Control systems in SMEs and their relationship with internal and external events: The Alifax Srl case.

Abstract

The Italian economic scenario is widespread of SMEs, which are often family-run activities. This paper aims to analyse one of these, the Alifax Srl company, and its control systems over years and organizational changes. The company, in fact, operates in the field of medical diagnostic instrumentation and, in recent years, it has been subject to several internal and external events. From a small commercial reality as it was at the beginning, Alifax started to expand through an M&A operation with a manufacturing company, up to having branches all over the world. The advent of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, then, represented a real business opportunity, as the demand for medical products has increased considerably. Following a personal stay both at the production site and at the administrative site, the various reports were collected and the control systems and their evolution were investigated. Finally, future projects and the causes of the company's success up to this point were studied, while some aspects that could be improved have been suggested. All the work is surrounded by reference literature, which includes M&A implications, crisis management and typical control procedures.