Estudio de la relación entre innovación y resultado exportadoruna aproximación empírica

Abstract

OBJECTIVES OF THE THESIS - Due to the high level of competition and dynamism that characterizes the actual business environment, researchers, managers and public policy makers emphasize the need for companies to invest in innovation and internationalization, arguing that these are key strategies for successfully facing these challenges and growing, or simply surviving. In addition, an important body of literature highlights the relationship between innovation and internationalization and, more specifically, between innovation and exporting, the most basic mode used by companies to access foreign markets. In recent years, a number of studies have been published that empirically analyse the relationship between innovation and exports, specifically export performance, but their conclusions are "fragmented and inconsistent", which highlights the need for further research to improve knowledge in this area. In response to this call, the main objective of this thesis is to deepen the knowledge of the relationship between innovation and exports, in particular, the results obtained by the company in the markets to which it exports. METHODOLOGY - Based on the proposed objective, the thesis is structured in 5 chapters. In the first chapter, the theoretical framework, a review of previous theoretical and empirical research on the effect of innovation on export activity has been carried out. Based on the gaps detected in this review and the recommendations made from the literature to improve the quality of the studies on this area, three research models have been proposed, corresponding to chapters 2, 3 and 4. In each of these chapters, a specific type of innovation is considered and the empirical studies corresponding to the models proposed are carried out on samples based on exporting companies in the Region of Murcia and neighbouring provinces. The thesis ends with chapter 5, of general conclusions, that synthesizes the main results, contributions that the thesis makes to the literature, practical implications and limitations of the empirical studies to conclude by proposing the main future lines of research derived from the work carried out. CONCLUSIONS - The results obtained showed that the development of three specific types of innovation, product innovation, business process innovation and business model innovation, is related to a better export performance. It was also found that the development of competitive advantages explains why innovating has a positive effect on export performance, although this is only demonstrated in the case of cost advantage, not differentiation. In addition, it is verified that two of the antecedents of business model innovation most highlighted by the literature: open innovation and organizational agility, in its two types, operational and market, are related to export success. However, in the case of organizational agility, a striking result is that, although the two types considered, operational and market, are significantly related to business model innovation, in the case of operational agility the direction of the relationship is negative. Finally, the thesis provides additional evidence to that already existing on the importance for companies to develop eco-innovations, in general, to improve their environmental performance.