scholarly journals Motivators of SME initial export choice and the European Union regional effect in manufacturing

Author(s):  
Vassilios Stouraitis ◽  
Mior Harris Mior Harun ◽  
Markos Kyritsis

Purpose A global reach in exporting has been linked to profitability. The purpose of this paper is to answer the influence of EU regulations on exporting decisions of UK manufacturing small- and medium-sized firms (SMEs) by investigating the home and host country-based motivators behind SMEs’ choice to export, and export regionally, within the EU. Design/methodology/approach Contrasting the Uppsala and resource-based view perspectives (using a sample of UK independent manufacturing SMEs and utilizing a survey, correlation analysis and factor analysis), the paper finds and describes the effect of the most recurrent motivators from the literature on the SMEs’ decision to export within the EU or not. Findings The paper finds that SMEs whose latest international market entry was not in the EU scored significantly higher in the factor scorings for the motivators in the external dimension than participants whose latest entry was in the EU. Several motivators show an association with the choice to export per se. The importance of regionalization to export initiation (and EU membership) within the EU is emphasized in the results. Research limitations/implications The sample size is limited. Practical implications In the current climate, how can SMEs reduce market research costs for managers by relying solely and proactively on home country and internal advantages and motivators and being more aware of their surroundings? Managers and policymakers can direct their strategy, resources and policy more efficiently according to motivators; internal home country motivators (e.g. strengths of prices of products) direct the SME to overcome inter-regional liability of foreignness, while host country motivators (e.g. legal restrictions in the host country) direct them to regional ventures. Originality/value The theoretical and empirical work on the topic, until recently, has been fragmented and inconsistent focusing on specific motivators but not necessarily justifying the selection or origin of variables even less on SMEs.

Info ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juraj Stančík

Purpose – The main goal of this paper is to create a methodology for estimating public research and development (R&D) expenditures on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in the European Union (EU). The study further applies this methodology on business expenditures on R&D (BERD) data across all sectors and estimate ICT BERD within each of them. Then the study assesses the evolution of these expenditures in the context of the Digital Agenda for Europe (DAE) and its specific target to double them by 2020. Design/methodology/approach – The study assumes that the share of public ICT R&D expenditures in total public R&D expenditures is similar to the share of ICT R&D labour costs. The study bases its estimation on government budget appropriations or outlays on R&D (GBAORD). Findings – EU public ICT R&D expenditures grew steadily over the period 2004-2010 and in 2010 reached 5.9 billion. The study also estimates that the total EU ICT BERD in 2010 amounted to 15.8 billion. Regarding the DAE target about ICT R&D expenditures, the study shows that, in both public and private, the EU drops behind. Research limitations/implications – The study estimates that substantial ICT BERD can be found also in non-ICT sectors. Practical implications – The methodology allows for monitoring one of the DAE targets. Originality/value – The methodology currently represents the only way for measuring public ICT R&D expenditures in the EU.


2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 67-71
Author(s):  
Simon Crown ◽  
Steven F. Gatti ◽  
Matthias Feldman ◽  
Paul Landless

Purpose An update for firms located outside the European Union of the possible extra-territorial impact of certain provisions in the recast Markets in Financial Instruments Directive and Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (together referred to as “MiFID2”). Design/methodology/approach The focus is on the issues that are most likely to have an impact on non-EU firms, including buy/sell side financial institutions and private banks. Findings That the impact of MiFID2 will be felt far beyond the EU, particularly in relation to product governance, inducements and dealing commission, trading obligations, position limits for commodity derivatives and the new regime for accessing EU markets. Practical implications Non-EU firms need to assess their interaction with EU clients, counterparties and markets to identify the likely impact of MiFID2. Relevant interaction could include: manufacturing and distribution of financial instruments; the provision of investment research and dealing services to EU clients and trading in instruments which are admitted to trading on EU markets. Originality/value This article will be of interest to “third-country” firms, located outside the EU, but with a European connection, either in terms of European counterparties, investors or accessing European markets.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-96
Author(s):  
Nicola Dimitri

Purpose Pre-commercial procurement (PCP), introduced by the European Commission in 2007, is the most important purchasing procedure available to the European Union public sector to solicit innovative solutions from the business sector. As such solutions are not yet in the market, they first require research and development (R&D) activities. PCP is concerned with procuring R&D services only, and typically consists of three phases. This paper aims to discuss how the budget available to the contracting authority (CA) may be optimally allocated along such three phases. Design/methodology/approach The paper is mostly theoretical and the CA is assumed to maximise the overall probability of success in the PCP, that is the probability of receiving at least one successful proposal at the end of the procedure. Findings The main finding of the paper suggests that, for a CA, the optimal budget allocation across the three phases of the PCP depends on how likely it is to receive successful proposals in various stages of the procedure, as well as on the rewards paid to the invited companies. Practical implications In this paper, the author proposes a methodology for the optimal budget allocation of a CA and discusses how the approach could be practically implemented, pointing out its potential difficulties. Social implications The main social implication of the findings is represented by the best use of the available budget, hence taxpayers’ money. Originality/value To the best of the author’s knowledge, no existing paper has discussed the optimal budget allocation in a PCP as in this work.


2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 906-927 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vassilios Stouraitis ◽  
Pattana Boonchoo ◽  
Mior Harris Mior Harun ◽  
Markos Kyritsis

Purpose Success in export ventures has been linked to managerial capabilities. The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of exporting motivators on managerial perceptions of UK manufacturing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by investigating the links between export motivators and decision bias (i.e. predictable behavior). Design/methodology/approach Based on the Uppsala and resource-based view perspectives (using a sample of the UK’s independent manufacturing SMEs and utilizing a survey, correlation analysis, and factor analysis), this study finds and describes the effect of the most recurrent motivators and clusters of motivators from the literature on the SMEs’ decision to export by investigating the dimensions (research, external, reactive). Findings This study finds that export motivators can be separated into specific dimensions leading to potential selection bias. In addition, the importance of size, knowledge of foreign markets, and unsolicited orders show an association with the perceptions of motivator stimuli toward specific dimensions (research, external, reactive). Practical implications Government policy and SME export strategy need to understand managerial perceptions and bias better in order to allocate resources efficiently toward stimulating exporting. Originality/value The literature and empirical work on the topic have been fragmented and conflicting focusing on specific motivators but not necessarily explaining the selection or origin of motivators even less on SMEs. Dimensions have not been taken into account as clusters of motivators.


2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (7) ◽  
pp. 27-29

Purpose Reviews the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoints practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings As soon as the UK voted to leave the European Union (EU) in 2017, one of the key discussions among businesses throughout Europe centered on what the likely impact would be on supply chains involving UK companies. Whether you were a mainland European country with supply chain partners in the UK, or a UK manufacturer that depended on European companies for supplies, the uncertainty and potential disruption to well-grooved supply chain processes became a major headache. At first, it was the uncertainty that proved the major issue as governments played politics and refused to define the likely deal that would enable supply chain terms to be put in place. As the UK left the EU and the terms of the overall deal became clearer, firms then had to work out how whether any necessary changes to their supply chains were required. Practical implications Provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations. Original/value The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.


2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 216-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Gradín ◽  
Olga Cantó ◽  
Coral del Río

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the different dynamic characteristics of unemployment in a selected group of European Union countries during the current Great Recession, which had unequal consequences on employment depending on the country considered. Design/methodology/approach – The paper follows Shorrocks’s proposal of a duration-sensitive measure of unemployment, and uses cross-sectional data reported by Eurostat coming from European Labour Force Surveys. Findings – The results add some evidence on the relevance of incorporating spells’ duration in measuring unemployment, finding remarkable differences in unemployment patterns in time among European countries. Research limitations/implications – In this paper unemployment is analyzed for all the labor force. Future research should investigate patterns across specific groups such as young people, women, immigrants or the low skilled. Practical implications – It is generally accepted that the negative impact of unemployment on individual welfare can be very different depending on its duration. However, conventional statistics on unemployment do not adequately capture to what extent the recession is not only increasing the incidence of unemployment but also its severity in terms of duration in time of ongoing unemployment spells. The paper shows an easy and practical way to do it in order to improve the understanding of the unemployment phenomenon, using information usually reported by statistical offices. Originality/value – First, the paper provides a tool for dynamic analysis of unemployment based on reported cross-sectional data. Second, the paper demonstrates the empirical relevance of considering spells’ duration when assessing differences in unemployment across countries or in unemployment trends. This is usually neglected or only partially addressed by most conventional measures of unemployment.


Author(s):  
Alvaro Cuervo-Cazurra ◽  
Ravi Ramamurti

Purpose The purpose of this study is to use the rise of emerging-market multinationals as a vehicle to explore how a firm’s country of origin influences its internationalization. Design/methodology/approach This paper is a conceptual paper. Findings We argue that the home country’s institutional and economic underdevelopment can influence the internationalization of firms in two ways. First, emerging-market firms may leverage innovations made at home to cope with underdeveloped institutions or economic backwardness to gain a competitive advantage abroad, especially in other emerging markets; We call this innovation-based internationalization. Second, they may expand into countries that are more developed or have better institutions to escape weaknesses on these fronts at home; we call this escape-based internationalization. Research limitations/implications Comparative disadvantages influence the internationalization of the firm differently from comparative advantage, as it forces the firm to actively upgrade its firm-specific advantage and internationalize. Practical implications We explain two drivers of internationalization that managers operating in emerging markets can consider when facing disadvantages in their home countries and follow several strategies, namely, trickle-up innovation, self-reliant innovation, improvisation management, self-reliance management, technological escape, marketing escape, institutional escape and discriminatory escape. Originality/value We explain how a firm’s home country’s comparative disadvantage, not just its comparative advantage, can spur firms its internationalization.


2009 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 339-370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aleksander Lust

In referenda held in 2003, over 90% of Lithuanians supported joining the European Union (EU), while only two-thirds of Estonians did. Why? This article shows that Lithuanians and Estonians had different economic expectations about the EU. Most Lithuanians hoped that EU membership would help Lithuania overcome its economic backwardness and isolation. By contrast, many Estonians worried that the accession would reinforce Estonia's underdevelopment and dependency on the West. I argue that these expectations reflected the two countries' strategies of economic reform. Lithuania sold state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to their managers and continued to trade heavily with Russia, which slowed down the modernization of its economy. Estonia sold SOEs to foreigners and reoriented its trade rapidly from Russia to the West, which hurt its traditional sectors (particularly agriculture) and infrastructure.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nga Thi Thuy Ho ◽  
Hung Trong Hoang ◽  
Pi-Shen Seet ◽  
Janice Jones ◽  
Nhat Tan Pham

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the determinants of career satisfaction of professional accounting returnees who have studied and/or worked abroad and then returned to work in different types of international workplaces in their home country.Design/methodology/approachA survey of professional accounting returnees in Vietnam was undertaken and multiple regression analysis was applied to test the proposed relationships.FindingsThis study finds that career satisfaction is affected by career fit, career sacrifice, types of international workplaces (domestically headquartered firms versus globally headquartered firms) and cross-cultural work readjustment. Further, cross-cultural work readjustment partially mediates the effect of career fit and career sacrifice on career satisfaction.Practical implicationsThe research provides the basis for designing career-related employee experiences to support career satisfaction of professional accounting returnees.Originality/valueThis study integrates dimensions of career embeddedness with cross-cultural work readjustment and employee experiences, which are normally studied separately, in different types of international workplaces. It contributes to the limited research on contributors to well-being in the form of career satisfaction among professional returnees in an emerging economy.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dmytro S. Melnyk ◽  
Oleg A. Parfylo ◽  
Oleksii V. Butenko ◽  
Olena V. Tykhonova ◽  
Volodymyr O. Zarosylo

Purpose The experience of most European Union (EU) Member States has demonstrated effective anti-corruption practices, making the EU one of the leaders in this field, which can be used as an example to learn from in the field of anti-corruption. The purpose of this study is to analyze and identify the main features of anti-corruption legislation and strategies to prevent corruption at the national and supranational levels of the EU. Design/methodology/approach The following methods were used in the work: discourse and content analysis, method of system analysis, method of induction and deduction, historical-legal method, formal-legal method, comparative-legal method and others. Using the historical and legal method, the evolution of the formation of anti-corruption regulation at the supranational level was revealed. The comparative law method helped to compare the practices of the Member States of the EU in the field of anti-corruption regulation. The formal-legal method is used for generalization, classification and systematization of research results, as well as for the correct presentation of these results. Findings The main results, prospects for further research and the value of the material. The paper offers a critical review of key EU legal instruments on corruption, from the first initiatives taken in the mid-1990s to recent years. Originality/value In addition, the article analyzes the relevant anti-corruption legislation in the EU member states that are in the top 10 countries with the lowest level of corruption, namely: Denmark, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany and Luxembourg.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document