs) affects export performance of emerging market small and medium-sized enterprises (EMSMEs) via international marketing capability in crises. Also, it investigates whether these EMSMEs’ adoption of digital technology strengthens the impact of strategic flexibility of ISPs on international marketing capability. We developed a conceptual model based on the international partnership and dynamic capability perspectives on strategic flexibility. The study empirically examines the mediation and moderation effects between strategic flexibility of ISPs, international marketing capability, export performance, and adoption of digital technology. We test the model using 129 Pakistani EMSMEs with hierarchical regression analyses. The findings suggest that strategic flexibility of ISPs positively impacts on export performance of EMSMEs in crises. Moreover, we found that international marketing significantly mediates the relationship between strategic flexibility of ISPs and export performance of EMSMEs. Also, the adoption of digital technologies significantly moderates the association between strategic flexibility of ISPs positively and international marketing capability. We take strategic flexibility of ISPs in the context of the emerging market and how EMSMEs enhance export performance in a time of crisis, which extends the prior EMSMEs international marketing strategy and crisis management literature. The result demonstrates that strategic flexibility of ISPs is a vital dynamic capability to enhance export performance of EMSMEs via international marketing capability and adoption of digital technologies.