Managers’ intentions to pursue export expansion an entrepreneurial cognition perspective
Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies
ISSN: 2053-4604
Article publication date: 19 May 2021
Issue publication date: 16 February 2022
Abstract
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.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge and thank the support of the Industrial Chamber of Commerce of Costa Rica and the Chamber of Information, Technology and Communication of Costa Rica, who facilitated information and initial contacts with owners and managers of exporting SMEs.
Authors’ contributions: Dr. Carlos A. Sandoval was responsible for research conception and design, empirical data acquisition and analysis, interpretation of results and preparation of the manuscript. Dr. Olaf N. Rank provided guidance, critical review and approval of the final version of the manuscript.
Transparency and data availability: The data set generated and analyzed during this study is available in the Harvard Dataverse repository, under the following link: https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/GBR6CK.
Originality: No material has been created by a third party.
Disclosure statement: We have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
Funding: This research received no external funding.
Citation
Sandoval, C.A. and Rank, O.N. (2022), "Managers’ intentions to pursue export expansion an entrepreneurial cognition perspective", Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies, Vol. 14 No. 2, pp. 316-339. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEEE-08-2020-0287
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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