Conference article

Relocation of Production and Knowledge in the Territorial Systems of Third Italy: Firm Strategies; Absorptive Capacity and Innovation Processes

Bruno Grancelli
University of Trento, Italy

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Published in: 10th QMOD Conference. Quality Management and Organiqatinal Development. Our Dreams of Excellence; 18-20 June; 2007 in Helsingborg; Sweden

Linköping Electronic Conference Proceedings 26:8, p.

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Published: 2008-02-15

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ISSN: 1650-3686 (print), 1650-3740 (online)

Abstract

The aim of this early stage study is to put forward some further reflections on the debate on the evolution of the district model through an assessment of post-2000 developments. The paper is focused; in particular; on the consequences of internationalization processes of Italian SMEs both at home and in destination countries. The next section addresses the hierarchization of IDs and its alleged consequences: the coming back of Fordist forms of work organization and the deterioration of the local production texture. The third section refers to the internationalization processes that are supposed to dis-embed district firms and their purported outcome: the spread of ‘bloody Taylorism’ in the factories of destination countries. In the concluding section; some remarks are put forward on a future research agenda on the ways transnational social spaces are going to be filled with new structures and practices of learning; imposition; resistance and cooperation.

Keywords

Industrial districts; decline; evolution; internationalization; management learning; entrepreneurship

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