Determinants of firm-level export performance: a case study of Indian textile garments and apparel industry

AbstractSocial networks are a driving force of digital transformation and offer firms the opportunity to market products and services to both international consumers and providers, establish durable relationships with them, and improve their own competitiveness. The study analyzes the role played by the use of Facebook for online advertising, building interaction and brand communities, implementing social CRM activities, and conducting market research, as well as a sales channel alternative to physical presence, in firms’ international export performance, both in terms of managers’ perceptions and Facebook buy button conversion rate. A survey-based empirical analysis of 105 fashion firms operating worldwide was conducted. The results of multiple regression analyses show that building conversations and brand communities positively affects international export performance, while advertising via Facebook yields mixed results. By comparing firms that have a physical presence with those that do not, the former turned out to benefit from especially in-store advertising and promotions to enhance their Facebook buy button conversion rate; while the latter can improve their performance mainly by adopting outdoor and transit advertising and digital marketing. The research contributes to the existing body of knowledge on social media marketing and international business and, by adopting a firm-level perspective, provides interesting insights for practitioners since it allows to understand how to develop an effective Facebook strategy to succeed in foreign markets.

Download Full-text

Are Political Factors More Relevant Than Economic Factors in Firm-Level Renewable Energy Technology Export? Evidence from Path Analysis

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13168788 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (16) ◽

pp. 8788

Author(s):

Bongsuk Sung ◽

Woo-Yong Song

Keyword(s):

Renewable Energy ◽

Market Orientation ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Export Performance ◽

Economic Factor ◽

External Factors ◽

Energy Technology ◽

Firm Level ◽

Renewable Energy Technology ◽

Market Factors

Renewable energy technology (RET) firms are key economic entities in the export of RET-related products and components, in which RET firms’ exports are affected largely by policy and market. Nonetheless, the effects of policy and market factors on RET firm-level export have never received attention from researchers. This study aims to fill the gap by taking a political economy approach to establish a structural equation model to analyze the path of political-economic factor-firms’ market orientation-based export. This study reveals that RET firms’ market-orientation-based export enhancement depends entirely on political forces. Particularly, two government intervention instruments, environmental policy and export promotion policy, were highlighted. However, the effects of renewable energy policies on the exports of RET firms through market orientation are negative and statistically significant. This study proves that the effects of inter-firm competition and market attractiveness on RET firms’ exports through their market orientation are negative and statistically significant and insignificant, respectively. Further, this study demonstrates that RET firms’ market orientation has a significant positive effect on their export performance. We conclude that in order to improve RET-related policy effectiveness and efficiency, it will be useful to consider firms’ heterogeneity in response to external factors. Additionally, a full mediation model in the academic investigation of the effects of various external factors, including public policies and market factors, on firm-level export, and the implementation of firm-level export-induced policy, taking into account firms’ managerial interpretations to external factors, should be considered.

Download Full-text

Do innovative activities matter to Indian drug and pharmaceutical firms? An application to export performance

Journal of Generic Medicines The Business Journal for the Generic Medicines Sector ◽

10.1177/1741134317716221 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. 193-205

Author(s):

Shilpi Tyagi ◽

DK Nauriyal

Keyword(s):

Pharmaceutical Industry ◽

Rapid Growth ◽

Export Performance ◽

Innovative Activity ◽

Financial Data ◽

Pharmaceutical Companies ◽

Firm Level ◽

The Real ◽

Pharmaceutical Firms ◽

New Evidence

This paper analyzes the R&D and exports profile of Indian drug and pharmaceutical industry during the period 2000–2014. The present paper examines how R&D expenditure and patent impact export performance of the Indian drug and pharmaceutical firms. The study period from 2000 to 2014 has been characterized by a rapid growth in industry’s innovative activity, as part of the strategic shift, induced by the Patents (Amendment) Act, 2005. Using the real financial data for the top 91 publicly listed Indian domestic pharmaceutical companies, the study provides new evidence on firm-level export performance of the Indian drugs and pharmaceutical industry. Generalized Method of Movements estimator developed by Blundell and Bond is applied. The empirical findings of the study reveal that increased R&D intensity, higher patent count and firm’s size are important determinants of firm-level export performance.

Download Full-text

Foreign Direct Investment and the Flying Geese Model: Japanese Electronics Firms in Asia-Pacific

Environment and Planning A Economy and Space ◽

10.1068/a31171 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 32 (2) ◽

pp. 281-304 ◽

Cited By ~ 36

Author(s):

David W Edgington ◽

Roger Hayter

Keyword(s):

Foreign Direct Investment ◽

Direct Investment ◽

Asia Pacific ◽

Critical Examination ◽

Host Countries ◽

Billiard Ball ◽

Firm Level ◽

Geographical Patterns ◽

Japanese Fdi

This paper is a critical examination of the ‘flying geese’ and ‘billiard ball’ models of foreign direct investment (FDI) and their ability to explain the spatial expansion of Japanese electronics multinationals (MNCs) in Asia-Pacific countries from 1985 to 1996. Data on Japanese FDI are analyzed in this region at the aggregate, sectoral, and firm level. The paper commences with a review of the flying geese model, especially that version which interprets Japanese FDI as a catalyst for Asian development, and the billiard ball metaphor which suggests a mechanism for host countries to ‘catch up’ with Japan. The authors then turn to an analysis of Japanese FDI in Asia-Pacific together with employment data for fourteen major firms. This allows an evaluation of the two models in terms of recent geographical patterns of investment and employment growth by electronics MNCs. A special case study of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd (MEI) helps flesh out the evolving geography of Japanese electronics firms in Asia-Pacific. Although the results support the overall patterns suggested by the two models, the authors argue that metaphors and analogies such as flying geese and billiard balls should not be used casually and as a substitute for analysis.

Download Full-text

Privatisation and the Development of Tourism in the Czech Republic and Slovakia: Property Rights, Firm Performance, and Recombinant Property

Environment and Planning A Economy and Space ◽

10.1068/a32123 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 32 (4) ◽

pp. 715-734 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Allan M Williams ◽

Vladimir Baláž

Keyword(s):

Czech Republic ◽

Property Rights ◽

Financial Services ◽

Firm Level ◽

The Czech Republic ◽

Neoliberal Reforms ◽

Tourism Sector ◽

Level Performance

Privatisation is one of the key elements of the package of neoliberal reforms in the transition economies of Central and Eastern Europe which collectively constitute the ‘sharp shock’ strategy. In this, privatisation is ascribed the role of redistributing and clarifying property rights, which is an assumed precondition for efficiency improvements in individual firms. In practice, the transformation is characterised by path dependency, cultural and political legacies, and uneven and partial reform of market institutions and of regulation. We contribute to the debate on the link between property rights and firm-level performance in three main ways. First, we analyse the tourism sector as a counterbalance to the emphasis in the existing literature on manufacturing and financial services; particular emphasis is given to the roles of ‘operators’ and the ‘nomenklatura’, and to complex, nonlinear shifts in property rights. Second, we assess the performance of tourism firms created by different forms of creative and distributive privatisation; this emphasises the diversity of property rights, market segmentation, and the capital and debt structures of firms. Third, the value of the concept of ‘recombinant’ property for analysing the complex and changing forms of property rights is critiqued. These arguments are illustrated through a case study of tourism in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Download Full-text