This presentation was delivered during the 37th Annual Conference of EIBA (European International Business Academy) in Bucharest on 10 december 2011.

1. Trust and affective commitment
as energizing forces
for export performance
Josée Bloemer
Mark Pluymaekers
Armand Odekerken

2. Outline
• Predictors of export performance
• Relationship quality characteristics
• Beneficial competencies
• Conceptual model
• Research design
• Results and conclusions
• Theoretical and managerial implications
• Limitations and future research

3. Relationship quality characteristics
• Exporting does not only involve economic
transactions, but also relationships
• Behavioral perspective / relational paradigm
• Trust
• The belief that foreign customers will be honest, fair
and reliable
• Commitment to exporting
• The desire to build and maintain a relationship with
foreign customers
• Sousa et al. (2008): Most frequently cited management
characteristic to influence export performance

4. Beneficial competencies
• Relation-oriented competencies
• Cultural sensitivity
• Linguistic competence
• Entrepreneurial competencies
• Innovativeness
• Risk-taking

5. Mediators or energizing forces?
Competencies Trust
Trust
or Commitment
Commitment Competencies
Performance Performance
Trust and commitment Trust and commitment
mediate between act as energizing forces
beneficial competencies for the development of
and performance beneficial competencies

6. Conceptual model linguistic
competence
cultural
sensitivity
affective export
trust performance
commitment
innovative-
ness
risk- calculative
taking commitment

7. Research design
• Web-based survey
• Existing measurement scales
• Identify outliers  134 respondents (3.5%)
• PLS
• Sample design
• Exporting firms
• SME entrepreneur
• Province of Limburg

8. Research region

9. Results linguistic
resources
0.309** ns
cultural
0.594** 0.292**
sensitivity
0.317** affective export
trust commitment 0.340**
performance
0.285**
innovative-
ness
ns
0.211*
0.215*
risk- calculative
* p < 0.05
seeking commitment
** p < 0.01

10. Results (2)
Competencies
Trust
Energizing forces
Mediators
Commitment
Trust
Communality
Communality R2 R2
AC
AC 0.873
0.873 0.100
0.0971
CALC
CALC 0.827
0.826 0.000
0.0000 Competencies
Commitment
CS
CS 0.589
0.588 0.353
0.0000
EP
EP 0.716
0.715 0.279
0.2179
INNO
INNO 0.810
0.810 0.081
0.0000
LC
LC 0.699
0.688 0.095
0.0000 Performance
RISK
RISK 0.661
0.655 0.046
0.0000
TRST
TRST 0.607
0.609 0.000
0.1549
average
average 0.723
0.720 0.0590.119 GOF = 0.293
GOF = 0.206

11. Theoretical implications
• Trust and affective commitment act as
energizing forces for export performance
• They are not mediators, but necessary
conditions for developing relation-oriented and
entrepreneurial competencies
• Trust in foreign customers and commitment to
exporting motivate organizations to innovate,
take risks, learn a foreign language and develop
more sensitivity to cultural differences

12. Managerial implications
To develop trust in foreign customers:
• Select trustworthy prospects and customers
• Avoid unpleasant interactions
• Get to know your customer – personal contact
• Invest in relationships
• Take relevant actions
• Authorize personnel to initiate “relationship
improving” initiatives
• Invest in CRM systems supporting committed
behavior

13. Limitations and future research
• Cross-sectional survey with self-assessments
• Generalizability?
• One side of the dyad
• Future research:
• Development of the relationship over time?
• Perception of the customer?
• From investments in general competencies to
relation-specific investments?
• Questions?