Framing the role of the diasporas in international economicdevelopment processes: the best practice of Ghanacoop and theMIDCO ethical mark

The aim of the study is to create a model for the development and growth of small and medium enterprises through the implementation of transnational business networks based on the role of immigrants and aimed at developing business in the immigrants’ countries of origin. The work finds its premise in the idea that the growth of the firm, which generates economic and social value, depends strongly on the development of its human resources and the social relationships established with the economic and social environment of reference. The model is based on a network structure. This specific organizational model enables SMEs to expand their activities using immigrants’ opportunities forestablishing relations with their countries of origin. Migratory flows are an inevitable phenomenon, a consequence of economic and social imbalances between human societies. Diasporas and migration are therefore a constant of our present and future, which we have to learn to live with by making full use of their advantages and not only considering the problems they may bring. Most of the time we forget the importance of immigrants’ contribution to overcoming the demographic crisis and associated shortage of labour. Many people still fail to realise that the migrants who arrive in our countries are young and have entrepreneurial spirit and wide cultural horizons. They are not all poor and dangerous. This new human capital is a resource for the host countries and they would be well advised to establish an alliance with it. The creation of an economic and cultural relationship is essential for the development of the main parties involved in migratory flows: the host countries; the countries of origin; and the immigrants themselves.From a methodological point of view the study utilizes both inductive and the deductive methods.Using the deductive method, we will start from the fundamental concepts of the Resource Based View, identifying the knowledge assets of the diasporas as a distinctive resource working as a link between different economic entities. On the other hand we will follow an inductive path, analysing an existing best practice in Modena: the Ghanacoop cooperative. Ghanacoop is a Ghanaian cooperative active in the import-export of exotic fruit using diasporas as a factor of development for the Italian and Ghanaiancommunities. In this way it has created a transnational labour-chain that on the one hand has allowed the Italian economy to access an unexplored market, the Ghanaian market and, while simultaneously enabling the Ghanaian economy to create an independent, successful, business chain.Therefore the goal of the study is to establish a benchmark model for the creation of business structures linking origin and host countries. The former should no longer be passive, on the contrary they become active economic players; while the latter are enabled to reach new markets and broaden their cultural horizons. The model is thus based on socio-economic cooperation and sharing between the participant communities, which exchange not only goods and services, but also knowledge. Migrants can acquire competences and know-how in the host country and apply what they have learnt in their native countries. On the other hand, the small and medium enterprises of the host country benefit from theopportunity, which provides incentives for transnational labour-chains and local responses to a global phenomenon.In the current global contest, SMEs are being required to move from a closed system to an open multinational system with open value chains. To achieve this, it could be useful to develop and spread a new concept of the project, based on the creation of networks involving players who can enable SMEs to obtain the tangible and intangible resources (e.g. knowledge and information) necessary for their success.In particular, the study tries to find possible solutions permitting SMEs to respond to the new challenges of the global economy through "local" business models which ensure new competitive advantages in the long term. The focus of this model is the firms run by immigrants, who have a crucial role in this network, since immigrants possess the distinctive skills and knowledge needed to open the network to new countries.In conclusion, the concrete result will be the creation of a reference model, which will provide the theoretical basis for creation of the MIDCO (Migrants’ Initiatives for Development in the Country of Origin) ethical business mark, certifying production processes based on international cooperation which also set out to aid the economic and social development of underdeveloped nations.