Developing innovation in small-medium suppliers: evidence from the Italian car industry

Small-medium firms represent more than 90% of Italian firms, 50% of Italian production and 2/3 of employment and they need support in innovation process especially in known technology. The small-medium firm, in fact, operates chiefly in medium to low technology sectors, but cannot for this reason reject innovation. Suppliers are often too small to make the necessary investments in training, computer systems, research and development to make an effective partnership with final producers. Within this scenario the behaviour of the small-medium car suppliers is quite different, vertical disintegration, reorganisation of the supply base and the development of buyer-supplier relationships have undoubtedly changed the role of suppliers in the carmaker’s strategies.