Framgångsrika exportörer: En studie av strategiska faktorers inverkan på mindre företags exportutfall

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this study is to investigate which factors that are of particular importance for export performance among small and medium-sized manufacturers. The present study concentrates on strategic factors that are within the powers of the exporters to influence themselves. Additionally, different ways of measuring export success are studied. The resourse based perspective on internationalization and the contingency theory of organizations are used as theoretical framework of the study. Three control variables have been choosen for the study: firm-size, line of business and region. A survey was conducted on a sample of 339 companies which have less than 200 employees each. They are located in eihter of two different regions of Sweden and are involved in one of two selected lines of businesses. 239 usable questionnaires were completed and those were analyzed with correlation analysis, component (factor) analysis and multiple regression analysis. The results indicate that commitment is the factor having the strongest relations with export success, and that background variables have the weakest relations. Of four different fields of strategic and general success factors, relationship marketing is the most essential one. On second place comes internal locus of control, and on third place knowledge orientation. The results show that of the strategic factors, those related to entrepreneurship are the least important for export success. One conclusion from the study is that, depending on how export success is defined and measured, the results differ slightly. The results show that larger companies are more professional in their actions than smaller ones, and for that reason more successful in exporting. Industries of more advanced technology have more elaborate export behaviour, and are therefore more successful than others. Concerning the location, it is concluded that different regions have different competitive advantages and that otherwise similar companies can experience differences in export success for that reason. In the study, companies with a more central location are more successful than others.