Determinants of interest in the acquisition of export skills for Chinese exporters

Purpose – The paper aims to comprehensively study the current learning environment of export skills in China and to identify the needs of Chinese firms for skills training. Thus, it proposes a conceptual framework of skills identification and ranking model. Another main purpose of this paper is to expand the domain of export skills and knowledge management by including a broader range of the determinants of interests in export skills acquisition and identification than is normally found in the related literature. Design/methodology/approach – A comprehensive and thorough survey on the learning environment of export skills acquisition was conducted in this study targeting 800 exporting firms in China. Ten propositions were proposed and the data were complemented through correspondence analysis to study the determinants of interest in export skills acquisition among these firms. Findings – The results indicate that the overall level of export skills for Chinese exporters is somewhat low and little training resources are invested in export skills acquisition. Furthermore, interest in export skills learning is broad based and unrelated to ownership structure. It is demonstrated that Chinese exporters of greater export development and management commitment show more interest in export skills learning. Those of lower export development need more support from government trade agencies, yet in general, government assistance in meeting the demand of Chinese exporters is still insufficient. Research limitations/implications – Because of the chosen research approach, the research results may lack generalisability. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to find the best practice. Practical implications – The paper includes implications for the intelligence of learning environment, the identification of determinants of the learning interests in export skills and the development of skills training and knowledge management. Originality/value – This paper can be used by the exporting firms, the universities and government trade agencies to design more effective skill training programs and to guide their resource allocations.