| This dissertation studies the determinants related to South African small and medium-sized firms' export marketing activities. The study seeks empirical identification of factors underlying the successful export decision process of firms.; A review of the literature shows that a number of internal dimensions and external environments that have been found in the past were most likely factors of the firm's export marketing performance. The export decision model used in this study was an adaptation of the model presented by Pak in his 1991 study on the export behavior of firms because it includes all the relationships addressed in the literature reviewed.; Data from a cross-sectional field study were collected using a structured mail survey to 1,000 randomly selected small and medium-sized manufacturing firms in South Africa. Small and medium firms were defined as firms with less than 200 full time employees. The initial survey mailed to 1,000 firms had a total response rate of 22.3 with 14% fully completed questionnaires. The key informant approach was used in determining respondents. The data and ten hypotheses were analyzed with factor analysis and Linear Structural Relations (LISREL).; The results indicated that the decision-maker's characteristics (i.e., language competence), differential firm advantage (i.e., product advantages), environmental factors (i.e., foreign market environment) influenced the attractiveness of exporting. Organizational commitment, and export decision were found to relate positively to each other.; Future research efforts are needed in other country environments, which replicates and extends this study. The importance of managerial, organizational, and environmental variables with regard to their effect on a firm's export decision process may exhibit substantial differences among firms in other country's environments. Another direction to pursue in order to obtain additional data on the decision-making process is to employ some qualitative research techniques such as in-person interviews. In-person interviews would yield details such as personal opinions and additional, unforeseen insights that a questionnaire could not elicit. |
