The purpose of this research has been to verify if relational strategies are important as a competitive advantage, focalising the attention on the viti-wineculture of the region Friuli Venezia Giulia. The most interesting winemaking areas for carrying out the research have been located in Collio, Colli Orientali of Friuli and Friuli Isonzo, that is the areas where the most valuable wine is produced. In these areas have been singled out the most successful enterprises of the region.
The research has enabled to identify one of the most important problem of those enterprises, that is their size, due to an offer (supply) not enough for generating a significant economic volume and resources not adapt to the needs.
This problem can be resolved through collaborative relationships. In other words, the deficiency of the necessary resources in order to be independent in all the stages of wine processing, makes it convenient to create relationships in some of those stages, in particular in those that need more investments (like marketing activities) and those considered less strategic than others, both with firms of the wine sector that with firms of other economic sectors, with the purpose of generating scale economies outside each firm, but inside the relationship.
The collaboration (not only competition) among enterprises in specific activities enables to concentrate some processing stages (not firms), in particular the more important ones for successful performances, creating a system characterized by flexibility (that is, able to change when it is necessary) and autonomy of each firm.
