The Drivers of Market Orientation and its Impact on Export Performance of Serbian Firms

Abstract

In the field of international business, examination of the link between a market orientation (MO) and an export performance (EP) is quite popular. However, mechanisms through which MO affects EP have not been sufficiently investigated. The aim of this paper was to examine direct and indirect impact of MO on EP, as well as drivers of MO. In this paper, MO is defined as organisational culture. Based on the structure-conduct-performance paradigm and Resource-Based View, a model was formulated and tested on a sample of 121 large and medium-sized exporters operating in the Republic of Serbia. The method applied was partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). Obtained results indicate that there is a direct and positive effect of relational resources and competitive intensity on MO. It was also found that MO affects EP directly, and that differentiation strategy partially mediates the relationship between MO and EP.