The Relationship between Entrepreneurship Orientation and Export Performance: Evidence from Turkey

Abstract

Exporting is a strategic way of accessing international markets for many companies. However, operating successfully can be challenging because of the highly competitive and dynamic business environment. Therefore, how to be a successful and competitive exporter and how to use its scarce resources and capabilities is a matter of great importance. All international activities can be considered entrepreneurial since they contain a combination of risk and innovation that are crucial to creating value. As a company’s prominent resource and capability, entrepreneurship orientation captured the attention of many researchers in the field of international business. Based on the dynamic capability and resource-based view, the purpose of this research is to further investigate the impact of entrepreneurship orientation on export performance and more specifically to examine and highlight the effectiveness and the effect of each dimension of entrepreneurship orientation on export performance. A questionnaire survey was conducted with 70 managers of exporting companies in Turkey to reveal the relationship among the constructs in question. The study’s results supported the positive relationship of proactiveness and innovativeness dimensions on export performance. According to the results of the research, some insights were suggested to contribute to exporters to identify and reinforce their entrepreneurial behaviors as well as to recognize the contribution of each entrepreneurship orientation dimension and develop it accordingly for better export performance.