SMEs during the crisis: why some have performed better?

Abstract

This explorative study aims to understand the reasons why some small medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Northeast of Italy have performed better than other during the last economical crisis. The period taken into consideration is among years 2008 and 2012, length considered sufficient by the author to appreciate changes in the business activities. The main focus is on innovations and business model transformations that allow those companies to continue their turnover growth, measure taken as indicator of good performance. The goal of the author is to rough out a common “fille rouge” which could represent a general path of growth for those companies that are still suffering because of the crisis. The study, based on a balance sheet’s database, is conducted through a detailed online questionnaire that investigated many different aspects: the performances of the company against its main competitors, the expenditures in R&D, the innovations and changes implemented in the market served, products, operational and organisational processes in addition to critical elements of success and distinctive resources. Innovarea, an Italian university project, is the starting point of the paper, which desires to answer to a specific question: is identifiable a common secret combination of elements that have generated the success of these companies?