Intra- and Interfirm Coordination of Export Manufacturers: A Cluster Analysis of Indigenous Chinese Exporters

Export manufacturers have been struggling with the question of how to coordinate activities between their internal export departments and their external distributors or agents that are located far from their home countries. The majority of studies on export coordination address inter-firm coordination rather than intra-firm coordination within an exporting firm. Furthermore, few studies have examined the interplay between intra- and inter-firm coordination and its influence on export performance. Using data collected from indigenous Chinese manufacturers that export to overseas markets, this study groups export manufacturers based on their intra- and inter-firm coordination practices using clustering techniques. Four groups were identified: balanced coordinators, rigid coordinators, process control coordinators, and flexible-only coordinators. These four clusters were found to differ meaningfully across product characteristics, organizational culture, export market conditions, and export performance variables. The findings of this study indicate that a firm’s coordination practices can be successfully used to group exporting manufacturers, and specific types of coordination practices may lead to superior performance.