**4. Method**

Conversely, the number of small firms operating in international markets has increased and represents the majority of firms in most countries, and therefore, they play an important role in the economic growth of their countries. Therefore, the internationalisation process of SMEs

The increase in research is due to various macro- and micro-level benefits associated with the export development. On the one hand, at the macro-level, superior export performance is an efficient vehicle for economic growth, employment creation and an overall improvement in the standards of living. On the other hand, there are numerous benefits at the firm level such as growth opportunities, higher market shares, superior margins and diversification of risk. Hence, export performance is one of the most researched construct in management [28].

Export activity is one of the most important instruments in the internationalisation of many SMEs. Export is a mean for penetrating international markets, entails the least risk and effort when comparing with other solutions like joint ventures or subsidiaries, and, together with the fact that SMEs that have limited resources and capabilities (economic or human resources, or international experience, managerial experiences in these areas, etc.), means that export is

Motivational factors are among the most important dimensions to export readiness and can be divided into proactive/reactive motivators. Proactive motivators signify a firm's willingness to exploit a unique organisational competence or market opportunity, and reactive moti-

In terms of geographic concentration versus diversification as internationalisation strategies for SMEs, Brouthers et al. [30] studied small firms exporting from Greece and the Caribbean region that are contextualised in mature, traditional and low-technology industries. The authors concluded that these firms should concentrate their internationalisation efforts and pursue a single export market strategy. On the other hand, this does not apply to the small New Zealand firms, where the most successful are R&D based and are operating across several overseas markets [24]. Of course, such dissimilarities in findings are perhaps due to dif-

Zahra and Garvis [19] argued that operating successfully in the global market requires creativity, ingenuity and risk-taking. In the process of international expansion, firms need to learn and use different skills from those used in their domestic markets, and this requires experimentation and risk-taking. Thus, when firm intends to internationalise, EO can be a

With regard to the individual dimensions of EO, previous research suggests that each can have a universal positive influence on performance [14], and it increases the commitment to innovation, which contributes, for example, to the creation of new products and services, the search for new opportunities and new markets (e.g. [8, 17]). Hence, innovative companies,

competitive advantage, either in existing markets or in new markets (e.g. [8, 31]).

an important mechanism to initiate business internationalisation processes [29].

vators can be a response to internal or external pressures [7].

ferent contexts and types of small firms.

**3. Hypothesis derivation**

has become a topic of academic and governmental attention [27].

26 Entrepreneurship - Trends and Challenges

#### **4.1. Sample and data collection**

The population of this empirical study has been drawn from Portuguese textile industry firms. Questionnaires were used as primary data sources and were carried out over the period of February 16 to April 30, 2016. The identification of companies was done through the Portugal's Textile Association (Associação Têxtil de Portugal) [33] database. Therefore, in this study, we use a non-probabilistic and convenient sampling.

A total of 247 complete and validated questionnaires accounting for 25% of the population were obtained. This response rate is considered quite satisfactory, given that the average of top management survey response rates is in the range of 15–20% [34].

#### **4.2. Statistical analysis**

We used the PLS-SEM path modelling to test our hypothesis, specifically the software SmartPLS 3.0 [35, 36]. We believe that the PLS-SEM path modelling is best suited to estimate our research model since (1) this study focuses on prediction and explanation of constructs variance (in our case 2); (2) our research model has a complex structure; (3) the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and export performance can be measured directly and indirectly via competitive advantage; (4) this study uses first- and second-order reflective constructs and (5) the sample (n = 247) is somewhat small.

#### **4.3. Measures**

This study uses well-validated scales from previous studies to operationalise the key constructs and adapted them to the particular context of our empirical setting.

*Independent variables—*To assess EO, we adopted Covin and Slevin's [9] measurements for the three dimensions of innovativeness, proactiveness and risk-taking.

*Dependent variable—*Performance is a construct that is difficult to operationalise holistically since it may refer to different aspects of the organisational effectiveness [22]. Researchers face particular challenges when trying to fully understand SMEs. The majority of SMEs are privately held and, thus, are not required to provide detailed financial information. Many SME managers are unwilling to provide correct information about their financial performance such as revenue, annual sales and return on investment. To address these problems in SME research, it is recommended using subjective measures, such as managers' perceptions, rather than objective measures in SME research [37]. Hence, perceived export performance was measured with five items, using Okpara's [18] measurement instrument, which includes profitability indicators such as growth in sales, profit, activities and operations and performance in general.

All constructs were assessed on a five-point Likert scale.
