ABSTRACT
In South Italy post-Fordist (PF) has given some impulse to a new process of 'light' industrialization. It has mostly done so, however, by dissolving the traditional firms, too large and inefficient, and exploiting characteristics such as low salaries, fiscal evasion, the availability of low cost skills in the areas of craftsmen and non specialized intellectual labour. The 'new economy' is characterized by three main elements: the use of the modem information and telecommunication technologies; the prevalence of the network structure inside and outside the firm; the absolute importance of knowledge and information in determining competitive advantage. The PF revolution has been, for many aspects, a computer revolution: numerical control machines, automation and development of programming and control have all conspired to give the computer a crucial role in re-organizing the firm. The computer technology has led the process of deverticalizing the Fordist Company, by forming a network of firms integrated by a virtual texture of computerized programs and controls.
