Corso di Laurea Magistrale in Economia e Gestione delle Aziende, curriculum “International Management” Tesi di Laurea Entrepreneurial processes in the microbrewing industry. A comparison between Italy and France Relatore Ch. Prof. Vladi Finotto Laureanda Laura Funes Matricola 828276 Anno Accademico 2013 / 2014 “There is a driving force more powerful than steam, electricity and atomic energy: the will” Albert Einstein Abstract This dissertation is the final result of both a previous interest emerged during a project work developed for the class of “International Management” and the research conducted in Rennes (France), during the Erasmus Program. It presents an analysis of the venturing process of a microbrewery, proposing a comparison between French and Italian examples. Providing a framework with the current and emergent theories about entrepreneurship, the study shows the processes characterizing the emergent phase of a microbrewery. Moreover, the attention is focused on the stakeholders involved, together with other context’s implications which legitimize the entire business. Key words: Entrepreneurship, venture, bricolage, microbreweries, networks Résumé Ce mémoire est le résultat final d'un intérêt précédent émergé d’un projet développé pendant le cours d' "International Management" et après ma recherche conduite à Rennes (France), pendant le Programme Erasmus. On présente une analyse du processus de « venture » d'une microbrasserie, en proposant une comparaison entre les exemples français et italiens. En fournissant un cadre entre les théories actuelles et celles émergentes sur l'entrepreneuriat, l'étude montre les processus qui caractérisent la phase d'émergence d'une microbrasserie. L'attention sera portée sur les différentes parties prenantes et les contextes légitimant l’existence de l'entreprise. Mots-clés: Entrepreneuriat, venture, bricolage, microbrasseries, des réseaux Riassunto La tesi è il risultato finale sia di un interesse emerso precedentemente durante un progetto sviluppato per il corso “International Management” sia a seguito della ricerca che ho svolto durante il programma di Erasmus a Rennes (Francia). Presenta un’analisi dei processi di “venture” di un microbirrificio, presentando un paragone tra casi francesi ed italiani. Proponendo un confronto tra le teorie attuali e passate sull’imprenditorialità, lo studio mostra i processi caratterizzanti la fase emergente di un microbirrificio. Inoltre, l’attenzione è focalizzata sugli stakeholders coinvolti, insieme alle implicazioni contestuali che, insieme, legittimano l’intero business. Parole chiave: Imprenditorialità, venture, bricolage, microbirrifici, networks To my parents, who never stopped believing in me Table of contents INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................. i CHAPTER 1 ..................................................................................................................................... 1 BEER MARKET: AN HISTORICAL-ECONOMIC BACKGROUND ......................................................... 1 1. The case ............................................................................................................................. 1 2. Beer: a time line ................................................................................................................ 1 2.1 Ancient times................................................................................................................... 2 2.2 Middle-ages, monks and first innovation ........................................................................ 3 2.3 Modern Times ................................................................................................................. 4 2.4 Contemporary ................................................................................................................. 5 3. Global Beer Industry .......................................................................................................... 6 3.1 An increasingly concentrated market ............................................................................. 6 3.2 Trends and developments ............................................................................................... 9 3.2.1 Europe .................................................................................................................... 10 3.2.2 Americas ................................................................................................................. 12 3.2.3 Asia-Pacific ............................................................................................................. 12 3.2.4 Africa ...................................................................................................................... 14 3.3 Principal brands ............................................................................................................. 15 3.4 National Focus ............................................................................................................... 17 3.4.1 Italian beer industry ............................................................................................... 17 3.4.2 The French beer industry ....................................................................................... 20 4. Microbreweries : the revival ........................................................................................... 24 4.1 Strategy and goals ......................................................................................................... 25 4.2 Craft beer and industrial beer ....................................................................................... 29 4.3 National Focus ............................................................................................................... 30 4.3.1 Italy case ................................................................................................................. 31 4.3.2 France case ............................................................................................................. 33 CHAPTER 2 ................................................................................................................................... 37 ALTERNATIVE PERSPECTIVES IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP: NEW VENTURE CREATION .................... 37 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................... 37 2. The academic debate on entrepreneurship .................................................................... 40 2.1 Evolution of the planning school: The cognitive approach ........................................... 40 3. Alternative paths to new venture creation: the constructionist approach .................... 42 3.1 Opportunity formation .................................................................................................. 43 3.2 How to overcome resource constraints ........................................................................ 44 3.3 A means-driven logic .................................................................................................... 46 4. Contexts .......................................................................................................................... 49 4.1 The source of legitimacy ............................................................................................... 50 CHAPTER 3 ................................................................................................................................... 53 THE STUDY: A COMPARISON BETWEEN FRENCH AND ITALIAN MICROBREWERIES ................... 53 1. The aim of the research .................................................................................................. 53 2. The method ..................................................................................................................... 53 3. Italian case studies: Veneto ............................................................................................ 54 3.1 The phenomenon .......................................................................................................... 54 3.1.1 The pioneers .......................................................................................................... 56 3.1.2 Well-established breweries: more than 4 years of activity ................................... 61 3.1.3 One year of activity ................................................................................................ 68 3.2 Data structure for Veneto’s cases ................................................................................. 71 4. French case studies: Brittany ............................................................................................. 74 4.1 The phenomenon .......................................................................................................... 74 4.1.1 The pioneers .......................................................................................................... 75 4.1.2 Well-established breweries: more than 4 years of activity ................................... 79 4.1.3 One year of activity ................................................................................................ 87 4.2 Data structure for Breton cases .................................................................................... 91 5. Comparison ........................................................................................................................ 94