Mid-sized Manufacturing Companies: The New Driver of Italian Competitiveness (SxI - Springer for Innovation / SxI - Springer per l'Innovazione Book 7)

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. Front Matter....Pages i-xiii Background and goals of the book....Pages 1-11 Mid-sized companies according to Mediobanca-Unioncamere....Pages 13-40 A quantitative analysis of the companies under examination....Pages 41-73 Virtuous business models for international competitiveness....Pages 75-136 Implications for managerial and industrial policy....Pages 137-146 Strategies and policies to support the competitiveness of German Mittelstand companies....Pages 147-168 Successful paths of Italian mid-sized firms....Pages 169-191