A contingency approach to international marketing strategy and decision-making structure among exporting firms

Purpose - Although the relation between standardization/adaptation strategy and performance has been extensively examined in the international marketing literature, the findings concerning these factors are still inconclusive. The conflicting results might relate to the analysis approach adopted in prior research, which tends to focus on the direct effect of marketing strategies. By utilizing the contingency theory, the purpose of this paper is to uncover the moderation factors for the strategy-structure-performance paradigm in the export sector. Internal, external and product-related factors are explored. Design/methodology/approach - This study focuses on four strategy and structure combinations: The global approach (standardization-centralization); the glocal approach (standardization-decentralization); the regcal approach (adaptation-centralization); and the local approach (adaptation-decentralization). The interactive effect of the four approaches and a set of contingent factors are examined based on the experience of 151 exporting firms operating in the EU region. The responsent firms operate in various manufacturing and service industries. Findings - It is revealed that firm size, international business experience, consumer characteristics, the legal environment, cultural distance and the nature of the products play a moderating role between a firm's adoption of a particular approach and its performance, as measured by market share and sales growth, dependent on the relevant marketing program elements (i.e. product, price, promotion and place). Originality/value - The research findinds presented in the paper have significant implications for future research and strategic application.