Intra- and Interfirm Coordination of Export Manufacturers: A Cluster Analysis of Indigenous Chinese Exporters

Journal of International Marketing

Intra- and Interfirm Coordination of Export Manufacturers: A Cluster Analysis of Indigenous Chinese Exporters

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Published 9/1/2008

Author: Chun Zhang, Zuohao Hu, and Flora F. Gu

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Executive Summary
Export manufacturers have struggled with coordinating activities internally among functional units and externally with foreign distributors. Previous research has cited divergent goals between cross-border partners and a desire for autonomy among the functional managers within a company as major barriers to coordinating export activities. The insufficient coordination resulting from such barriers has been a major reason for mediocre export performance for many export manufacturers. Zhang, Hu, and Gu conceptualize export coordination as the process of facilitating information flows and aligning work-related goals among entities involved in export operations. They identify four components of export coordination indicated by the previous export literature: intrafirm communication among functional areas and three forms of interfirm coordination strategies between export manufacturers and foreign distributors. The interfirm coordination strategies include (1) output control, (2) process control, and (3) bilateral flexibility between export manufacturers and foreign distributors. Using a cluster analysis, the authors include the four components as inputs to develop profiles of export manufacturers. They identify four distinct profiles of export manufacturers using data collected from indigenous Chinese export manufacturers: balanced coordinators, interactive coordinators, flexibility-only coordinators, and unfocused coordinators. Zhang, Hu, and Gu find that the best performers are balanced coordinators, or the export manufacturers that concurrently deploy all four types of intra- and interfirm coordination strategies, relying heavily on output control and flexibility.

Biography
Chun Zhang is Assistant Professor at the School of Business Administration,University of Vermont. Her research interests are in international channel management and buyer-supplier relations in industrial markets. She has published in Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of International Marketing, Journal of World Business, and International Marketing Review.

Zuohao Hu holds a PhD from Kyoto University, Japan and is Professor of of Marketing, School of Economics and Management at the Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. He is also the Executive Associate Director of the China Business Research Center. His research interests involve marketing strategy, international marketing, channel management, consumer behaviour, and brand strategy. He coauthored the book, Marketing Innovation of Japan’s Household Electronic Appliance Companies.

Flora F. Gu is Assistant Professor of Marketing in the Department of Management and Marketing at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Her research interests include B2B relationship management, guanxi networks, and marketing issues in China. Her research appears in Journal of Advertising and Journal of International Business Studies.

Journal of International Marketing, Volume 16, Number 3, September 2008
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Journal of International Marketing