Changing generation inside Italian family firms which are acting at international level

Abstract

In this master thesis will be discussed the importance of changing generation inside the Italian family-run companies which are acting at international level. In particular the aim will be analysed the small-medium firms that during their growing process have decided to internationalize themselves towards Asia and specifically in China. The driver concepts of this thesis will be family, generation and internationalization. The family represents a very controversial point, since could be both a meeting or a detachment point between Chinese and Italian culture, so a deep analysis will be done. Moreover, family have to be analysed also as a conceptual feature that drive the managing process of a company, this latter not seen just as a profit machine, but intrinsic element of the family identity. Instead, the changing generation has to be seen as a needed key point in companies to stay alive and exploit new flows of idea and to continue the already existing path or to land in the international context, particularly in the Chinese one. Finally, internationalization point, has to be seen as a synonym of potential means of growth and expansion, maintaining anyway the firm’s family identity. To have a more concrete approach, in this thesis will be included also the interviews conducted on six small medium Italian enterprises which works in the field of wine and which exports this Made in Italy excellences towards China. This practical approach will be useful to compare the theoretical part explained in the first chapters to the operational side, in order to understand which strategies are the more effective and if there are a common thread that has led these firms to succeed.