International entrepreneurship of small firms and their export market performance

Abstract

This study investigates small firms' international entrepreneurship as a predictor of their export market performance in an emerging country context. Built on resource-based view and prior empirical work, the research proposes that international entrepreneurship, as an organisational culture and a distinct competence, positively relates to export performance of small firms. Evidence from a cross-sectional survey of 326 firms in Turkey reveals product and customer focus can potentially explain foreign market success. The findings also encourage authors to speculate on a higher-order construct and coin 'new offer orientation', which is composed of innovation propensity, market orientation, and employee motivation directed to international markets. Moreover, it is inferred that risk assessment and business networking across borders can be complicated for small firms within the scope of this research.