LIBRI DI FRANCESCA MAGNO

Family firms’ longevity is an understudied but highly relevant topic. Understanding the factors that drive family firms’ longevity is essential not only to improve the strategies of existing firms but also to inform investors’ decisions to support start-ups, taking on the responsibility of long-term allocation of resources. Hence, the purpose of this study is to advance available knowledge by examining relevant cases of bicentenary firms. Specifically, the research relies on a qualitative approach based on interviews. Several themes emerged from the analysis: the symbiotic relationship between the entrepreneur and the company (internal symbiosis) and between the company and its territory (external symbiosis) as one of the main causes of company longevity; longevity as a process; longevity as both a lever and a liability; the interplay between change and preservation.

This paper reports the results of research performed by the research team established on the occasion of the 14th meeting of the SIM (Società Italiana Marketing) entitled "Il marketing di successo: imprese, enti e persone" held on 26-27 October 2017 at the University of Bergamo. Acknowledging the scant literature on the topic relating marketing performances to firms’ success and dealing with what marketing success is and how marketing success can be measured, the study reports findings emerging from a qualitative enquiry involving several in-depth interviews with key informants representing leading firms in the province of Bergamo. Besides providing first-hand definitions of marketing success based on practitioners’ experiences, the findings highlight how marketing strives to gain in-firm legitimacy and underline how it contributes to firms’ performances.

Sulla scia della rapida crescita di Groupon.com e degli altri siti di social couponing, un crescente numero di studi ha esaminato i benefici di tale forma promozionale per l’acquirente. Tuttavia si osserva una scarsità di contributi sull’efficacia di tale strumento nella prospettiva dei c.d. merchant, cioè delle imprese "inserzioniste" che scelgono di promuovere le vendite attraverso il social couponing. Il presente lavoro si propone di colmare tale lacuna, indagando gli obiettivi che i merchant perseguono tramite il social couponing e la loro soddisfazione rispetto ai risultati raggiunti per ciascun obiettivo, operando anche dei confronti in base ai settori di appartenenza dei merchant. Attraverso una ricerca su un campione di 157 merchant italiani che hanno pubblicato offerte su Groupon, l’analisi evidenzia che il social couponing non viene percepito come ugualmente efficace da parte delle imprese indagate.