Italian SME International Strategies: state of the art and some empirical evidences

The aim of this work is to analyse the role of small-medium enterprises (SMEs) in Italy and their recent competitive strategies facing globalisation. In particular, we focus on firms in the fashion business considered in a broad sense (textile, apparel, shoes, leather goods, gold and jewellery). “Made in Italy” – and particularly “in Tuscany” – has a strong market power and a worldwide known reputation in the fashion industry (firms as Gucci, Prada, Ferragamo are located in Tuscany). Nevertheless, after years of constant growth, the Italian fashion industry has steadily slowed down partially as a consequence of a negative international conjuncture and of the emerging of new competitors (as China). In this changed competitive scenario, we focus on a few specific research objectives, summarized in the following research questions: 1) Among the numerous relevant variables, what are the peculiarities of Italian SMEs? 2) Among the competitive dynamics of the fashion business, how important is the territory and belonging to a local cluster in differentiating firm performances and to what extent does it influence the entrepreneurial development? 3) Within the above-mentioned clusters, do firms have homogeneous or different structural characteristics and behaviours? In case of differences, is it possible to identify business typologies? At first glance, a few “leading firms” seem to play a primary role in the local development process and to be characterized by a different endowment of resources and competencies if compared to other firms. 4) In terms of international approach, are there any differences in SME strategies and performances? We adopt an inter-disciplinary approach to the analysis. We discuss the competitive advantage of Made in Italy and the recent challenges in the international markets with an “eclectic explanation” organised along three different levels: 1) industry specific – different strategies and performances can be explained in terms of sector analysis; 2) cluster specific – the entrepreneurial development is spatially concentrated in local production “clusters”, or industrial districts, dominated by SMEs; in particular, we focus our attention on the Arezzo industrial districts based on the assumption that they are representative of the Italian model of production (Arezzo clusters are among the about two hundred Italian industrial districts); 3) firm specific – into the same cluster there are different types of firms that adopt different strategies (Porter, 1990); in particular, SMEs seem to be influenced by some leading companies located in the territory; international strategies can be different in terms of market approach (“do-it-alone”, or sub-contracting strategies) and in terms of performances