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Network gatekeeping in SME exporters’ market entry in China

Hongzhi Gao (School of Marketing and International Business, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand)
Monica Ren (Department of Marketing and Management, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia)
Jing Zhang (Department of Business Management, School of Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, People's Republic of China)
Ruoyi Sun (School of Marketing and International Business, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand)

International Marketing Review

ISSN: 0265-1335

Article publication date: 11 April 2016

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Abstract

Purpose

Small and medium-sized exporters (SMEs) are driven to develop a network entry strategy to tap into a new foreign market. The purpose of this paper is to draw on the network perspective to evaluate how a network gatekeeper facilitates a foreign SME exporter’s entry into local business networks in China.

Design/methodology/approach

The single case study method was adopted. The Ule New Zealand Mall, an online shopping platform that sells New Zealand products in China, was selected in this case study. The authors applied the critical incident technique to evaluate the position of New Zealand Post (as a home country-based network gatekeeper), the roles within the position, and the key outcome of the network gatekeeping.

Findings

The study discovers two key roles of network gatekeepers: bridging the gap in trust between outsider networks and insider networks; and reducing the costs of experiential learning for SME exporters. Finally, this study concludes that the “brokered insidership” position acquired by SME exporters is the key outcome of network gatekeeping in foreign market entry.

Originality/value

This study advances the understanding of theories of structural holes, business network and gatekeeping. The authors articulate the critical position assumed by a network gatekeeper in bridging two otherwise disconnected business networks, and their key roles in networking. The study also proposes a new network concept – “brokered insidership”.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

This research is sponsored by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. 71272125 and Fundamental Scientific and Research Program of Chinese Central Universities under Grant No. 2014QN207.

Citation

Gao, H., Ren, M., Zhang, J. and Sun, R. (2016), "Network gatekeeping in SME exporters’ market entry in China", International Marketing Review, Vol. 33 No. 2, pp. 276-297. https://doi.org/10.1108/IMR-06-2014-0191

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2016, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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