ORGANIZATIONAL CAPABILITY OF SMALL ENTREPRENEURS FACING GLOBAL CHALLENGES: A CASE STUDY IN THE ORNAMENTAL PLANT PRODUCTION

Ornamental plant productions certainly represent one of the most dynamic agricultural sectors in the world, so much so that the current trend in the international markets of the production of ornamental pot plants seems clear is growing as well as constantly changing, both in relation to surfaces and number of firms. In parallel grows the values of the gross saleable production and consistency of ornamental plant business also involved in the process of marketing these products. Within this diverse and fragmented sector the production of ornamental pot plants assumes increasing significance, since its extreme variability of cultivated species make very complex and difficult the effort to frame in a single context the peculiarities of the and organizational activities phenomena. The study - by analysing a representative sample of ornamental pot plants of Sicilian producers, operating in districts with high vocational production - highlighted the main orientations of entrepreneurs and assessed the overall organizational level. The results showed that Sicilian entrepreneurial connotes the high dynamism of firms, certainly due to the high profile training at the relatively young age of the producers. Therefore, in virtue of a changed scenario in the international markets, this research provides a comprehensive view of the sector of Mediterranean ornamental productions, placing its focus on the entrepreneurial organization and management.