Inside successful enterprises
A recently published essay collection attempts to get to the heart of Italian corporate culture
Why are some enterprises unique? And, above all, why are Italian enterprises unique? These are not meant to be idle or rhetorical questions – on the contrary, they are supposed to help those entrepreneurs and managers wishing to improve the way they operate, as well as people who might simply want to understand the causes of such widespread great success.
To this end, it will be very useful reading Il segreto italiano. Tutta la bellezza che c’è (The Italian secret. All the beauty there is), a recently published book curated by Vittorio Coda in his role as vice president of ISVI (Istituto per i valori d’impresa, the Italian Institute for corporate values). Half essay collection on Italian enterprises and half step-by-step narration of a few Italian companies’ stories, this work: is the result of research based on analytics management tools, and its aim is to define the traits that make Italian entrepreneurship outstanding. In other words, the book aims to identify the specific characteristics that make prominent businesses what they are, and act as a handbook for the whole Italian entrepreneurial system, describing those features entailed in the concept of an “Italian secret” – namely, that particular allure that makes so-called ‘made in Italy’ companies unique, all the issues Italy is experiencing and bad economy notwithstanding. As Coda himself explains at the beginning of the book, this piece of research was undertaken due to the “surprising realisation that, even in circumstances hostile to entrepreneurship, businesses existed, they were established and grew, and, further, placed Italy at the top of European and global rankings in several sectors”. The book’s various essays tackle crucial topics such as “dedication to the cause”, the ability to “manage chaos”, effective decision management skills, mastering the creation of virtuous relationships with the territory, the significance of regions, the kind of humanistic entrepreneurship shared by many companies, the propagation of an “Italian corporate model” over time and across geographical space.
A few essential case-studies inspire part of its sections, helping readers better understand the topic, starting with that of Camillo and Adriano’s Olivetti, an enterprise that, still today, is the emblem of an innovative way of doing business, reconciling the need for profit with the demands of social progress.
An (open) “Italian secret”, then, engendered by a particular production culture that evolves over time, develops and diversifies, spreads across the territories and gives Italy a global competitive edge. Moreover, the mention of corporate beauty in the title itself adds an important and significant touch to this book curated by Vittorio Coda – a book that certainly deserve some careful reading.
Il segreto italiano. Tutta la bellezza che c’è (The Italian secret. All the beauty there is)
Vittorio Coda (curated by)
Treccani, 2023
A recently published essay collection attempts to get to the heart of Italian corporate culture
Why are some enterprises unique? And, above all, why are Italian enterprises unique? These are not meant to be idle or rhetorical questions – on the contrary, they are supposed to help those entrepreneurs and managers wishing to improve the way they operate, as well as people who might simply want to understand the causes of such widespread great success.
To this end, it will be very useful reading Il segreto italiano. Tutta la bellezza che c’è (The Italian secret. All the beauty there is), a recently published book curated by Vittorio Coda in his role as vice president of ISVI (Istituto per i valori d’impresa, the Italian Institute for corporate values). Half essay collection on Italian enterprises and half step-by-step narration of a few Italian companies’ stories, this work: is the result of research based on analytics management tools, and its aim is to define the traits that make Italian entrepreneurship outstanding. In other words, the book aims to identify the specific characteristics that make prominent businesses what they are, and act as a handbook for the whole Italian entrepreneurial system, describing those features entailed in the concept of an “Italian secret” – namely, that particular allure that makes so-called ‘made in Italy’ companies unique, all the issues Italy is experiencing and bad economy notwithstanding. As Coda himself explains at the beginning of the book, this piece of research was undertaken due to the “surprising realisation that, even in circumstances hostile to entrepreneurship, businesses existed, they were established and grew, and, further, placed Italy at the top of European and global rankings in several sectors”. The book’s various essays tackle crucial topics such as “dedication to the cause”, the ability to “manage chaos”, effective decision management skills, mastering the creation of virtuous relationships with the territory, the significance of regions, the kind of humanistic entrepreneurship shared by many companies, the propagation of an “Italian corporate model” over time and across geographical space.
A few essential case-studies inspire part of its sections, helping readers better understand the topic, starting with that of Camillo and Adriano’s Olivetti, an enterprise that, still today, is the emblem of an innovative way of doing business, reconciling the need for profit with the demands of social progress.
An (open) “Italian secret”, then, engendered by a particular production culture that evolves over time, develops and diversifies, spreads across the territories and gives Italy a global competitive edge. Moreover, the mention of corporate beauty in the title itself adds an important and significant touch to this book curated by Vittorio Coda – a book that certainly deserve some careful reading.
Il segreto italiano. Tutta la bellezza che c’è (The Italian secret. All the beauty there is)
Vittorio Coda (curated by)
Treccani, 2023