Doing (good) business in a complex and multifaceted context
The role and function of geopolitics in corporate management
The landscape — and, above all, the system of relations — within which companies must operate today can be defined as complex and multifaceted. It is a context that is new in many respects and must first be understood before it can be approached with great care. Although readings on the issue may not provide an instruction manual, they can offer a way of interpreting reality that can inform the best choices. This is why ‘Geopolitica per le imprese. Ripensare il business nei mercati post-globali’ (Geopolitics for business. Rethinking business in post-global markets) written by Marco Valigi, a political scientist and lecturer at ESCP Business School and the University Cattolica, is a useful read.
The book opens with the following observation: since 2020, a series of events that have been incorrectly labelled ‘geopolitical’ have had a significant impact on individuals, societies, and economic activities. Faced with a globalisation that has become patchy, with interconnectedness and divisions coexisting and fuelling increasingly identity- and, in many cases, military-based trade conflicts, ‘business’ has become much more complicated than in the past. As mentioned at the beginning, this is an activity that has to take place in a complex and multifaceted landscape.
Entrepreneurs and managers must respond to this challenge, often without the necessary knowledge. In other words, there is an increasing demand for individuals who can perceive and interpret signals beyond the scope of companies, as well as for leadership training and greater sensitivity among those involved.
This is where Valigi’s book comes in useful, as it seeks to shed light on the link between business and geopolitics, and thus demonstrate the usefulness of taking the latter into account in business activities. The book begins with a definition of geopolitics and then moves on to consider the international context as a potential source of value generation, before examining this subject in the context of production organisations. It then goes on to consider some specific elements of the relationships that need to be established, such as the training of people, sensitivity to risk, company size and the ability to ‘look beyond the company’.
In the last few pages of his book, the author concludes that, ‘Taking a geopolitical approach to thinking about one’s business (…) and designing an organisation structured in a way that is adequate to operate in today’s internationalised context will require one to go in search of the financial resources to build it, the specialist know-how needed to make it work, and, finally, the human capital suitable to govern it’.
Geopolitica per le imprese. Ripensare il business nei mercati post-globali
Marco Valigi
Egea, 2025
The role and function of geopolitics in corporate management
The landscape — and, above all, the system of relations — within which companies must operate today can be defined as complex and multifaceted. It is a context that is new in many respects and must first be understood before it can be approached with great care. Although readings on the issue may not provide an instruction manual, they can offer a way of interpreting reality that can inform the best choices. This is why ‘Geopolitica per le imprese. Ripensare il business nei mercati post-globali’ (Geopolitics for business. Rethinking business in post-global markets) written by Marco Valigi, a political scientist and lecturer at ESCP Business School and the University Cattolica, is a useful read.
The book opens with the following observation: since 2020, a series of events that have been incorrectly labelled ‘geopolitical’ have had a significant impact on individuals, societies, and economic activities. Faced with a globalisation that has become patchy, with interconnectedness and divisions coexisting and fuelling increasingly identity- and, in many cases, military-based trade conflicts, ‘business’ has become much more complicated than in the past. As mentioned at the beginning, this is an activity that has to take place in a complex and multifaceted landscape.
Entrepreneurs and managers must respond to this challenge, often without the necessary knowledge. In other words, there is an increasing demand for individuals who can perceive and interpret signals beyond the scope of companies, as well as for leadership training and greater sensitivity among those involved.
This is where Valigi’s book comes in useful, as it seeks to shed light on the link between business and geopolitics, and thus demonstrate the usefulness of taking the latter into account in business activities. The book begins with a definition of geopolitics and then moves on to consider the international context as a potential source of value generation, before examining this subject in the context of production organisations. It then goes on to consider some specific elements of the relationships that need to be established, such as the training of people, sensitivity to risk, company size and the ability to ‘look beyond the company’.
In the last few pages of his book, the author concludes that, ‘Taking a geopolitical approach to thinking about one’s business (…) and designing an organisation structured in a way that is adequate to operate in today’s internationalised context will require one to go in search of the financial resources to build it, the specialist know-how needed to make it work, and, finally, the human capital suitable to govern it’.
Geopolitica per le imprese. Ripensare il business nei mercati post-globali
Marco Valigi
Egea, 2025