Export performance has an important role for firm survival, profitability and growth. Given these benefits and the challenges that firms may face when exporting, scholars have dedicated considerable efforts to understand the factors that enable export success. The current study investigates the role of experiential foreign market knowledge and exporter-importer (EI) relationship quality for export performance. A conceptual model involving the relationship between the role of experiential foreign market knowledge, E-I relationship quality and export performance satisfaction is developed and empirically tested using data from 264 Thai exporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Findings suggest SME managers' knowledge of foreign customers, culture and political environment have a positive influence on E-I relationship quality and satisfaction with export performance. Drawing upon the relational exchange theory, goodwill trust was found to be the most significant aspect that builds long-term E-I relationship quality. Secondly, the findings show that calculative approach (e.g. commitment based on cost and benefits) is a mainstream type of commitment between exporters and importers. However, a personalised tie between the exchange partners has a positive influence on commitment, resulting in the affective commitment to E-I relationship. Thirdly, in a collaborative business partnership, decision-makers emphasise information exchange and coordinating actions for taking strategic decisions, which are informed by the feedback recived in their collaboration. In addition, the study finds that political instability negatively moderates the link of competence trust and information exchange on export performance satisfaction. Theoretical, managerial and policy implications of these findings are discussed and areas for future research are proposed.

Over the years so many academic literatures has revealed that increased number of firms have seen internationalization as a means to gain and sustain competitive advantage and even increase economic of scale, and this has led many western companies to emerging markets. In this paper we discovered that among the pool of Swedish firms, only the MNEs have seen Nigerian market attractive to internationalize to, but just a few of the Swedish SMEs has expanded to the Nigerian market. This research was conducted by doing a qualitative study with the use of phenomenological research approach, during our investigation on the functions of intermediaries in Swedish SMEs internationalization to Nigeria market.Furthermore, we were able to understand the importance and functions of the different marketing intermediaries’ in Swedish SMEs internationalization to Nigeria market. These intermediaries equip the Swedish firms with the required objective knowledge of the Nigerian market, updating them with recent development of the opportunities and threats involved in the Nigerian marketing environment, and linking these Swedish firms to the required government departments, distributors, agent/broker, customers, middle men etc, thereby impacting them with the experiential knowledge. Moreover, it is important for firms to have objective or pre-market knowledge of a particular market before entering that market, but this knowledge is regarded as non-helpful knowledge to firms. But the experiential knowledge is acquired over time in the market, which is regarded as the helpful knowledge. It is evident that the intermediaries equip these firms with both objective and experiential knowledge.Although the opportunities in some emerging markets are very attractive, but the threats in these markets are other factors firms also put into consideration before internationalizing to these markets. This is why thorough market research has to be done so that firms can create effective marketing strategies when they want to expand their marketing activities to emerging markets. Despite the risk and uncertainties involved in doing business in foreign countries, still yet companies selling global products do not have any choice than to internationalize their marketing operations.

An increasing number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) expand their businesses into foreign markets. Some SMEs begin to operate abroad soon after their establishment. These so-called born globals demonstrate a more rapid internationalisation compared with other SMEs. This thesis develops a deeper understanding of the internationalisation process of SMEs, by studying how born globals and other SMEs develop foreign market knowledge during the international expansion. The internationalisation process is divided into three phases; the pre-firm internationalisation phase, the initial internationalisation phase and the continued internationalisation phase. Based on a qualitative study of 14 biotech SMEs and a questionnaire survey of 188 SMEs from various industries, new insights on the internationalisation process of SMEs and born globals are presented. By extending the analysis of SMEs’ internationalisation to a phase prior to their establishment and by continuing to follow these firms during their operations in foreign markets, the findings of this thesis show how the knowledge and personal networks of key individuals relate to the firm’s development of foreign market knowledge. The thesis also advances the understanding of how an SME develops foreign market knowledge from its business network relationships. In summary, the result of this thesis shows that a rapid expansion in several foreign markets can hold back an SME’s development of foreign market knowledge and lead to difficulties in developing the firm’s operations in the continued internationalisation phase. / Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 2009. Sammanfattning jämte 6 uppsatser

The subject of internationalization of Born Global small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that start cross-border business operations shortly after the company’s foundation has received growing scholarly attention in the last decades. Although the research of the influence of the market knowledge - information a firm has about a specific foreign market, on internationalization decisions was developing rapidly to account for the challenges of the established internationalization theories, multi-factor comprehensive analysis of the influence of all the interlinked factors of the market knowledge remains overlooked by research. Therefore, the main purpose of this thesis is to contribute to the understanding of the impact of foreign market knowledge on the decisions of business-to-business (B2B) Born Global SMEs regarding when, where to, and how to internationalize, and concerning the ways of operating in the foreign market(s). To fulfill the purpose of the paper, the authors carried out a qualitative multiple case study with six Born Global SMEs working in the deep tech industry which has started international operations up to one year after the establishment. Fieldwork consisted of 14 virtual interviews with the Marketing Managers and Founders of the firms. The results of this study show that the process through which the studied B2B Born Global SMEs internationalize is very similar among all companies: it starts between a few weeks up to one year after the inception of the company, and it follows a typical progressive process (first, the firms have one of their employees or external representatives physically going to the foreign market of interest; then establish the partnerships with local companies; later appoint a local representative to the market, and lastly establish a subsidiary company). Next, the research illustrates that the studied Born Global SMEs acquire foreign market knowledge from external parties by the method of grafting. Furthermore, the study also concluded that there are three groups of factors of the foreign market, which are categorized based on the firms’ perception of the factors’ influence on decisions of B2B Born Global SMEs about when, where to, and how to internationalize. These groups are: important (economic opportunities, networks, political context), disregarded (language, culture, and legal regulations) and overlooked (political context, legal regulations, and language) factors. Lastly, such foreign market knowledge factors were found to influence the decisions of B2B Born Global SMEs’ about ways of operations in the foreign market(s): political situation, economic opportunities, and legal regulation impact the companies’ decisions about operations in the foreign market(s).