Internationalizing through design.

The paper reports results of an action-research process, aimed at testing the possibilities in using design as strategic resource for exploiting SMEs internationalization processes. In the actual socio-economic context, profoundly modified and dynamically changing, SMEs’ face strong difficulties in acting globally (Brunetti and Rullani, 2006; Crowther et alii, 2000; Etemad, 2004; Preti and Puricelli, 2007). Europe and Italy especially, as productive humus mainly made by these kind of industries, are nowadays looking for methods and models to strengthen their system and help SMEs achieve better results on a global market level. Here the presented project was born, as part of a broader research path aimed at defining a possible design approach to SMEs internationalization processes. The achieved results identify an innovative and experimental method aimed at designers to support and orient firms in the mentioned, while underlining as well an evolution in the relationship designer/enterprise. Moreover the need to redefine the meaning and the use of the word internationalization has emerged, since the main meaning of this word addresses to the increase of export shares, while the actual socio-economic system is much broader, more dynamic and complex than the solo concept of export.