Predicting export performance remains an important issue at the heart of export research and management. This is because of the primary role of exporting to ensuring the profitability, growth and survival of firms. Given these and other benefits that firms stand to gain (and the challenges that firms face) for their active engagement in exporting, scholars have exerted efforts into explaining the causes of export success. Export marketing strategy, firm characteristics, capabilities and firms' orientations towards export markets are some the variables studied. Firms' entrepreneurial orientation towards export markets has been one important variable that has captured the attention of researchers. This study is an attempt to introduce an export context-specific entrepreneurial-oriented behaviour (or export EOB) to the study of antecedents of export performance. A theoretical model involving the relationship between export EOB (and its dimensions) and export performance is, therefore, developed and empirically tested using data from 212 exporting organisations. Findings suggest that firms' overall level of export EOB is a major driver of export success. The study further establishes that a high level of market-oriented behaviour in exporting organisations can help firms to derive stronger benefits from their entrepreneurial activities. At the specific level of the export EOB components, results suggest that development of novel product innovations, high export risk-taking, and strong proactive and competitively aggressive behaviours can help exporting organisations to improve their performance. However, product innovation intensity and autonomy are negatively related to export performance, suggesting that high levels of these two behaviours might lead to poor export performance. Nevertheless, further analysis shows that the negative association between product innovation intensity and export performance becomes positive when moderated by product innovation novelty. In addition, the study shows that autonomy has indirect positive association with export performance through interaction with proactiveness and competitive aggressiveness. In other words, autonomy facilitates the effectiveness of proactive and competitive aggressive behaviours. Further analyses of moderating effect relationships reveal mixed results. Specifically, the study finds that export market orientation positively moderates the link between production innovation intensity and export performance. In addition, export customer dynamism positively moderates the association of product innovation novelty and risk-taking with export performance. On the contrary, export customer dynamism negatively moderates the link between product innovation intensity and export performance. Theoretical, export managerial and policy implications of these findings are discussed and useful areas for future research are proposed.

Identifying the antecedents of export performance is critical for researchers, due to the many benefits of exporting for firms and nations. Many researchers have, thus, devoted their research efforts to identifying export performance antecedents. Export marketing adaptation and firm level export market orientation (or EMO) have emerged as two critical export performance predictors. However, two important research questions remain unexamined. The first is whether firms ought to pursue heterogeneous levels of marketing adaptation across ventures in order to boost venture performance, and whether the answer to this question is contingent upon internal firm resources which support adaptation (namely EMO) and upon the environments faced across ventures. The second question concerns what the total amount (i.e. quantity) of export marketing adaptation firms should undertake in order to boost firm export performance is, and whether the answer to this question depends on internal firm resources supporting adaptation (more specifically, EMO) and on the overall export environments faced by firms. Underpinned by a contingent approach to the study of business performance, this study set out to answer to such questions, via developing and testing two conceptual models. The models were tested using data collected from British exporting companies. The findings of the first model indicate that marketing adaptation across ventures becomes increasingly beneficial for venture performance (directly in the case of sales performance and indirectly in the case of profit performance) as EMO rises and as the levels of environmental differences across ventures increase. Results of the second model suggest that, under greater levels of EMO, firm export sales performance attains its highest values when the firm practices either very low or very high levels of marketing adaptation quantity. Also, under greater levels of EMO, firm export sales performance is increasingly reduced the more the firm deviates from extreme (low/high) marketing adaptation quantities. Additionally, as the firm s export environments become more heterogeneous, the firm benefits increasingly more from pursuing either very low or very high marketing adaptation quantity levels (with sales performance being maximized when the firm pursues very high levels of marketing adaptation quantity), and the reductions in firm export sales performance accruing from undertaking intermediate marleting adaptation quantity levels are increasingly higher. Findings also suggest that enhancing marketing adaptation quantity is beneficial for firm export profit performance up to an optimal point. The returns brought by additional increments in marketing adaptation quantity are increasingly smaller as marketing adaptation quantity increases. Beyond an optimal point, additional increments in marketing adaptation quantity diminish firm export profit performance. The marketing adaptation quantity-firm export profit performance link was not found to be moderated directly neither by EMO nor by firm export environmental differences. EMO was found to have a positive impact on firm export sales and profit performance.

L'objectif de cette recherche est d'évaluer l'impact du profil du dirigeant sur le niveau d'OE et l'influence de ce dernier sur la performance-export de la PME dans le contexte togolais. A cet effet, une analyse quantitative par la période de régression logistique auprès de 65 PME exportatrices montre que la vision stratégique, les compétences clés, les traits de personnalité du dirigeant et les caractéristiques de la PME affectent positivement l’orientation entrepreneuriale internationale et la performance-export. Ces résultats ont le mérite de confirmer le modèle conceptuel adapté de Miller/Friesen et celui de Covin/Slevin dans le cadre du Togo. / The objective of this research is to assess the impact of the CEO's profile on the EO level and its influence on the export performance of the SMBs in the togolese context. The results of a quantitative analysis by logistic regression led to 65 exporting SMBs to this purpose, show that the strategic vision, the key competences, the CEO's traits of personality and the SMBs characteristics, are positively related to to the international entrepreneurial orientation (IEO) and to the export performance. These results have the merit of confirming the conceptual model adapted from M/F and the one of C/S within the Togolese framework.

Cette thèse explore la dimension financière de la performance export. Notre réflexion s'articule autour de deux études. La première, à visée exploratoire, présente dans un modèle théorique syncrétique général mais également spécifique à la filière vin, l'ensemble des déterminants (financiers et non financiers) de la performance export des PME. Nous y avons également testé l'existence de ces déterminants sur la performance export (ventes export et intensité export) d'un échantillon d'entreprises exportatrices de la filière vin française. A partir de cette étude préalable, nous avons pu, dans une étude approfondie, et grâce à une transposition des théories financières au contexte de l'exportation, élaborer un modèle reliant la performance export à plusieurs déterminants financiers (besoins financiers, structure financière et contrainte financière) de manière globale, mais aussi en fonction du niveau de développement export des PME. La performance export a été évaluée non seulement à travers l'intensité export, mais également par une mesure innovante de performance financière. Ce modèle a ensuite été testé sur un échantillon de 311 PME exportatrices. Les analyses confirment l'existence de besoins financiers spécifiques. La structure financière ainsi que le niveau de contrainte financière évoluent en fonction du niveau de performance export alors qu'une situation de fragilité financière généralisée est constatée quel que soit le niveau de performance export. / This thesis explores the financial dimension of export performance, for which we noticed insufficient theoretical developments. Our research consists in two studies. The first one is exploratory and presents a syncretic theoretical model of SMEs export performance determinants (both financial and non financial) in general and in the wine industry. In this study, we also test this model on the export performance (export sales and export intensity) of a sample of French wine companies. Then, by adapting financial theories to exporting, we build a model relating export performance to several financial determinants (financial needs, financial structure and financial constraint) first globally and then according to the export development of SMEs. Export performance is assessed not only through export intensity but also through an innovative financial performance measure. This model has been tested on a sample of 311 exporting SMEs. Analyses confirm the presence of specific financial needs. The financial structure as well as financial constraints evolve according to the level of export performance while a general financial fragility is observed whatever the level of export performance is.

Face à la baisse continue de la consommation de vin dans les principaux pays européens traditionnellement vinicoles et aux opportunités de croissance de consommation sur les nouveaux marchés, l’avenir de nos vins français se joue essentiellement à l’export. L’export apparait donc non pas comme une option stratégique mais comme une nécessité pour nos entreprises vitivinicoles françaises. Face à cet enjeu, l’objectif de notre travail de recherche a été de déterminer les politiques adéquates à l’export afin de comprendre dans quelle mesure l’entreprise vitivinicole française était performante à l’export. Les résultats contradictoires des recherches antérieures étudiant l’impact des éléments de politique export (produit, marché et d’exportation) sur la performance export nous ont orienté vers une approche contingente et le défi de notre travail de recherche a été de démontrer théoriquement et empiriquement qu’il n’existe pas de politique export adéquate mais plusieurs en fonction de la stratégie à l’export de l’entreprise(stratégie de marque, de terroir et prix volume), résultant des ressources uniques de l’entreprise d’après la théorie basée sur les ressources. Spécialement réalisées pour ce travail de recherche, une étude quantitative auprès de 120 entreprises vitivinicoles françaises ainsi qu’une étude qualitative auprès de 50 entreprises vitivinicoles nous ont permis de valider empiriquement l’effet modérateur de l’avantage concurrentiel à l’export de l’entreprise sur la relation entre la politique et la performance export. / Faced with the continuing decline in wine consumption in the main European countries and growth opportunities in new markets, the future of French wines mainly relies on exports Export therefore does not appear as a strategic option but as a necessity for French wine companies. Faced with this challenge, the objective of our research was to determine the appropriate (or suitable) export policies in order to understand how the French wine business could achieve export performance. The conflicting results of previous research examining the impact of the export policy on export performance components have guided us to a contingent approach and the challenge of our research has been to demonstrate theoretically and empirically that there is not only one adequate export policy but several ones depending on company export strategy resulting from the its unique set of resources, according to the resource-based view. Specially carried out for this research, a quantitative study on 120 French wine businesses and a qualitative study on 50 wine businesses have enabled us to empirically validate the moderating effect of export strategy on the relationship between export policy and export performance.