Export promotion organizations (EPOs) encourage
local business communities to market their goods more efficiently and effectively
in the international marketplace through the services that they provide
to existing and potential exporters. EPOs strive to (1) generate
awareness of export opportunities, (2) provide access to export expertise
and know-how, (3) offer export planning and preparation assistance, and
(4) support foreign market activity through organizational help and cost
sharing (Seringhaus and Botschen 1991). EPOs disseminate information
(e.g., conducting foreign market research; providing information about
export laws, financial assistance, paperwork, and processes; offering educational
conferences and seminars; disseminating information about export opportunities
and industry trends). They also forge relationships (e.g., brokering
relationships between buyers, suppliers, and other exporters through trade
fairs, missions, and other networking activities). Many EPOs play
a lobbying role, representing exporter interests to the government and
public (ITC 1986). International marketing scholars have suggested
that EPOs can be vehicles for export-led, national economic growth (e.g.,
Czinkota 1982, 2001; Seringhaus 1987, 1993).
Investigations regarding EPO performance have
examined how exporter awareness and use of EPO services impact firm-level
export sales. The majority of this research consists of case studies
of single EPOs in a particular national context. Perhaps reflecting
the global predominance of the public-sector EPO organizational form,
the bulk of EPO case studies examines public-sector EPO efficacy (e.g.,
Olson 1975; Czinkota 1983; Keesing and Singer 1990a, 1990b; Seringhaus
1986, 1987, 1993; Seringhaus and Rosson 1990, 1991). Fewer studies
have explored the performance of private-sector EPOs (e.g., Seringhaus
and Botschen 1990; Riddle 2001).
Yet, the case study approach to EPO research
fails to reflect the full EPO landscape reality faced by exporters.
Often there are multiple organizations that provide export-promotion assistance
services to exporters within a particular country. Export-promotion
services can be provided by several distinct governmental agencies.
For example, in the United States, export-promtotion services are offered
by the US Department of Commerce, Export-Import Bank, Foreign Agriculture
Service, the Trade Development Agency, and OPIC—just to name a few.
Multiple private-sector organizations may provide export-promotion services.
Both the Turkish Clothing Manufacturers’ Association and the Istanbul Textile
and Clothing Exporters Union offer export-promotion services to clothing
producers in Istanbul, Turkey. Export-promotion services also may
be offered by a combination of public- and private-sector organizations,
as they are in many newly industrialized countries (Keesing and Singer
1990a).
But, little is known about how EPOs coexist
in the same national context. Do they compete with one another for
exporter attention and patronage? How do they differentiate themselves
from other EPOs, and how is this differentiation communicated to exporters?
For example, EPOs might differentiate themselves by strategically targeting
their services to a specific subset(s) of exporters (e.g., SMEs, traditional
or non-traditional export industries, exporters from particular geographic
areas). Similarly, they may develop core competencies in certain
types of services (e.g., educational seminars, foreign market research,
trade missions).
Do EPOs cooperate with one another? EPOs
may coordinate activities and services, such as jointly sponsored research
activities or training programs or providing information and links about
other EPOs on their web pages. Theory from the interorganizational
relationship and strategic alliance literatures may prove useful in explaining
how, why, and to what extent EPOs cooperate with one another.
Future research should strive to explore the
broader organizational field that exporters face in the export-promotion
assistance environment. EPO interorganizational activity may offer
an untapped storehouse of potentially valuable data. EPOs that compete
and/or cooperate with one another may be more successful in generating
exporter awareness of their services, inspiring exporters to utilize the
services that they provide, and impacting firm-level export sales.
Investigations regarding EPO competition and cooperation may shed new light
on the determinants of EPO success. |
| References
Czinkota, Michael. 1982. Export Development Strategies:
US Promotion Policies. New York: Praeger.
_____. 1983. Export Promotion. New York:
Praeger Publishers.
_____. 2001. “A National Export Assistance Policy
for New and Growing Businesses” in Best Practices in International Business,
Michael R. Czinkota and Ilkka A. Ronkainen (eds.) Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt
Publishers.
ITC. 1986. Trade Promotion Institutions: Monograph
on the Role and Organization of Trade Promotion, International Trade Centre
UNCTAD/GATT, Geneva.
Keesing, Donald B. and Andrew Singer. 1990a. “Development
Assistance Gone Wrong: Why Support Services Have Failed to Expand Exports.”
Policy, Research, External Affairs Working Paper WPS543, Country Economics
Department, The World Bank, November 1990.
____________ and ____________. 1990b. “How Support
Services Can Expand Manufactured Exports: New Methods of Assistance” Policy,
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Olson, H.C. 1975. Studies in Export Promotion.
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Riddle, Liesl. 2001. The Social Embeddedness of
Export Promotion Organization in the Turkish Clothing Industry. Unpublished
PhD Dissertation. Austin, Texas: The University of Texas at Austin.
Seringhaus, F.H.R. 1986. “Impact of Government
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_____. 1987. “Export Promotion: The Role and Impact
of Government Services” International Marketing Review, Vol.2: pp.106-116.
_____. 1993. “Export Promotion in Developing Countries:
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____________ and Guenther Botschen. 1991. “Cross-National
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Companies” Journal of International Business 22(1):115-134.
____________ and Philip J. Rossen. 1990. Government
Export Promotion: A Global Perspective. London: Routledge.
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