The replication of the Italian Industrial district model: cross-cultural issues

This paper aims to investigate the international replication of the Italian industrial district model, emphasising the role of cross-cultural issues. International management literature and empirical evidences show an Italian districts’ tendency towards internationalisation and interesting observations can derive from the evolution of Italian industrial districts and from the main characteristics of the new district models emerging in Central and Eastern Europe and Latin America. Some of these industrial clusters find their role model in Italian industrial districts and the ones showing the strongest similarities are those emerged in the areas characterised by a lower cultural distance, if compared with Italian cultural values. Stimulating research topics actually concern the internationalisation of Italian industrial districts and the different inter-firms relationships it can generate.