Firm Performance among Internationalized SMEs: The Interplay of Market Orientation, Marketing Capability and Digitalization

Sanna Joensuu-Salo, Kirsti Sorama, Anmari Viljamaa and Elina Varamäki
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Sanna Joensuu-Salo: School of Business and Culture, Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences, 60320 Seinäjoki, Finland
Kirsti Sorama: School of Business and Culture, Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences, 60320 Seinäjoki, Finland
Anmari Viljamaa: School of Business and Culture, Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences, 60320 Seinäjoki, Finland
Elina Varamäki: School of Business and Culture, Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences, 60320 Seinäjoki, Finland

Administrative Sciences, 2018, vol. 8, issue 3, 1-13

Abstract: The ability to internationalize has become a competitive necessity for many firms, and one important for survival and growth in the era of globalization. At the same time, digitalization is transforming the locus of entrepreneurial opportunities and entrepreneurial practices, thus offering new perspectives on internationalization. Internationalization requires marketing capability as well as market orientation. However, there is a gap in the literature exploring the interplay of digitalization, market orientation and marketing capability in the internationalization process. The objective of the present study is to improve our understanding of (1) the impact of market orientation, marketing capability and digitalization on firm performance among small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and (2) the differences in this impact between internationalized SMEs and SMEs operating only in domestic markets. The data were gathered from 101 Finnish SMEs in the wood-product industry, and analyzed with AMOS using path analysis. The results show that marketing capability mediates the effect of market orientation on firm performance. For internationalized firms, market orientation and marketing capability are crucial to their success in foreign markets. However, digitalization has no effect on firm performance with internationalized firms. With other firms, the effect is direct and significant.

Keywords: market orientation; marketing capability; digitalization; internationalization; SME (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L M M0 M1 M10 M11 M12 M14 M15 M16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (18)

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