The Impact of Internal Social Capital, Export Commitment and Experience on International Performance with an Emphasis on the Mediation of International Learning and Alignment (Case Study: Pharmaceutical Companies Active in Exports)

In today’s turbulent and competitive world, the survival and expansion of companies depends on their success in international markets. Considering the recent development of the pharmaceutical industry in the country on the one hand, and the importance of non-oil exports for economic growth on the other hand, the present study aims to investigate the impact of internal social capital, export commitment and experience on international performance with the mediating role of international learning and alignment in the pharmaceutical sector was done. The research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-survey in terms of method. The statistical population of the research included all the managers and experts of the pharmaceutical companies active in export, and the minimum sample size was determined by Kline (2005) method, 200 people and selected by simple random sampling method. The research data collection tool was a standard questionnaire. Finally, 378 complete questionnaires were collected from 30 pharmaceutical companies active in export. The findings of structural equation modeling with SmartPLS software showed that internal social capital has no significant effect on international performance. In the following, it was found that export commitment has an effect on international performance through the mediating role of international learning and alignment. Also, the effect of export experience on international performance was confirmed through the mediating role of international learning and alignment. Therefore, it is necessary for pharmaceutical industry managers to improve performance in international markets by emphasizing the value of internal resources, developing new knowledge about international markets, and developing international activities in coordination with the goals and mission of the company.