The Bright and Dark Sides of Domestic and International Collaborations: The Effect of Exploitative and Explorative Innovation Capabilities on Export Performance
Despite significant learning by exporting opportunities being offered through international trade, exporting firms face significant challenges in developing innovation capabilities that can generate positive export performance outcomes. To counteract liability of foreignness and tackle the complex and fast-changing foreign market demands, exporting firms seldom work in isolation from external partners. Drawing on an integrative theoretical background of organisational learning theory, this study extends the exploitation-exploration logic to the export context and theorises that two geographic scope-related collaborations – domestic and international – interact with exploitative and explorative innovation capabilities to influence export performance. Using the UK Community Innovation Survey, this study distinguishes between exploitative and explorative innovation capabilities as determinants of export performance and uncovers the bright and dark sides of the role of domestic and international collaborations, according to which they can serve as a magnifying glass that amplifies the positive effects of explorative innovation capabilities, as well as the negative effects of exploitative innovation capabilities on export performance