Export Promotion Organisations Research Articles

Dual Embedding as EPO Strategy in Creatively Connecting Cultures to Support SME Internationalization

Although small and medium enterprises (SME) from one country have dependencies on state sponsored export promotion organizations (EPO) for internationalization, EPOs are limited by bureaucracy and protocols to offer adequate support beyond a few generalized ones. Extant research on EPOs contribution in SME internationalization remains inconclusive. We examine how an EPO can identify and address performance challenges through a longitudinal study of the French Embassy’s Trade Mission in Kazakhstan. Our analysis reveals how the French EPO navigated the challenge of cultural distance and structural rigidity through a strategy process of organizational transformation with dual embedding, negotiated reformulating and creative combining as constituents. The recursive process led to refining services toward improved SME internationalization. Our study extends EPO research to corporate entrepreneurship and strategy process.

An Assessment Of Instruments Utilised By Export Promotion Agencies In Eastern Africa

This study identifies the export promotion instruments that are applied by public export promotion organisations situated within the East African Community (EAC) countries to stimulate exports and encourage economic growth. The East African region is the fastest developing region in Africa. EAC member countries are, therefore, used as a case study. How export promotion instruments are bundled by export promotion organisations depends on the socioeconomic, political and trade environment of a country as well as the structure of the country’s export promotion agencies. By utilising primary and secondary data, public export promotion organisations of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda were studied. These general and country-specific instruments were identified through onsite interviews in the respective countries under investigation. The results suggest that the most important export promotion instruments applied include advertising, promotional events, advocacy and legal assistance. It also includes capacity building concerning packaging, pricing and quality requirements within foreign markets as well as assistance concerning planning and preparation for export market engagement. Foreign trade missions, trade fairs, expos, and additional services offered by trade offices and representatives abroad are also general export promotion instruments, as is the provision of information and export financing. Country-specific export promotion instruments identified during onsite interviews in the various countries include unique promotional events and product branding, use of cell phone WhatsApp groups and embassies as a channel for information, trade assistance and trade clinics. Our contribution to the field is that this study is foundational and represents the first comprehensive effort to write up these activities of the EPO’s to establish viable research in the EPOs in the East Africa Region.

Establishments and organizations promoting exports in the Russian Empire (the second half of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries)

The purpose of the article is to describe the state institutions and public organizations promoting exports in the Russian Empire in the second half of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as well as to highlight the activities of similar structures on Ukrainian lands. Research methods: systemic, structural-functional, typological, comparative-historical, problem-chronological, statistical, analytical-synthetic. Main results. In the second half of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the implementation of the export promotion measures was primarily among the tasks of the state bodies of trade and industry (agencies within the structure of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Railways, as well as consuls, government commercial agents, etc.), public representative associations were gradually involved in this process entrepreneurs (industry, territorial and all-imperial unions of the representatives of trade and industrial status), special binational chambers of commerce (Russian-English, Russian-Italian, Russian-French, etc.) are formed, as well as the Russian Export Chamber, as the final part of the system of protection of the export trade interests. Concise conclusions. The system of institutions and export promotion organizations in the Russian Empire, which emerged during the second half of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, turned out to be very colorful and diverse: on the initiative of creation – the government, public, joint (public and governmental); according to its competence – diplomatic, specialized export, a wide range of trade and economic tasks. All of them became an integral part of the economic development of the country, had a significant influence (especially private associations of entrepreneurs) on the formation of the civil society on the basis of self-organization, enterprise, initiative and responsibility. Practical significance. The materials of the article can form the theoretical basis for developing effective mechanisms for the development of modern domestic exports, increasing the turnover of Ukraine in the world market at the expense of organized representation in the form of binary chambers of commerce and industry, the creation of special export structures and the reformation of existing export missions. Originality. On the basis of the sources of the government and social origin, a wide array of materials of periodicals of the second half of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries organization forms of export promotion in the Russian Empire were generalized and structured, their typology is presented; the peculiarities of institutional processes on the issues of export on Ukrainian lands were traced, their place in general imperial processes is determined, and the high degree of activity of representative organizations of entrepreneurs of Ukrainian lands is shown. Scientific novelty. The look at the organization of foreign trade from the point of view of the activities of state and public institutions is suggested, their development from official forms through the public to the joint public-governmental entities of export promotion is offered. Article type: explanation.

Identifying export opportunities between IORA member states using the TRADE-DSM® methodology: a case study involving South Africa and Thailand

ABSTRACTExporters, in developing countries, often struggle to access accurate market information which will help them make informed decisions about which export markets and products to focus on. Despite the existence of several market selection techniques, a lack of market information has been identified as a major impediment to export activity in the Indian Ocean Rim region. This paper introduces the TRADE-DSM®, a scientific market selection methodology that screens large quantities of data to reveal the most promising realistic export opportunities for a company, industry, country or region. The hypothesis of this paper is two-fold: (i) whether the TRADE-DSM® could help fill the information gap that exporters and export promotion organizations in the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) experience, and (ii) whether the TRADE-DSM® could provide the building blocks for the development of a region-wide export promotion strategy for IORA.

Investigating the moderating role of Export Promotion Programmes using evidence from North-Africa

PurposeBased on an institutional approach to explaining firms’ internationalisation, this paper aims to empirically investigate the role of Export Promotion Programmes (EPPs) in moderating the influence of export barriers perceptions on small and medium enterprises’ (SMEs) propensity to export.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses evidence from Algeria, the largest North-African country. The data were collected using an online questionnaire, targeting SMEs operating in the manufacturing sector. The study considers the influence of procedural, informational, environmental and functional barriers on export propensity, to uncover the moderating role of trade missions, trade shows and export seminars and workshops on such relationships. To examine these links, five main hypotheses are proposed and tested through a non-linear partial least squares structural equation modelling on a sample of 128 Algerian SMEs.FindingsThe results show that while internal barriers decrease firms’ export propensity, EPPs including trade fairs and shows may independently pose either a positive or negative influence on such relationships.Research limitations/implicationsThe study confirms the applicability of the institutional perspective to explaining firms’ internationalisation. More importantly, the present study highlights the role of EPPs in moderating the influence of export barriers perceptions on SMEs’ international market entry, a role neglected by the extant empirical literature.Practical implicationsThe current findings hold important implications to export promotion organisations operating in African countries. Notably, the results reveal that some programmes could have a negative influence if they are not delivered appropriately.Originality/valueThis study offers a rare focus on the moderating role of EPPs in the relationship between export barriers and export propensity, within the setting of a North-African country.

Export promotion programmes and SMEs’ performance

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the network promotion role of export promotion programmes in driving small and medium enterprises’ (SMEs) export performance.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on a dual institutional and network-based approaches to internationalisation, the study tests an integrative model that explores the mediating role of SMEs’ relationships in the link between government export promotion programmes (both informational and experiential forms) and export performance. The model was tested using a sample of 160 UK small and medium exporter firms. The data were analysed through a structural equation modelling technique.FindingsThe study finds that whilst both informational and experiential export promotion programmes improved all forms of SMEs’ relationships, only experiential forms had an indirect effect on export performance. Further, only relationships with foreign buyers had a positive impact on export performance.Research limitations/implicationsThe results of this research provide directions for export promotion organisations in targeting their network support provision and for SMEs in utilising such a support. The study calls for similar research in different contexts to validate the proposed model.Originality/valueThis study brings novel findings to the extant literature by conceptualising and validating the importance of the “network promotion” element of export promotion programmes.

SECTORAL DIFFERENCES IN DETERMINANTS OF EXPORT INTENSITY

This study investigates firm characteristic determinants of export intensity in small firms. The originality of our approach is a comparative analysis of export intensity between firms in the computer software and manufacturing sectors, using a quasi-maximum likelihood estimation to test for the correct specification of the conditional mean model. Results indicate that larger, younger firms have greater export intensity in the computer software sector than in manufacturing. Research and development expenditure is equally important for export intensity in both sectors, but patent income is not significant. Sourcing managerial advice and expertise from the national development agency is important for firms in the manufacturing industry, but not for computer software firms. It is therefore important for export promotion organisations to publicise supports, as few small firms are aware of their availability. Our findings are especially valuable for policy makers concerned with low levels of export intensity among small firms.

The Identification Of Realistic Export Opportunities For The South African Pharmaceutical Industry

South Africa needs to advance its industrialisation process and diversify its exports if it is to enhance its global competitiveness ranking and meaningfully tackle the double scourge of unemployment and poverty. The pharmaceutical industry makes a significant contribution to the countrys economy, and has a growing international footprint. However, export activity is largely centred on Southern and Eastern Africa, while markets in other parts of the world remain largely untapped. A longstanding concern of the government has been that export market selection has not been conducted in a scientific manner. Added to this is the problem of limited resources on the part of export promotion organisations. A Decision Support Model (DSM), originally conceived by Cuyvers et al. (1995) and then developed for the South African environment by Viviers, Steenkamp, Rossouw, and Cuyvers (2009, 2010), was used in this study to identify those export opportunities with the greatest potential for the South African pharmaceutical industry. Through a systematic filtering and elimination process, the DSM revealed that there are a large number of export opportunities for South African pharmaceutical products, particularly in Western Europe, North America, and Africa. Such information constitutes an important basis for strategic decision making on the part of industry and government stakeholders.

The Impact of U.S.-Sponsored Foreign Trade Office Activities

ABSTRACT Foreign trade offices (FTOs) are an important, little-understood element in the export promotion portfolio of U.S. state export promotion organizations. The value of these organizations is in dispute. In recent years California closed its FTOs in response to budgetary pressures, claiming that these organizations exist primarily to enhance the political standing of politicians rather than to act as effective export development tools. During the same period Washington State opened several new FTOs. Clearly the value of these organizations is in dispute. Another consideration in the effectiveness of U.S. exporters is the subnational contour of the American economic system. State business climates vary considerably, thereby influencing exporter success as well as those programs (such as FTOs) intended to improve firm performance. We hypothesize and find that (a) state entrepreneurial climate is positively related to state exports and (b) FTO network entry activities amplify the impact of state entrepreneurial climate on state exports. Implications for firms and policy makers are explored.

Nation branding and integrated marketing communications: an ASEAN perspective

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the extent to which the nation branding activities of export promotion organisations (EPOs), investment agencies (IAs), national tourism organisations (NTOs) and embassies follow the principle of coordination that characterises an integrated marketing communications approach.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative exploratory approach was taken, comprising face‐to‐face in‐depth interviews with key informants from five Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) involved in the implementation of nation branding communications in terms of export promotion, tourism, investment attraction and public diplomacy.FindingsSeven key dimensions of interorganisational coordination in a nation branding context emerge from our results. These dimensions include sector, organisation domicile, mode, strategy formulation, nature, frequency and target audience.Research limitations/implicationsThe relatively small dataset as well as the restricted geographic scope of the study limits the generalisability of the findings; further research is required to ascertain whether the findings of this study also apply in other settings.Practical implicationsEnhanced coordination needs to occur not only between the different governmental organisations engaged in nation branding strategy, but also between those organisations and their respective private sector stakeholders.Originality/valueThis paper extends previous work on the need for countries to adopt a coordinated approach to their nation branding activities. The paper is original in its examination of actors’ perceptions of the optimal degree of coordination that should occur between a country's EPO, IA, NTO and embassies. The paper is also original in its reporting of findings from a region (ASEAN) that is under‐researched relative to other areas, such as Europe and North America.

The Role of the Internet in the Delivery of Export Promotion Services: A Web Site Content Analysis

ABSTRACT This article examines the role of the Internet in the delivery of export promotion services. Based on a content analysis of the Web sites of 250 export promotion organizations (EPOs) representing over 130 countries, it is concluded that the majority of these organizations have not fully exploited the potentials of this technology in the delivery of support services to national exporters. Use of the Internet is primarily limited to dissemination of basic information with little effort made to utilize the interactive and customization features of the technology. The managerial and policy implications of this failure in terms of increased cost of market entry, lost export revenues, and exporter attrition are discussed.

The Effect of State Appropriations on Export-Related Employment in Manufacturing

State governments use economic development programs to strengthen the economic bases of their states, increase tax revenues, and preserve and increase job opportunities. Export promotion organizations are a key element of these programs. This article attempts to partially address the lack of evaluative literature regarding the effectiveness of export promotion programs by providing an analysis of the relationship between state appropriations and export-related employment in manufacturing. The findings support the suggestion that state appropriations for export promotion result in higher employment for firms that are directly involved in exporting their products overseas. No evidence is found of a relationship between appropriations and employment in firms that produce the components of export products.

Export Promotion in Developing Countries:

Export promotion in the developing world has become acknowledged as an important element in the export development process and as an element in developing countries' efforts towards greater participation in the global trading system. This empirical analysis of the operational aspects of export promotion in developing countries is based on data collected by ITC UNCTAD/GATT from a sample of 70 export promotion organizations. Their functions, services and programs are described in the context of export development, an overall framework presented, and conclusions and implications are discussed.