Characteristics of Business Owner’s Strategic Networking: Are There Differences Between Exporters and Non-exporters?

Abstract

While both macro and micro benefits of SMEs exporting activities are well confirmed in the literature, in most countries, exporting SMEs are few  compared to non-exporters. Unfortunately, few studies in the field examine exporters and nonexporters behaviour together with regard to why  nonexporters remain focused on the domestic market, even though, they may be of similar sizes, operate in the same geographical market and face  The same market conditions with the exporters. This paper integrates the network theory and resource-based view of the firm (RBV) to explore the differences in exporters and non-exporters with regard to the characteristics of the business owners’ networking. The study uses the qualitative multi-case study research approach based on 36 exporters and 33 non-exporters to examine the topic in Ghana, a new and very promising geographical context. Using the qualitative content analysis as the main analytical technique to code the perception of both groups, four main differences emerged. The results show that the capacity of the exporters with regard to owner-manager’s networking size, content, structure and interactions are higher than the non-exporters. Based on the findings, the implications of the study on public policy and practice are suggested.

Keywords: Networking, export, SMEs, Ghana