Abstract

The aim of this paper is to empirically explore the characteristics of Italian companies with increasing turnover in the period of the Covid-19 pandemic and, therefore, to verify the relationship among internationalization, adoption of ICT and investments in Industry 4.0. Changes in economies and small and medium-sized enterprises are represented by drawing on international OECD data on business dynamism during the pandemic. They are verified with an ad hoc survey conducted through a questionnaire on a sample of sixty small and medium-sized Italian enterprises active in the Campania region in the first months of 2021. The results show that 80% of companies with high level of internationalization, have invested in Industry 4.0 and 90% of companies with investments in technologies in the last three years, have managed to maintain and increase their turnover. Although the relationship between internationalization and innovation is easily understood in technical studies of foreign trade and international marketing, few tests can be found that support it. This analysis aims to fill this gap and contribute to the improvement of the role of ICT, stimulating the realization of investments in Industry 4.0 as a catalyst for new global value chains.