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This study aims to develop and test a framework of the antecedents to and performance outcomes of exporters’ use of different services offered by Internet-based Business-to-Business (I-B2B) platforms.

We test the model based on a unique survey dataset of 350 Chinese exporters who subscribed to Alibaba.com, a major I-B2B platform.

Drawing on the signaling theory, export and I-B2B platform literature, we develop a typology of exporters’ use of services offered by I-B2B platforms. We find that the extent to which firms have cost efficiency advantages, adopt an export diversity strategy, operate under high levels of psychic distance and experience high levels of domestic regulatory uncertainty are all positively related to exporters’ use of I-B2B platform services. The use of those services is either positively or negatively related to export success depending on the services in question. The magnitudes of these performance relationships are contingent on the exporters’ transparency strategies.

This is the first study to examine the antecedents to and consequences of exporters’ use of the services offered by I-B2B platforms.

Motivated by the severe impact of global supply chain disruptions and the lack of understanding of supply chain resilience from an SME exporter perspective in the international marketing literature, this paper sets out to explore how SME exporters achieve resilience through strategic choices related to sourcing and manufacturing during global disruptions.

The study adopts a qualitative, multiple-case-studies approach to identify the key strategic drivers and contextual factors influencing SME exporters’ supply chain resilience. Our study adopted an SME exporter perspective and featured an unprecedented global supply chain disruption context. New Zealand (NZ) was chosen as the key home country context for the participants of this study. Five NZ SME exporters were selected for our case studies.

This study redefines buffering, bridging and a mixed strategy for an SME exporter facing global supply chain disruptions. SME exporters with high situational control are likely to pursue a buffering strategy that reduces their resource dependence on foreign suppliers and their reliance on information support from these suppliers. In contrast, when the firm perceives little control over the supply chain, it will decide upon a bridging strategy that aims to build solid relationships with supply chain partners. Exporters opt for a mixed strategy when they do not see themselves clearly in high or low situational control.

As global disruptions arise and evolve, supply chain uncertainty and exporters’ sense of situational control manifest differently across industries, product lines, markets and sourcing countries. It is essential to understand that firms can choose a mixed strategy based on these supply chain conditions. While our study was fortuitously timed, conducting multi-country studies could provide more comparative insights that transcend national borders. Additionally, our study did not examine organizational and capability-based factors. Future research may benefit from exploring how an SME exporter develops strategic capabilities to achieve resilience over its lifetime.

Businesses see survival as the most pivotal concern during a global supply chain disruption. Many companies have had to make on-the-spot decisions about whether they should shift or redesign their supply chains in the middle of a global disruption. There is no “best strategy” for an SME exporter to take. Rather, managers should make strategic decisions based on how much control or influence they have over a particular part of their supply chain. The level of control is determined by the SME exporter’s overall resource dependencies and information needs in particular parts of their supply chain.

We adopt resource dependence theory and information processing theory to guide our study and place exporters' situational control in the centre of drivers to firms' strategic choices during global disruptions. We make a novel attempt to incorporate the contextual conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic into the theorization of supply chain resilience. We make managerial recommendations to help SME exporters navigate global supply chain disruption challenges.

This paper aims to explain the unwillingness to exchange export knowledge by members of exporters’ networks and provides potential solutions to this problem.

This study uses data from a survey of 301 members of a French exporter’s network to test a set of hypotheses with partial least squares structural equation modeling.

Network participants’ export experience and age have a negative influence on their willingness to exchange knowledge. However, positive attitudes toward the network (perception of network quality, commitment) can mitigate those negative links.

Network members’ unwillingness to exchange knowledge represents a major challenge that threatens the existence of knowledge networks. The findings suggest solutions to this issue for network managers.

This study views knowledge exchange in a network as a risky behavior. It explains why members do not participate in networks. The model shows how contrary forces work and interact to deter or foster knowledge exchange.

The purpose of this study is to explore the means by which exporters foster innovation via the learning-by-exporting effect and to appraise the moderating role of employee human capital in the export–innovation relationship.

Leveraging the linked-survey-secondary data from the Human Capital Corporate Panel (HCCP) spanning 2011–2017, with 890 observations from 228 Korean exporters, this study utilizes Generalized Least Squares (GLS) regression to empirically test the proposed hypotheses.

The results indicate that exporting significantly boosts a firm’s innovation performance by encouraging the generation of new concepts in products, services, technologies and/or production lines. Moreover, the presence of international talent and highly educated staff positively moderates the relationship between export intensity and innovation performance.

By integrating organizational learning and human capital theories, this study yields theoretical and managerial insights by elucidating the roles of exporting and human capital in advancing innovation performance, thereby guiding corporate export strategies and human resource policies.

Export market orientation can be broadly divided into intelligence (generation and dissemination) and responsiveness activities. Although previous studies assess intelligence and responsiveness activities, little is known about what type of international channel partner acts as an enabling condition for the impact of these activities on export venture performance. This study aims to examine the extent to which the selection of international channel partners through word-of-mouth referrals versus direct contacts affects the benefits of intelligence and responsiveness activities.

Data were collected from 246 exporting manufacturers in Japan. To test the hypotheses, we conducted regression analyses using a subjective performance measure at the venture level. We also performed a post hoc analysis using objective performance measure at the function level.

We find that the extent to which international channel partners are selected through word-of-mouth referrals has a moderating role in the export market-oriented activities–performance linkages. Specifically, it acts as an enabling condition for intelligence activity and a disenabling condition for responsiveness activity.

This study contributes to a better understanding of export market orientation by classifying it into intelligence and responsiveness activities and providing empirical evidence on their different interaction effects with partner selection. It also contributes to the elaboration of agency theory by offering insights into the fit between task characteristics and contract type. Our study is critical for business managers as it suggests guidelines for manufacturing exporters engaging in export market-oriented behaviors and export channel management.

While coopetition (cooperation among competitors) has been widely researched in domestic settings, relatively less work has evaluated how small exporters engage in these business-to-business (B2B) marketing strategies. Therefore, export coopetition activities could have different performance outcomes (and boundary conditions) to these B2B marketing practices in domestic arenas. Consequently, underpinned by resource-based theory (and focusing on smaller-sized and internationalised, businesses), the purpose of this paper is to unpack the relationship between export coopetition activities and export sales performance by accounting for key quadratic and moderating effects.

Survey responses were obtained from 107 small, and export-oriented, wine producers in South Africa. After refining the measurement scales, the quantitative data passed all major assessments of reliability, validity and common method variance. Subsequently, the elements of the conceptual model were tested through a hierarchical regression analysis. Moreover, a post-hoc test was undertaken to delve deeper into the nuances of the statistical results – and offer additional insights concerning how these B2B marketing strategies operate (and manifest) in export markets.

A significant non-linear (inverted U-shaped) relationship was found between export coopetition activities and export sales performance. No support was found for the moderators, namely, export geographical scope, export intensity or the interaction between these forms of internationalisation. An interesting issue to emerge from the post-hoc test was that export geographical scope yielded a quadratic link with export sales performance, for which the export coopetition activities construct did not moderate this connection (a non-significant interaction effect). These findings offer new insights that help inform the concentration versus spreading debate related to target market strategies.

New evidence emerges on the internationalisation of the coopetition construct, regarding how smaller-sized companies collaborate with their competitors within their export markets. Likewise, stronger insights arise concerning the dark sides of export coopetition activities via circumstances where they are harmful to internationalised firms. Moreover, improved claims are made about how resource-based theory serves as a useful tool to conceptualise the nuances of export coopetition activities and how they impact export sales performance. Collectively, this investigation not only responds to calls for research to evaluate coopetition in export markets but also embraces the complexities of these B2B marketing strategies.

This study aims to clarify the direct impact of digitalization on export performance (EP) by synthesizing previous research and testing this relationship empirically. Furthermore, the study investigates digitalization types, contextual moderators and method moderators affecting the impact of digitalization on EP.

The study uses meta-analysis to test the digitalization–EP relationship (k = 81) using data from 106 independent samples involving 62,082 respondents across nearly 30 countries.

The study finds digitalization’s positive and significant effect on EP (r = 0.36). The impact of digitalization on EP is also subject to different moderators, including digitalization type (i.e. digital capabilities), contextual factors (i.e. institutions, export experience, development of the region and industry) and method factors (i.e. back translation and strategy measurement).

Scholars have initiated studies on the impacts of diverse digitalization types on EP, while empirical findings on these effects remain inconclusive. Based on resource-based theory, the study develops and validates a comprehensive meta-analytic framework, revealing the important influence of digitalization on EP. The moderator findings further highlight the impact of internal and external contingencies on the outcomes of exporting firms’ digitalization.

This study aims to analyze the complex dynamics of money laundering (ML) in the export sector of developing countries, with a special focus on Bangladesh. It aims to uncover the strategies and tactics money launderers use to exploit export transactions and understand the vulnerabilities that exist in economies where enforcement agencies neglect the export industry.

This study examines Bangladesh’s export sector ML using qualitative methods. Customs officers, central bank officers, port authorities and selected exporters were interviewed semi-structured. Document analysis of Bangladesh Bank orders, media and Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate reports was also done. Qualitative data patterns were identified using theme analysis.

The study identifies the most vulnerable export commodities – readymade garments, agricultural items and processed foods – as prime targets for ML. Key methods of laundering include under-invoicing, over-invoicing, misdeclaration and fake documentation. The research highlights the significant risk posed by the improper use of government financial incentives and introduces the “sample shipment” method as a novel laundering tactic. The findings underscore the need for stronger oversight and controls to mitigate these risks.

This research is limited by single-point data because ML is a continual activity. The reliance on case studies from newspaper reports and online platforms introduces a degree of selection bias and the chosen instances may not comprehensively represent the broader landscape of trade-based ML.

The study provides several practical recommendations for policymakers and law enforcement agencies to fortify the export sector against exploitation by money launderers, ensuring greater transparency and accountability in international trade operations.

By closing loopholes in the export sector, the research supports the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly Goal 16.4, which aims to reduce illicit financial flows, thereby contributing to poverty eradication and economic stability in developing countries.

Original research results supported by technical analysis are presented in this work. It contributes to the body of knowledge by detailing the adaptive strategies of money launderers and proposing targeted recommendations for enhancing the integrity of the export sector.

Since 2010, the eastern Mediterranean has witnessed a transformative narrative with the discovery of natural gas reserves off the coasts of Cyprus and Israel. This pivotal development has drawn attention to the region, where Egypt, Israel, Cyprus, Turkey, and Greece share maritime borders. The emergence of natural gas has reshaped geopolitical dynamics, and Western countries assume to reduce their reliance on Russia for energy supplies. This chapter explores the magnitude of natural gas discoveries and production in Cyprus and Israel, examining the interconnection of their fields and the ambitious endeavor of laying a 1,900-km underwater pipeline to the Greek island of Crete. Additionally, it highlights the pivotal roles played by key regional actors such as Israel, Turkey, and Egypt in shaping security and energy negotiations. However, Turkey has a significant position in the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East, but tensions have arisen as neighboring countries seek to limit Turkey’s involvement in regional energy discussions, viewing its policies as a potential threat, thereby exacerbating Turkey’s regional interventions, particularly in Cyprus. Each of these countries in the Middle East is struggling to get more of the cake. Above all, Israel has been a gas importer throughout its history and now dreams of becoming a natural gas exporter to Europe.

Preferential market access is a pillar of the enabling clause in international trade, and as such has received scholarly attention in the recent past. This study aims to empirically examine intensity and utilisation of Uganda’s preferential market access.

Secondary data at the six-digit level of the harmonised system was sourced from the International Trade Centre’s and UN COMTRADE’s Trade Map database on trade flows to compute; trade intensity indices, Balsa’s revealed comparative advantage (RCA) indices and the existing potential trade. The time period was 2013–2022.

It is evident that Uganda is not taking full advantage of its preferential market access. The findings of the trade intensity analysis revealed that the strength of trade relations between Uganda and its preferential markets has been consistently weak in the period 2013–2022, while the intensity of trade relations with its FTA partners has been strong. The RCA results revealed that all Uganda’s agricultural exports to its preferential markets have a comparative advantage, with exports of roses reporting an exceptionally high RCA relative to other agricultural exports. The RCA results also show that the comparative advantage of Uganda’s coffee exports recovered after a significant fall in the period 2014–2022. The analysis of the existing potential for trade reveals a disproportionally low market share held by Uganda across all product lines, notably, only 2.3% of the US$29bn coffee imports in its preferential markets.

One limitation of this study is that it primarily relied on quantitative data from the International Trade Centre and thus lacks an exhaustive understanding of the circumstances at the export firm level. Qualitative data, such as interviews with exporters and policymakers, could provide deeper insights into the specific challenges and opportunities faced by Ugandan businesses in these markets.

This paper highlights the need for additional trade facilitation measures to address preferential market access bottlenecks such as stringent rules of origin and call for an aggressive government intervention in enhancing the export readiness of SMEs in Uganda. In addition, the paper is informative to Uganda’s exporters regarding the existing and potential increase in their exports to international markets.

The strength of Uganda’s trade relations with its preferential markets is empirically examined in this paper and provides useful insights for enhancing utilisation of preferential market access by beneficiary countries.