Exporting plays an imperative role in many firms growth and survival. For that reason, a profound understanding of export operations is of interest to researchers as well as practitioners. Choosing the export mode is one of the most important strategic decisions a firm makes when exporting to its foreign markets. This decision may affect the firm s resource allocations and shape the possibility of future foreign expansion, and thus has potential performance implications. This study acknowledges that export mode choices should contribute to the firm success initially and on a continuous basis. Hence, it recognises the interlinked nature of export mode operations, and, for the first time, adapts a holistic view on export operation modes. Introducing the portfolio logic, this study investigates antecedents of the export mode portfolio and its performance implications. Two different theoretical approaches of transaction cost economics (TCE) and real options (RO) were used to distinguish different possible export mode portfolios of a firm. The study model is empirically tested using data from 250 Chinese export firms. From the TCE perspective, the finding suggests that firms' levels of investment uncertainty and export marketing capability are the main drivers of an internalised export mode portfolio. From the RO theory viewpoint, on the other hand, the result indicates that firms' levels of endogenous uncertainties (i.e. cultural uncertainty and technological uncertainty) are positively related to the intensity of use of Joint-Investment export modes in the portfolio of firms. In ddition, as expected, the greater the preponderance of exogenous uncertainties (i.e. investment uncertainty and demand uncertainty) the higher the proportion of No-Investment export modes in the portfolio of the firm. Further analysis of firms' export performance reveals that firms shaping their export mode portfolios according to the predictions of real options out-perform firms that shape their export mode portfolio based on TCE considerations. More specifically, firms that reduce their endogenous uncertainty, by engaging more in Joint- Investment modes of export operation across their portfolio, benefit from higher profit performance. The new model developed in this study provides a tool that enables scholars to give better advice to exporters on how they can structure their export mode portfolio for enhanced export profit.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The current paper aims to verify the role of an export consortium in the acquisition of innovation and the resulting impacts in the export performance of those companies which integrate the cooperation net. From the appreciation of the literature concerning to this theme, three theoretical presuppositions were elaborated to be refused or corroborated after the analyses of their empiric data: companies that make part of any export consortium have satisfactory export performance ; companies that innovate technologically have satisfactory performance and the export consortium, as an administrative innovation, makes it possible the buy of new technologies to enterprises . By means of a descriptive study survey in firms belonging to different export consortiums and economy areas, it was also traced the profile of those companies as well as the main segments of products, export destinations and existing and permanence times in the network. Besides that, by using a descriptive statistics, it was delineated the performance of firms about their participation in the consortiums, the acquisition of innovation and their export performances. Also, aiming to verify if there is any correlation of export consortium, acquisition of innovation and export performance, it was carried out a Pearson s correlation coefficient analysis. Among other results, it is pointed out that: concerned to their profiles, some enterprises enter the consortium by the time they are set up, showing their desire for the international market since their very beginning. Once discussing their performances, it is highlighted that their participations in export consortiums has been of great importance in reducing costs in international fairs and, according to Pearson s correlation, there is only correlation between export consortium and the purchase of innovation, although it is a low correlation. Thus, only the presupposed export consortium as an administrative innovation makes it possible the acquisition of new technologies to companies has been corroborated. The research results showed that the consortiums should be more explored by business firms, focusing in group activities for the purchase of technological innovations and in increasing the sale volumes for the international market. / O presente estudo tem por objetivo verificar o papel do consórcio de exportação na aquisição de inovação e os impactos resultantes na performance exportadora das empresas que integram a rede de cooperação. A partir da apreciação da literatura referente ao tema, foram elaboradas três hipóteses a serem refutadas ou corroboradas após as análises dos dados empíricos: empresas que integram algum consórcio de exportação têm performance exportadora satisfatória ; empresas que inovam tecnologicamente têm performance satisfatória e o consórcio de exportação, como inovação administrativa, viabiliza a aquisição de inovações tecnológicas às empresas . Por meio de estudo descritivo com pesquisa survey em firmas pertencentes a diferentes consórcios de exportação e setores da economia, foi também traçado o perfil das empresas quanto aos principais segmentos de produtos, destinos de exportação, tempo de existência e permanência na rede. Além disso, utilizando-se a estatística descritiva, foi delineada a atuação das firmas quanto a participação no consórcio de exportação, aquisição de inovações e performance exportadora. Também, visando verificar se há correlação entre consórcio de exportação, aquisição de inovações e performance exportadora, realizou-se análise do coeficiente de correlação de Pearson. Dentre outros resultados, destaca-se que: quanto ao perfil, algumas empresas ingressam no consórcio no momento da sua criação, mostrando desejo pelo comércio internacional desde o princípio; com referência à atuação, sobressai-se que a participação no consórcio de exportação teve grande importância na redução dos custos em feiras internacionais e, de acordo com a correlação de Pearson, apenas há correlação, ainda que baixa, entre consórcio de exportação e aquisição de inovações tecnológicas, de forma que apenas a hipótese o consórcio de exportação, como inovação administrativa, viabiliza a aquisição de inovações tecnológicas às empresas foi corroborado. Os resultados da pesquisa mostraram que os consórcios de exportação deveriam ser mais bem explorados pelas empresas, focando em atividades conjuntas para aquisição de inovações tecnológicas e na ampliação do volume de vendas para o mercado internacional.

Setores como o de software requerem organizações aptas a aplicarem suas capacidades tecnológicas. Apesar do fato de a capacidade técnica brasileira do setor ter gerado resultados reconhecidos internacionalmente, os incentivos dados a essa indústria não foram suficientes para permitir que o país atingisse as metas de exportação preestabelecidas. O objetivo deste estudo é verificar o papel que a capacitação tecnológica exerce sobre o desempenho exportador dos produtos e serviços de software. A expectativa inicial era de que o nível de capacitação tecnológica tivesse uma contribuição significativa para a expansão dos negócios internacionais e que fosse positivamente correlacionado a resultados de exportação. Para a análise, foram selecionadas 488 empresas integrantes da indústria brasileira de software, pesquisadas a partir da base de dados da Secretaria de Política de Informática do Ministério da Ciência e Tecnologia (SEPIN/MCT). A correlação entre capacitação tecnológica e desempenho exportador foi observada em aspectos referentes a ações de incentivo à capacitação e contribuição de novos produtos ao faturamento. / Software activities demand organizations that are able to apply their technological capabilities. Despite of the Brazilian technical capability in this field had been internationally recognized by good results, the incentives given to this industry were not enough to allow the country to achieve the export pre-established goals. The aim of this study is to assess the role of technological capability in software - products and services - export performance. The initial expectation was that the technological capability level would feature a meaningful contribution in expanding international business and lead to a positive correlation in export results. For the analysis, 488 companies of the Brazilian software industry were selected from the SEPIN/MCT database. The correlation between technological capability and export performance was observed in aspects related to encouragement incentive procedures and also the contribution of new products to the revenue.

Diplomová práca popisuje exportnú konkurencieschopnosť malých a stredných podnikov v Európskej Únii, faktory ovplyvňujúce ich výkonnosť a rozhodovanie ohľadne exportných aktivít. Použitie relevantnej literatúry a štúdií umožnuje poskytnúť kritický pohľad na danú problematiku. Na konci práce sú navhrnuté odporúčania na zlepšenie a záver.

Transportation and competitiveness practices of hardwood lumber exporters and other firms were studied and compared to determine the most important factors associated with exporting hardwood products. It was found that exporters differed significantly in their transportation methods, marketing activities, and production profiles from those other hardwood lumber firms. They also were significantly larger than expected in their total production and employment. As the forest products business continues to become more global, an analysis of the importance of these factors can be used how firms can begin exporting, or increase sales in international markets. It was found that certain elements of a sawmill's marketing strategy are a major determinant to the likelihood of its being an exporter. Results from logistic regression methods showed that transportation factors such as using intermodal transportation and inland port facilities and competitiveness factors such as species selection, marketing practices, and using government export assistance programs increased the probability of a firm's high involvement in international markets. Finally, data from exporting hardwood sawmills to Mexico, Europe, and Asia were analyzed to determine what makes successful exporting to these markets. Factors including export distribution methods, relationship with export distribution partner, competitiveness, transportation, and export assistance were analyzed. Such information might be useful for government agencies that wish to promote business commitment to sawmills throughout the United States for the following international markets. Hardwood sawmills should be encouraged by state officials to plan more aggressively to enter the Mexico market. Efforts are needed from U.S. trade associations to better identify the Mexican market segments, sources of market demand, and credit opportunities for US sawmills. / Ph. D.

My research attempted to provide the scientific community a more comprehensive understanding in terms of the determinants of China´s export growth. In order to reach this goal, I have divided my research mainly into two major phases. In phase one, I have concentrated on systematically review the Chinese literature, so that an overview of the determinants of China´s export growth from the Chinese academia can be generated. The purpose of phase one is to add valuable Chinese insights regarding China´s export considering the huge number of existing studies in the Chinese academia in the field of export determinants. Since the scarcity of individual level of factor which have influenced China´s export growth has been identified, I have conducted an in-depth qualitative case study in the second phase of my research to shed light on the micro-level mechanism of export decision process. In this way, the individual level determinants of China´s export growth has been explored and presented.

The U.S. hardwood industry has traditionally depended on the domestic demand to sustain levels of production above 14 billion board feet per year. Because of the collapse of the U.S. housing market in 2009 and the economic recession that followed, the industry moved its sight to the international markets, as an opportunity to replace some lost demand, and pursue long term growth. Previous research on international marketing of hardwood products indicates that, there is a growing concern among U.S. companies to understand the main competitiveness factors in key markets such as Asia and Europe. Finding opportunities to add value to U.S. hardwood exports has been the goal of this research project. A case study and survey research were carried out among importers and exporters, whereby it was found that aspects related to price, quality and service, are critical in achieving competitive advantage. This motivated a study in demand and pricing management, which found that these tasks may be subject to innovation through optimization approaches. / Ph. D.

Yes / Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how export learning capability and export environmental turbulence serve as mechanisms and boundary conditions to link export market-oriented culture to export performance. Design/methodology/approach: A quantitative approach was undertaken to analyse longitudinal data of 249 small- and medium-sized exporting firms in Nigeria, a Sub-Saharan African economy. Findings: Four major findings emerged from the study. First, export market-oriented culture positively influences export performance. Second, possessing an export market-oriented culture results in the development of high export learning capabilities. Third, export learning capability mediates the relationship between export market-oriented culture and export performance. Fourth, increases in export environment turbulence weaken the positive effect of export learning capability on export performance. Research limitations/implications: This study does not investigate moderating effects which might affect the relationship between export market-oriented culture and export learning capability as this was beyond the scope of this study. Originality/value: This study looks at developing economy environment as a unique context to examine the direct, mediating, and moderating effects of export market-oriented culture on export performance.

[pt] O fomento à competitividade das firmas nacionais é etapa necessária para a construção de um projeto de desenvolvimento econômico e social sustentável de um país. Além dos benefícios macroeconômicos, há um consenso sobre a capacidade, do ponto de vista microeconômico, de que a atividade exportadora traga diversos benefícios para as firmas engajadas. Como reflexo da crescente integração econômica entre os países, o valor das exportações mundiais aumentou 130 por cento nos últimos dez anos. Neste cenário, o Brasil enfrenta na atualidade desafios complexos quanto à sua inserção externa, ligados a algumas questões centrais. Dentre elas, cabe destaque para a sua pequena participação relativa nas exportações mundiais, principalmente quando comparado à evolução dos demais países que compõem o bloco dos BRIC. Adicionalmente existe uma concentração, em termos de valor, das exportações nacionais em um número pequeno de empresas. Em terceiro lugar, há ainda o debate sobre a composição de sua pauta exportadora, em que a presença de commodities primárias vem aumentando de forma significativa no período recente, com redução de quase 40 por cento de valor dos bens manufaturados, tema especialmente preocupante quando se observa que não há indicações no cenário macroeconômico mundial de que esse ciclo de valorização de commodities se reverterá no curto prazo, de modo que seus impactos sobre as exportações nacionais tendem a persistir. Se já é sabido que todos os fatores desse processo não são controlados pelo governo brasileiro, a literatura registra a importância de que políticas governamentais possam ser influentes no desempenho de exportação das firmas. Neste sentido, assim como quase todos os países desenvolvidos e em desenvolvimento, o Brasil fortaleceu o seu compromisso com a assistência à exportação e desenvolveram programas completos para aumentar a atividade exportadora das firmas nacionais. Considerando que os recursos governamentais são escassos e exigem o máximo de esforços para a melhor eficiência alocativa, a pergunta relevante, e objeto de estudo desta tese, é avaliar qual o impacto sobre o desempenho exportador das empresas brasileiras exportadoras da participação em programas governamentais de apoio à exportação. A estratégia de pesquisa foi baseada na estimação de efeitos causais do tratamento por meio da técnica de propensity score matching (PSM) para os três programas avaliados: o BNDES-Exim, o Drawback e o Proex Financiamento. Trata-se de um método observacional ainda pouco aplicado na área de Negócios Internacionais, feito sobre um desenho quasi-experimental aplicado a determinação da inferência causal, que exige a utilização de grupos de controle e avaliações ex ante e ex post. Como as informações estavam disponíveis para a pesquisadora ao longo do período compreendido entre 2000 e 2007, foi realizada uma abordagem utilizando modelos em painel como forma de capturar efeitos intrínsecos da firma e da evolução temporal. Os resultados evidenciaram que a participação nos programas teve impacto no desempenho exportador das firmas apoiadas, mas que este impacto se manifestou de forma distinta entre os três programas e os diversos indicadores de desempenho exportador investigados. / [en] Fostering the competitiveness of domestic firms is a necessary step towards the construction of a project of economic and social development of a country. In addition to the macroeconomic benefits, there is a consensus of the microeconomic point of view on the ability that the export activity brings many benefits to firms engaged. Reflecting the increasing economic integration between the countries, the value of world exports increased by 130 percent over the last ten decade. In this scenario, Brazil currently faces complex challenges regarding its external insertion, regarding mainly some central issues. Among them, it is worth highlighting its relative small share in world exports, especially when compared to advances in other countries that make up the BRIC bloc. Additionally there is a concentration in terms of value of national exports in a small number of companies. Thirdly, there is an ongoing debate about the composition of Brazil s export basket, in which the presence of primary commodities has increased significantly in recent years, with a reduction of nearly 40 percent in value of manufactured goods. This issue is of particular concern when one considers there are no indications in the global macroeconomic environment that this cycle of commodities valuation should reverse in the short term, so that its impact on exports tend to persist. No matter it is known that all factors of this process cannot be controlled by Brazilian government, literature shows the importance of government policies that may be influential in the export performance of firms. In this sense, as almost all developed and developing countries, Brazil has strengthened its commitment to export assistance and have developed comprehensive programs to increase the export activity of domestic firms. Considering that government resources are scarce and require maximum efforts to better allocative efficiency, the relevant question, and the specific purpose of this dissertation is to evaluate the impact on the export performance of Brazilian exporters from participation in government export assistance programs. The research strategy was based on the estimation of the causal effects of treatment using the technique of propensity score matching (PSM) for the three evaluated programs: BNDES-Exim, Drawback and Proex Financiamento. It is a observational method rarely applied in the field of International Business, built on a quasi-experimental design applied to the determination of causal inference, which requires the use of ex ante and ex post control groups. As data was available to the researcher during the period comprised between 2000 and 2007, panel models were applied in order to capture intrinsic effects of the firm and the temporal evolution. The results showed that participation in the programs had an impact on the export performance of the firms supported, but this impact manifested differently among the three programs and the several indicators of export performance adopted.

[pt] Apresenta-se, neste estudo, uma proposta de modelagem conceitual do construto potencial exportador de pequenas empresas brasileiras. Existem poucos estudos no Brasil sobre as barreiras ou o desempenho exportador de pequenas empresas. Falta um modelo recente que identifique as características que diferenciam exportadores de não exportadores potenciais. O modelo foi desenvolvido com base em uma abordagem teórica baseada em ampla revisão de literatura. O modelo conceitual é composto por três dimensões e 47 indicadores distribuídos em cada uma das dimensões propostas. O modelo conceitual proposto deve ser considerado preliminar e testado empiricamente em futuros estudos. / [en] This study presents a conceptual modeling of the export potential construct of small Brazilian companies. There are few studies in Brazil about the barriers or export performance of small firms. There is no recent model that identifies the characteristics that differentiate exporters from potential non-exporters in the international management literature. This model was developed based on a theoretical approach coming from a large literature review. The model is composed of three dimensions and 47 indicators distributed in each of the proposed dimensions. The proposed conceptual model should be considered preliminary and has to be empirically tested in future studies. Besides the conceptual modeling proposal, this research contributes to unite the seminal internationalization literature with the most recent literature on international entrepreneurship and born globals.