Purpose

Grounded in the Theory of Planned Behavior, the main purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of cognitive factors on the intention of a small and medium size enterprise (SME) manager to pursue the expansion of their firm’s export activities.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors created a research model and collected empirical data among owners and top managers of 127 Costa Rican SMEs. The data was analyzed using structural equation modeling techniques to reveal the relative significance and strength of the effects of every hypothesized relationship.

Findings

The results suggest that the perception of benefits and self-efficacy influence managers’ intentions to expand export activity. Managers’ intention to expand export activity, in turn, is associated with the levels of export commitment exhibited by the SMEs. None of the control variables seem to impact managers’ intentions.

Research limitations/implications

The findings of this study underline that the export development of a SME is to a large extent only possible if the manager’s perception of control over the export achievements is perceived to be high. SME managers need maximize their perceived level of controllability over firm’s export operations and achievements. This study relied on self-report data. Self-reports are the conventional method for assessing constructs regarding beliefs, and motivations of an individual. Its use in entrepreneurship research is proved to be reliable. However, the authors have to acknowledge that using self-report data carries the risk of common methods bias.

Practical implications

SMEs managers might benefit from strengthening the sense of self-efficacy regarding international business based on the results of this study.

Originality/value

This study provides empirical evidence suggesting that a manager’s cognitive characteristics play a crucial role in understanding export expansion of a SME. The results encourage future research to incorporate cognitive theoretical frameworks to examine factors determining international entrepreneurial intentions.

中文翻译：

---

经理人追求出口扩张的意图创业认知视角

目的

基于计划行为理论，本文的主要目的是研究认知因素对中小型企业 (SME) 经理寻求扩大其公司出口活动的意图的影响。

设计/方法/方法

作者创建了一个研究模型，并收集了 127 家哥斯达黎加中小企业的所有者和高级管理人员的经验数据。使用结构方程建模技术分析数据，以揭示每个假设关系的影响的相对重要性和强度。

发现

结果表明，利益感知和自我效能感会影响管理者扩大出口活动的意图。反过来，管理者扩大出口活动的意图与中小企业表现出的出口承诺水平相关。控制变量似乎都不会影响管理者的意图。

研究限制/影响

本研究的结果强调，只有当管理者对出口成就的控制感被认为很高时，中小企业的出口发展在很大程度上才有可能。中小企业经理需要最大限度地提高他们对公司出口业务和成就的可控程度。这项研究依赖于自我报告的数据。自我报告是评估个人信念和动机的传统方法。它在创业研究中的应用被证明是可靠的。然而，作者必须承认，使用自我报告数据存在共同方法偏差的风险。

实际影响

根据本研究的结果，中小企业经理可能会从加强对国际业务的自我效能感中受益。

原创性/价值

本研究提供的经验证据表明，经理的认知特征在理解中小企业的出口扩张中起着至关重要的作用。结果鼓励未来的研究结合认知理论框架来检查决定国际创业意图的因素。