Recenti tendenze e prospettive di competitività internazionale delle imprese manifatturiere italiane
Much critical discussion has been focused on the ability of Italian firms to successfully face the international competition which is even fiercer as a result of a higher level of the integration of the other countries with lower cost of the input and the production. Judging from the statistical data gathered over the last few years, however, the expected loss in competitiveness of Italian firms – subjected to restraints such as paralysis of the industrial base, absence of adequate endogenous and exogenous competencies, shortage of multinational market forerunners, or lack of technological know-how in the industrial system – has not yet happened, nor can it be said that it will, at least not in the short-term. This is because many firms, especially small-sized which continue to be the driving force in the process of Italian internationalisation, are capable of maintaining and enhancing their competitiveness by introducing significant changes in their strategic choices and partially altering their direction in geographical terms.
Starting from these aspects, this paper aims at providing an insight into some of the more significant signals of the change that characterises the recent long term international behaviour of Italian firms, as well as their future perspectives.
