The Effects of Affiliation with Export Service-Providers on Sustainable Competitive Advantage: A Perspective of Small- and Medium-Sized Exporters

Purpose – An appreciable number of small- and medium-sized exporters have continuously succeeded in their export marketplaces even though they do not possess enough resources. Advocating that affiliation with an export service-provider plays an important role in this phenomenon, we aimed to theoretically explain how export service providers’ competences and relational factors drive small- and medium-sized exporters’ competitive advantages in the long-run.

Design/methodology – Drawing prominently on the resource-based view and the relationship marketing theory, we built an empirically testable model. The model showed the roles of exporter capabilities, export service-provider competences, and relational factors on small- and medium-sized exporters’ sustainable competitive advantages.

Findings – The results of our research showed that exporter production and branding capabilities positively influenced their sustainable competitive advantage. In addition, export service-providers’ marketing competence and relationship-building competence positively moderated the effects of exporter capabilities on their parties’ sustainable competitive advantages. Finally, affiliation parties’ interfirm trust and relationship commitment positively moderated the effects of export service provider competence on the relationship between exporter capabilities and sustainable competitive advantages.

Originality/value – Although prior studies have highlighted the effects of an exporter’s resources on export performance, our research filled a knowledge gap of the effects of other resources on export performance. First, we proposed two types of export service-provider, competence marketing and relationship-building, influencing exporters’ competitive advantage. Second, the effects of relational factors were proposed in the context of export affiliations.