SMEs Strategic Collaborations: An Exploration of HModa Holding

In the face of the ongoing quest for competitiveness of excellent luxury fashion SMEs in international markets, this article presents the preliminary results of a single exploratory case study of an equity strategic alliance, i.e. a holding company operating in the Made in Italy luxury fashion sector. Such a model is unique in the field, as the alliance is not based on a brand strategy or collaboration standards, but on strategic equity-type agreements in which SMEs have a wide margin of independence and can focus on manufacturing excellence, while also having stable and lasting access to financial, human, and organisational resources that they would never have been able to obtain individually. This configuration entails to top-down and bottom-up forms of collaboration, prioritising the training of the workforce to preserve and pass on excellence within the group, providing opportunities for innovation. The results of the exploratory single case study indicate that this alliance represents an authoritative, professional and experienced interlocutor, able to provide the production capacity of excellent Made in Italy manufacturing companies, selected, and put into a solid and formalized network, which lays the foundations not only on equity, but above all on the sharing of values and planning. Moreover, resource management and alliance management capability allow for relevant group and individual company economic performance, resulting in building and maintaining a competitive advantage.