INDUSTRIAL DISTRICTS AND BUSINESS NETWORKS

The course aims to provide students with an advanced understanding of the theoretical foundations of the inter-firm co-operation through a critical analysis of the main models of industrial organization related to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The potential competitive advantages that an enterprise obtains from cooperation with other enterprises will be verified empirically with regard to industrial districts and business networks.
At the end of the course students will have acquired:
– The knowledge and understand of the constitutive characteristics of industrial districts and business networks;
– The ability to apply them to the design and management of business networks;
– The ability to make judgements to assess the competitive advantage of a firm belonging to an industrial district or a business network and to direct its change;
– Communication skills, through the use of a technical language appropriate to start-up or promote a business partnership network;
– Learning skills through the link between theoretical thinking and observation of facts.