Determinants of firm's export performance in China's automobile industry

Abstract

The automobile industry has significantly contributed towards China's economy. After producing approximately 24.5 million vehicles in 2015, China's automobile industry has achieved its greatest height by emerging worldwide as the top automobile producer. However, China's automobile industry could not sustain this achievement and it witnessed a sudden growth rate decrease in 2016-2017, reflecting their poor export performance. To address this problem, the prime objective of this research is to explore the roles of total quality management (TQM), entrepreneurial orientation (EO), export market orientation (EMO), brand orientation (BO) and cleaner production (CP) in firm export performance (FEP). For this reason, a quantitative research approach with cross-sectional research design was adopted by gathering the data from 347 respondents working as export managers at Chinese automobile companies via simple random technique. Partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) through software smartPLS-3.2.7 employed to analyze data. Results revealed that the TQM, EO, EMO, BO, and CP has a significant association with FEP. Additionally, findings confirmed CP as a moderating variable that contributes positively to FEP. The research has eminently contributed to the export performance of the automobile industry, specifically in China. It is very beneficial to practitioners in the Chinese automobile industry as it will assist them in regaining and exceeding their record export performance while also contributes to resource-based-view theory.