Export decision-making in small firms: the role of organizational learning

The United States government and many state governments are promoting exports of technology and services in order to strengthen the nation's trade balance and increase its world market share in critical industries. Environmental technology and services have been targeted as an industry with strong export potential. Small- and medium-sized U.S. environmental firms, however, earn only a small percentage of their revenues from international sales. Many obstacles seem to inhibit small firms from responding positively to U.S. export promotion policies, but many of the problems may be rooted in their organizational paradigms and perceptions of external business conditions. This study analyzes how the organizational paradigms of small environmental service firms influence their competitive orientations and interpretations of the opportunities or threats involved in exporting. Our survey found that when these small firms value organizational learning they are more likely to consider exporting as an opportunity and more likely to act on that interpretation. The findings imply that it is not enough for export promotion programs to address small firms' concerns with economic results, they must also enhance their perceptions of the value of learning from exporting.