The Impact of Firms’ Export Orientation on the Export Performance of High-Tech Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

Regression analysis demonstrates that proactive and conservative export strategies and motivations produce opposite effects on multiple measures of export performance for these small and medium-sized Canadian high-tech firms in the information technology and telecommunications sector.

Abstract

The authors provide empirical support for the importance of a proactive export orientation in driving export success in the uncertain high-tech environment. Regression analysis demonstrates that proactive and conservative export strategies and motivations produce opposite effects on multiple measures of export performance for these small and medium-sized Canadian high-tech firms in the information technology and telecommunications sector.