• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.1-16
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• 2012

Under the international business circumstance, global supply chain management is considered a vital strategic challenge to small and medium-sized enterprises(SMEs) suffering from deficient resources and capabilities to exploit overseas markets comparing with large corporations. That is because they can expand their business domains into overseas markets by establishing strategic alliances with global supply chain partners. Although a wide range of previous researches have emphasized the cooperative networks in the chain, most are ignoring the importance of developing relational characteristics such as trust and reciprocity with the partners. Besides, verifying the relational factors influencing firms' export performances, some studies proposed different and inconsistent factors. According to the social capital theory, which is the social quality and networks facilitating close cooperation of inter-individual and inter-organization, provides the integrated view to identify the relational characteristics in the aspects of network, trust and reciprocal norm. Meanwhile, a number of researchers shows that global entrepreneurship is the internal and intangible resource necessary to promote SMEs' internationalization. Upon closer examination, however, they cannot explain clearly its influencing mechanism in the inter-firm cooperative relationships. This study is to verify the effect of social capital accumulated within global supply chain on SMEs' qualitative and quantitative export performance. In addition, we shed new light on global entrepreneurship expected to be concerned with the formation of social capital and the enhancement of export performances. For this purpose, the questionnaires, developed through literature review, were collected from 192 Korean SMEs affiliated in Korean Medium Industries Association and Global Chief Executive Officer's Club focusing on their memberships' international business. As a result of multi-regression analysis, the social capital - network, trust and reciprocal norm shared with global supply chain partner - as well as global entrepreneurship - innovativeness, proactiveness and risk-taking - have positive effect on SMEs' export performances. Also global entrepreneurship affects positively social capital which has mediating effect partially in the relationship between global entrepreneurship and performances. These results means that there is a structural process - global entrepreneurship(input), social capital(output), and export performances(outcome). In other words, a firm should consistently invest in and develop the social capital with global supply chain partners in order to achieve common goals, establish strategic collaborations and obtain long-term export performances. Furthermore, it is required to foster the global entrepreneurship in an organization so as to build up the social capital. More detailed practical issues and discussion are made in the conclusion.