The Internationalization of Italian SME After the Crisis: New Opportunities or New Threats?

The aim of the work is to investigate processes of internationalization followed by Italian firms, as a path of sustainable growth after the recent economic and financial crisis. However, the facets of such a process are numerous, complex and often closely related: delocalization, fragmentation of the productive process, technology and innovation transfers and globalization of production chains, are just some of the most significant aspects. Production delocalization is one of the most frequent answers to the growing pressures of globalization: if many micro-enterprises have been blown away by the crisis, for many others the process of qualitative upgrading of products, as well as the strategic one, are proceeding. The most dynamic growth of outgoing productive investments has to be ascribed to companies of medium size, so confirming the relationship between size and complex organization of activities. As far as internationalization and innovation are concerned, empirical evidence for Italy highlights that modes of being present in international markets makes a difference: firms resorting to cooperation agreements, are able to generate more innovation compared to their colleagues localized in national markets and this is due in part to massive knowledge input, but also to greater access to external ideas. The right investment mix in innovation, organizational and technological improvements, as well as the participation to a network and an active role in the global value chain, are essential because the strategy of internationalization becomes an opportunity and not a threat.