A Typology of Strategic Behaviour among Small and Medium-Sized Exporting Businesses. A Case Study

Abstract

PIERRE-ANDRE JULIEN, AN INDUSTRIAL economist, is Director of the Bombardier Chair in Management of New Technology for Small Businesses and director of the Revue Internationale PME; Andr6Joyal is a regional economist and co-director of the Research Group in Economy and Management of Small Businesses (GREPME); Laurent Deshaies is a regional geographer and a member of GREPME. All three are professors at the University of Quebec at Trois Rivieres, Canada. Charles Ramangalahy is a research assistant with the Bombardier Chair. This paper presents the result of an in-depth case study of 20 small and medium-sized manufacturing firms, which examined their historical background, the entrepreneurs' objectives, marketing strategies, and the resources used to support export activities. Three different types of firms were identified. The first type, referred to as 'professional exporters', are proactive, have complex marketing strategies and use considerable internal and external resources in export development. A second type, referred to as 'opportunist' exporters, comprises small businesses that export as the opportunity arises; they wait for orders, behave reactively, have no specific strategy and no dedicated export resources. Between the two are 'transitional' exporters, firms trying either to achieve the status of professional exporters by becoming better organised, or to withdraw altogether from exporting in order to devote their resources to domestic market needs.