Valeria Sodano and Fabio Verneau 203
the scenario has changed in a way such as to risk the Italian world leadership and the very
survival of part of the industry. The growth rate of demand has declined, the EU subsidies have
been reduced, and world supply has been progressively affected by the growing Chinese
production. Moreover the more and more aggressive brand policies carried out by large
retailers are resulting in a new competitive fight between private labels and manufacturer
brands. US industry adapted in two ways to the new market conditions, with some firms
specializing in scale production (as in the case of Morning Star which has heavily invested in
plant capacity and modernization, in order to achieve higher efficiency and cost advantages)
and others specializing in brand equity (as in the case of Heinz, Sara Lee, and Kraft, which
have engaged in strategies of vertical disintegration and outsourcing, along with high
investment in brand equity, with expertise in brand management rather than production
becoming their core source of competitive advantage).
With regard to Italian firms, three strategies are currently viable for coping with the changing
competitive scenario: 1) building new relationships with retail organizations, seeking
collaborative agreements and softer competition with private labels; 2) innovation at the
maturity stage of the life cycle, striving to succeed in differentiation strategies and niche
markets; 3) re-positioning own business in the global market, trying to find new places in
emerging networks resulting from outsourcing and market globalization. A fourth strategy -
- 4) aiming at leading positions in the global market, giving priority either to cost minimizing
or brand equity maximizing strategy- seems, on the other hand, not to be viable because of the
lack of large corporations (especially after the breakdown of Cirio and Parmalat) and because
of the relative high cost due to fragmentation both at agricultural and manufacturer level.
2.2 Assessing the role of social capital
In this section, we illustrate the lack of trust in the southern district, suggesting that differences
in trust-based social capital account for different strategies in the two districts. We use results
from the initial stage of a research we are currently carrying out on the socially-based
determinants of strategies in the industry.
In order to evaluate the statistical situation in the two Italian regions concerned with processed
tomatoes, both some official statistics (see tables 5 and 6) and some data gathered during an
ongoing survey examining the structure and strategy of tomato processing companies (see
tables 2, 3 and 4) have been taken into consideration. The survey in question involved
distributing a questionnaire to 29 firms, of which 23 operate in Campania, and the other 6 in
Emilia.
Table 2. Human capital and level of openness towards the outside
|
Campania______ |
Emilia | |
|
Managerial staff with a degree |
20% |
56% |
|
Reports concerning research |
58% |
100% |
|
Business trips abroad |
5 |
10 |
|
Training and refresher courses_______________________ |
1.4________________ |
2.5_________ |
Source. Our own work