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The Role of Innovations in the Competitive Strategies of Italian Agri-Food Enterprises

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  • Coppola, Adele
  • Pascucci, Stefano

Abstract

The aim of this work has been to inquire into possible connections between competitive strategies and inclination to innovation, through an analysis of a sample of Italian agri-food enterprises behaviours. Particularly, some firm’s innovation strategies have been analysed, inquiring into a set of characteristics that at a theoretical level are considered as potential factors of innovation adoption : economic and financial dimension, organizational structure, productive specialization, productive process and the location context. The results of the study have underlined the existence of a great variety of behaviours among the examined agri-food enterprises, which have revealed a highly varied inclination to innovation. The data indicate that the stimulus to innovation is the result of a set of factors that jointly act on the decisional nucleus of the enterprises. Moreover, the results point out that the processes of “organizational” innovation are gaining a more and more relevant role in Italian agri-food enterprises, while very strong elements of weakness seem to characterize the processes of technological innovation, above all because of a reduced inclination to both public and private investments in R&D.

Suggested Citation

  • Coppola, Adele & Pascucci, Stefano, 2007. "The Role of Innovations in the Competitive Strategies of Italian Agri-Food Enterprises," 2007 1st Forum, February 15-17, 2007, Innsbruck, Austria 6584, International European Forum on System Dynamics and Innovation in Food Networks.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:iefi07:6584
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.6584
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    Cited by:

    1. TEKAM OUMBE, Honoré & Pilag Kakeu, Charles Bertin, 2019. "ENTREPRENEURIAT ET CAPACITE D’INNOVATION, CAS DES PME AGROALIMENTAIRES. Une évidence empirique sur données camerounaises et implications pour une politique de développement sectoriel [ENTREPRENEURS," MPRA Paper 92377, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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