Les déterminants Relationnels De La Performance Export

Export performance of Moroccan SMEs

Relational determinants: performance outcomes, managerial and market antecedents

Saif Allah ALLOUANI

Doctoral student

Ecole nationale de commerce et gestion (ENCG), Settat

Université Hassan 1 er - Settat

Settat

Km 3, route de Casa BP 658, Morocco

023 40 10 63 (212) 0661 43 17 75

Fax (212) 0535 60 17 96

(Corresponding author) saif.allouani@gmail.com

Professor Houcine BERBOU

Research director

Ecole nationale de commerce et gestion (ENCG), Settat

Université Hassan 1 er

Settat

Km 3, route de Casa BP 658, Morocco

023 40 10 63 (212) 0661 43 17 75

Fax (212) 0535 60 17 96

Export performance of Moroccan SMEs

Relational determinants: performance outcomes, managerial and market antecedents

Saif Allah ALLOUANI

Houcine BERBOU

Abstract

Limited research exists on relational determinants of export performance, especially in developing countries. As a matter of fact, export performance literature has been dominated during the last decade by the economic perspective. Yet, an increased attention has turned to the resource based view (RBV) as well as the relational perspective. Highlighting this gap and drawing from the RBV and the relational paradigm, an approach arguing that exporting SMEs would reach great export performance by fostering successful cross-border inter-firm relationships has been developed, which is leveraged by appropriate governance mechanisms. Drawing upon the outcomes of exploratory in-depth interviews and literature review, we propose a conceptual framework about the role and the antecedents of relational determinants of the export performance. The unit of analysis is a selected export venture. A further inquiry of the overall study is to offer hypotheses test throughout quantitative survey.

Key words: SME, Export performance, RBV, Inter-organizational relationships, Developing countries, relationship governance.

Introduction

In current world economy, global market integration has been fostered by the removal of various trade barriers and the establishment of several bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements in both developed and developing countries. Morocco is bound by free trade agreements with several developed countries and is an established supplier of several products (e.g. Textile-clothing, agricultural and chemical) to European and North American markets. Exportations contribute about 40.65% to the Moroccan GDP making Moroccan future economic growth vastly dependent on the results of the export activity. However, in recent years, Morocco’s export performance has been lackluster (Walkenhorst, Peter and Malouche, 2006, page 4). As a result, the country has lost world market share in merchandise exports. This regression is partially due to the increase of competitive pressure from other countries (namely Turkey and China) and the rapid change in international context. Thus, Moroccan exporters have to strengthen their export strategies to secure international competitiveness.

The Moroccan situation represents one of an emergent economy setting characterized by high SMEs density. SMEs represent more than 93 % of Moroccan enterprises and play a leading role in export dynamics. Export is the dominant mode of entry into the international market. Due to limited resources, SMEs are facing numerous problems in maintaining a competitive position.

In this context, study of export performance of SMEs appears both necessary and timely, for two main reasons. The first is the paucity of research upon the export performance in developing countries (Sousa et al., 2008). The second is to provide managers and policy makers with useful insights into the key factors driving the export performance of SMEs. While the core purpose of the research is to shed light on the relevant determinants of export performance in the Moroccan context, we focus on determinants related to cross border relationship management. The theoretical underpinning of the research is the Resources Based View (RBV) and the relational paradigm.

This paper is structured as follows. First, the rationale for the study is introduced by highlighting gaps in the export performance literature. Afterward, the theoretical underpinning of the research is exposed. In the third section, the proposed conceptual framework and related propositions are discussed. Contributions and limitations of the research are mentioned in the conclusion.

Export performance literature

Export literature has been criticized for not yielding a broadly accepted model on export performance (Leonidou et al., 2002). As mentioned by several scholars on their literature reviews (Aaby and Slater, 1989; Zou and Stan, 1998; Ruppenthal and Bausch, 2009), the available studies provide highly fragmented and inconsistent results. The main reasons for inconstancy it seems are variation in empirical methods, underlying theoretical concepts, definitions of variables and differences in measurement scales. Thus, it has been claimed that export performance has remained as “one of the most widely researched and least understood areas of international marketing” (Sousa et al., 2008, page 344). In recent research appeals, international marketing and export performance researchers have been encouraged to be theoretically driven (Douglas and Craig, 2006; Styles, Patterson, and Ahmed 2008).

Historically, studies on export performance have been dominated by the economic view, throughout the structure-conduct-performance (SCP) framework (Cavusgil & Zou, 1994; Zou & Cavusgil, 1996). More recently, two perspectives have gained growing interest: the RBV approach (Morgan, Kaleka, and Katsikeas, 2004) and the relationship marketing paradigm (Style and Ambler, 2000; Samiee and Walters, 2001). These complementary approaches have been

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