In many cases, it seems like the Italian army performed much more poorly than anticipated. Specifically, the Greco-Italian War saw them fail to make headway against an outnumbered and poorly equipped opponent, and Operation Compass was a spectacular disaster for the Italians. What explains this? Alternatively, is this narrative of Italian incompetence incorrect/overblown?
Not discouraging more contributions here, but just FYI, there are a few posts in the FAQ that may be of interest
Why was the Italian Army so pathetically inept during WWII? by /u/Quirite
How bad really was the WWII Italian army, and what made them that way? by [deleted]
Why was the Italian campaign on the side of the Axis during World War two such a failure? by /u/LordHighBrewer
How much independence did warships have during WWII by /u/Quirite
The threads that /u/Searocksandtrees linked are very good reads, and I think if you're just looking for a quick overview answer, they're great.
If you'd like to really delve into it, and learn about the Italian Armed Forces and its quirks, problems, and so forth then I'll recommend a book. Mussolini and his Generals by John Gooch. It's not what I'd call an easy read, but if you can delve into it, there's a lot of fascinating information about Italian war production, resource shortages, etc.
The long and short of it is that Italy had 'Great Power' pretensions yet was afflicted by an acute strategic weakness in that they were a peninsula nation wholly dependent on imports for war material, intensely vulnerable to blockade, without the economy or resources to properly contend with its two rivals - France and Great Britain.
This vulnerability, and insecurity, does much to explain Mussolini's adventurism and aggressive foreign policy. But this aggression led to going to war much sooner than even the Italian military wanted to. The air force was particularly weak, and suffering from internal doctrine confusion.
In any case, the Italian military was not well prepared, and too many demands were placed upon it. Yet even so, individual Italian soldiers and units could and did fight very well, earning the praise of even men like Rommel.