Edison: evolution of a great enterprise
The history of one of the most important industrial groups explains a lot about the economic nature of the country.
There are businesses that have truly made the economic and industrial history of an area and an entire country. Perhaps they’re not “perfect”, but they’re significant, and it’s good to know their history in order to understand the performance of an entire economy and, above all, outline its possible developments. This is why we need to be aware of the evolution of some of Italy’s great industrial names. The Edison group is certainly one of these. This is why the book that Marco Fortis has just published on the Group’s 140 years of history is a must-read (with attention).
Storia del Gruppo Edison: 1883-2023. Le direttrici di sviluppo di una grande impresa industriale (History of the Edison Group: 1883-2023. The development guidelines of a great industrial enterprise) demonstrates its value right from the subtitle, a promise to illustrate the developmental path of a company that has for a long time made a fundamental contribution to the economic growth of Italy. Because the history of Edison is truly fundamental for Italian industry in general, packed as it is with figures of great calibre, times of varying fortunes, transformations, problems and crises, as well as innovations and new challenges, some that have been met successfully and some still to face.
Fortis’ story is compelling, a narrative covering the entire history of the Edison Group from the founding of the company in 1883 until 2023. It also contains some significant sections, such as the profiles of continuity between the “historic Edison” and the current Edison. First comes the history, with the pioneering electrification company of the late 19th century, with the construction of the first power station in Europe in Milan, Santa Radegonda, and the lighting of La Scala. Then come the steps in the last 30 years, with the Edison Group gradually returning to position as a leading national operator in the energy sector, with significant changes in the shareholding structure, in the orientation of the company’s activities and in the redefinition of its industrial strategy. We then come to a “new” Edison that has concentrated its vision and its strategic guidelines for the future increasingly on generating renewable energy, on the geographical diversification of its natural gas supply sources, on commercial activities, on energy and environmental services and in the direction of renewed attention to nuclear energy. This “new” Edison, however, and as we said before, didn’t fail to remember its origins and take inspiration from them in some way.
The approximately 200 pages of the book relate not only the affairs connected with the shareholders, but also those of the “entrepreneurs, engineers and administrators” who animated the company as well as the phases of decline following others of rebirth characterised, as we said, by a kind of common thread uniting past and present.
The meaning and usefulness of Fortis’ book can be found in many passages. To take one example: “Edison belongs to a small number of large private and public groups in strategic sectors with a history stretching over decades, which our country has preserved. For these reasons too, it constitutes an irreplaceable resource.” It’s a resource that must be understood and valued, and therefore described well, as Marco Fortis himself succeeds in doing.
Storia del Gruppo Edison: 1883-2023. Le direttrici di sviluppo di una grande impresa industriale
Marco Fortis
il Mulino, 2024
The history of one of the most important industrial groups explains a lot about the economic nature of the country.
There are businesses that have truly made the economic and industrial history of an area and an entire country. Perhaps they’re not “perfect”, but they’re significant, and it’s good to know their history in order to understand the performance of an entire economy and, above all, outline its possible developments. This is why we need to be aware of the evolution of some of Italy’s great industrial names. The Edison group is certainly one of these. This is why the book that Marco Fortis has just published on the Group’s 140 years of history is a must-read (with attention).
Storia del Gruppo Edison: 1883-2023. Le direttrici di sviluppo di una grande impresa industriale (History of the Edison Group: 1883-2023. The development guidelines of a great industrial enterprise) demonstrates its value right from the subtitle, a promise to illustrate the developmental path of a company that has for a long time made a fundamental contribution to the economic growth of Italy. Because the history of Edison is truly fundamental for Italian industry in general, packed as it is with figures of great calibre, times of varying fortunes, transformations, problems and crises, as well as innovations and new challenges, some that have been met successfully and some still to face.
Fortis’ story is compelling, a narrative covering the entire history of the Edison Group from the founding of the company in 1883 until 2023. It also contains some significant sections, such as the profiles of continuity between the “historic Edison” and the current Edison. First comes the history, with the pioneering electrification company of the late 19th century, with the construction of the first power station in Europe in Milan, Santa Radegonda, and the lighting of La Scala. Then come the steps in the last 30 years, with the Edison Group gradually returning to position as a leading national operator in the energy sector, with significant changes in the shareholding structure, in the orientation of the company’s activities and in the redefinition of its industrial strategy. We then come to a “new” Edison that has concentrated its vision and its strategic guidelines for the future increasingly on generating renewable energy, on the geographical diversification of its natural gas supply sources, on commercial activities, on energy and environmental services and in the direction of renewed attention to nuclear energy. This “new” Edison, however, and as we said before, didn’t fail to remember its origins and take inspiration from them in some way.
The approximately 200 pages of the book relate not only the affairs connected with the shareholders, but also those of the “entrepreneurs, engineers and administrators” who animated the company as well as the phases of decline following others of rebirth characterised, as we said, by a kind of common thread uniting past and present.
The meaning and usefulness of Fortis’ book can be found in many passages. To take one example: “Edison belongs to a small number of large private and public groups in strategic sectors with a history stretching over decades, which our country has preserved. For these reasons too, it constitutes an irreplaceable resource.” It’s a resource that must be understood and valued, and therefore described well, as Marco Fortis himself succeeds in doing.
Storia del Gruppo Edison: 1883-2023. Le direttrici di sviluppo di una grande impresa industriale
Marco Fortis
il Mulino, 2024