Strategies Adopted by Male and Female Entrepreneurs in Italy to Face the Economic Crisis

The current economic and financial crisis has had a profound impact on the Italian economy, and has put Italian companies into great difficulty; however statistical data shows that businesses owned by women seem to have resisted the economic crisis more effectively than those owned by men. This paper seeks to describe the ways in which Italian businesses have responded to the economic crisis and adopted strategies to deal with it. The study also compares the attitudes and behaviours of male and female entrepreneurs, in order to gain insight into their respective ways of dealing with the recession. The literature review shows that firms have faced the economic crisis by adopting either an offensive or defensive approach, and by externally‐ or internally‐ directed action. Four main types of strategy were identified: restructuring, resizing, reorganization and innovation/development. Drawing from a questionnaire survey given to a sample of 300 (150 male and 150 female) owners of micro‐enterprises located in the Marche region of Central Italy, the findings suggest that firms adopted mainly a defensive approach characterized by both restructuring and resizing strategies aimed to improve efficiency and refocus the core business. An offensive approach – involving innovation, development or reorganization strategies – was less common. A comparison between men and women shows that female entrepreneurs showed a lower propensity towards investment, innovation, development and growth. Consequently, they were significantly less oriented toward innovation/development strategies than men. Results suggest that under the same external conditions, gender may influence the strategies adopted by entrepreneurs in responding to the economic crisis. The defensive approach adopted by women entrepreneurs may be considered positive in the short‐term, as it aims at guaranteeing the survival of the business. However, in the long‐term it could undermine the ability of a business to seize new opportunities and to innovate, and consequently weaken competitiveness.