The role of corporate communication in SMEs. Some empirical evidence in the Italian context

This contribution investigate the behavior of Italian enterprises according to the division proposed in literature by Balmer and Gray who identify primary communication (implicit), secondary communication (explicit) and tertiary communication (indirect). To achieve the objective, an empirical research on firms associated with Confindustria Monza and Brianza Association has been realized. The results show that the communication activities have a limited role for enterprises. Moreover, referring to the adoption of web 2.0 techniques, the use of last generation tools, seems to be still an exception, although they are accessible also for SMEs. Therefore, it seems that communication is not seen as a strategic issue for businesses development and for corporate governance.