The Local Government’s Role in the Internationalization of Italian Small and Medium Enterprises

This paper focuses on analyzing the innovation of public services, as begun by Local Government Authorities in Tuscany for the internationalization of Small and Medium Enterprises. The first part of the essay will highlight the service innovation process consisting of several overlapping phases and related both to the delivery dimension and to the outcome dimension. In view of this, the second part of the paper will concentrate on how the competitive approach of the service sector has ultimately persuaded the Local Government to take on a strategy inspired by competitive quality based on customer-led service innovation. As a final point, the paper will examine the empirical evidence provided by two cases offering significant proof of the modernization process undergone by public utilities in Tuscany. Such analysis will define how pubblic service delivery and outcome dimension have been innovated by two different bodies (Promofirenze and Toscana Promozione), created by the Local Government Authorities for the internationalization of Italian SMEs, and more specifically, of Tuscan Businesses. In such instances, the process of innovation has been found to activate the creation of new public services - aimed at encouraging the circle ‘perceived quality-satisfaction-loyalty’ of customers.