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A critical incident analysis of the Exportbehaviour of
export behaviour of SMEs: SMEs
evidence from an emerging market
Obi Berko Obeng Damoah 309
University of Ghana Business School, University of Ghana, Legon,
Accra Legon, Ghana Received 30 November 2016
Revised 18 November 2017
Accepted 20 November 2017
Abstract
Purpose – In line with the slogan “Africa rising”, the paper responds to the calls to shed light on the
management knowledge of Africa, especially on the internationalisation of process of small andmedium-sized
enterprises (SMEs) from Africa. This paper aims to explore the critical incidents that trigger the export
initiation of SMEs from the garment and textile sub-sector of Ghana.
Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on the qualitative multi-case study research
approach, coupled with the critical incident method and uses 36 case firms from the garment and textile sub-
sector of Ghana.
Findings – From the interview transcripts, it was found that being in the receipt of unsolicited order, wining
government award and having international orientation are among the critical incidents that catapult SMEs
in the garment and textile sub-sector of Ghana to initiate export business.
Research limitations/implications – The study is based on the interpretivist qualitative method;
therefore, future studies could extend the results by improving the sample size and use statistical methods.
Practical implications – Based on the findings, it is recommended that what is needed to improve export
participation of SMEs from Ghana is entrepreneurial orientation. Implicitly, public policy must promote
entrepreneurship education, i.e whether the government expects to see improvement in export involvement of
SMEs from Ghana. Such initiatives will catapult most entrepreneurs from their comfort zones to take
advantage of the various critical incidents in the external business environment and become exporters.
Originality/value – The contribution of the paper is that unlike previous studies that use objective
quantitative measures to examine the issue from other settings, the present paper uses the critical incident
method which is proven to delve deeper into the phenomenon. Another contribution is that it sheds light on the
internationalisation process of manufacturing SMEs from an under-researched and a new geographical context.
Keywords Ghana, SMEs, Exports, Internationalization, Garment and textiles
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Pacheco (2017) and Babatunde (2017) affirm that the internationalisation of small and
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) continues to receive research attention. Marta and
Gancarczyk (2017) note that SMEs are still the core of industrial clusters in most economies.
Adomako et al. (2017) maintain that SMEs internationalisation remains one of the critical
strategic decisions for most owners-managers across the world because of the benefits
associated with the activity. SMEs internationalisation activity offers enormous practical
benefits to policymakers, practitioners, development organisations, educators and
researchers (Misati et al., 2017). Employment generation, foreign exchange earnings and critical perspectives on
international business
firm-level efficiency and competitiveness are among the benefits of SMEs’ Vol. 14 No. 2/3, 2018
pp. 309-334
internationalisation (Dominguez and Mayrhofer, 2017; Pacheco, 2017; Babatunde, 2017). © EmeraldPublishingLimited
1742-2043
Advances in international transportation and communication technologies have been DOI 10.1108/cpoib-11-2016-0061
CPOIB identified as the factors accounting for the phenomenal presence of SMEs in the
14,2/3 international market (Etemad, 2004; Syed et al., 2011). Wright et al. (2007) maintain that
advances in international transportation and communication technologies in particular,
have influenced most governments of the developed countries to promote export activities of
SMEs.
Different researchers define internationalisation differently. Calof and Beamish (1995,
310 p. 116) conceptualised internationalisation as “the process of adapting firms’ operations
(strategy, structure and resources, etc.) to international environments”. Andersson (2000)
views internationalisation as being a process through which firms intensify their
participation in the international market operation. According to Amighini et al. (2013),
internationalisation is seen as the level of a firm’s involvement in global market transaction.
One of the often-cited definition is being “the process of increasing involvement in
international operations” (Welch and Luostarinen, 1988, p. 84). For some authors (Fernandez
and Nieto, 2006), the preceding conceptualizations seem broad and capture every firm,
including the large-scale multinational enterprise (MNCs), but SMEs are unique compared to
MNCs. Consequently, Fernandez and Nieto (2006) define SMEs internationalisation to mean
export business. Fernandez and Nieto (2006) define the internationalisation of SMEs as the
process by which either total sales or part is derived from foreign sales. Jones and Craven
(2001) and Love and Roper (2015) concur with this definition and maintain that with SMEs
export business is always the first stage in the internationalisation progression. So Love and
Roper (2015, p. 29) defined exporting as “trading internationally in goods and/or services,
conducted either directly or through a third party (such as a sales agent)”.
According to Hollenstein (2005) and Amal and Rocha Freitag Filho (2010),
internationalisation of the SMEs gathered momentum in the 1980s, and since then, a number
of themes have received research attention. However, two broad themes that stand out are
the propensity to export and export intensity (Fonchamnyo, 2014; Babatunde, 2017).
Researchers (Estrin et al., 2008, Parish and Freeman 2011; Babatunde, 2017) concur that
export propensity is the likelihood of whether an SME exports while that of export intensity
concerns export as a proportion of a firm’s total sales. The propensity to export is a discrete
variable, implying whether an SME generates part or whole of its total sales from foreign
market or all from the local market. Export intensity concerns the degree and/or the extent
of export sales relative to total sales (i.e. the ratio of foreign sales to total sales). Studies
focusing on export intensity include, but are not limited to Orser et al. (2010), Serra et al.
(2011) and Ganotakis and Love (2012). Others, focusing on export intensity also include, but
are not limited to, Ganotakis and Love (2012). Besides export intensity and the propensity to
export, the other themes that have been researched are:

 internationalisation outcomes (e.g. return on equity) (Chiao et al., 2006);

 moderating and mediating factors of the antecedents of SMEs’ internationalisation-
outcome (Cassiman and Golovko, 2011); and

 SMEs’ internationalisation entry modes (Wolff and Pett, 2000).
The current study extends the propensity to export’s line of research. While some amount of
work have been done in this area (Martineau and Pastoriza, 2016), most variables that have
been researched so far are based on quantitative objective predictors. For example,
organisational level predictors [e.g. firm size, firm age, firm network capacity, innovative
products (Dana et al., 2016; Wadhwa et al., 2017)]; individual level predictors [e.g. owner-
manager’s personality characteristics (age, education), Ram
on-Llorens et al., 2017; Adomako
et al., 2017; Child et al., 2017]; institutional level predictors (e.g. central government’s export
interventions; Crick and Spence, 2005) and the structure of the domestic market (Maria-Perez Export
and Garcı¨a-A¨ lvarez, 2009). Similar others are Fromm and Dornberger (2005), Pla-Barber behaviour of
and Alegre (2007), Kneller and Pisu (2007), Fakih and Ghazalian (2013) and Babatunde
(2017). SMEs
The present study deviates from the extant studies because unlike examining similar
quantitative objective factors that facilitate and/or influence the likelihood of export, the
study explores the issue using the critical incidents method which delves deeper into the
subjective factors of the issue rather than the mere facilitating factors. It has been argued 311
that the internationlisation of SMEs is a complex phenomenon that cannot be understood in
detail using only quantitative objective determinants (Villena, 2017). So approaches such as
the critical incidents methodare timely. The critical incident as a trigger of export propensity
according to Bell et al. (2001, 2003), Nummela et al. (2006) and Zineldin (2007) refers to a
significant episode, crisis time or crucial moment that result in the opportunity for export.
Yet, despite the growing advancement of the SMEs internationalisation field, a lack of rich
as well as robust elucidation of the critical episodes, events and incidents that catapult
export initiation have not been offered. It is therefore opportune time for the research
community in the field to understand SMEs’ export behaviour using critical incidents
approach. The research gap is then the lack of adequate understanding regarding the critical
incidents which trigger the export initiation of SMEs. This study, therefore, takes the step in
part to fill the gap by empirically exploring the critical incidents that trigger export
initiation of firms from the garment and textile sub-sector of Ghana.
Where is Ghana? Unlike South Africa, Ghana is not yet one of the BRICS group of
countries, but it is one of the fastest growing economies in the continent of Africa and has
been repeatedly been referred to as the example of Africa Democracy and development
(Nyuur and Debrah, 2014; Adam et al., 2017). The size of Ghana is about 92,000 square miles,
approximately the size of the the UK and is located on the West Africa coast (Robson and
Freel, 2008). The structure of the economy of Ghana consists of three main sectors, namely,
agriculture, services and manufacturing. Among the agricultural sub-sectors include, but
are not limited to, the cultivation of mangoes, pineapples, cocoa, cereal, vegetable and other
crops. The sub-sectors of the services sector include, but are not limited to:

 transport, storage and communication; and

 the wholesale and retail trade as well as restaurants, hotels and government
services.
The sub-sectors of the manufacturing sector also include, but are not limited to:

 garments and textiles;

 food processing;

 soap and detergents; and

 timber products (wood) (Institute of Social, Statistical and Economic Research,
2007).
Of the three sectors, Ghana’s poorest performance is in the manufacturing. Yet, being one of
the fastest growing economies in the continent of Africa makes the manufacturing export
potential of Ghana one of the crucial drivers of the socio-economic development in the sub-
region.
The choice of the empirical context is deemed appropriate because of the scanty research
attention being given to the topic in Africa, granting the fact that context is crucial in
research. According to Andersson and Florén (2008), variations in contexts are critical as
CPOIB they are likely to lead to different results and therefore different implications. So there is a
14,2/3 call for more research on African internationalisation to enhance the understanding of the
topic in the field. Since the development of the field over five decades ago, studies on Africa
have lagged behind compared to the rest of the world, and this is regrettable. Leonidou et al.
(2010) systematically synthesised 821 SMEs’ export related articles, published in 75
academic journals between 1960 and 2007 and found that of the papers reviewed, about 56
312 per cent of the authors were located in North America (USA), 34.2 per cent were from
Europe, while the Asian-based studies represented 6.1 per cent. In that review, the authors
concluded that the remaining papers consisting of 1.46 per cent were from Australia and
New Zealand. Implicitly, the least was said about studies on SMEs from Africa. In a similar
review by Ribau et al. (2016), the authors found that out of the 554 SMEs’
internationalisation studies reviewed from 1977 to 2014, the literature on the
internationalisation of firms from Africa was the least represented. Mol et al. (2017) contend
that the dearth of studies on Africa implies there is currently a lack of mere descriptive
understanding of pertinent management issues. Likewise, Mol et al. (2017) called on
management scholars worldwide to adopt Africa as a fertile research context to examine the
extent to which such a geographic context will shape the understanding of existing theories.
Researchers (Fukunishi, 2004; Jackson, 2004; Ibeh et al. 2012) have shown that there is
currently a lack of adequate coverage of the internationalisation activities of firms from
Africa in the key international business (IB) literature. For instance, following a review of
internationalised firms fromAfrica between 1995 and 2011, only 54 studies were found (Ibeh
et al., 2012). Boojihawon and Acholonu (2013) confirmed that there is a lack of literature on
the internationalisation activities of firms from Africa. Boso et al. (2016), Misati et al. (2017)
and Haddoud et al. (2017) confirm that the research on the internationalisation of SMEs
remains rare in Africa; therefore, policy on the topic in Africa is limited and so policymakers
have often tended to base their decisions on studies that use data set from advanced
countries. According to Boso et al. (2012), Bianchi et al. (2017) and Haddoud et al. (2017), the
validity of using advanced countries’ research findings to inform policy in Africa is yet to be
confirmed because the ways of doing business in Africa are different.
Largely, the internationlisation of firms from Africa is crucial because it is established
that there is a statistically significant relationship between firm level internationalisation of
Africa and the economic growth of the continent (Greenaway et al., 2002; Mengistae and
Pattillo, 2004; Söderbom and Teal, 2003; Ibeh et al., 2012). Kuada (2007) supports the
internationalisation proposition and argues that the growth of firms in Africa remains
limited without internationalisation. According to Kuada (2007), compared to the rest of the
world, Africa’s internal demand is too low to facilitate the growth of its firms and so
promoting the internationalisation of African firms will facilitate the economic growth and
development of the continent. It is further argued that the average firm in Africa is small
and given the multiplicity of the challenges (e.g. poor administration, inadequate
government support and frail economic, financial and physical infrastructure base)
confronting them (Ellis and Keys, 2014; Rugasira, 2013), promoting the internationalisation
of African firms is a critical need to improve on their competitiveness. In line with
Amankwah-Amoah (2016, 2017), the paper partly positions and enhances the voice of
African management research in the context of the mainstreammanagement literature.
In total, the objective of the study is to explore the critical incidents that trigger the
export of SMEs. By achieving the objective of the paper, three contributions are to be made.
First, unlike existing studies, the present paper seek to go beyond exploring mere
quantitative objective measures that determine export initiation, but uses the critical
incidents method that delves deeper into the critical events that trigger the export initiation
of SMEs. Second, unlike previous studies, this paper uses more than one theoretical Export
framework to shed light on the topic. The aim is to make the researchers in the field behaviour of
understand the complex nature of the SMEs internationalisation phenomenon and the need
for integrated theoretical framework to share a full light on the theme (Misati, 2017). Finally, SMEs
the paper uses an under-studied geographical context to deepen an understanding of the
topic. The paper is structured as follows. Section 1 deals with the background, gaps and the
contextual information. Section 2 deals with theoretical, empirical literature and the research
question. Section 3 focuses on the methodology; Section 4 discusses the findings in the light 313
of the theoretical and previous empirical findings. Section 5 examines the implications of the
study on public policy, practice and theory.
Literature review
Internationalisation of firms from Africa
With the recent caption of Africa rising by the Economist (2010), it can be argued that the
internalisation of African firms is gradually gathering momentum. According to Boso et al.
(2016), the effort being made by African multinationals in the global landscape has
prompted the Bolton consulting group to recognise and classify 40 African global
challengers into five groupings, namely, big local players (e.g. Societe Nationale d’
Investissement Group), exporters (those wholly at home, but export a proportion of their
sales abroad), regional players (e.g. Maroc Telecom – the main Moroccan
telecommunications operator’s presence in Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Mali and Gabon;
Ecobank); multi-continental players (Orascom Telecom) and global players (consisting of
three African Multinationals with more than half of the assets based outside the continent of
Africa [Anglo American]). According to the study of the 40 African global challengers, 18
were from southern Africa, three fromwestern Africa, 17 from northern Africa and two from
south-eastern Africa. Boso et al. (2016) noted that among the factors that have propelled the
recent move of internationalisation of African firms include inter-organisational partnership
and strong reliance of networking and cooperation between firms.
Boso et al. (2016) further observe that a notable feature of the internationalisation of
African firms is the prominence of the service sector over the manufacturing sector. The
service firms are mainly banking, telecommunications and retailership businesses. Another
key feature the study notes is that the agricultural and the traditional extractive industries
are giving way to the service industry in terms of the socio-economic development of Africa.
According to other studies (Anderson, 2011; Matanda, 2012; Misati et al., 2017), the other
reasons for entering the export market by African firms are profit maximisation, market
development motive (seeking refuge following a saturated domestic market), branding and
corporate reputation and enhancing firm growth. Africa is gathering momentum indeed
with most countries, including China showing much interest in the continent (Ado and Su,
2016).
While there is a general lack of literature on the topic in Africa, a sample of recent studies
is presented as follows. Boojihawon and Acholonu, (2013) researched into the
internationalisation process of African banks, using Nigeria and Kenya. In this research, the
authors explored the motives, initiatives and pathways of internationalisation and found
that the internationalisation process of African banks is driven by leveraging on accrued
global and regional capacity. Using the coffee sub-sector in Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya,
Misati et al. (2017) found that unlike researchers who approached the internationalisation
process of SMEs with a single theoretical model, African SME internationalisation is better
explained using integrating multiple theoretical frameworks based on the stage theory,
linkage-leverage-learning and the network theories. Another study uses the staffing
CPOIB strategies of internationalised firms from Africa adopting the qualitative phenomenology
14,2/3 research approach based on three countries (Nigeria, Uganda and Ghana) (Ovadje, 2016). On
the internationalisation of African-ethnic restaurants, Otengei et al. (2017) found that the
absorption capacity of firms from Africa facilitates their capacity to attract and retain food
tourists. Using a data based on manufacturing firms from Uganda, Niringiye and
Tuyiragize (2010) found that firm size, capital–labour ratio and skill intensity are among the
314 critical determinants of the propensity to export from Africa. Though the sample of studies
above show a gradual revival of studies on the internationalisation of firms from Africa, a
new dimension the current study adds is using the Ghanaian context and using the critical
incident method to shed light on the topic.
Ghana and the garment and textile sub-sector
Ghana, like most developing countries, has hailed the internationalisation proposition from
the World Bank with the export promotion initiatives (e.g. the Ghana Free Zones Act,
Export Development and Investment Fund) (World Bank, 1993; Adjasi, 2006). The main
export products from Ghana include unprocessed cocoa, timber and minerals (e.g. gold) and
other non-traditional export commodities (e.g. fruits, vegetables, tubers and handicrafts).
Ghana’s export destinations include, but not limited to the USA, UK and Canada (Institute of
Social, Statistical and Economic Research, 2007). Of the three sub-sectors, the manufacturing
sector is the least in terms of its contribution to Ghana’s GDP. Ghana’s manufacturing sub-
sector is still at its infant stage; therefore, Ghana is generally regarded as one of the poor
manufacturing export economies (Robson and Freel, 2008). According to Damoah (2011), as
compared to other manufacturing sub-sectors of Ghana (e.g. wood, machine and metal), the
garment and textile sub-sector remains the least export manufacturing sub-sector, yet it
represents one of the heavily supported sub-sectors by successive government in the light of
export promotion (Quartey, 2006). Besides, it is one of the sub-sectors dominated by women
and the role of women is seen as being key to the socio-economic transformation of Ghana.
In addition, it is the sector that uses cheap labour which is one of Ghana’s competitive
advantages. These are among the reasons which motivated the study to use the garment
and textile sub-sector to validate the research question. The study assumes that using the
garment and textile sector holds a significant impact on the socio-economic development of
Ghana, in terms of policy directions and practical implications on SMEs’ export
development.
Theoretical framework
This study seeks to integrate five theoretical frameworks to explore the issue. Although
some studies (Bell, 1995; Coviello and Munro, 1995; Reuber and Fischer, 1997; Moen and
Servais, 2002) apply a single theoretical framework to analyse SMEs’ export behaviour, the
current study departs from that line of research and uses an integrated theoretical
framework based on:

 the resource-based view (RBV);

 the stage theory;

 the international entrepreneurship;

 the network theory; and

 the contingency theory.
The reason being the complex nature of the phenomenon which cannot be fully accounted
for by a single theoretical framework (Misati et al., 2017). The study builds on researchers
who apply more than one theoretical framework on similar studies (Coviello and Cox, 2006: Export
three integrated theoretical frameworks, namely, the network theory, RBV and international behaviour of
entrepreneurship theory; McAuley, 1999: three integrated theoretical frameworks, namely,
the FDI theory, stage theory and network theory; Crick and Spence, 2005: three integrated SMEs
theoretical frameworks, namely, the RBV, network theory and contingency theory; Hall and
Cook, 2009: two integrated theoretical frameworks the RBV and stage theory). While none of
the models are without a weakness, integrating them would reduce the individual
weaknesses and shed a fuller light on the topic. 315
Concerning the SMEs export involvement, the stage theory by Johanson and
Wiedersheim-Paul (1975) and Johanson and Vahlne (1977) assumes that firm size, firm age,
prior domestic market experience and proximity to an export market are among the
variables which trigger export initiation. The implication of this theory to the present study
is the extent to which the critical incident as well as the factors facilitating the export
initiations of firms in the garment and textile sector of Ghana are based on variables from
the stage theory. The RBV (Barney, 1991) assumes that it is the quantity and quality of the
internal resource capacity of a firm, including the influence of the owner-manager that
trigger the decision whether to export (Wright et al., 2007; Hall and Cook, 2009). The
meaning of the RBV’s theory in the present study is the extent to which the critical incident
and the factors facilitating the export initiation of firms from the garment and textile sector
of Ghana are based on variables from the RBV.
The international entrepreneurship theory assumes that a set of unique entrepreneurial
behavioural characteristics explains the likelihood of SMEs export participation at their
inception. Among the entrepreneurial behavioural characteristics include, but are not
limited to excessive alertness to, profitable international opportunities, international
orientation, IB networking behaviour and international risk-taking behaviour (McDougall
et al., 1994; Oviatt and McDougall, 1995; Dimitratos and Plakoyiannaki, 2003). While some
aspects of international entrepreneurship model hinge greatly on internationalisation at
inception, this study draws on the general entrepreneurial characteristics of the owner-
managers in terms of whether they will appear critical in the triggers of export initiation.
The implication of this theory to the present study is the extent to which the critical incident
and the factors facilitating the export initiation of firms from the garment and textile sector
of Ghana are based on variables from the international entrepreneurship theory.
The network model (Coviello and Munro, 1997; Coviello and Cox, 2006) assumes that
export market involvement is a collaborative activity that makes it easier (e.g. in terms of
the cost, time, resources and the pace) for a firm to participate than if it was acting alone.
Implicitly, having supports, as a result of being in networking relationships with people (e.g.
businesses associates), trigger export participation. The network model challenges the
assumptions of both the RBV and the stage theory because both models assume that
exporting activity is a solo act by a firm’s own effort and argues that being in a networking
facilitates export initiation. As a result, the effect of the network’s theory to the present
study is whether the critical incident as well as the factors facilitating the export initiations
of firms from the garment and textile sector of Ghana are based on variables from the
network theory.
However, to understand the external influence on the triggers of export initiation, the
contingency model applies to the four models above. Following researchers (Ibeh, 2003b;
Crick and Spence, 2005; Li et al., 2004), the basic assumption of the contingency model is that
the internationalisation behaviour of SMEs is dynamic and multifarious which, in part,
depends on a firm’s internal resource capacity and partly on environmental conditions (e.g.
industry influence and government actions). Implicitly, although the environmental factors
CPOIB are exogenous to a focal SME, yet the behaviour of the SMEs is consequently shaped
14,2/3 directly or indirectly by the contingency factors. Again the purpose of the contingency
theory to the present study is the extent to which the critical incident and the factors
facilitating the export initiation of firms from the garment and textile sector of Ghana are
based on variables from the contingency theory.
Overall, the basic assumption of the five integrated frameworks behind the study is that
316 it is the combined explanation of the integrated framework, from both internal and external
environments that offer in-depth understanding of the critical incident that trigger export
initiation.
Empirical literature
Critical incidents, episodes and events that trigger export initiation are linked to the SMEs
export propensity literature (i.e. the critical event and/or incident that trigger the likelihood
of whether a small firm will initiate export). The literature on the SMEs’ export propensity
can be sub-subdivided into two groups. One group of export propensity researchers have
examined the factors which influence and/or facilitate the likelihood of whether the small
business will export. This research shows that variables such as firm size, association with
foreign ownership, labour productivity and firm age predict the likelihood of exporting.
Samples of studies in this area are firm size (Roberts and Tybout 1997; Kalafsky, 2004;
Duenas-Caparas, 2006; Yoshino 2007; Pla-Barber and Alegre, 2007; Amornkitvikai et al.,
2012; Tuano et al., 2014); firm age (Fromm and Dornberger 2005; Alvarez and Lopez 2005;
Wagner, 2005; Duenas-Caparas, 2006; Yoshino 2007; Ottaviano and Martincus, 2011; Fakih
and Ghazalian 2013; Babatunde, 2017); labour productivity, USA (Bernard and Jansen,
1995), Malaysia (Rasiah et al., 2010) and Nigeria (Babatunde, 2017); association with foreign
ownership (joint venture ownership) (Alvarez and Lopez, 2005; Ando and Kimura 2005;
Kneller and Pisu, 2007; Parish and Freeman 2011; Babatunde, 2017).
The second group of study looks at the critical incident which triggers whether a firm
will export. The current study is situated in this line of research and assumes that while
previous export propensity research have improved our standing, the findings do not go
deeper to shed on understanding the critical incidents, episodes and/or events that led to the
export initiation before the facilitating factors (e.g. firm size, labour productivity) can come
in to propel the export opportunity to materialise. Dominguez and Mayrhofer (2017) noted
that studies regarding the critical events that trigger export propensity of SMEs are new
and at a growing stage in the field. Among the few empirical literature available are as
follows: for instance, by investigating the critical incidents that catapulted the establishment
of two Swedish automotive companies – Scania and Volvo – in Mexico, Zineldin (2007)
found that direct contact with customers and relationship with government authorities were
the critical incidents that triggered the exporting activity. By using a similar method,
Nummela et al. (2006) selected three case firms from Northern Ireland and asked the firms to
look back, ponder and describe the critical incidents (by way of milestones and crisis
situations) which resulted in their international market involvement. The authors found that
the injection of venture capital, the likelihood of possible closure and the collapse of the
company and the economic downturn of the home market were the critical triggers. In
another study by Neupert et al.(2006), the authors sought to explore the critical incidents,
namely, “a worst nightmare” or “a biggest challenge” among SMEs from Vietnam and Idaho
(USA), in conducting export business (Neupert et al., 2006, 539). The researchers found that
differences in regulations (Idaho’s SMEs) and product specification challenges (Vietnamese
SMEs) were considered among the “worst nightmares” encountered by the firms.
Against this background, the study attempts to address onemain research question:
RQ1. Which main critical incidents trigger the export initiation of SMEs from the Export
garment and textile sector of Ghana? behaviour of
SMEs
Methodology
Research context
As a result of the paucity of research regarding the critical incidents which trigger the
export initiation of SMEs, the objective to extend the literature and the explorative nature of 317
the study a qualitative research was used (Eisenhardt, 1989). The choice of qualitative
method response to calls to employ such studies on the topic to understand the subjective
predictors of SMEs’ export behaviour, given the complex nature of the theme (Coviello and
Cox, 2006; Williams, 2008; Misati et al., 2017). To shed light on the theme, the study focuses
on SMEs from the garment and textile sub-sector of Ghana. Although, unlike South Africa,
Ghana has not joined the BRICS group of nations yet, but it has a stable democratic
governance system and is considered one of the fastest growing countries on the continent
of Africa (Nyuur and Debrah, 2014; Amankwah-Amoah et al., 2017).
Industry selection and research population
The population of the study consists of the SMEs from the garment and textile sub-sector. A
number of reasons accounted for the selection of SMEs from the garment and textile sub-
sector. The first is the policy reasons expressed in the first sub-section of the study and in
the Literature review section. The second reason is driven by results from the descriptive
statistics based on Damoah’s (2011) study (Table I). In that study, based on World Bank
data set on exporters from the Ghanaian manufacturing sub-sector, it is shown that the
garment and textile sub-sector represents the least export participating sector among the
sample, despite the export promotional intervention received so far. The third has to do with
the fact that the sub-sector is dominated by women, and women constitute a priority with
regard to poverty reduction agenda of the Government of Ghana (Kuffour, 2008). Besides,
researchers (Coviello and Munro, 1997; Coviello and Martin, 1999; Chetty, 1999) argue that
using one sector minimizes the impact of inter-industry variance.
Sampling frame
The sample frame used for this study is compiled from the Association of Ghana Industries
(AGI), the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) and the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI).
Having combined the three sample frames to one, 61 garment and textile exporting firms
were identified. Of these, 47 firms became useable. The reason for this is that with two
companies, owner-managers were found to have passed away prior to the interviews, while
Sectors Frequency Exporters Non-exporters Proportion of non-exporters (%)
Furniture 20 1 19 29
Wood 10 9 1 1
Garment and textiles 28 2 26 39
Chemical 5 1 4 6
Metals 19 2 17 25
Total 82 15 67 100 Table I.
Frequency of the sub-
Source: Damoah (2011, p. 86) sectors
CPOIB other 12 firms were confirmed to have ceased trading. Of the 47 firms left, 36 were
14,2/3 interviewed because they met the screening criteria which informed the selection of the
cases. The screening criteria used are as follows.
Criteria for sample selection
First, the firm must be small or medium-sized to qualify as an SME, in line with the
318 definition put forward by the World Bank in its study on the Ghana manufacturing sub-
sector. TheWorld Bank study categorised SMEs according to the number of employees:

 micro firms – those employing five or less;

 small firms – those employing between 6 and 29; and

 medium-sized firms – those having between 30 and 99.
In this study, the World Bank’s definition of SMEs in Ghana is applied because it is the
current definition being applied bymost researchers (Adjasi, 2006; Aboagye, 2006; Abor and
Harvey, 2008; Damoah, 2011) working on Ghana and sub-Saharan Africa. In this analysis,
only small andmedium-sized firms were selected because theWorld Bank’s data set showed
that the micro small firms in Ghana barely participate in export business.
Second, the firm must be engaged only in the garment and textile sub-sector because it is
the sector that informs the study and be located in Accra [Ghana is all about Accra, and
Accra is the most industry-concentrated area in Ghana (Abor and Quartey, 2008)].
Third, the exporting firm must have a minimum of two years of export experience,
excluding domestic market experience. Fourth, a firm should be independent and
indigenous, or a joint venture (partly foreign and partly local), but it should not be a
subsidiary of a larger domestic or international firm, to avoid influence from the potential
availability of resources on its export decision-making.
It must be stated that the approach used in selecting firms for the study is also consistent
with Eisenhardt (1989) who maintained that a random selection of cases in qualitative
research is neither necessary nor preferable. Eisehardt argued that extreme examples are
most appropriate when a study aims to extend and understand theory.
Data collection instrument and selection of informants
Face-to-face case study interviews were the main data collection instrument used to
understand the critical incidents from the interviewees. Given the nature of the study, two
main informants were targeted. The first were the owner-managers as being the key
informants and the second being the marketing managers. The marketing managers were
interviewed only in cases where the owner-managers could not make themselves available
due to time pressure. In line with similar studies in the field (Chetty, 1999; Coviello and
Martin, 1999; Evangelista, 2005; Coviello and Cox, 2006; Williams, 2008), the owner-
managers were used as the key informants because it is established that with SMEs, almost
every issue revolves around the owner, and as such, no better person will be able to offer a
better story about an SME business other than the owner. Consequently, it was only in one
case study (Case Firm 8) that the marketing manager was interviewed because the owner
was unable to make time for the interview.
Regarding contacting the informants, though researchers (Acquaah, 2007; Birkinshaw
et al., 2011; Amankwah-Amoah et al., 2017) who have conducted studies in similar contexts
establish that in developing economies, including Ghana, the direct approach, networking
and snowballing are the effective methods for identifying informants. In this study, only the
direct method was used given the fact that a sampling frame was obtained, and when Export
contacts were made, those and accepted andmet the screen criteria were contacted easily. behaviour of
The interview guide used in the interview process imposed order and structure on the
interview process. Sample statements in the interview guide include: SMEs

 tell me a story by describing when, how and why you formed this firm;

 how many workers do you have; and

 describe when, how and why your firm has been involved in export business. 319
In accordance with Coviello and Cox (2006), words such as what, why, when and how
including the size and the date of establishment were included as tools to probe for details to
facilitate richness and depth of data. Such interjections also encouraged the informant to
talk more. The interview process took an average of 130 min. Every interview was digitally
recorded and was simultaneously supplemented by handwritten notes. The handwritten
notes were included because this allowed the triangulation of all the information given by
interviewees for analysis. As a result, there was reliability of data generation. While the
digital recorder enabled every detail of the interview conversations to be captured, it also
enabled the researcher to handwrite only the key incidents as well as facilitate each
interview in a relaxedmanner.
In accordance with McAuley (1999), all the handwritten interviews were read and re-read
at the close of each interview day, and where a lack of clarity was detected, the digital
recording was replayed. Where clarity could not be achieved by such triangulation, the
interviewee was contacted first thing the next day by mobile telephone for clarification. The
rigour of the handwritten notes provided the researcher with a prior opportunity to
understand the critical events that triggered the export initiation of the firms before the
interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed. The interview process took three
months. Moreover, except for one interview, all the interviews were conducted in the English
language. The owner-manageress (case study 23) who could not express herself in English
spoke her mother tongue, “Twi” (a common dialect spoken by about three quarters of the
Ghanaian population). Her story was also recorded and written concurrently and then
translated/transcribed into English.
Interviews and data analysis method
The critical incidents method, coupled with thematic and content analysis, was the main
analytical techniques used to guide data collection and analysis of the interview transcripts.
Before arriving at the main findings about critical incidents, each incident was screened in
accordance with the criteria consistent with the critical incident method (Flanagan, 1954).
The critical incident method has also been adapted by researchers in the field (Cope and
Watts, 2000; Chell, 2004; Neupert et al., 2006; Nummela et al., 2006; Zineldin, 2007). Based on
the examples from the researchers above, the critical incidents which emerged from the
interview transcripts were required to meet the following criteria. Drawing from researchers
(Cope andWatts, 2000; Chell, 2004; Neupert et al., 2006; Nummela et al., 2006; Zineldin, 2007),
what constitutes a critical event is informed by a research question, the purpose of a study
and the perspective of respondents.
In the first place, in this study, an incident was considered critical when it met two
conditions. The first condition is that an incident should directly trigger export initiation,
and the second is that a critical incident leading to export initiation should be different from
an “influence” and/or “facilitating factor”. This implies that a critical incident should relate
to an “occurrence”which the exporter encountered and which triggered the export initiation.
CPOIB With the second condition, the interviewee should be able to remember the incident with the
14,2/3 help of the probes incorporated into the interview process. Such probing strategies clearly
triggered memories easily and quickly, and steered the interview smoothly. According to
Nummela et al. (2006), the question of timing was crucial. As a result, the first export
delivery dates were established as the starting point of recall. Third, the incident must relate
directly to export initiation only, although the firm may be serving both the export and
320 domestic markets; the fourth condition is that, there must be sufficient detail for both the
interviewer and the interviewee to understand the conversation, and so information
regarding, for example, the What When and How of things were to be known. Using the
above four criteria as the main analytical tool [in line with previous authors (Nummela et al.
2006; Zineldin, 2007)], six critical main critical incidents emerged out of the interview
transcripts. The six critical incidents obtained, imply that because of the criteria used, any
incident which did not meet the four standards above were excluded from the analysis. The
six critical incidents found have been outlined under the sub-section Results of Critical
Incidents.
Findings, analysis and discussion
Description of the data
The descriptive analysis of this study is based on researchers (Chetty and Campbell-Hunt,
2003; Bell et al., 2004; Hutchinson and Quinn, 2005; Hutchinson et al., 2006; Chetty and
Agndal, 2007), who sampled many case studies in similar qualitative studies, summarised
and combined the profile of the case firms. Similarly, Table II below summarises the profile
of the firms interviewed in the study.
From Table II, the mean exporting experience of the firms was eighty years, varying
from what Neupert et al. (2006) found (13 years) in Idaho (USA) and (10 years) in Vietnam.
The average age (from formation until the time of the interview) of the case study firm was
14 years, while the average firm size was 28 workers. This workforce size implies that
garment and textile firms in Ghana are generally small and may partly explain why most
firms in the sub-sector choose to concentrate on the domestic market. The average length of
domestic operating experience before the commencement of export business was six years.
This figure deviates from the average of three years, which Coviello andMunro (1997) found
among New Zealand’s firms when they commenced export business. The disparity with
regard to average domestic market experience before the time of commencing export
business may be due to inequalities in socio-economic development between New Zealand
Continuous variables Mean Std. D. Minimum Maximum
Domestic experience before exporting 6.3889 6.0108 2 26
Exporting experience 8.4167 4.1292 2 18
Firm age 14.8056 9.0800 6 39
Firm size 28.8889 23.3321 6 98
Categorical variables Item Frequency Percentage
Gender Male 10 27.78
Female 26 72.22
Firm type Small 24 66.67
Table II. Medium 12 33.33
Descriptive profile of
the case firms Source: From the case firms interviewed for the study
and Ghana. Female owner-manageress dominate the sample while small firms were more Export
represented compared to themedium-sized firms. behaviour of
SMEs
Results of critical incidents
Overall, six main critical incidents were found to have met the criteria set out in the study.
These critical incidents arrived at were found using the steps outlined above (see the criteria 321
for sample selection). These six incidents were:
(1) contacts established via participation in trade fairs;
(2) contacts established via having international orientation (previous residency abroad);
(3) contacts and recommendations established via having friends and families abroad;
(4) winning national government awards;
(5) being in receipt of unsolicited orders; and
(6) contacts and recommendations established via having a joint venture ownership.
The six critical incidents are categorised using dimensions of Leonidou et al. (2007)
concerning triggers of export behaviour of firms (cf. Table III). According to Leonidou et al.,
triggers of export initiation are classified on the basis of whether they fall under a firm’s:

 proactive internal behavior;

 proactive external behavior;

 reactive internal behavior; and

 reactive external behaviour.
Externalb The freq. fate (%) Rank
Internalaproactive The freq. rate (%) Rank order proactive (N = 36) ordere
Nil Nil Nil Contacts established at 100 1
trade fair
Contacts established via 81 2
international orientation
Winning government 33 4
award
Contacts and 3 6
recommendation gained
via having a joint venture
Internalc The freq. rate (%) Rank Externald reactive The freq. (%) Rank
reactive (N = 36) order
Nil Nil Nil Receipts of unsolicited 11 5
order
Contacts and 50 3
recommendation gained
via having friends and
family abroad
Source: Synthesized from the interview transcripts; keys: aproactive incident associated with a trigger
internal to the bfirm; proactive incident associated with a trigger external to the cfirm; reactive incident Table III.
associated with a trigger internal to the dfirm; reactive incident associated with a trigger external to the Critical incidents’
firm; erank order from 1 to 6, with 1 being the highest results
CPOIB Table III indicates that, overall, the incidents which result in export initiation are triggered
14,2/3 by external stimuli. With regard to their relative differences, contacts established via
participation in trade fairs represents the leading trigger of export initiation among the
firms that export from garment and textile sub-sector of Ghana. Contacts established as a
result of previous residency abroad represent the next most significant trigger, while
contacts and recommendations gained via having family and friends abroad follow next.
322 The fourth ranked incident was winning a government award, while the receipt of
unsolicited orders ranked as the fifth most critical incident. Contacts and recommendations
gained via having a joint venture ownership is the least ranked factor among the critical
incidents.
Discussion
The study sought to explore the critical incidents that trigger export initiation of SMEs;
consequently, the critical incidents that trigger export initiation are articulated. The study
uncovered six main critical incidents. Overall, the findings suggest that the factors which
predict the propensity to export go beyond objective quantitative factors (e.g. firm size and
workforce productivity). Using the approach consistent with studies (Coviello and Munro,
1997; McAuley, 1999; Coviello and Martin, 1999; Hutchinson et al., 2006), selected direct
quotes from the interviewees which indicate how a particular theme triggered export
initiations are used to aid the analysis. In line with other similar studies (Coviello and
Munro, 1997; Hutchinson et al., 2006), the original names of the firms have not been used, but
are instead replaced with numbers (e.g. Case Studies 1, 2 and 3).
As already mentioned, contacts established at a trade fair event represent the top event
among the incidents that cause the firms to begin exporting, and all the exporting firms
passionately attested to this as found in Table III. From Table III, trade fair events are
classified under the proactive external behaviour of the firm because the firms adopted a
proactive initiative and maximised the event. Trade fair events, from the perspective of
respondents, represented grand occasions that take place from time to time in Ghana
(although not at regular intervals according to the firms) or abroad (most frequently).
According to the case studies, the events bring a variety of buyers and investors (both local
and foreign) together at one point. For instance, one owner-manageress noted:
My entry into the Netherlands’ market took place during a trade fair in the UK. You know that
country is closer to the UK, OK [okay]. This buyer approached me, examined the samples and
said she liked the design and the price. She followed up after the fair with the first order and since
then she has been re-ordering and so I am always motivated to seek new markets during such
events, though the investment is huge, but it works [pays off]. (Case 8)
Although this evidence stresses the importance of trade shows as a significant trigger of
export initiation, it is evident from the above quote that other moderating factors interact to
trigger the main incident. For example, part of the quote above relates to investment in trade
shows, and the willingness to commit resources to such events. This finding confirms what
McAuley (1999) found in Scotland and in Nigeria (Ibeh and Young, 2001; Ibeh, 2004). The
finding also concurs with the assumptions of the contingency theory with regard to export
initiation by SMEs (Ibeh, 2003b; Crick and Spence, 2005). The contingency theory implies
that a firm’s ability to adapt to events in the external environment (e.g. in this case
responding positively to trade shows) contributes to the export initiation. As the incidents
that triggered export initiation at trade fairs were connected to the contacts established at
these fairs, it can be argued that the assumptions of the network theory interact with the
contingency theory to trigger export initiation. So the finding supports the assumptions of
the network theory (Coviello and Cox, 2006). In this light, the integration of more than one Export
theory to inform the present study is strengthened. behaviour of
Contacts established, as a result of previous residency and work abroad, represent the
next highest ranked incident. For example, the exposure gained from the previous work and SMEs
residency in the USA propelled the setting up of one of the case firms (Case 2), when the
Africa Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) was enacted by the US Government (President Bill
Clinton) in 2000 to boost African exports. According to the owner-manageress, she used her
previous contacts in the USA to initiate export to the USmarket. 323
This finding confirms a study from Canada (Reuber and Fischer, 1997), Nigeria (Ibeh,
2004) and Slovenia (Ruzzier et al., 2007). Theoretically, the international entrepreneurship
literature is supported because capitalising on prior international residency to trigger export
business represents a clear entrepreneurial action (McDougall et al., 1994; Ibeh, 2004). In
addition, the RBV’s model, which considers the behaviour of the SME owner-manager in
understanding its export behaviour (unlike the stage theory that focuses only the firm), is
also supported. For instance, the fact that the interviewees themselves in a way initiate the
move to maximise their prior international residency, when they felt confident, was real
evidence of a combination of influences from the RBV and international entrepreneurship
model. In addition, the influence of network theory is also demonstrated in this finding
because using contacts based on previous international residency show a networking
advantage. So the integrated theoretical framework behind the study is boosted.
Established contacts and recommendations gained, via having family and friends living
abroad, represent the next highest incident. According to the interviewees, the impact of
networking relationships with family members and friends abroad and its influence on
export initiation takes two forms. First, some of the businessmen and women in Ghana have
family and friends who reside abroad (e.g. the USA, UK, Holland and Belgium) and
introduced them to the foreign businessmen and women. Here, exporting happens, when the
Ghanaian owner-manager pays informal visits to their relatives and friends abroad.
According to the case-firms, these export orders come about as a result of contacts Ghanaian
businessmen and women make while on visits abroad. The case firms indicated that before
they embarked on such international visits, they always had the idea of promoting their
businesses in mind; so they go on such visits with samples of selected finished products,
often in several large suitcases.
The second form of exporting, based on networking with family and friends abroad, is
where friends and family members abroad recommend Ghanaian businesses to overseas
businesses and individuals. This occurs even when Ghanaian exporters do not travel abroad
themselves, but send samples to businesses abroad through existing acquaintances (family
and friends) which trigger the export orders. This finding on export initiation involving
family and friends abroad confirms what has been found in New Zealand (Coviello and
Munro, 1995; Chetty and Holm, 2000), Nigeria (Ibeh and Young, 2001), Tanzania
(Rutashobya and Jaensson, 2004) and Ireland (Gorman and Evers, 2008). Therefore, the basic
assumption of network theory applied in this paper is supported (Johanson and Mattsson,
1988; Gorman and Evers, 2008).
Another major incident indicated by some interviewees (e.g. 4, 5 and 9) was that of
winning a government award. According to the case firms, the Government of Ghana in
conjunction with industry bodies (e.g. the Association of Ghana Industries) purposively
sampled firms from each sub-sector and evaluated the firms based on criteria, among which
are product quality, employment size, the number of years of operation, vision and
potentials. According to the case studies, firms which emerge as winners are given awards.
Such firms receive free and full sponsorship to represent Ghana abroad to showcase their
CPOIB businesses at top trade fairs. From their perspectives, such opportunities trigger export
14,2/3 business.
The receipt of an unsolicited order is another critical incident. According to the case
studies, an advertisement led to one unsolicited order. Two of the firms among the case
studies (i.e. 3 and 13) indicated that they had developed a simple book profiling their
businesses (e.g. Case Study 13’s version is calledAfrican fashion clothes). According to these
324 firms, the books are deposited at selected international hotels in Accra, Ghana (e.g. Crystal
Royal Hotel, LaPalm Beach, Golden Tulip and Novotel), while others were also sent abroad
through their family and friends. Another source through which the unsolicited order may
be received is a website (Case Studies 5 and 32).Though in the case of Ghana, an unsolicited
order does not represent the most important trigger of export initiation, the findings confirm
studies from Cyprus, Scotland (McAuley, 1999), the UK (Crick and Spence, 2005) and
Jamaica (Williams, 2008). Theoretically, the assumptions of contingency theory are
supported because an unsolicited order is caused wholly by an external stimulus.
The next and the least critical incident that emerged was contacts and recommendations
gained through having a joint venture ownership. According to Case Study 11, most of the
export orders have come through the influence of its foreign partners abroad. However, only
one firm (Case study 11) enthusiastically described joint venture ownership as catapulting it
into export initiation. This implies that opportunities for indigenous firms in the garment
and textile sector in Ghana to form partnerships with foreign businesses, to activate export
business, are crucial.
Conclusion
Overall, six main themes emerged as critical incidents, with contacts established at trade
fairs being the most important incident, followed by contacts obtained via international
orientation and contacts and recommendations gained via networking relations, with
friends and family abroad being the third most important incident. Winning government
awards was the fourth ranked critical incident. However, the other two (incidents based on
receipt of unsolicited orders and having joint venture) may be deemed insignificant in
Ghana. Therefore, with regard to the five theoretical frameworks integrated to explore the
critical incidents that trigger export initiation of firms from Ghana, it can be contended that
the contingency theory becomes the most dominant framework. Using the categorisation of
Leonidou et al. (2007), the findings indicate that the main triggers of export initiation among
garment and textile firms are largely caused by external stimuli (Table III). Furthermore,
with regard to most of the critical incidents, the results show that networking contacts
established played an important role. For example, contacts gained via trade shows,
previous foreign residency abroad and a joint venture ownership and through friends and
families abroad are all network-related incidents. Whereas most of the incidents seemed
serendipitous and episodic (e.g. receipts of unsolicited orders), some case companies took full
advantage of the incidents and exploited them. The act of maximising and/or taking
advantage of episodic events and being able to initiate export business support the
motivation from the international entrepreneurship, combined with the contingency
framework. So, the basic assumptions of the international entrepreneurship theory are
supported (McDougall et al., 1994).
The dominant influence of external stimuli on the export initiation of the case companies
from Ghana contradicts some common findings on SMEs’ export behaviour in developed
countries. For instance, it was found that the internal proactive factors appeared to be the
dominant triggers of export initiation among SMEs from the developed world. This was
based on a synthesis of 31 empirical studies by Leonidou et al. (2007) regarding the export
stimulating factors of SMEs between 1974 and 2005. A study in Jamaica (Williams, 2008) Export
based on 44 small exporting firms and in the UK (Hutchinson et al., 2006) support the behaviour of
findings of Leonidou et al. (2007), concerning the overriding internal proactive factors.
However, it is known that, compared to firms in developed economies, the resource capacity SMEs
of firms in developing economies are mostly poor. This, in part, explains why the export
initiation of SMEs in the developed world is triggered by internal proactive factors, whereas
external proactive factors account for the export triggers in developing economies. Overall,
the assumption underlying the proposed integrated theoretical framework of the study is 325
supported. The findings show that the role of the contingency, network and the international
entrepreneurship theories, as well as the stage theory, interact in a significant way to
reproduce the single behaviour of the firm (i.e. the export initiation). The revised integrated
framework indicates that among the five theoretical frameworks, the network theory,
international entrepreneurship theory and contingency theory are the most influential in
explaining the export behaviour of SMEs in the garment and textile sub-sector of Ghana.
Implication of the study
Theoretical contribution
The findings complement and build on extant literature as regards SMEs’ propensity to
export. The study makes three theoretical contributions to the field. Although research
studies on the internationalisation of SMEs continue to flourish (Pacheco, 2017; Babatunde,
2017; Marta and Gancarczyk, 2017), most studies (Kneller and Pisu, 2007; Fakih and
Ghazalian, 2013) overlook the fact that the theme is complex, and, therefore, its in-depth
understanding goes beyond addressing only objective quantitative factors. The present
findings therefore enhance our understanding regarding the critical incidents that trigger
export initiation. It implies that there are subjective critical incidents which create the export
opportunities before firm level factors (e.g. firm size, workforce productivity) act as
facilitating factors to complete an export initiation process. In so doing, the study responds
to the call to use qualitative critical incidents studies to enhance an understanding of the
topic (Zineldin, 2007; Dominguez andMayrhofer, 2017).
The second is the integrated theories that inform the study (section Theoretical
framework). The findings show that it is impossible for a single theoretical framework to
explain the phenomenon. It is clear from the findings that in each incident the assumptions
of more than one theoretical framework were at work. For example before a trade fair event
brings about an export business, an entrepreneur must first establish network contacts right
there at the trade show. Meanwhile spotting a network opportunity implies a real
entrepreneurial spirit and a resource capacity within the entrepreneur (RBV). Consequently,
three theoretical frameworks [network theory (Coviello and Cox, 2006), international
entrepreneurship (McDougall et al., 1994) and the RBV (Barney, 1991)] acted together to
create the export opportunity. So, Misati et al.’s (2017) argument of the inadequacy of a
single framework to explain the topic due to its complexity is extended and clarified to a
higher degree in our understanding.
Finally, by exploring the theme from the perspective of Ghana, the results have enhanced
an understanding of the issue from under-studied and a new geographical context (Ibeh
et al., 2012; Boso et al., 2016; Haddoud et al., 2017; Mol et al., 2017)
Practical implications
For practitioners, the importance of entrepreneurial action and having an understanding
external factors which trigger IB opportunity are crucial. Based on Table III, the results
confirm that triggers of export opportunities in Ghana are complex and multifarious,
CPOIB consisting of internal and external factors informed bymore than one theoretical orientation.
14,2/3 For example, following the results, to take advantage of export opportunity, there was the
need for a firm to possess existing exportable product (as a key resource factor) – showing
an influence from the RBV’s theory (Barney 1991); an understanding of the domestic market
operating experience (i.e. previous domestic market operating experience – the stage theory
(Johanson and Vahlne, 1977), being highly entrepreneurial to capitalise on IB opportunities
326 in the external environment – international entrepreneurship theory (McDougall et al., 1994;
Dimitratos and Plakoyiannaki, 2003), ability to make IB contacts at trade fairs – the network
theory (Coviello and Munro, 1997; Coviello and Cox, 2006) and external reactive and
proactive stimuli (e.g. existence of unsolicited order and wining government’s award
respectively) – contingency theory (Ibeh, 2003b; Crick and Spence, 2005; Li et al., 2004).
Overall, what these complex intertwined and interwoven factors mean to the export
behaviour of entrepreneurial firms in Ghana is that owner-managers that desire to enter the
export market must be aware of the multiplicity of factors that account for the export
initiation process. The results show that the factors go beyond a motivation from a single
theoretical framework. So, being entrepreneurial, understanding the internal mechanisms
(e.g. products, staff, processes and systems) of one’s firm and aligning these processes to
changing factors from the external environment (i.e. government award schemes,
availability of unsolicited orders and networking contacts at trade fairs) are critical success
factors to export’s participation. Taking this into account will facilitate the time, pace and
development of export business in Ghana. To strengthen the owner-entrepreneurs’ personal
capacities, it is recommended that those who aspire to enter the international market take
entrepreneurial courses both short and long to learn, inculcate and sharpen their proactive
behaviours. This is because being entrepreneurial to spot and capitalise export
opportunities, emerged strongly in the interview transcripts. The benefit of this initiative is
that because most countries in Africa (including Ghana) lack public institutions that
facilitate entrepreneurial business development, being highly entrepreneurial as a business
person offers competitive urge to spot export business opportunities.
Policy implications
With trade fair being the significant trigger of export initiation, based on the interviews, a
critical implication of this finding is that government ministries, departments and agencies
responsible for trade promotion in Ghana must liaise with the heads of various trade
associations to promote trade fairs and boost export participation of the Ghanaian firms. In
the light of this, key institutions such as the Ministry of Trade and Industry, the National
Board for Small Scale Industries and the newly created Ministry (the Ministry of Business
Development) under President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s Government must
collaborate to promote trade facilitation through trade fairs in Ghana. To strengthen this
initiative, the above institutions must collaborate with the mouthpieces of business
associations in Ghana (e.g. the AGI and Ghana Chamber of Commerce) to expand the current
scope of trade shows in Ghana.
In addition, local firms that show great export potentials must be supported to
participate in trade shows abroad. With the influence of entrepreneurial actions emerging
strongly from the interview, the Ministry of Business Development must be seen to be
driving entrepreneurship education in Ghana. The ministry must collaborate with the
educational institutions in Ghana (e.g. universities, polytechnics) to promote
entrepreneurship education and training. Short and long courses must be launched and
organised consistently across the country to enable owner-managers who did not have the
opportunity to have formal education to build their capacity to impact positively on their
businesses. In addition, government programmes and events which sought to reward Export
deserving entrepreneurs which catapulted some into export business during the erstwhile behaviour of
government under President Agyekum Kuffour in Ghana must be revisited by the present SMEs
administration, as such initiatives encourage entrepreneurs to improve their business
operations, strengthen their capacities to maximise export opportunity, thereby boosting
employment and reducing poverty in Ghana.
327
Limitations of the study
The results of the study are based on the qualitative case-study approach, and so the relative
difference in terms of the statistical significance of the six critical incidents found are yet to
be tested statistically. Implicitly, aside analytical generation, statistical generation is limited.
Future research could address these issues. Besides, the study is limited to the garment and
textile sub-sector in Ghana. Future research could extend the study to cover other sub-
sectors to deepen the current understating.
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Corresponding author
Obi Berko Obeng Damoah can be contacted at: obiberko@gmail.com
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