Performance e Profili delle Imprese Multinazionali del Quarto Capitalismo

T The objective of this contribution is to evaluate the performance and build up a profile of Italian medium-size and medium large multinationals who represent the "fourth capitalism”. In fact, the companies' “fourth capitalism" is the set of medium and medium-large enterprises who seem to be stronger on foreign markets, either through exports or through foreign direct investment. The paper, that uses the dataset from Mediobanca research unit, does not limit its target to a descriptive analysis of the performance but also tries to give an account of the underlying innovation model of multinational enterprises of the "fourth capitalism" (IMQC), thus showing the complex approach to the internationalization of these enterprises, where innovation plays a key role. Moreover, flexibility and specialization in the production are important elements that drive the decision to invest and produce abroad. The commercial dimension also plays a central role for firms in the "fourth capitalism", as it leads to the direct control of foreign markets. One of the strategic objectives of IMQC, which is emphasized in the present work, is their great customer focus and organizational effort to provide their services to the customers, which, in turn, require substantial investment in immaterial assets. Finally, the paper highlights some external constraints that penalize multinational enterprises of the “fourth capitalism”, as the high cost of bureaucracy, high taxation, insufficient institutional support for internationalization.