Networks, territory and firm development. The perspective of Italian family firms.

This work aims to understand whether the territory can still be considered a driver of firm development and competitiveness, bearing in mind that the current competitive context increasingly pushes firms towards extra-local collaborations. The first part of the paper analyses the main contributions on relations and territory. The second part presents the analysis of four Italian firms that have embraced new production and market approaches based on the development of networks of relations in local and extra-local contexts. We verify that the firm and the entrepreneur influence the development and connotation of a territory, and that the territory influences the development of businesses located in it.