Il successo internazionale delle PMI italiane: quali competenze distintive?

The contribution investigates the main features that fuel the international growth of Italian small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The analysis is based on the descriptive statistics harvested from the results of a survey on SMEs that have at least one foreign affiliate carried out in the 2000-2008 period. Above all, the analysis: i) shows that Italian SMEs possess distinctive marketing, organizational and supply chain management competences, and ii) implies a positive relationship between that expertise and the international growth of the SMEs.