Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to determine the relative importance of deliberate learning, learning from experience and relevant learning co-variates in pursuing market learning, and to assess the impact of market learning on export performance in smaller firms.

Design/methodology/approach

A theoretical model was initially developed and subsequently tested using survey data. The standard two step approach of first testing the measurement model and then estimating the structural model was adopted.

Findings

The results provide concrete evidence that among SMEs, deliberate learning has a greater impact on export market learning as compared to experience accumulation, and that market learning has a significant effect on export performance. The results also show that absorptive capacity and commitment to learning are significant co-variates of market learning.

Originality/value

This paper focuses on the role of deliberate learning vis-a-vis learning by experience in achieving foreign market learning and export performance in smaller firms. It addresses a major limitation of organisational learning studies which tend to focus mainly on experiential learning and organisational learning in large organisations.