Export marketing at small and medium size enterprises: A survey for The Small and Medium Size Enterprises in Çorum machine manufacturing industry

The aim of this study is to determine the factors affecting the export marketing behaviours of small and medium size enterprises that take part in machine manufacturing industry and to designate the roles of these factors for classifying the enterprises according to their export performance dimensions. Within the frame of this aim the main part of this research consists of 63 small and medium size enterprises, 52 of which are exporters that take part in Çorum Machine Manufacturing Industry. Factor and Discriminant Analysis Methods have been used to discover the factors affecting the export behaviours of enterprises and the roles of these factors for classifying the enterprises according to their export performance dimensions. As a result of Factor Analysis, the factors that affect the export behaviour of enterprises have been stated as the managers? perception of the benefits of export, export marketing strategies, environmental factors, business characteristics and the perception of export reasons of managers. In the Discriminant Analysis which has been made in order to classify the enterprises according to their export performance dimensions; export ratio and the number of countries exported have been used as objective performance dimensions and relative export profitability of managers, the increase of export volume of sales in the last three years and the perception of the exchanges of the export intensity in the last three years have been used as subjective performance dimensions. As a results of Discriminant Analysis it is shown that the factors affecting the export behaviours have important roles on about classifying the enterprises according to their export performance dimensions. In this study it is also stated that by using the Chi Square Analysis the relationship between the factors affecting the export marketing behaviour and the export performance and the relationship between the export behaviours and the perception of export of managers have been tested and seen that they have generally have a relationship between them