In a thesis, the story of what can happen when companies and the social environment find the right formula to grow together

An area that practices the ethics of business. It happens, and not so infrequently. The theme to be addressed is the identification of a framework through which companies, workers and the surrounding social environment find the correct formula to develop innovation. The same thing always applies: above and beyond the theory, we need to study the facts. This is what Sara Arduino and Giulia Granzino did with their thesis ” Successo imprenditoriale e attenzione etica verso i lavoratori” (Entrepreneurial success and ethical attention to workers), defended as part of the 15th Master’s in Local Development at the University of Eastern Piedmont.

The work is the product of field research aimed, the two authors explain, towards investigating the presence in the Asti area of Piedmont of companies that have already developed entrepreneurial success together with ethical attention to workers, the public, the area and the environment. Arduino and Granzino investigated attentive businesses, wanting to identify the characteristics of the territorial and social context (work ethic, community relationships, presence of trust, know-how, etc.) that facilitate and encourage ethics and sustainability in business.

The work therefore first of all identified the criteria of ethics and excellence (also from the perspective of the theoretical framework), which were subsequently sought out in the territory and in the businesses that populate it, looking above all at those identified as possessing good practice in terms of excellence and ethics in the area. Among these companies, the two researchers then carried out a more careful investigation (meetings-interviews, questionnaires, etc.) with the aim of taking a closer look at the real core of the business ethics that are put into practice. Alongside the theory and in addition to the results of the field survey, it is the story of examples of companies set alongside one another, also known outside the area and others completely rooted in it: Alplast, D. Barbero, Cantine Bava, Bosca, Ca’Mariuccia, Fra Production, Fratelli Durando, Gancia, Michele Chiarlo, Mista, Mollificio Astigiano, Nobil Bio Ricerche, Saclà, Piccole Aziende Crescono…, Albergo Etico.

In addition to all this, the work also aimed towards preliminary analysis of the possibility of creating (in particular by involving the companies already identified as agents of local “ethical” experiences and local institutions) structures for collective action to intervene “ethically” in the critical areas of the local economic system.

The work of Sara Arduino and Giulia Granzino may not be a milestone in the study of ethics and corporate social responsibility, but it has the merit of providing a snapshot of what happens in an area that can act as an example for others.

In the conclusion, the authors write: “If on the one hand it is unrealistic to think of the existence of an ethical logic distinct from a logic of profit (…), it is important first of all to avoid the risk that the existence of balance sheets and/or ethical codes within companies is dictated more by financial needs than by a deep-rooted interest in aspects of virtue.”

Successo imprenditoriale e attenzione etica verso i lavoratori
Sara Arduino, Giulia Granzino
University of Eastern Piedmont, Master’s in Local Development, 15th Edition, Academic Year 2018/2019

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The cultural and creative outlets of Milan make up 16 billion in added value, 10% of the country’s total, with 204,000 jobs in the sector. The total value of Lombardy is 25.4 billion, with 365,000 employees. And it is precisely culture and creativity that give the metropolis that extraordinary economic and social strength that has long been the focus of international economic and social investors and observers. It continues to influence improvement in quality of life: this year, in fact, Milan found itself once again at the top of the quality of life ranking by city compiled by Il Sole24Ore: income, work, well-being, environment, positive social relations, health, solidarity and inclusion and, indeed, cultural opportunities that promote growth and prospects for a promising future. In the age of the “knowledge economy”, culture is a driver for competitiveness in Milan, essential for manufacturing, services, finance, tourism, and activities of production and commerce as a whole. It can act as a cornerstone for more balanced and sustainable growth, with positive effects throughout Italy.

The data comes from the 2019 Report “I am culture – The Italy of quality and beauty challenges the crisis”, curated by Symbola and UnionCamere, presented in mid-December in Milan. Lombardy and Milan sit atop the national rankings, followed by Rome, Turin, Siena, Florence, Arezzo, Aosta, Bologna and Modena. The growth of the sector is calculated at around 3% versus the previous year. And it confirms that culture and creativity are essential assets for development, together with training, research and all initiatives related to innovation.

“One cannot survive on culture. WRONG!”, Bocconi economist Paola Dubini wrote in 2018, documenting the contribution to economic and social growth of books, museums, theatre, cinema, music, art and historical heritage with extensive figures, facts and logic. Now the analysis and results of the Symbola and UnionCamere Report provide further confirmation. “Business becomes culture and culture becomes business,” sums up Giuseppe Tripoli, general secretary of UnionCamere. And Ermete Realacci, President of Symbola, the association and driving force for initiatives around environmental and social sustainability, clarifies: “Beauty, culture and creativity increase Italy’s wealth, employment and soft power”.

How did Milan reach the top spot? The key is in part its historical attitude towards acceptance and the concentration of every form of energy in productivity and doing it well. Milan is an open city, never a “city state” or arrogant, never a place for prima donnas and privilege, but rather a space for collaboration and dialogue, always thinking of having to and being able to take responsibility for stimulating the growth of the entire country, in the context of Europe.

“People become, rather than are born, Milanese,” Carlo Castellaneta wrote in 1991, one Italy’s most acute writers, with Apulian family roots, born in Milan. And throughout the course of the twentieth century the city was a reference point for writers and poets, artists and photographers, musicians and architects, directors and actors, in the dynamic environment of publishing houses, theatres (the Piccolo and the Parenti, to name just two of them) and musical institutions (first of all La Scala). As well as museums and art galleries, newspapers and magazines, clubs and cultural initiatives promoted and supported also by the major entrepreneurial families (Pirelli, Falck, Feltrinelli, Bracco, etc.) and by large financial companies (the role of Banca Commerciale Italiana, under the guidance of the refined and generous banker Raffaele Mattioli, is exemplary). Universities have proven to be an effective driver of training and research through which ideas are spread. And scientific research has fuelled the widespread desire for experimentation and innovation. A whole world in movement, dialectic and ready for dialogue. And ready to head along on the roads of change. TV and advertising, from the eighties onwards, were also among the key players. A culture in continuous transformation. A “polytechnic culture”, an original synthesis of humanistic and scientific knowledge. High-quality popular culture: the most recent confirmation is the great following for Puccini’s Tosca, the inauguration of the opera season on 7 December, a “debut broadcast” with screens for simultaneous viewing in 40 places in Milan, with 10,000 people standing there, watching. Quality and popularity are basic cultural characteristics that still have weight and value today.

“Milan is an example of what Italy can do if it believes in itself,” comments Cultural Heritage Minister Dario Franceschini, inaugurating the new Galleries dedicated to Leonardo da Vinci at the Science and Technology Museum. It is called an exemplary city of “industrial humanism” in the debates and research of business foundations and the cultural projects of Assolombarda itself, the Confindustria association which brings together over six thousand companies from Milan, Lodi and Monza and Brianza and which, for its annual meeting, chooses a symbol of great Milanese and international culture, la Scala.

There is another characteristic of Milan, which is worth remembering, talking specifically of cultural and creative processes: the constant collaboration between public and private, between local institutions and companies, politics, the economy, social stakeholders. Collaboration built on the awareness of mutual autonomy and the need for debate, to obtain a synthesis for development.

On the horizon of 2020 there is a challenging event: hosting the World Cities Culture Summit of the 40 most culturally influential cities. There will be a lot to say. And to prepare, to learn by listening to other stories, experiences, and successful paradigms. Being cultural in Milan is a great civic value. And it’s good for business.

Businesses from the biggest European industrial nations have once again made a positive choice for the future: a stronger, more cohesive and more competitive Europe. And above all a Europe that is sustainable. These are the assertions of an important document signed last Thursday in Rome at the first trilateral business forum between Confindustria, MEDEF (Mouvement des Entreprises de France) and BDI (Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie) which focuses on three priorities: investments in development, the digital economy and the green New Deal. Innovation and sustainability will strengthen Europe at a time of strong nationalist and populist sentiment against the EU and its culture of rights, responsibilities and inclusive economic growth. In Italy, Salvini’s League party, with its loud and aggressive battle against the European monetary system, the stability mechanism to support member states and financial structures in difficulty, has brought back the worrying spectre of a departure from the single currency, with little regard for the serious damage this would inflict on Italian savers and investors.

The document is addressed to both the European Commission, led by Ursula von der Leyen (already convinced of the need for a green New Deal, for which an EU fund of between €35 billion and €100 billion could be introduced), and national governments. In it, the three business associations speak about funding the green economy with investments of €250 billion to €300 billion, fostering the primacy of the EU digital economy (threatened both by American multinationals sick of antitrust and tax restrictions and Chinese giants) and policies for open, international trade that go against the dangerous protectionism and damaging ‘tariff wars’ instigated primarily by Trump in the White House. And they know that in order to combine development, the market and liberal democracy, they must be able to exert strong political and cultural influence. It is a choice carrying a great deal of responsibility.

As such, economic, environmental and social sustainability form the cornerstones of the commitments of Italian, German and French businesses. The trilateral business forum document collates the evidence that has been gathered over the last year and more by the three business organisations. And it underlines the sustainability requirements that are reiterated increasingly often by the financial world, the most recent example being the document published in August by the Business Roundtable (an association of the most influential American corporations), which insists on the need for businesses to switch their priority attention away from shareholder value (company profits and the value of their shares on the stock market) and onto stakeholder value, the interests of consumers, suppliers, employees, people affected by a business’s activities. This is a radical change from the laissez-faire liberalism of Friedman and the Chicago Boys, which has dominated world culture since the 1980s, to the strongly socially tinged liberalism of John M. Keynes, now at last re-read, reinterpreted and restored to the contemporary political, economic and cultural discussion.

This is a responsible and sustainable form of economic liberalism, which seeks to rebuild trust and restore legitimacy, partly in response to the new levels of sensitivity regarding the environment and greater social equality which have emerged very strongly particularly among the younger generations, determined to ask businesses not only to provide jobs and wellbeing but also to create better and fairer social equilibriums.

Confirmation comes from the Edelman Trust Barometer, produced by the biggest public relations group in the world in terms of revenues (referenced on Sunday by Maurizio Molinari in La Stampa), 82% of whose investors feel that ‘maximising profits can no longer be the main goal because the public is interested in social and environmental issues, beginning with the climate.’

Of course, the value of profit-making remains unchanged. What has changed is the way of achieving it: by respecting people and the environment with a long-term commitment to sustainable development, rather than a short-term plan based on financial rapaciousness and irresponsible speculation.

These are key issues around which Italian industry, rooted in areas which it has historically recognised as genuine sources of competitiveness and attentive to its employees (as evidenced by the growth of employee welfare), has made very important economic and social choices over the years (Olivetti, Pirelli, Ferrero, Merloni, Del Vecchio’s Luxottica and myriad SMEs).

They will also be discussed, on Monday 16 December, at Assolombarda, with a presentation in Milan of the ‘Assisi Manifesto’ promoted by Symbola and the Franciscan monks of Assisi on the green economy and the ‘right economy’ so dear to Pope Francis, signed in October by Confindustria, Confcommercio, Coldiretti, Confartigianato, managers of top businesses (like Enel), trade unionists and personalities from the worlds of economics and culture. As Enzo Fortunato, a priest and editor of the Rivista San Francesco journal, points out, it is centred on ‘the values of a new business culture in which everyone has a responsibility to get involved, prevent waste, promote inclusiveness and foster solidarity and peace.’ It is a way of uniting ‘ethics, economics, sustainability.’

Recently published in Italy, a book which seeks to outline a new approach to business management

A truly wise man is humble. A true entrepreneur is always attentive to others and their teachings. These aren’t ‘laws’ but real-life observations. In a complex scenario like the one currently faced by the economy and production sector, the most successful businesses on the market are those that observe the outside world and are open to change, places where the emphasis is above all on working together. In other words, it would seem that in the long run the real key to success is humility and a predisposition to listen, to understand and to consider the environment surrounding the factory, the local community and the social system in which the business operates. The time for superheroes seems to have passed.

These are the premises behind Humble Leadership: The Power of Relationships, Openness and Trust, a book written by Edgar H. Schein and Peter A. Schein (the former an expert in social and organisational psychology, the latter senior manager of numerous organisations around the world).

In other words, the argument of the two authors begins with the observation that traditional forms of leadership are now struggling to keep up with changes in the working world, where static hierarchies and the ideals of superhero leaders are growing increasingly ineffective. There is therefore a need for change, pinpointed by the two authors as a more collaborative form of management which, guaranteeing open communications based on trust, makes it possible to innovate and adopt more collaborative approaches to solving problems than in the past.

This is where the power of humility comes in. Edgar and Peter Schein advocate a new take on leadership, the key to which is humility, based on a deep understanding of the complexities of interpersonal relations, where attention is focused on group dynamics and collaboration. This is what the two men define as ‘humble leadership at every level.’

The book therefore examines the concept with an approach that begins with an analysis of reality and ends by identifying the features of a new method of business management.

The two authors write: ‘This book is about reasserting that the core of organizational longevity is in the interaction of social, emotional, and cooperative whole human beings in various kinds of personal relationships to each other.’ So the focus is on success, but also on others.

The book by the Scheins therefore attempts to give a theoretical but above all an operational structure (partly through a series of case studies) to a business approach that is increasingly relevant in the contemporary world.

Humble Leadership: The Power of Relationships, Openness, and Trust
Schein Edgar H., Schein Peter A.
Guerini Next, 2019

The governor of the Bank of Italy speaks once more about the relationships between teaching, innovation, finance and development

Innovate or perish. This increasingly appears to be the dilemma facing not just individual businesses but also, and above all, entire production systems. A question of skill, and therefore knowledge, but also of possibilities, and therefore the necessary technological and – even more importantly – financial resources. In any case, a good part of the (serious) debate on the development of individual businesses and the country itself revolves around these concepts.

Reading the introductory speech of Ignazio Visco, governor of the Bank of Italy, at the opening of the 2019–2020 academic year at the University of Cagliari is certainly a good idea if you want to learn more about the real crux of the aforementioned issues.

In his speech, ‘Innovazione, conoscenza, finanza’ (‘innovation, knowledge, finance’), Visco begins his argument with an observation on the changes that have taken place in Italy in recent years before underlining how ‘investing in knowledge’ is the ‘best tool we, both young and not-so-young, have for transforming the risks that come with these changes into opportunities.’

The governor then explains the nature of the agents of change – innovation, globalisation and demographics – before moving onto assessing the consequences of this change, noting that, despite everything, these have mostly been positive, but also identifying the ‘costs’ of this change.

Focusing more closely on Italy, Visco then explains: ‘In Italy the production system has not managed to quickly adapt to the major changes that technology and globalisation have produced over time; the productivity and growth potential of the economy have suffered as a consequence.’ The author then moves onto examining the financial aspects and those relating to knowledge. As regards the former, he states how ‘the scepticism of the public’ can threaten ‘the activity of the financial system at its very root’ and therefore ‘potentially compromise its effectiveness, given that the entire financial world is built on the trust of investors and cannot therefore overlook the importance of ethical behaviour.’ As for the latter, Visco explains: ‘The availability of suitable expertise is the fundamental prerequisite for successfully dealing with the uncertainty that will surround the jobs of the future.’

As ever, Ignazio Visco’s talk is clear and comprehensible to all even when he tackles complex issues: a speech to both read and keep hold of, then.

Innovazione, conoscenza, finanza
Ignazio Visco

Introductory speech at the University of Cagliari, inauguration for the 2019–2020 academic year

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Pirelli Foundation, Fondazione ISEC and Fondazione Cineteca Italiana are joining forces again this year to put on Cinema & History, a training and refresher course for primary and secondary school teachers of Lombardy Region.

Starting in February 2020, the new series of meetings alternates lectures and conversations with professors from various university faculties in Italy with film screenings at the Museo Interattivo del Cinema (MIC) in Milan.

This eighth edition – History and objects: consumption, genres, products – focuses on the world of consumption and, more in general, on the objects that surround us as a reflection of society. By examining the modern and contemporary age, the course reinterprets the great flows of history, bringing together different visions and cultures.

The course consists of nine meetings, all of which are held on Mondays, from 3 to 6 p.m., at the venues indicated.

Teachers who sign up for the course are provided with course materials and, upon termination, a certificate of participation.

To download the complete programme, please click here

How to join in and register
Registration for the course is free but required.

Please write to didattica@fondazioneisec.it by Monday, 20 January 2020

Pirelli Foundation
Viale Sarca 222, 20126 Milano

Fondazione ISEC
Largo Alfonso Lamarmora 17, 20099 Sesto San Giovanni (Mi)
didattica@fondazioneisec.it
Metro Linea 1 (red), get off at Sesto Rondò
Bus 724, get off at Sesto Rondò
fondazioneisec.it

Museo Interattivo del Cinema (MIC)
Viale Fulvio Testi 121, 20162 Milano
Metro Linea 5 (violet), get off at Bicocca
cinetecamilano.it

Teachers may request exemption from service for the purpose of professional training. Hours spent attending the course constitute Unità Formative (Training Units) that are valid for the recognition of the teaching obligation stipulated for teachers, since the Fondazione ISEC is part of the network of institutes associated with the Istituto Nazionale Ferruccio Parri-INSMLI, a recognised training agency accredited at the Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (MIUR) (together with the network of associated institutes, the Istituto Nazionale Ferruccio Parri has obtained recognition as a training agency, per Ministerial Decree of 25 May 2001, protocol no. 802 of 19 June 2001, renewed with Decree prot. 10962 of 8 June 2005. Said accreditation is in compliance with Directive 170/2016 with approval of request no. 872 on 1 Dec 2016 and is included in the list of accredited entities). The training and refresher courses are provided by Fondazione ISEC-Rete INSMLI pursuant to MIUR Directive 170/2016.

Fondazione ISEC is also a member of the scientific and technical teaching committee for history of USR Lombardia (USR Lombardia Decree of 18 October 2016).
Director: Monica Di Barbora – Head of the Teaching Department of Fondazione ISEC

Praise of knowledge and good education “that brings about a critical spirit and sense of responsibility, the real antidotes to hatred and prejudice”. The words of the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella at the inauguration of the new Bocconi University campus (25 November) naturally go beyond the account of the university ceremony (also marked by long and enthusiastic applause for Senator Liliana Segre: knowledge, among young people, is the best response to racism and intolerance). They capture the substance, in a moment of crisis for culture, politics, and the institutions of liberal democracy themselves: we need to know how to properly educate the elite of tomorrow, a new, open ruling class, responsible, aware of history and therefore clear-headed and passionate about building a better future. The cornerstones: polytechnic culture and industrial humanism, in full Milanese style or, better still, “tech humanism”, to use the term of Federico Faggin, the father of the microprocessor, one of the most successful Italian intellects in the world (Corriere della Sera, 20 November).

Milan, which has some of the best universities in Europe for training and research, is an ideal place to reflect on these issues. It has 200,000 students, arriving from all over Italy as well as, in recent years, many foreign countries (for the most part interested in Bocconi and the Politecnico). It appeals to professors and researchers from across the globe. We think of it as a dynamic and inclusive city, far from being a closed and aggressively competitive “city state”, but rather a welcoming one, as its history bears witness. It is increasingly common, in many public speeches by administrators, entrepreneurs, intellectuals and artists, to refer to the Edict of 1018 by Bishop Ariberto d’Intimiano: “Those who know what work is come to Milan. And those who come to Milan are free men.”

The universities are, in fact, growing. The Polytechnic invests in its traditional headquarters in Piazza Leonardo da Vinci and in the Bovisa structures, also looking with interest at the developments of Mind (Milan Innovation District, under construction in the areas formerly of the Expo, where the Human Technopole is already partially operational, specializing in biotech and life sciences, “a place open to all scientists,” according to Walter Ricciardi, coordinator of the Scientific Committee). The expansion of the Cattolica, which will double in size, will take place in a former police station in Sant’Ambrogio. The construction sites for the “glass campus” will be ready to begin building in 2020. Bicocca University is climbing the rankings of the best universities in Italy thanks to cutting-edge research, among other things, in medicine and materials innovation. The IULM has long been an open and well-run campus in the south of the city, between the Barona and the Navigli, currently undergoing a lively redevelopment. The Statale is undergoing remodelling and expansion, with the scientific faculties near the area of Mind, the update of the historical site on Via Festa del Perdono and new building sites of the Policlinico, 200 million euros of investment and a thousand days to finish the work. Punctuality in completing public works is becoming a standard in Milan, as evidenced by the rapid cycle of closing, restoring and re-opening the new hi-tech runway of Linate airport, exactly within the three month timeline. And Bocconi just opened its new campus.

A significant investment, 150 million euros, for 85 thousand square metres to host the SDA (the internationally recognized School of Management), a residence to house 300 students that will boost the current Bocconi capacity to 2 thousand beds for students and professors, with a sports complex with swimming pools and gyms. A cutting-edge project, from the Japanese studio Sanaa, with the direct contributions of architects Ryue Nishizawa and Kazuyo Sejima, all glass and transparency, but also with influences from the historic Milanese courts and arcades self-sufficient in energy terms. The opening of a new park and public spaces for city. And a true multinational collaboration: the workers who participated in the construction of the new complex represented 47 different nationalities.

Here is the point: internationality. An increasingly evident feature of the Bocconi. “Our university now has 14,952 students of 99 nationalities and 12,144 managers from 75 countries have come through the School of Management,” says rector Gianmario Verona. Of the almost 15,000 students, about a third are foreigners. And more and more frequently courses are available in English, most recently in the Economics of Climate Change.

“Integration,” Verona insists, “is formed from this fabric of young people who feel both European and part of their own country. In this respect too, Bocconi is an example for our country.”

A university qualified in the development of knowledge and skills and in cutting-edge research with an increasing sensitivity to the ethical and sustainability aspects of the economy. A culture built on the synthesis between humanistic knowledge and scientific knowledge, between education and business, an original but long-standing attitude that Milan in particular has borne witness to over time (from Leonardo Da Vinci to the Nobel Prize in Chemistry winner Giulio Natta). A significant undertaking of culture in development. An appropriate framework for the whole of Italy with a European vision: in the most dynamic area of the economy and of innovation. With Milan as the focal point but including Piedmont, Lombardy, Emilia Romagna and Veneto, where 54% of Italy’s spending on research and development is concentrated, 73% of national patents, and 600,000 university students (figures from Assolombarda). This is exactly where action must be taken to restart the economy and social development, in a system of interconnections with Europe and with the rest of the country, to be encouraged and engaged with a unified growth strategy.

President Mattarella, at the inauguration of the Bocconi campus struck this exact chord by arguing that “the concentration of universities in Milan is an asset for the city, the region and the country”. Broadening the discussion he added: “In this phase of complexity, naive tendencies towards simplification emerge. In history, change often causes isolation and desires for impossible returns to the past. The temptation to simplify what is complex is strong. Bocconi unquestionably has its role in this too.” With education that, returning to the start of our discussion, “must inspire a critical spirit and a sense of responsibility”: a sound university that serves society.

10 stories of innovation with only difference in common

Innovate, but how? Theory leaves us wanting. Practice goes beyond imagination. All we have are the stories and experiences of companies who were able to innovate and grow in the complex, tough and ever-changing modern business environment, but via different paths.

To better understand innovation, one should read “Il gioco degli opposti. Storie di innovazione italiana” (The game of opposites. Stories of Italian innovation) by Alberto Di Minin, Cristina Marullo and Andrea Piccaluga of the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa.

The book’s premise is simple: innovation depends on a series of conditions and circumstances that cannot be considered merely within existing models. Innovation is often born out of a “game of opposites” or rather the presence and effect of peculiarities that are the opposite of one another and bring to life something totally new. It was from this premise that the book came to life: a series of ten stories of companies that were innovative because of various determining factors which were “opposite” in this way. The reader will learn the stories of Loccioni, Zambon, New Gluten World, Enel, Barilla, FIAM, Venture Factory, Comau, Aboca and Yogitech. Each story of innovation is unique and none are based on the theory. At the core of all of them, however, is precisely this “game of opposites”, a path of innovation, “built and maintained over time between various often opposing elements: tradition and discontinuity, exploration and efficiency, discipline and experimentation, prudence and risk”.

Di Minin, Marullo and Piccaluga collect episodes of innovation taken as unique cases that, although they are difficult to replicate, can be useful in understanding more about paths to positive change that can represent companies of various sizes, operating in different sectors.

The authors explain: “Our constant contact with entrepreneurs and managers over the years has taught us that there are no absolute truths when it comes to innovation management.”

Il gioco degli opposti. Storie di innovazione italiana
Alberto Di Minin, Cristina Marullo, Andrea Piccaluga
Egea, 2019

New research clearly shows the characteristics of companies that take shape in times of crisis

Economic crisis can bring to life new organizational models of production. This hypothesis is not new, but it must be verified each time: there are sometimes too many variables affecting the direction. It is however worth attempting to define a theoretical model of the change that companies undergo due to the stress in times of crisis. This is what Patrizia Cappelletti, a researcher at the ARC, the Contemporary Change Research Centre at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan, tried to do with the research “Organizzazioni generative e nuove filiere del valore” (Generative organizations and new value chains).

Cappelletti’s work (which is part of the national project “GeniusLoci. The Archive of Italian Generativity”) starts from the observation that the 2008 crisis could establish a real turning point in the relationship between economy and society. The underlying theme, for Cappelletti, is that this crisis has “made clear the unsustainability of a socio-economic model founded on a concept of growth like that of limitless expansion; the crisis seems to have initiated a transition through which a reconnection between economic and social objectives is possible.”

It is from here that the researcher begins her contemplation by looking above all at the organizational and managerial aspects. “If there is no doubt that the difficult socio-economic situation forces many organizations to think in terms of pure survival, the hypothesis,” Cappelletti writes, “is that from this scenario new and more dynamic models can emerge.” What emerges is a new organizational model that Cappelletti explains as oriented “to the production of contextual and multi-stakeholder value”. A model that focuses once more on “producing” (albeit in new ways, that is, in the sense of “generating”), instead of just “consuming”. “Generative organizations” effectively try to re-link economy and society, individual and group, “action and structure, functions and meaning”. Cappelletti is clearly outlining a new business culture (more mature and aware) by first explaining what she means by “generativity” and then illustrating the method of research conducted on about 80 companies to finally define some benchmarks: the generation of economic and social value, attention to quality and beauty, inclusive strategy, the local and global nature of action, the idea of growth and attention to the individual. To better understand the theoretical approach that derives from field research, Cappelletti cites the examples of the Zambon Group, a leader in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry, and of Berbrand, a Brescia-based manufacturer of mother-of-pearl buttons.

The researcher writes in her conclusion: “It is likely that the collective attention will be increasingly directed towards companies as guarantors of quality, ethics and sustainability of the value created, in a significant reconnection between function and meaning, efficiency and sustainability, safekeeping and innovation. It is therefore a question of rethinking supply chains, but also the system of internal and external relations, the vision, cultural references and the story of the company, within a broad, intergenerational and glocal perspective.”

Organizzazioni generative e nuove filiere del valore
Patrizia Cappelletti
Development and Organization

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“… at the very heart of Pirelli, to find out about the manufacturing world that brings to life the most famous Italian tyres in the world. An industry with a great tradition, with its eye always on the future. Research, innovation, creativity, and craftsmanship: this is what turns a business initiative into a worldwide success story.” With these words, the Prime Minister of Italy, Giuseppe Conte, commented on his visit to our Foundation and to the Pirelli Research & Development Centre on Friday 29 November. Accompanied by Marco Tronchetti Provera and the director of the Pirelli Foundation, Antonio Calabrò, the Prime Minister was able to visit the installations in the Advertising with a Capital P exhibition and examine a broad selection of documents from the company’s heritage, which are kept in our Historical Archive. These included some iconic advertising campaigns from the 1950s and ’60s, photo reportages on the construction of the “Pirellone” tower and some issues of Pirelli magazine. During the visit to the Pirelli Foundation, a memorandum of understanding was signed by Pirelli and the Department of Prison Administration of the Ministry of Justice, for a training programme to increase the professional skills of prisoners involved in public utility projects, as well as for future integration into Pirelli and, more generally, into the labour market.

A photo gallery of Prime Minister Conte’s visit is available here: http://www.governo.it/it/media/il-presidente-conte-milano/13426