Mid-sized Manufacturing Companies: The New Driver of Italian Competitiveness

This book analyzes 23 successful mid-sized Italian companies from high growth of 2006-08 to economic challenges since. Covers growth trajectories, competitive and innovation strategies, inter-organizational networks, international strategies and positioning.

The structure of Italian industry is characterized by a predominance of small sized companies and the presence of very few large companies. For a long time a conviction was shared among scholars and practitioners that the strength and safety of Italian industry were based on its industrial districts, that is, the system of interdependent and co-localized small companies which derive their competitive force from an effective and efficient division of labour. This book stresses the idea that a new, vital and promising phenomenon for the competitiveness of Italian industry is focused on mid-sized companies, and the systems of interconnected firms that form a constituent part of their business model. These companies, which originate largely from districts and other local production systems, are a strong entrepreneurial force complementing the districts that have characterized Italy and made Italian industry famous worldwide. A quantitative and qualitative analysis of these firms is provided in this book. Business models and strategies implemented by a number of successful Italian mid-sized manufacturing companies are also explored. Consequences in terms of management and industrial policies are provided. A final look at the German Mittelstand gives a useful comparison.

Original combination of qualitative (case studies) and quantitative (cross section financial analysis) empirical evidence on medium sized manufacturing companies Longitudinal (two steps) analysis of pre and post 2008 economic crisis Implications for management and entrepreneurship as well as for economic and industrial policy Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras