<![CDATA[Export-oriented small and medium enterprises (SMEs) contribute substantially to economic growth, yet prior research has largely treated innovation and risk management as unrelated capabilities, leaving their joint contribution to export outcomes unclear. Drawing on the Resource-Based View, this study frames knowledge management as a dual capability combining exploratory innovation and protective risk management, and tests its effect on export performance. Primary data were obtained through an online survey administered via the Populix research platform, which applied predefined screening criteria to owners and managers of export-oriented manufacturing SMEs in Central Java, Indonesia. Of 300 firms initially approached, 227 met the manufacturing and export-activity criteria and provided usable responses. All items were rated on five-point Likert scales and specified as second-order reflective constructs, with the structural model estimated using partial least squares structural equation modelling in WarpPLS 8.0. Both proposed hypotheses were supported and neither was rejected. Innovation knowledge and risk management knowledge each exert a positive and significant effect on export performance, and a robustness check using an alternative specification indicates that their contributions are of comparable magnitude. Together the two capabilities account for a substantial share of the variance in export performance. The results support the view that exploratory and protective knowledge operate as complementary rather than competing capabilities in export settings. The study extends RBV reasoning to SME internationalisation in a developing-country context and advises SMEs to build balanced knowledge management systems spanning both innovation and risk capabilities rather than concentrating investment in either alone.]]>
