IS EMBEDDEDNESS A KEY FEATURE OF BUSINESS ECOSYSTEMS? THE CASE OF CRAFT BREWERIES IN ITALY

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyze how a local economic system can grow without a pre-existing sector-related tradition. The case analyzed is that of craft beer production in Italian region where the production of beer is not part of the local culture. A multiple case study analysis has been conducted in order to identify the development conditions and the competitive features of a local system in the Italian region Marche. The perspective adopted was that of business ecosystems, deepening how the lack of embeddedness in the local production fabric could still allow the development of relationships characterized by mutual trust between firms, common language and uncodified systems of rules, similarly to traditional local systems. The study was conducted by analyzing six cases, which made it possible to identify the characteristics of the relationships between companies and the role of the local social, economic and cultural context. Results highlight that in the sector analyzed the lack of a sector-related common culture hinders the development of cooperative relationships, thus eliminating that character of interdependence between the companies, which identifies both traditional industrial districts and business ecosystems.

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