Operational capabilities and entrepreneurial opportunities in emerging market firms
研究了运营能力如何帮助出口型中小企业识别和利用国际创业机会，并促进企业增长。基于克罗地亚117家中小企业的调查数据，发现市场感知能力对机会识别和利用至关重要，而适应与创新能力则强化了机会利用对增长的贡献。
Purpose The academic inquiry of operational capabilities (OCs) has claimed focal interest in mainstream strategy research. Recent theoretical advances suggest these capabilities are a fundamental trigger to the identification and exploitation of entrepreneurial opportunities. However, the extant literature has been, at best, partial with regard to empirical insights that integrate OCs with entrepreneurial opportunities. Addressing this theoretical lacuna from the standpoint of organisational learning theory, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the interplay between OCs and entrepreneurial opportunities and their overall impact on exporting SME’s growth. Design/methodology/approach To realise the empirical aims a descriptive research design employing a survey methodology was used. The authors are generated data from a sample of 117 exporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in Croatia. Ordinary least squares regression was employed to test the conceptual model and five derived hypotheses. Findings The findings demonstrate that market-sensing capabilities are vital in enhancing exporting SME’s opportunity recognition capacity and the rate of international opportunity exploitation that leads to increased firm growth. Also, study findings show that the link between the increased rate of international opportunity exploitation contributes more to the growth when exporting SMEs have highly developed adaptive and innovation capabilities. Research limitations/implications This study brings to surface some novel insights about how exporting SMEs can better design their export marketing strategy. The results suggest, OCs occupy key role in the exporting SMEs international venturing efforts by delivering higher growth. Originality/value The study contributes to the export marketing strategy field by offering empirical evidence that both capability and opportunity-based views should be assessed simultaneously in explaining exporting SME’s competitiveness. Finally, we offer valuable theoretical and practical implications as well as avenues for further research that should extend our knowledge in the field.