SMEs and sustainability, an observatory on the intangible assets of southern companies

Increasing the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises in southern Italy by transforming sustainability-related best practices into development accelerators. This is the aim of the Methrica Observatory, a joint initiative promoted by Banca Generali Private and the University of Naples Federico II, which aims to analyse the perimeter of the companies most open to ESG issues, so as to track their distinctive elements in the challenges for growth. The aim is ambitious: to assess the extent to which the intangible assets of a SME, such as patents, trademarks, distinctive skills, know-how, industrial secrets, corporate welfare and relational skills, which can be traced back to the sphere of sustainability as a metric of investors' attention, can guarantee solid economic value and a high capacity for growth. The Observatory's scientific activities include an in-depth study on the intellectual capital of small and medium-sized enterprises in Southern Italy, precisely to identify the intangible assets that can contribute to the sustainable transformation of the business model.

"In the national economy, small and medium-sized enterprises express a dynamic of great interest, even greater than the national one," comments Enzo Ruini, Strategic Sales Manager for Sustainability at Banca Generali Private. Hence the desire to investigate through an Observatory the elements of competitive advantage of these realities, which reside above all in intangible assets".

Coordinated by the research team of the academic spin-off of the University of Naples Federico II, Methrica, the observatory will investigate a representative sample of SMEs with a turnover between EUR 2 and 50 million, operating in key sectors for the southern economy: agro-industry and agritech, green economy and sustainable energy, experiential and cultural tourism, advanced manufacturing, aerospace, textiles and blue economy. Through a mixed method - integrating quantitative and qualitative analyses, questionnaires and interviews - the Observatory will build a cluster of virtuous enterprises, to be analysed with a 'multiple case study' approach. The aim is to identify best practices and governance models that demonstrate how it is possible to combine economic performance and ESG metrics even in the absence of regulatory obligations, often designed on the scale of large listed companies. 

The underlying hypothesis is that, despite the lack of more stringent disclosure requirements for unlisted SMEs, there are nonetheless internal governance mechanisms and forms of human and intellectual capital that favour or limit the adoption of sustainable reporting practices. Understanding these dynamics will make it possible to identify any structural or cultural barriers to transparency and thus suggest strategies to foster sustainability, especially among SMEs in Southern Italy, thus contributing to the academic debate and economic development policies in the area.

"Businesses often do a lot of work on sustainability issues but do not know how to communicate them properly," explains Mauro Sciarelli, Professor of Economics and Business Management at the University of Naples Federico II and co-founder of the spin-off Methrica. The Observatory aims to valorise good practices, also to help improve the approach towards a correct narration of an element that is strategic for competitiveness. The results of the analyses will be disseminated, also used to raise awareness among students'.