External knowledge search strategies are considered essential for increasing export performance, a crucial goal for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in a globalised and turbulent environment. SMEs are known to have limited resources, which leads them to choose the export strategy as the best alternative for entering foreign markets. The present study analyses the link between industrial and non-industrial knowledge search strategies and export performance, taking into account absorptive capacity (AC) as a mediating variable. Results from a sample of 222 Spanish exporting SMEs reveal that orientation to collaborate with industrial partners contributes to firms’ AC and export performance. Moreover, AC is found to have a full mediating role between orientation to collaborate with industrial partners and export performance. The study makes a novel contribution by applying organisational learning theory to explain how both the strategies firms adopt to access external knowledge and their absorptive capacity affect their export performance.

中文翻译：

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中小企业的出口绩效：外部知识搜索策略和吸收能力的重要性

外部知识搜索策略被认为是提高出口绩效的关键，这是全球化和动荡环境下中小企业（SME）的一项关键目标。众所周知，中小企业资源有限，这导致他们选择出口战略作为进入国外市场的最佳选择。本研究分析了工业和非工业知识搜索策略与出口绩效之间的联系，并考虑了吸收能力（AC）作为中介变量。对222家西班牙出口中小型企业的抽样结果表明，与产业合作伙伴进行合作的方向有助于企业的交流和出口绩效。此外，发现AC在与行业合作伙伴进行合作的定位和出口绩效之间起着完全的中介作用。