The impact of digitalisation on the export performance of service firms

Abstract

This thesis investigates the impact of digitalisation on the export performance of service firms, with a particular focus on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Australia. While the manufacturing sector has received substantial attention in the digitalisation–internationalisation literature, the service sector remains under-examined despite its growing role in global trade. The central research aim is to develop and empirically test a conceptual model linking digitalisation, international strategic orientations, namely market, entrepreneurial, and learning orientations, value co-creation ability, and export performance. The guiding research question addresses how digitalisation capability influences export outcomes through strategic orientations and cocreation mechanisms.

The study adopts the combined inductive and deductive approaches. An exploratory multiple case study provided initial insights into the role of digitalisation in internationalising service firms, highlighting themes such as client collaboration, cultural adaptation, and technology adoption. Building on these qualitative findings and the extant literature, a cross-sectional survey was conducted with a sample of 415 Australian service-exporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Constructs were operationalised using established multi-item scales, and the data were analysed to test the proposed mediation model using structural equation modelling (SEM).

The findings demonstrate that digitalisation capability is a critical dynamic capability that enables service firms to sense international opportunities, adapt to foreign markets, and co-create value with clients. Specifically, results show that digitalisation capability significantly enhances international market, entrepreneurial, and learning orientations, which in turn positively affect export performance. Moreover, value co-creation capability emerges as a key mediator, reinforcing the role of client engagement and relational capital in international competitiveness. Multi-group analysis reveals that location-free professional services benefit primarily from agility and collaboration, whereas standardised service package providers gain from scalability and responsiveness.

The thesis contributes to theory by extending the Resource-Based View and Dynamic Capabilities Theory in the context of service internationalisation, advancing understanding of digitalisation as both a resource and an adaptive process. Methodologically, it demonstrates the value of mediation analysis, higher-order construct modelling and multi-group structural equation modelling in service research. For practitioners and policymakers, the study provides evidence-based guidance on how SMEs can leverage digitalisation strategically to enhance export performance, avoid technology myopia, and strengthen their role in global service ecosystems.

Date of Thesis submission	2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Western Sydney University
Sponsors	Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship
Supervisor	Felicitas Evangelista (Supervisor) & Daniela Spanjaard (Supervisor)