Italian districts

A third way of organising supply partnerships has been popularised and led by industrial districts in Italy (Becattini, 2002). Porter (1990) commented on the 

Supply chain internationalisation in the Marche shoe district 

The National Association of Italian Footwear Manufacturers (ANCI -www.anci-calzature.com) explains  

The success of the footwear sector in Italy is linked to an enterprising spirit and to the structure of the sector. The structure is a web of raw material suppliers, tanneries, components, accessories, machinery manufacturers, model makers and designers. This has resulted in a territorial concentration of firms and the formation of shoe manufacturing districts such as Marche, Tuscany, Venetia and Lombardy. The leading position of the Italian shoe industry is due to superior product quality and high levels of innovation. 

The Marche shoe district is the largest concentration of producers of shoes and accessories in Europe. There are more than 3,000 shoe firms, almost 500 shoe components firms and more than 100 leather firms employing almost 50,000 workers, with combined sales of over 3bn. The district is export-oriented, with more than 75 per cent of production going abroad - mainly to Germany, the USA, Russia and increasingly to Asia, including China. 

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An important feature of magmatism in Campania is that the Campi Flegrei mafic rocks are moderately potassic in composition but have very similar concentrations and ratios of several incompatible elements as the ultrapotassic rocks from Somma-Vesuvio these, however, contain higher concentrations of K and Rb (e.g. Peccerillo 2001). In other words, the positive correlation between potassium and incompatible elements observed in other Italian volcanic districts (e.g. Emici and Roccamonfma) is not so evident in Campania. 

Both sweet and dry versions are used as aperitifs, with French vermouth used in martinis, while Italian vermouths are used in manhattans (Edmunds, 1998 Kauffman, 2001). In the middle of nineteenth century, the north of Italy, mainly around Turin, and the Chambery district of France become established centers of herb production for vermouth. 

Saxophones wail and stomachs are fed on Westport Road in KC s nightlife district. For cheap eats, Jerusalem Cafe (431 Westport Rd., b 816-756-2770) can t be beat. A quick falafel sandwich before hitting the clubs is your best bet, although the atmosphere leaves much to be desired. For Italian food in a pleasant atmosphere, try Papagallo (3535 Broadway, b 816-756-3227). 

At the end of that summer of 1927 the Fascist government of Benito Mussolini convened an International Physical Congress at Como on the southwestern end of Qord-like Lake Como in the lake district of northern Italy. The congress commemorated the centennial of the death in 1827 of Alessandro Volta, the Como-bom Italian physicist who invented the electric battery and after whom the standard unit of electrical potential, the volt, is named. Everyone went to Como except Einstein, who refused to lend his prestige to Fascism. Everyone went because quantum theory was beleaguered and Niels Bohr was scheduled to speak in its defense. 

Analyse strengths and weaknesses of the Italian shoe district logistics model. 

Districts are a distinctly Italian solution to competitive advantage that involve the clustering of numerous SMEs in a focused network with close geographic distances between partners. Again, flexible response to globalisation issues is proving to be a challenge. 

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