Cooperation in small and medium enterprises to break into international markets – Angeli della Moda on the Japanese market

Convegno internazionale organizzato da: Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Milano – London School of Economics and Political Science. The tendency towards internationalisation has played a key role in the lastfew decades in the economic and industrial environment. The reduction and, in many cases the elimination of customs barriers, along with the opportunity to transfer capital abroad have created new strategic opportunities, a growing expansion of the market economy on a worldwide scale and major processes of change affecting both capitalist economies and enterprises. In this context national borders tend to play an increasingly limited role as demarcation boundaries of economic areas, and no longer offer adequate protection to enterprises that fail to pay sufficient attention to efficiency and effectiveness. Competition has become global. This phenomenon is the result of the combination of four main factors: the spread of technology, removal of barriers between countries, convergence of demand, and development of transport and communications. In this scenario enterprises find themselves operating in increasingly large, open markets, where it is fundamental for them to increase their ability to competitive, minimise fluctuations, defend their markets and seek better sources for procuring raw materials, labour and services. At the same time, they have to take into account the influence of the framework and competition of the industry in which they work. The transition to a global mentality is not an easy one, as it requires the introduction of far-reaching processes of innovation that are often difficult to manage, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises. Globalisation of the economy has even introduced the problem of the survival of smaller enterprises, particularly because economies of scale, technology, research and development are not generally widespread in SMEs (small and medium sized enterprises). On this basis some researchers have claimed that small enterprises focusing on local markets or which have an approach to internationalisation founded on the ‘personalisation’ of products rather than on their ‘globalisation and standardisation’ will inevitably face many serious problems in competing internationally. For others, phenomena such as downsizing, process outsourcing, expansion of reticular models, increase in the number of spin-offs (but also spin-in partnerships), growth of franchising, and more generally, mechanisms of ‘enterprise creation by means of enterprises’ all ‘combine to create the impression of a form of production organisation that definitely favours smaller sized companies. Aside from these different positions, it is clear and generally accepted that there is a need for SMEs to adopt completely new approaches to management and organisation, particularly in Italy, if they are to break into foreign markets, and also to survive on local markets.