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

Export manufacturers face challenges associated with intrafirm coordination among functional units and interfirm coordination with foreign distributors. The majority of research on export coordination examines intra- and interfirm coordination strategies separately. Consequently, limited insights have been gained into how export manufacturers combine the various intra- and interfirm coordination strategies to achieve export success. Using a cluster analysis, the authors incorporate both intra- and interfirm coordination strategies as inputs to identify profiles of export manufacturers. They identify four distinct profiles: balanced coordinators, interactive coordinators, flexibility-only coordinators, and unfocused coordinators. The authors find that the best performers are balanced coordinators, or the export manufacturers that concurrently deploy multiple intra- and interfirm coordination strategies.