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By considering the role of technology in museum archives and exhibitions, as well as company archives and production, this paper aims to present that digital technologies offer new approaches and tools to consider fashion know-how, traditions and memories.

Through an extensive literature review and a close consideration of multiple sources, this paper analyzes fashion, tradition and knowledge creation through the lens of museum and company archives. A section on museum archives analyzes the role of fashion in the museum and the use of technology in cataloging, online resources and exhibitions for knowledge transfer of fashion history. The second half of the paper considers the relationship between heritage, company archives and technology in branding and consumer engagement.

The paper summarizes recent scholarship in the fields of fashion archives and demonstrates the still current importance of heritage in generating new design and exhibition practices. Despite having its roots in the past, heritage demonstrates continuity with the present and looks to the future with the same devotion and commitment, thus guaranteeing quality and authenticity for both museum collections and company productions.

Through a case study methodology, this paper presents how digital technologies can offer new approaches and tools in museum archives and exhibitions, as well as in company archives and collection development, to reconsider and translate fashion know-how, traditions and memories in the digital era.

The aim of this essay is to examine the relationship between design and handcraft, and examine the artisan as a witness of cultural and social traditions.

In the fashion and textile sector, craft production represents a very high manufacturing cost, particularly when production is not delocalized. However, it might not be easy to position craft production in the market, because its value is not immediately perceived. In this case, a design-oriented approach is essential. Design is important for the specificity of local productive knowledge and identity, not only to develop products with a high narrative content, but also as a stimulus for innovation. In combination with a local orientation, design can build value on implicit knowledge, the search for new languages, increase in the emotional dimension of the offered work, and innovate processes and the conception of the finished products. At the same time, design can help consumers to understand and recognize the qualities and unique characteristics of handmade products, thus creating the feeling of a unique purchasing experience with high added value.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the drivers influencing the risk of default on mutual guaranteed loans. The authors aim to verify whether default is influenced by the specific business policies of mutual guarantee institutions (MGIs) and to recommend guidelines for directing their operating management.

The authors analyse the guaranteed portfolios of 19 Italian MGIs and investigate the determinants of the defaulted positions at the end of June 2011. The sample consists of 167,777 guaranteed loans, of which 11,349 are in default. Using regression models, we identify the variables related to the business model of MGIs that are significantly associated with default on their positions.

The defaulted positions of MGIs are significantly correlated with the type of issued guarantees. This condition should be considered in defining product and price policies.

The authors identify some critical issues in the risk-taking processes of MGIs. The tested hypothesis highlights the opportunities for the optimisation of guaranteed loan portfolios, which is necessary for reducing the profitability/liquidity pressures of these financial institutions and enhancing their efficiency as instruments for mitigating the effects of credit rationing and promoting the revitalisation of small-and medium-sized enterprises.

The results are based on an original and reserved dataset, which is not available in public financial statements or public statistics, but is collected directly from the MGIs that are part of the study.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on public guarantees granted to micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by the Italian national credit guarantee programme (Fondo Centrale di Garanzia – Central Guarantee Fund – (CGF)). The CGF provides a direct guarantee to banks granting loans or a counter-guarantee to mutual guarantee institutions (MGIs) acting as first-level guarantors. Because the behaviour of MGIs could affect the default risk of counter-guaranteed loans, it is vital to investigate their operating and structural characteristics in order to identify an optimal design for public credit guarantee schemes (PCGSs).

Using regression models, the paper analyses the determinants of default for 33,229 SME loans guaranteed by an MGI and counter-guaranteed by the Italian CGF. The dependent variable is the ex-post default risk of SMEs’ counter-guaranteed loans in the 2010-2011 period. The explanatory variables are certain characteristics of the MGI.

The authors demonstrate that increases in an MGI’s leverage and the size of the counter-guaranteed portfolios increase the default risk. When the counter-guaranteed portfolio increases, MGIs are more risk taking but take less risk than when local and specialized MGIs are at play. Finally, direct public aid is relevant.

An appropriate design of the PCGS becomes crucial to controlling moral hazard in financial institutions and ensuring the financial sustainability of public intervention in favour of SMEs.

The paper evaluates an original and confidential firm-level data set that is not available in public documents or supervisory board statistics but is collected directly from the MGIs that participated in this study.

The aim of this paper is threefold: giving a description of how much internet‐based tools are used in inter‐firm supply chain relationships in Italy; analysing the different adoption behaviours of such tools held by Italian firms; and describing the main features of the firms using the internet for supply chain (SC) management, in terms of structures, players, processes and governance.

The paper is based on a survey carried out by involving Italian firms having more than 50 million euros turnover: 1,458 firms were involved and 463 answered, with a 31.8 per cent response rate. Firm referents were first‐level managers from SC, distribution, procurement or the IT/IS areas. The questionnaire was designed in five sections investigating: general SC features; internet‐based tools diffusion; main effects in terms of efficacy, effectiveness and customer value; relationships governance; general information about the firm.

Three adoption modalities can be pointed out: firms are divided in those mainly oriented to SC execution processes, from those mainly driven to collaboration in new product development or marketing processes. Most of the former operate with high‐order frequency and low product complexity in a make‐to‐catalogue environment, while the latter face higher product complexity, variability and customization: the use of the tools is consistent with firms' strategies. Correlation is found between the use of internet‐based tools and the collaborative environment within the SC, as marked by intense information and knowledge sharing among partners.

The paper gives a description of the adoption modalities of internet‐based tools by large Italian companies. Because of the high response rate and the international context characterizing such firms – most of them are branches of international companies, findings are generalizable and can be used to understand adoption behaviours of most firms.