The Impact of Lean Inventory Management on Export Intensity

This study aims to explore the impact of lean inventory management on export intensity and explain how environmental dynamics and complexity moderate this relationship. The Heckman two-step method was used to examine this relationship during periods from 2000 to 2013. The results reveal an inverted U-shaped relationship between inventory leanness and export intensity. Furthermore, this study indicates that environmental dynamics and environmental complexity weaken the relationship between inventory leanness and export intensity. These findings convey a message to managers which can enhance export intensity and improve international competitiveness by realizing the optimal level of inventory leanness. Managers should pay more attention to inventory management when the intensity of competition is weak or the environment is less dynamic. This paper contributes to understand the relationship between inventory leanness and export intensity by studying the moderating role of environmental dynamics and environmental complexity.