Managerial Competence, Relationship Quality and Competitive Advantage among SME Exporters

One of the most important agenda for economic development of emerging markets is to develop the competitive ability of the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to achieve a successful international business. To overcome the limitation of internal resources SMEs look for cooperative relationship with foreign partners, which in this context serves as a source of resources. In addition, the performance of small firms is strongly related to the human capital specifically the managerial competences. Based on the extant literature this study aims to investigate the role of managerial competences on the relationship quality which in turn affects the competitive advantage of small business in export markets. Data were collected among small and medium manufacturers that are currently involved in export activities. A total of 228 small and medium businesses participated in this study. This study uses structural equation modeling approach for data analysis. Findings of the study indicate that managerial competence is a function of relationship quality and competitive advantage. In addition relationship quality is significantly related to competitive advantage. Finally, relationship quality partially mediates the relationship between relationship quality and competitive advantage. At the end of this paper, the conclusion and discussion are presented and limitation and future study are discussed.