Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T06:36:38.758Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Information interests and exporting: The Spanish natural stone industry

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 February 2015

María-Valle Santos-Álvarez  and
María-Teresa García-Merino
María-Valle Santos-Álvarez
Affiliation:
Departamento de Organización de Empresas y CIM, Universidad de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
María-Teresa García-Merino
Affiliation:
Departamento de Organización de Empresas y CIM, Universidad de Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Export decisions depend on a wide variety of information stimuli. The current research focuses on the attention that international entrepreneurs (IEs) dedicate to different information stimuli relating to how the firm operates internationally, and examines whether the IE's attention varies in function of their experience and knowledge. For their empirical analysis, the authors study the information interests of the IEs in the Spanish natural stone industry. They identify three centres of interest: the strategic attractiveness of the foreign markets, barriers to exporting, and support programmes for exporters. The results show that the IEs are most interested in information about support programmes, and that is due to IEs with scant knowledge about the export markets. As the IEs accumulate knowledge about which are the main export markets, they become more interested in information about the strategic attractiveness of these markets. The authors conclude that a trade-off exists between the information about market attractiveness and the information about support programmes in the IE's attention. In contrast, attention towards export barriers behaves independently and depends on the IE's experience.

Keywords

information interestsattention focusinformation stimulialertnessexperienceknowledgeinternational entrepreneur
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 18 , Issue 6 , November 2012 , pp. 845 - 857
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alonso, R. J. A. (1994). Comportamiento exportador de la empresa. Dirección y Organización: Revista de Dirección, Organización y Administración de Empresas, 12, 50–63.Google Scholar
Aragonés, C., & Küster, I. (2007). Aplicación de técnicas para la identificación de grupos competitivos de empresas lideres del sector de la piedra natural. Revista Asturiana de Economia, 38, 133–161.Google Scholar
Aragonés, C., & Küster, I. (2009). Enfoques y técnicas de perspectiva cognitiva para agrupar empresas del sector extractivo de piedra natural. Cuadernos Aragoneses de Economia, 19(1), 99–124.Google Scholar
Ardichivili, A., Cardozo, R., & Ray, S. (2003). A theory of entrepreneurial opportunity identification and development. Journal of Business Venturing, 18(1), 105–123.Google Scholar
Barney, J. B. (1986). Strategic factor markets: Expectations, luck, and business strategy. Management Science, 36(10), 1231–1241.Google Scholar
Baron, R. A. (2004). The cognitive perspective: A valuable tool for answering entrepreneurship's basic ‘why’ questions. Journal of Business Venturing, 19(2), 221–239.Google Scholar
Baron, R. A. (2006). Opportunity recognition as pattern recognition: How entrepreneurs ‘connect the dots’ to identify new business opportunities. Academy of Management Perspectives, 20(1), 104–119.Google Scholar
Butler, J. E., Doktor, R., & Lins, F. A. (2010). Linking international entrepreneurship to uncertainty, opportunity discovery and cognition. Journal of International Entrepreneurship, 8(2), 121–134.Google Scholar
Cavusgil, S. T. (1980). On the internationalisation process of the firm. European Research, 8(6), 273–281.Google Scholar
Cho, T. S., & Hambrick, D. (2006). Attention as the mediator between the top management team characteristics and strategic change: The case of airline deregulation. Organization Science, 17(4), 453–469.Google Scholar
Claver, E., & Quer, D. (2001). La dirección estratégica de la internacionalización de la empresa: Propuesta de un marco teórico integrador. Información Comercial Española, 794, 37–59.Google Scholar
Cooper, A. C., Folta, T. B., & Woo, C. (1995). Entrepreneurial information search. Journal of Business Venturing, 10, 107–120.Google Scholar
Crick, D., Jones, M., & Hart, S. (1994). International marketing research activities of UK exporters: An exploratory study. Journal of Euro Marketing, 3(2), 7–26.Google Scholar
Daft, R. L., & Weick, K. E. (1984). Toward a model of organizations as interpretation systems. Academy of Management Review, 9(2), 284–295.Google Scholar
D'Aveni, R. A., & MacMillan, I. C. (1990). Crisis and the content of managerial communications: A study of the focus of attention of top managers in surviving and failing firms. Administrative Science Quarterly, 35, 634–657.Google Scholar
Dutton, J. E., & Jackson, S. E. (1987). Categorizing strategic issues: Links to organizational action. Academy of Management Review, 12(1), 76–90.Google Scholar
Fayos, T., & Calderón, H. (2004). Analisis de la relación entre el compromiso exportador y las ayudas a la internacionalización de las empresas. Investigaciones Europeas de Dirección y Economia de la Empresa, 10(2), 201–220.Google Scholar
Fiol, C. M., & O'Connor, E. J. (2003). Waking up! Mindfulness in the face of bandwagons. Academy of Management Review, 28(1), 54–70.Google Scholar
Fiske, S. T., & Taylor, S. E. (1991). Social cognition. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Foss, N. J., Klein, P. G., Kor, Y. Y., & Mahoney, J. T. (2008). Entrepreneurship, subjectivism, and the resource-based view: Toward a new synthesis. Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 2, 73–94.Google Scholar
Gaglio, C. M., & Katz, J. A. (2001). The psychological basis of opportunity identification: Entrepreneurial alertness. Small Business Economics, 16(2), 95–111.Google Scholar
Haukedal, W. (1994). Categories of strategic stimuli: Their implications for managers' sense making of organizational environments. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 10(3), 267–279.Google Scholar
Huff, A. S. (1990). Mapping strategic thought. Chichester, England: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Johanson, J., & Vahlne, J. E. (1990). The mechanism of internationalisation. International Marketing Review, 7(4), 11–24.Google Scholar
Kaish, S., & Gilad, B. (1991). Characteristics of opportunities search of entrepreneurs versus executives: Sources, interests, general alertness. Journal of Business Venturing, 6(1), 45–61.Google Scholar
Kirzner, I. (1973). Competition and entrepreneurship. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Kirzner, I. (1979). Perception, opportunity, and profit: Studies in the theory of entrepreneurship. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Kirzner, I. (1997). Entrepreneurial discovery and the competitive market process: An Austrian approach. Journal of Economic Literature, 35, 20–85.Google Scholar
Krueger, N. F. (2000). The cognitive infrastructure of opportunity emergence. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 24(3), 5–23.Google Scholar
Krueger, N. F. (2003). The cognitive psychology of entrepreneurship. In Acs, Z. J. & Audretsch, D. B. (Eds.), Handbook of entrepreneurship research. New York, NY: Springer.Google Scholar
Leonidou, L. C. (1995). Export stimulation research: Review, evaluation and integration. International Business Review, 4(2), 133–156.Google Scholar
Lu, J. W., & Beamish, P. W. (2001). The internationalization and performance of SMEs. Strategic Management Journal, 22, 565–586.Google Scholar
McAuley, A., (1993). The perceived usefulness of export information sources. European Journal of Marketing, 27(10), 52–64.Google Scholar
McGrath, R. G., & MacMillan, I. C., (2000). The entrepreneurial mindset. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.Google Scholar
Minniti, M. (2004). Entrepreneurial alertness and asymmetric information in a spin-glass model. Journal of Business Venturing, 19(5), 637–658.Google Scholar
Minniti, M., & Bygrave, W. (2001). A dynamic model of entrepreneurial learning. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 25(3), 5–16.Google Scholar
Mintzberg, H., Raisinghani, D., & Théorét, A. (1976). The structure of unstructured decision process. Administrative Science Quarterly, 21, 246–275.Google Scholar
Nadkarni, S., & Barr, P. (2008). Environmental context, managerial cognition, and strategic action: An integrated view. Strategic Management Journal, 29(13), 1395–1427.Google Scholar
Oviatt, B. M., & McDougall, P. P. (2005). The internationalization of entrepreneurship. Journal of International Business Studies, 12(2), 147–158.Google Scholar
Politis, D. (2008). Does prior start-up experience matter for entrepreneurs' learning? A comparison between novice and habitual entrepreneurs. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 15(3), 472–489.Google Scholar
Ripollés-Meliá, M., Menguzzato-Boulard, M., & Sanchez-Peinado, L. (2007). Entrepreneurial orientation and international commitment. Journal of International Entrepreneurship, 5, 65–83.Google Scholar
Roberts, E. (1991). Entrepreneurs in high technology: Lessons from MIT and beyond. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Ruzzier, M., Hisrich, R. D., & Antoncic, B. (2006). SME internationalization research past, present, and future. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 13(4), 476–497.Google Scholar
Santos, M. V., & Garcia, M. T. (2008). The export decision and the cognitive limitation of the managers. Journal of Information and Knowledge Management, 7(2), 123–133.Google Scholar
Santos, M. V., & García, M. T. (2010). The role of the entrepreneur in identifying international expansion as a strategic opportunity. International Journal of Information Management, 30, 512–520.Google Scholar
Sarason, Y., Dean, T., & Dillard, J. F. (2005). Entrepreneurship as the nexus of individual and opportunity: A structuration view. Journal of Business Venturing, 21, 286–305.Google Scholar
Shane, S. (2000). Prior knowledge and the discovery of entrepreneurial opportunities. Organization Science, 11(4), 448–469.Google Scholar
Shane, S., & Venkataraman, S. (2000). The promise of entrepreneurship as a field of research. Academy of Management Review, 25(1), 217–226.Google Scholar
Shaver, K. G., & Scott, L. R. (1991, Winter). Person, process, choice: The psychology of new venture creation. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 16(2), 23–45.Google Scholar
Souchon, A. L., & Diamantopoulos, A. (1997). Use and non-use of export information: Some preliminary insights into antecedents and impact on export performance. Journal of Marketing Management, 13(1–3), 135–151.Google Scholar
Swets, J. A. (1992). The science of choosing the right decision threshold in high-stakes diagnostics. American Psychologist, 47, 522–532.Google Scholar
Tang, J., Kacmar, K. M., & Busenitz, L. (2012). Entrepreneurial alertness in the pursuit of new opportunities. Journal of Business Venturing, 27(1), 77–94.Google Scholar
Ucbasaran, D., Westhead, P., & Wright, M. (2006). Habitual entrepreneurs. Gloucester, England: Edward Elgar.Google Scholar
Ucbasaran, D., Westhead, P., & Wright, M. (2009). The extent and nature of opportunity identification by experienced entrepreneurs. Journal of Business Venturing, 24, 99–115.Google Scholar
Vaghely, I. P., & Julien, P. A. (2010). Are opportunities recognized or constructed? An information perspective on entrepreneurial opportunity identification. Journal of Business Venturing, 25, 73–86.Google Scholar
Venkataraman, S. (1997). The distinctive domain of entrepreneurship research. In Katz, J. (ed.), Advances in entrepreneurship, firm emergence and growth (Vol. 3, pp. 119–138). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.Google Scholar
Walsh, J. P. (1995). Managerial and organizational cognition: Notes from a trip down memory lane. Organizational Science, 6(3), 280–321.Google Scholar
Wang, C. L. (2008). Entrepreneurial orientation, learning, and firm performance. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 32(4), 635–657.Google Scholar
Weick, K. E. (1995). Sensemaking in organizations. London, England: Sage.Google Scholar
Westhead, P. (2008). International opportunity exploitation behavior reported by ‘types’ of firms relating to exporting experience. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 15(3), 431–456.Google Scholar
Westhead, P., Ucbasaran, D., & Wright, M. (2005). Decisions, actions, and performance: Do novice, serial, and portfolio entrepreneurs differ? Journal of Small Business Management, 43(4), 393–417.Google Scholar
Westhead, P., & Wright, M. (1998). Novice, portfolio and serial founders: Are they different? Journal of Business Venturing, 13(3), 173–204.Google Scholar
Wiklund, J., & Shepherd, D. (2003). Knowledge-based resources, entrepreneurial orientation, and the performance of small and medium-sized business. Strategic Management Journal, 24, 1307–1314.Google Scholar
Yeoh, P. L. (2000). Information acquisition activities: A study of global start-up exporting companies. Journal of International Marketing, 8(3), 36–60.Google Scholar
Yeoh, P. L. (2005). A conceptual framework of antecedents of information search in exporting. International Marketing Review, 22(2), 165–198.Google Scholar
Zahra, S. A., Korri, J. S., & Yu, J. (2005). Cognition and international entrepreneurship: Implications for research on international opportunity recognition and exploitation. International Business Review, 14(2), 129–146.Google Scholar