Different determinants affecting managerial decision-making : The international expansion of medium-sized companies in the Italian food sector

Abstract: This study investigates the influence that newspaper news and other determinants exercise on the decision-making of executives and hence on the expansion strategies and the performance of medium-sized companies in the Italian food sector. This sector is characterized by companies that have a turnover between 10 and 50 million Euros and, for the bigger ones in this range, around 100 and 200 employees. The use of interviews (questionnaires) and secondary data, combined with a news gathering process are adopted by the authors in order to describe how managers respond to the information coming from newspapers and what other types of knowledge (or intangible assets) there are that can help to downplay the increasingly negative reports of the general downturn in the Italian economy. Evidently, as these companies show growth in revenues and a tendency to adopt exporting as the main strategy to go abroad, newspaper reports seem not to have an influence on managers’ decisions whereas know-how, instinct and personal experience are considered important factors, crucial for the achievement of the companies’ success.