Sample characteristics (N=240)
| Sample characteristics | Exporters | Non-exporters | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. of companies | % of the sample | No. of companies | % of the sample | No. of companies | % of the sample | ||
| No. of employees | 10–49 | 63 | 26% | 97 | 40 | 160 | 67 |
| 50–249 | 57 | 24% | 23 | 10 | 80 | 33 | |
| Annual sales volume | 0–2 million Eur | 53 | 22% | 88 | 37 | 141 | 59 |
| 2–10 million Eur | 47 | 20% | 23 | 10 | 70 | 29 | |
| 10–50 million Eur | 20 | 8% | 9 | 4 | 29 | 12 | |
| Type of market | B2B | 37 | 15% | 24 | 10 | 61 | 25 |
| Both B2B and B2C | 50 | 21% | 56 | 23 | 106 | 44 | |
| B2C | 33 | 14% | 40 | 17 | 73 | 30 | |
The perceived importance of domestic network partners in achieving market success
| Non-exporters (n = 120) | Exporters (n = 120) | Overall (N =240) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average | Standard deviation | Average | Standard deviation | Average | Standard deviation | |
| Direct competitors | 4.71 | 1.637 | 4.86 | 1.667 | 4.78 | 1.650 |
| Indirect competitors | 4.24 | 1.501 | 4.28 | 1.641 | 4.26 | 1.569 |
| Customers | 5.41 | 1.381 | 5.36 | 1.538 | 5.38 | 1.459 |
| Suppliers | 5.08 | 1.524 | 5.33 | 1.490 | 5.20 | 1.509 |
| Intermediaries | 4.15 | 1.943 | 4.56 | 1,882 | 4.35 | 1.920 |
| Research institutions | 3.25 | 1.893 | 3.30 | 1.964 | 3.28 | 1.925 |
| State and local governmental institutions | 2.95 | 1.772 | 3.22 | 1,879 | 3.08 | 1.828 |
| Trade associations | 3.06 | 1.812 | 3.03 | 1,863 | 3.04 | 1.834 |
| Family | 3.79 | 1.995 | 3.60 | 2.072 | 3.70 | 2.032 |
| Friends | 3.61 | 1.946 | 3.50 | 2.021 | 3.55 | 1.980 |
| Colleagues | 3.64 | 1.939 | 3.52 | 1.996 | 3.58 | 1.965 |
Correlations between the importance of domestic and foreign partners and the paired-samples t-test results for non exporters
| Type of partner: domestic vs. foreign | Correlations for dependent samples | Paired differences | t | df | Sig. (two-sided) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Correlation | Sig. | Mean | Std. deviation | Std. Error Mean | 95% confidence interval of the difference | |||||
| Lower | Upper | |||||||||
| Direct competitors | 0.382 | 0.000 | 10.617 | 1.928 | 0.176 | 1.268 | 1.965 | 9.185 | 119 | 0.000 |
| Indirect competitors | 0.555 | 0.000 | 1.200 | 1.570 | 0.143 | 0.916 | 1.484 | 8.375 | 119 | 0.000 |
| Customers | 0.075 | 0.418 | 2.417 | 2.144 | 0.196 | 2.029 | 2.804 | 12.346 | 119 | 0.000 |
| Suppliers | 0.302 | 0.001 | 2.033 | 1.927 | 0.176 | 1.685 | 2.382 | 11.559 | 119 | 0.000 |
| Intermediaries | 0.506 | 0.000 | 1.208 | 1.810 | 0.165 | 0.881 | 1.535 | 7.314 | 119 | 0.000 |
| Research institutions | 0.429 | 0.000 | 0.467 | 1.878 | 0.171 | 0.127 | 0.806 | 2.722 | 119 | 0.007 |
| State and local | 0.504 | 0.000 | 0.117 | 1.706 | 0.156 | −0.192 | 0.425 | 0.749 | 119 | 0.455 |
| governmental | ||||||||||
| institutions | ||||||||||
| Trade associations | 0.461 | 0.000 | 0.192 | 1.807 | 0.165 | −0.135 | 0.518 | 1.162 | 119 | 0.248 |
| Family | 0.261 | 0.004 | 0.933 | 2.252 | 0.206 | 0.526 | 1.340 | 4.540 | 119 | 0.000 |
| Friends | 0.401 | 0.000 | 0.742 | 2.002 | 0.183 | 0.380 | 1.104 | 4.058 | 119 | 0.000 |
| Colleagues | 0.403 | 0.000 | 0.767 | 1.995 | 0.182 | 0.406 | 1.127 | 4.210 | 119 | 0.000 |
The perceived significance of the cooperation benefits for the market success
| Non-exporters (n = 120) | Exporters (n = 120) | Overall (N = 240) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average | Standard deviation | Average | Standard deviation | Average | Standard deviation | |
| Improving image | 5.63* | 1.409 | 6.25* | 0.964 | 5.94 | 1.244 |
| Organizing supplies (parts, raw materials) | 5.38* | 1.421 | 5.74* | 1.381 | 5.56 | 1.410 |
| Gathering information on clients’ needs | 4.99* | 1.531 | 5.69* | 1.333 | 5.34 | 1.475 |
| Organizing sales and distribution | 4.83* | 1.648 | 5.80* | 1.234 | 5.31 | 1.533 |
| Gathering information on potential markets (e.g., market trends, number of clients) | 4.81* | 1.573 | 5.63* | 1.402 | 5.22 | 1.543 |
| Organizing promotional activities | 4.67* | 1.662 | 5.45* | 1.608 | 5.06 | 1.678 |
| Innovation development | 4.37* | 1.847 | 5.47* | 1.577 | 4.92 | 1.800 |
| Acquiring resources (financial and other) | 4.03* | 1.801 | 4.74* | 1.678 | 4.39 | 1.773 |
The perceived importance of foreign network partners in achieving market success
| Type of partner | Non-exporters (n = 20) | Exporters (n = 120) | Overall (N = 240) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average | Standard deviation | Average | Standard deviation | Average | Standard deviation | |
| Direct competitors | 3.09* | 1,820 | 4.97* | 1.685 | 4.03 | 1.986 |
| Indirect competitors | 3.04* | 1.784 | 4.44* | 1.560 | 3.74 | 1.813 |
| Customers | 2.99* | 1.747 | 5.38* | 1.427 | 4.19 | 1.992 |
| Suppliers | 3.04* | 1.727 | 4.78* | 1,885 | 3.91 | 2.002 |
| Intermediaries | 2.94* | 1.667 | 4.21* | 2.016 | 3.58 | 1.952 |
| Research institutions | 2.78 | 1.589 | 2.88 | 1.818 | 2.83 | 1.704 |
| State and local governmental institutions | 2.83 | 1.647 | 2.78 | 1,826 | 2.80 | 1.735 |
| Trade associations | 2.87 | 1.660 | 2.77 | 1.823 | 2.82 | 1.740 |
| Family | 2.86 | 1.687 | 2.92 | 1.973 | 2.89 | 1.832 |
| Friends | 2.87 | 1.690 | 2.85 | 1.930 | 2.86 | 1.810 |
| Colleagues | 2.88 | 1.693 | 2.86 | 1.920 | 2.87 | 1.806 |
Correlations between the importance of domestic and foreign partners and the paired-samples t-test results for exporters
| Type of partner: domestic vs. foreign | Correlations for dependent samples | Paired differences | t | df | Sig. (two-sided) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Correlation | Sig. | Mean | Std. deviation | Std. error of the mean | 95% confidence interval of the difference | |||||
| Lower | Upper | |||||||||
| Direct competitors | 0.357 | 0.000 | −0.108 | 1.900 | 0.173 | −0.452 | 0.235 | −0.625 | 119 | 0.533 |
| Indirect competitors | 0.496 | 0.000 | −0.158 | 1.609 | 0.147 | −0.449 | 0.132 | −1.078 | 119 | 0.283 |
| Customers | 0.477 | 0.000 | −0.025 | 1.520 | 0.139 | −0.300 | 0.250 | −0.180 | 119 | 0.857 |
| Suppliers | 0.418 | 0.000 | 0.550 | 1.851 | 0.169 | 0.215 | 0.885 | 3.255 | 119 | 0.001 |
| Intermediaries | 0.582 | 0.000 | 0.350 | 1.785 | 0.163 | 0.027 | 0.673 | 2.148 | 119 | 0.034 |
| Research institutions | 0.512 | 0.000 | 0.425 | 1.873 | 0.171 | 0.086 | 0.764 | 2.486 | 119 | 0.014 |
| State and local governmental institutions | 0.560 | 0.000 | 0.442 | 1.738 | 0.159 | 0.127 | 0.756 | 2.783 | 119 | 0.006 |
| Trade associations | 0.658 | 0.000 | 0.258 | 1.526 | 0.139 | −0.017 | 0.534 | 1.855 | 119 | 0.066 |
| Family | 0.629 | 0.000 | 0.683 | 1.744 | 0.159 | 0.368 | 0.999 | 4.292 | 119 | 0.000 |
| Friends | 0.674 | 0.000 | 0.650 | 1.596 | 0.146 | 0.361 | 0.939 | 4.460 | 119 | 0.000 |
| Colleagues | 0.662 | 0.000 | 0.658 | 1.611 | 0.147 | 0.367 | 0.950 | 4.475 | 119 | 0.000 |