Is Pasta Just About Food? An Interpretation of Customer Needs Through the Case Study of Livi Srl

Abstract

Having studying myself abroad at Harvard Business School, I want to use the lens of the disruptive innovation to study the case of an Italian family business (Livi srl), operating in the sector of food and beverage (pasta), which has to cope with the crisis pushed by the pandemic. I want to use the concept of the disruptive innovation to understand: How strongly the customers behaviour has been changing in the sector of food and beverage because of Covid 19 in term of functional, emotional and social jobs to be done Whether the disruptive strategy could be a useful business map for the Small Medium Enterprises to re-adapt their profit formula, resources and processes How the local authorities could help the SMEs to leverage the production at a local dimension This paper uses a method based on a case history of an Italian family business, which has been operating for 50 years at a local dimension in the sector of food and beverage. The pandemic has significantly changed the customers’ habits and their needs and this put the lights on the big amount of jobs to be done by the companies to meet these incoming customers’ requirements. Indeed, in the sector of food and beverage many restaurants were forced to close because of the decision making taken by the local authorities. Would Livi srl be able to cope with this economic downturn? Which strategy should the entrepreneur set up to go through this negative financial performance? I want to answer to these questions by using the lens of theory of the Disruptive Strategy taught by Prof. Clayton at Harvard Business School. This paper puts the lights on the business’ ability to adapt its deliberate strategy to the new challenges of the market;indeed, a strong actual strategy is a good mix of a deliberate strategy with an emergent strategy. Finally, the relationship between local authorities (policy) and companies is investigated in a critical way, by which that has studied in term of partnership through the cost benefit analysis rather than considering the policy a social tool able to meet the customers’ needs with the business supply. © 2021, Academic Conferences and Publishing International Limited. All rights reserved.