Abstract:
This research was carried out to investigate the impact of export market orientation and innovation on the performance of fruit exporting firms in Uganda.
The objectives of the study were to examine the factor structure of Firm Innovation, Export Market Orientation, And Export Performance, to determine the relationship between export market orientation and firm innovation, to establish the relationship between export market orientation and firm’s export performance and to examine the relationship between firm innovation and firms export performance. A qualitative cross sectional research design was adopted to undertake the study. A field study using simple random was used on a sample size of 56 firms targeting at least 3 top executives from each firm exporting fruits
Data was analyzed using Statistical package for social science (SPSS). Correlation analysis was done to determine the relationship between the study variables and regression analysis was conducted to determine the predictive potential of the independent variables on the dependent variable. The findings of the study revealed that firms that adopt export market orientated behaviors and innovate by introducing new products, processes and venture into new markets perform better in their export endeavors However it was observes that firm innovation was more powerful in explaining firm’s export performance than export market orientation.
It was therefore recommended that fruit exporting firms in Uganda should particularly concentrate their efforts on process innovation and market innovation to enhance their export performance
