Development of firm export market oriented behavior: Evidence from an emerging economy

Based on gathered survey data from Chinese apparel exporters, using structural equation modeling technique, a proposed firm's export market oriented (EMO) behavior model was empirically tested. A great set of antecedent factors (i.e., organizational structure, export systems, export coordination, top management factors, and export dependence) and moderating factors (i.e., environmental turbulence, export experience) were examined in the context of China, which extends the EMO literature from mainly Western business setting to non-Western business environment. This study identifies several key antecedents (i.e., export reward and training systems, top management support, and export dependence) facilitating the development of firm's EMO behavior while determining the specific moderating effects of environment and experience, and therein explains a large percentage of variance in EMO behavior (78.3%). Importantly, we uncover some instances where the theory of firm EMO behavior's antecedents does not hold for Chinese apparel exporters.