Made in Italy”.The Italian contribution to the development of business marketing discipline and practices

The authors analyze the main contributions of Italian literature\r\nin the business-to-business field as it relates to the characteristics of the\r\nItalian industrial manufacturing system. Even if not directly labeled as business–\r\nto-business marketing, Italian and other scholars who have studied Italian business\r\nexperiences have largely faced the topic of business marketing management with\r\ninnovative approaches and distinctive benchmark examples. In particular, the analysis\r\nof the Italian contribution to business marketing relies on the specific nature\r\nof the Italian industrial structure as recognized by the international literature.\r\nIn this respect, the authors argue that three main areas of interest progressively\r\narose from the peculiarities of the Italian industrial system: industrial districts,\r\nsubcontractors/subcontracting relationships, and mid-sized manufacturing companies.\r\nThese three research topics have been thoroughly investigated by both Italian\r\nand international scholars. They analyze the contributions that Italian researchers\r\nprovided to advance business marketing discipline and practices.