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ABSTRACT
Based on 50 case studies of SME exporters from New Zealand, we develop a model on export performance for firms with a low resource base. We find that export-related product/service capabilities, partner-related capabilities, and process-related capabilities can substitute for a lack of resources. Concrete second-order competences which enable a firm to create export capabilities are identified, including the abilities to create core competencies, to adapt product and services, to recognize opportunities, to build and maintain network ties, to obtain market knowledge, to develop internationalization knowledge, and to innovate processes. Our study further highlights the key role that SME top managers play for an the firm's export performance through facilitating the development of export-related dynamic capabilities as well as through their own personal commitment to export.
Keywords: dynamic capabilities; export performance; SME; New Zealand
INTRODUCTION
To successfully perform across borders, firms need a distinctive competitive advantage that helps them to overcome the liability of foreignness and the liability of newness in international mar- kets (Zaheer, 1995; Bloodgood et al., 1996). Fol- lowing the resource-based view of the firm (RBV), competitive advantage is grounded in firm-specific resources and capabilities which are valuable, rare, inimitable, and non-substitutable (Barney, 1991; Wernerfelt, 1984; Barney et al., 2001). RBV thinking has also penetrated international business research (Peng, 2001). The importance of internal resources and capabilities in addition to external influencing factors for the success of a firm on international markets was already highlighted by Hymer (1976) in his monopolistic advantage the- ory, and later by Zou and Cavusgil (1996) in their integrated global strategy framework. In Dun- ning's (2001) seminal work on the eclectic (OLI) paradigm, ownership advantages stemming from the priviledged access to resources and capabilites and the ability to exploit them across borders are a key factor for the successful internationalization of a firm. Hitt et al. (2006) also established a link between valuable resources, internationalization, and firm performance. In a similar vein, for Camisón and Villar (2009), a surplus of resources and capabilities in domestic markets provide an explanation for the propensity of firms to interna- tionalize. A considerable amount of literature has been published on the importance of firm-specific resources, such as, for instance, human and rela- tional capital (Hitt et al., 2006), technological...