ABSTRACT
The Italian economic system is characterized by a few distinctive features; seven models of firm can be identified (Colombo 1992), on the basis of their structural characteristics and typical management styles:
• large state-owned companies, often monopolists in the industries in which they operate, for example, IRI;
• large private entrepreneurial companies, such as Benetton; • large private managerial companies, such as Olivetti; • aggregates of small companies, often located in the same geographic
region and operating in the same industry; to give an example, the Italian industry of equipment for the packaging industry consists of nearly 450 companies, located in the Bologna and the Milano area. All of them are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and are spinoffs of the two main competitors. One of the key features of the firms in this cluster is their ability to develop both competitive and cooperative strategies (Lorenzoni 1990);
• independent small companies and cooperatives, particularly situated in central Italy and in the food industry;
• style-based companies, often mid-sized, are characterized by the ability to mingle creativity with the logic of industrial production or to create highly differentiated products with a good quality-price ratio.
