This book explores how the global financial and European sovereign debt crises have forced small-and-medium-sized businesses (SMEs) to reassess and adapt their funding strategies. At the heart of the matter is the worsening access to bank credit for such enterprises. Through this discussion we...

This book focuses on the relationship between business strategy and competition among Italian SMEs in the aftermath of the economic crisis. First examining business strategy and competitive advantage in a broader sense, Business Strategies and Competitiveness in Times of Crisis goes on to...

The structure of Italian industry is characterized by a predominance of small sized companies and the presence of very few large companies. For a long time a conviction was shared among scholars and practitioners that the strength and safety of Italian industry were based on its industrial...

Preface -- 1 SME and Entrepreneurship Policies After the Crisis -- 2 The Italian Small- and Medium-Sized Firms in the Aftermath of the Crisis: Is there a New Model? -- 3 Industrial Policy for SMEs Renewal: The Opportunity of Service Platforms -- 4 Product Inovation and Corporate Governance in...

This book offers a new interpretative key, which we call 'a stage and eclectic approach', to the development of clusters. This approach supports public efforts to increase the effectiveness of policy-making and development operations in local contexts