Asiatic,markets,made,Italy,re- marketing Asiatic markets: made in Italy to re-build

Awhile ago, I got an email from one of the "gurus" I follow and it shocked me. The gist of it was this person wanted to trade services for a household item.To say it floored me would be an understatement.What was worse was a few days later t Automation technologies represent a fundamental aspect of any modern industry. The major types of industrial automation solutions, such as DCS, PLC, SCADA, and MES, are used on a large-scale in process and discrete industries.DCS technologie

"The Crisis", as it has been defined by now in asimplistic way, has at least the merit for letting emerge the strongcultural, industrial bounds and restraints of Italian companies and oftheir management, provided that it can be named like that the thickrank of self-home-made-entrepreneurs and the thicker rank oftheir children catapulted into a comfortable place at the board ofdirectors, dealing with some operative tasks often without having beenspecifically trained.From our Chinese observatory we were waiting for a strategic afterthought about the role of Asiatic markets as great outlet markets, for a creative reprocessing of the internationalisation strategies,a willingness to learn the right approaches to enter these Nations andto invest in Asia in order to regain the market shares that have beendramatically falling down in the rest of the world. But this is not the case. We have been watching a real attempt to makean assault on China under the pretext of regaining a chronicle ten-yeardelay in just two/three months. Of course it doesn't work. Everyday weget e-mails and phone calls from companies that would "sell in China"and according to our company policy we reply right to everybody,advising them honestly about the difficulties, the timing, theessential investments, the necessity of a fixed presence on theterritory, with the following investment in human resources. The feedbacks we get are really unedifying. Quoting randomly some recent episodes, let's try to make some examples: 1. After a lot of afterthoughts a small fashionaccessories firm denies to invest 10.000 € and doesn't participate to acooperative project funded 50% by the Regional Authority for the marketpenetration into China. The firm always worked for made-in-Italy brandsthat have tightened the purse strings and started producing on its ownor in outsourcing in Asia. It was the chance to start a project ofmarket penetration into China at very low costs. This was a family-runfirm with a smart, young child that didn't feel like frequentlytravelling to Asia. Without a brand of its own and without a retailtrade structure this firm is bound to close if it remains intraditional markets. They don't know Asia at all. They just want "tosell", but they alone will not have the power to do it. Their doom isalready sealed.2. A very well managed middle company, with great technical competences in plant and industrial field,has got its orders cut of 50%. In Italy factories aren't built anymoreand plant maintenances are extremely reduced. They know that in Chinathere is a great market in this field but it isguarded by Japanese people, Germans, Koreans and they can manage tooust them just taking away market shares little by little, placing aRepresentation Office in China, employing a skilled engineer that worksas commercial-technician and starting to reproduce the business modelthat has made them successful in Italy.During our interview the entrepreneur tells me that some years agohe decided to give up orders coming from out of the region becausethere was enough work to do in the provincial area.The idea of making business in China according tothe model I have showed him is thousand-mile far away from hishypothesis. The 30-year-old son of one of their partner works for thecompany but the idea to send him to China starting business has notbeen taken into consideration. Can't he speak English? Isn't he up toit? I don't know. For sure regaining the fall of orders in the Italianor European market seems to be a chimera. The entrepreneur knows ittoo, but it can't arrange an alternative strategy. Is their doomalready sealed? I hope not. 80 people have been working in this firm.3. Italian wine. Recently the exportation of Italian wine to Chinahave been increasing at a gallop, thrusting the countless Italian wineproducers to rush towards China in an unrealistic way. Also in thiscase we assist to much improvisation, shortage or lack of knowledgeabout the market, and we are just requested "to find an importer". Ourproposals are always much more complex than these, they are concernedwith placing the brand, direct control over distribution, necessity ofsetting the selling into the frame of "Italian lifestyle"concept, with all the appurtenances, included the activity of "tasteeducation for Chinese people ". That means building a structure in theCountry, making investments and human resources. Also in this case wegot poor feedbacks.It seems that the Italians' "creative spark", their capacity toreact quickly, their long sight, are asleep faculties because of thecrisis. The great made-in-Italy brands havemostly passed under the control of equity funds that are uninterestingin development, brand, employment but are obviously interesting inquick profits (or in losses reduction).Long-lasting experiences, years of work to build a trustfulreputation on international markets, high-level artisan traditions,taste and elegance of fashion products, ancient values of agriculturaltraditions and Italian foods seem to be buried under a blanket ofimmobility that will soon force to (re)build the Made in Italy.