In order to make a critical assessment of our modern-day economy, to cast off the restraints of GDP (gross domestic product) and to reflect upon well-being and happiness and thus on the quality of life, one can usefully take as a starting point a work of art of the Italian 14th Century, “The allegory and the effects of Good and Bad Government”, painted by Ambrogio Lorenzetti between 1338 and 1339, on the walls of the “Room of the Nine” or “of Peace” in the Palazzo Pubblico building in Siena. Bad Government, in this portrayal, brings disorder, misery and ruin. Good Government creates prosperous trade, a well-cultivated countryside and industrious artisanal workshops, and is accompanied by cheerful parades, festivals, and obvious manifestations of happiness. Siena, that rich and powerful city State, was strong and proud thanks to this.

Here is the point: thinking of the economy not as a “sad science” (according to the critical definition by Thomas Carlyle) but as a combination of knowledge and competencies aimed not simply at riches, but above all at well-being. A radical cultural turnaround in comparison to the mechanisms which place maximum emphasis on the accumulation and growth of the economic value of wealth for those who already have some. It is a transition from supreme individualism dominated by the antagonistic competition between the homo homini lupus and the strength of ideas of the homo homini natura amicus. An idea which had featured strongly in the lessons on economy by Antonio Genovesi, the father of economic science, the leading intelligence of Neapolitan Illuminism, highly thought of by the Paris philosophes as by his friend and student, abbot Ferdinando Galiani and considered a master by Adam Smith. Genovesi was well-acquainted with the paintings of Lorenzetti. And it is indeed to him that we owe these thoughts about the goal of “public happiness” and of a “civil economy” which are being debated again today, in an attempt to repair the damage caused during the times of financial greed and egotistical growth, which are generating growing and unacceptable inequalities.

A civil economy, happiness, well-being, competition linked with cooperation – these were recurrent themes in the course of a recent meeting with the evocative heading, “The Economy on trial. Demographics, democracy and happiness”, organised by the LUISS university in conjunction with the Cortile del Gentili group, the organisation sponsored by the Papal Council for Culture, led by cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, in order to foster a dialogue between believers and non-believers about the major challenges of modern-day society (this was covered by Il Sole24Ore, 15th March).

Not just economic growth and profit, they say. But well-being and development. We should not forge ahead with economic processes based on environmental and social dumping , with economic activities marked by low salaries, minimal security of work, spoliation and devastation of the environment, and illegal competition. And whilst the pursuit of profits remains central to the activity of enterprises, such profits should be sought within a framework of social and environmental sustainability, with careful attention paid by the enterprises themselves not only to their shareholders, the owners of their capital, but above all to the stakeholders, all the social players who have a relationship with the enterprise: the personnel, the communities and the localities, the suppliers, the consumers. From value (profits) to values.

It is a possible way forward, about which we need to reflect from time to time, in the search for an economic theory which continues to hold firmly onto liberal values, but which aims to connect them with a sense of social responsibility.

An important contribution to the “Economy on trial” in Rome came from Jeffrey D. Sachs, a seasoned economist and head of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, in a speech witnessed by Pope Francis dealing with the very same themes of the environment and the battle against poverty and social inequalities.

“The social economy of the marketplace” dear to the hearts of traditional European culture, was described by Sachs as a point of reference which needs to be debated (including for welfare reforms). However, the Italian Constitution too, filled as it is with values of sociability and enterprise, liberty and social redemption, can offer important cues for reflection (on the occasion of the seventieth anniversary of its introduction, perhaps it would be a good idea to re-read the deeds of the Constituent Assembly and debate the suitability for current times of the analyses by the Constituent Fathers, from Piero Calamandrei to Costantino Mortati, from De Gasperi to Togliatti, from Nenni to the then extremely young Aldo Moro, who was already highly attuned to the idea of social thinking inspired by Christianity).  

In this arena for debate we can find criticisms of the obsession with GDP growth – a merely quantitative dimension for the assessment of wealth – and also the research launched into the transition not from growth to recession (something which is never “a good thing”, however) but from growth to sustainable development. And the index of reference for this can be the BES, which in fact measures “Equitable and Sustainable Well-being” and which for several years Italian governments have tracked carefully in preparation for the DEF, the principal guidance document for the economy of the country.

There is another indicator to be taken into consideration: the “World Happiness Report”, whose 2018 edition, the sixth, was presented in the last few days in the Vatican (Corriere della Sera newspaper, 14th March), on the occasion of the “World Happiness Day” initiated by the UN (its celebration is on 20th March) in order to ask governments to adopt “a more inclusive, equitable and balanced approach to an economic growth which promotes sustainable development, the eradication of poverty, and the happiness and well-being of everyone”. It is not a question of good intentions. But of political signposts. Of strategies of choice between an economy of accumulation, of closures and of inequalities and an economy in which competitiveness, wealth and social inclusion are convergent processes.

In that “Index of Happiness”, compiled by taking into account various indicators (per capita revenue, social welfare, prospects for a healthy life, freedom of life choices, generosity, perception of corruption and life expectancy compared to the country’s social welfare parameters), in first place is Finland, followed by Norway, Denmark and Iceland. Germany is in 15th position, followed by the USA and by Great Britain. France is 23rd. Italy is 47th: it was 28th in 2012, then was pushed down to 50th as a result of what for us were the particularly onerous effects of the Great Crisis, and is now slowly moving back up the index again.

It is a political challenge, moving from growth to development. It is a matter for our citizens, for the companies which base their competitiveness specifically on sustainability and on social responsibility, for public administrators, and for politics. A “Good Government” challenge. As were clearly aware, as long ago as the 14th Century, the sage Ambrogio Lorenzetti and the far-sighted Nine governors of Siena

A brief speech at Revello Lab outlines and clarifies the relationship between companies, culture and territory

Manufacturing seen as a cultural deed. The company as a social entity. Manufacturing organisation as an objective structure but also a subjective and live one, composed of men and women who live and work in a community. The modern breakdown of corporate culture is all this and more. It is a vast field, still not completely explored, which is uncovered day after day. And one that should be rationalised and organised step by step, paying attention not only to the profit and loss account but also to the social aspect.

From this point of view, it is a good idea to read the summary of the speech that Alessandro Beda (a member of Confindustria’s Technical Culture and Development group as well as an observer of the phenomena and trends of corporate social responsibility), carried out in the context of the 2017 edition of Ravello Lab.

“The social and economic value of the company for the territory” is an effective summary of current relations between culture and cultural enterprise as well as between company all-round and territory.

The reasoning behind this is actually quite simple: the company constitutes a cultural deed that has a strong impact on the territory and on the people who live and work there. But that’s not all, because according to Beda today it is possible to think of the cultural investments of companies as one of the most important manifestations of the company’s social responsibility. “The idea is – explains Beda – to promote investment in culture as an integral part of the social development of the territory. (…). This phenomenon is already under way: for example, one third of the resources of La Scala is guaranteed by companies; many museums, such as the Gallerie d’Italia galleries in Milan, are the result of the support and of the contribution of a company (…). So, it is often not just a question of financial resources but also genuine technical organisational support, such as lighting technologies”.

Manufacturing organisations, therefore, but also organisations that produce opportunities for social cohesion. Extensive corporate culture. Now, according to Beda, made even easier to implement after the latest legal provisions.  Nearing the end of the work, he states: “I think that there are three conditions that will allow the full exploitation of this situation: opening a strong dialogue and exchange between the business world and cultural businesses; promoting culture as social investment for the Community and the territory; demonstrating the usefulness and the economic value of investing in culture”.

The speech by Alessandro Beda succeeds in a very limited space to provide a clear outline of the situation of relations between companies and culture and to indicate the right path to take to enhance the positive connections that have recently been established.

Il valore sociale ed economico dell’impresa per il territorio (The social and economic value of the company for the territory)

Alessandro Beda

Minutes of the XII edition of Ravello Lab “Sviluppo a base culturale. Governance partecipata per l’impresa culturale” (Cultural-based development. Shared governance for the cultural company), Territori della Cultura (Cultural Territories), no. 30, 2017, pages 152-153

Taking a running jump over lost time. After a long period of crisis, during which companies failed to invest in research and innovation, Italy has rapidly given itself a kick-start. And in 2017 too, for the third consecutive year, requests for patents by our companies have grown considerably more than the European average: by 4.3% in 2016, compared with an EU average of 2.6% (in 2015 they had grown by 9%, double the European average rate: the moment of a turning-point for innovation). More patents mean greater competitiveness for industry and hi-tech services, and increased economic and social growth.

Data from the EPO (European Patent Office) in Munich show that Italian companies have submitted 4,352 patent applications. In top spot is Ansaldo Energia, with 60 applications. Close behind is GD (the Seragnoli Group from Bologna, mechanical engineering for the medical sector and packaging, 54 applications), then FCA (car manufacturers, 42 applications) and Pirelli (40 applications). Following them, there are also Chiesi Farmaceutica, Telecom Italia, Leonardo (cutting-edge mechanical engineering), Campagnolo (mechanical engineering), Prysmian (cables) and Saipem (energy and infrastructure). There are also several small and medium-sized companies (these need to make more of an effort).

The data about patents indicate what is now a growing trend for the best of Italian industry: investing heavily in innovation, using the know-how and competencies of a high-quality human capital, and acquiring footholds in higher added-value international niche markets. These are difficult times, for global international competition: those which rule and grow are the companies which invest in the “knowledge economy”, in that Industry4.0  which combines industrial processes, the digital world, the Internet of things, and big data, in the profound transformation of our manufacturing structures through original combinations between industry and services, research laboratories and production lines, factories and universities. All with a very Italian characteristic: knowing how to produce high-quality “made-to-measure” products and services, as if they were extraordinary “mechanical tailors” – which indeed they are (these days, it would be better to describe them as “mechatronic tailors”). One example from the industrial digital world: the cyber tyre by Pirelli, which has digital sensors within the compounds of the tyres, in order to establish a “dialogue” between the road and the vehicle, with positive consequences for road-holding, safety, fuel consumption and the environment (a success, at the recent Geneva Motor Show).

What else do the EPO data tell us (“Il Sole24Ore”, 8th March)? That Italy remains firmly amongst the top ten countries in the world for patent applications (alongside the USA, Germany, Japan, France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, South Korea and, growing rapidly, China).

A second consideration: the propensity for innovation is concentrated in three regions: Lombardy (33%, within the foremost “innovative regions” of the EU), Emilia Romagna (16%) and Veneto (13,4%). Two thirds of Italian patents, in fact, in the major industrial heartlands of the North (at the periphery is Piedmont, which, from this perspective too, confirms an alarming state of industrial crisis). And little in the South. The ranking list of cities sees Milan at the top, with 20.4%: the Milan which has its major universities, the Polytechnic University and Bocconi Institute at the forefront of these, its its “Human Technopole” and its multinationals, winners of awards for life sciences and for the trend for Steam dear to the hearts of the Assolombarda association: this is the acronym which brings together the initials for science, technology, environment but also the energy of green production and consumption processes, arts and therefore humanistic knowledge and creativity, and manufacturing, the successful cutting-edge manufacturing industry, including mechatronics, rubber, plastics, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and the icons of the Made in Italy banner – furnishings, clothes and food and agriculture: a multi-technical culture for growth.

Another consideration, which is fairly obvious moreover, concerns the relationship between innovation and economic revival. “The revival is accelerating: the growth triangle is located between Emilia Romagna, Lombardy and Veneto”, comments Dario Di Vico in the “Corriere della Sera” newspaper (10th March), having read the most recent data on the growth of industrial output. These are precisely the same three regions with the greatest density of patents (in last week’s blog we had noted that Milan has the most dynamic economy: between 2014 and 2017 it grew by 6.2%, much more than the 3.6% average for Italy and also better than the 5.1% for the Lombardy region itself. And in comparison with the time preceding the 2008 crisis, it had recovered all the work space lost and was ahead by 3.2%, whereas Italy is still 4.4% behind and Lombardy by 1.1%).

The third consideration is more political. This innovative dynamism has been primarily endemic: for too long companies had failed to invest and so they “fired up their engines” again (to use an effective image taken from the title of a recent book by Gianfelice Rocca, the ex-Chair of the Assolombarda association and head of Techint and Humanitas). However, they received robust economic and fiscal policy stimuli on the part of the most recent governments, including the advantages of the so-called “patent box” and the super-depreciation and hyper-depreciation allowances for those who invested in innovation and new plant and equipment. Companies, in essence, finally pulled their socks up, in order to tackle competition, and the government applied a sound industrial policy. A virtuous circle, in which should also be taken into account the contractual agreements between the Confindustria industrial association and the trade unions which underpin training and productivity, linking them to salaries and company welfare.

There is an industrial Italy on the move. One which we should continue to observe closely. An innovative Italy, which performs its duty as an entrepreneurial industrial player and which asks not so much for flat taxes or protective customs duties, but for support for sustainability, for innovation, for productive investment, the appreciation of the culture of work and of companies (and not hand-outs from a nanny state), and stimuli for quality and flexible and adaptable intelligence. To use the trick of classical quotations, Italian industry is not a one-eyed Polyphemus shut away on an island, nor the sorceress Circe with her sly subterfuges and illusions, but Odysseus who battles against difficult seas and ancient myths in his quest for “virtue and knowledge”. This is our best comparison with present times.

Today, 8 March, is not just International Women’s Day. It is also the opening day of “Tempo di Libri”, the Milanese festival devoted to reading, at Fieramilanocity. The Pirelli Foundation is there. Women and words: the signatures of women whose writings appeared, over the years, in the pages of Pirelli magazine, a publishing phenomenon that left a profound mark on the culture of the 1950s and 1960s. The first name was that of Milena Milani, an author from Savona, who shot to fame in 1964 with her La ragazza di nome Giulio, a novel that was banned for “offence against public decency” when it dared to talk of teenage turbulence caused by a bathing costume in Lastex. In Pirelli magazine no. 2 of 1950 her article was entitled “Ernesto, a Man. Hevea, a Plant”. The same costume was to be worn shortly after by Marilyn Monroe, the American goddess of femininity. And Fernanda Pivano took us to America in no. 6 of 1953: no one better than her could talk to post-war Italy about “America’s colossal reforming dream”, from Sherwood Anderson to Francis Scott Fitzgerald and John Steinbeck. The age of Jazz and of the Great Depression, of railways and strikes, settlers and – of course – Marilyn. But Lastex swimwear was soon back, in Gianna Manzini’s “Women by the Sea” in Pirelli magazine no. 4 of 1956. Women “who feel their power to be absolute, who are free, who put to one side their daily duels along with their daily victories”.
Armanda Guiducci gives us a critical look at modernity in no. 6 of 1960. In “‘Architect’ Stores”, the Neapolitan writer looks at the then-growing phenomenon of large-scale retailing, entering “into the heart of the problem of consumerism, in which, after needs have been satisfied, the idea of the useful is increasingly associated with that of pleasure”. The fame of La mela e il serpente was still fifteen years in the future, but in Pirelli magazine Guiducci was already showing her wisdom as a philosopher and sociologist.
The Cinturato, the revolutionary Pirelli tyre, burst onto the scene in 1966. It was given enduring fame in the film The Tortoise and the Hare, declared to be “extraordinary” by the driver Juan Manuel Fangio, and to be driven “with eyes closed” in the vision of the illustrator Riccardo Manzi. The subject of the never-ending “A journey but”, by the creative couple Arrigo Castellani and Pino Tovaglia – the former the first director of Pirelli magazine, and the latter the famous Italian designer. Puns and plays on words written in black and white polygons alluded to events and personalities in 1960s show business: it was an exercise in gossip that turned into advertising. Camilla Cederna could not fail to sense its real significance, in an article published in no. 4 of 1966: “You think it’s Orsetta?”, “So who’s the bed designer?”, and so on, in a whole series of associations and references to be interpreted, such as “the brunette Fiamma”, “ Italy’s most beautiful Silvia”, “the pale para-intellectual”. The genius that was Arrigo Castellani once again “got it right”.
Towards the end of the Golden Sixties, Lietta Tornabuoni wrote “PPP” (magazine no. 11-12 of 1968) devoted to Pier Paolo Pasolini. These were the years when the film Teorema was confiscated and Pasolini stated that “I’ve spent my life hating the old bourgeois moralists, and now I already have to hate their children too”. And Tornabuoni, in the magazine would write: “The more provocative and challenging Pasolini becomes, the more his audience expands. The more he is surrounded by the scandalised lamentations of the bourgeois world, the more he becomes marketable and marketed.”

So many styles, so many female voices, telling so many stories: enjoy your 8th of March, and enjoy the read!

The indication which best represents Milan is a curve. Without any corners. Rounded and therefore soft, inclusive, supportive. As is described by its city walls and its ring roads. And by the shape of its ramparts, which enclose a sort of heart (this was discovered by cartographers when they re-examined ancient maps of the city). And by its canals, which during its history used to be the access ways for people and goods. Milano an open city, then. Its gates, basically, were customs houses, passageways for people and goods, structures for economic purposes. Today, stations and airports, amongst the most efficient in Europe, link Milan with Turin and Bologna, Verona and Chiasso, London and Paris, Munich and Frankfurt, all within one hour. Milan is central, for Europe. “Milan, what people, what changes….”, as Lucio Dalla sang.

“Il Curvo” (The Curved One), is the name of the latest skyscraper which is rising from the new suburb of CityLife, in a design by Daniel Libeskind, next to “Storto” (The Twisted One), designed by Zaha Hadid and to “Dritto” (The Straight One) signed off by Arata Isozaky (they will host offices for the insurance companies Allianz and Generali, and for financial and consulting companies). The whole of the new Milanese skyline, furthermore, is rich with rounded profiles: the Unicredit skyscraper by César Pelli with its circular spirals and the Regional Government skyscraper with its bending shapes, which sits alongside the rounded Gae Aulenti piazza. A rounded format, as all those who study signs will testify, is welcoming, communal, convivial.

Milan which remembers and which changes, at the end of the day, what is it? So many different and stimulating aspects.

Milan is a book: “Tempo di libri” (The Time for Books) will open its doors at the Trade Fair from 8th to 12th March: authors, meetings, debates, in association with “Book City” and with the Frankfurt Book Fair, all the fruit of initiatives which, from the city, underline the value of writing and publishing, creativity and cultural hard work, tradition (the walks of Stendhal, the magazines and collections of Vittorini, the poems of Montale, the innovation of Gadda and then of Eco and Arbasino) and focus on the new generations (there are many programmes for children and youngsters, including in the stand for the Pirelli Foundation). “Tempo di libri”, in essence, as a point of reference for a series of activities which come together from the rest of Italy and from the principal cultural capitals of the world.

Milan is a living memory: ancient and well-established cultural institutions (La Scala, the Verdi Orchestra, the Conservatory, the Piccolo Teatro theatre, the Parenti theatre) are forging relationships with new initiatives of contemporary arts. Everything is on the move. And a new arrival at the Triennale museum is Paola Antonelli, the head of architecture and design at MOMA, the prestigious Museum of Modern Art in New York: she will curate the XXII International Exhibition in 2019. A confirmation of Milan as a major capital for design (meanwhile, 1,300 exhibiting companies from all around the world get ready for the new edition of the Salone del Mobile furniture show, from 17th to 22nd April, an event which attracted some 350,000 visitors last year).

Milan is a dynamic economy: between 2014 and 2017 it grew by 6.2%, compared with 3.6% for the average in Italy and 5.1% for the Lombardy region itself. And compared with the time which preceded the 2008 crisis, Milan has recovered all the office space lost and is now 3.2% ahead, whereas Italy as a whole is still behind by 4.4% and the Lombardy region by 1.1%. Services and industry are growing (boosted here by “Industry 4.0” and by a robust international presence), although construction continues to suffer. When all is said and done, Milan is the best economy in the whole country.

Milan is a good school: the Tsinghua University of Beijing (the largest incubator for companies in the world) has been set up in Bovisa, where it has located its own pole of representation and expansion, including a programme of close collaboration with the Polytechnic University. This is an important novelty, for the entire training system in Lombardy. And meanwhile the Polytechnic University itself and the Bocconi Institute too are improving their rankings in the QS international classifications (Quacquarelli Symonds, one of the most famous international evaluation companies which compares 4,522 universities from 75 countries for their ability to perform research, the reputation of their teaching staff and the verdicts of their graduates): the Polytechnic University comes out in 17th place for Engineering; the Bocconi Institute ranks 10th for Business Management. If the future depends on an economy of know-how, Milan has an excellent hand to play.

Milan is a passion for competencies: it is a place where you make progress based on merit, and is much less reliant than in other cities on clientele and family protection arrangements. And the corporate culture demands clarity and efficiency. As in the case of the competition for the head office of the EMA, the European Medicines Agency. The city, which had all it took for a victory, was cheated out of the win by a lottery. Amsterdam won, despite not having all it takes, and indeed they even rigged the outcome (the building site for the EMA office building is in chaos, a company has withdrawn from the contract, but the Dutch government hid this from the commission of the European parliament, a vast pastiche of self-important efficiency-minded moralists; “IlSole24Ore”, 4th March).

Milan is a concept of justice and of legality: there is a growing awareness of the dangers of a serious mafia-driven pollution within the circuits of the economy and of state-run structures, and the alarm signals relating to the growing presence of the ‘ndrangheta, the Sicilian Cosa Nostra and the Camorra clans cannot be ignored. Meanwhile, Assolombarda, the principal regional organisation of the Confindustria industrial association, is in regular dialogue with the Palace of Justice about the efficiency and effectiveness of judicial activities and considers legality as an essential cornerstone for Milan’s competitiveness (this is documented by the warning words to good companies contained in the report with which the Chair of the Court of Appeal, Marina Tavassi, inaugurated the legal year, on 27th January).

Milan has suburbs which people are trying to mend: the investments and initiatives from the Council, at the request of the mayor, Beppe Sala, for the Lorenteggio, via Padova and the Adriano suburbs are an important indicator. Even though there remains an ongoing crisis for the Aler accessible housing development in the Mazzini district (the responsibility of the Lombardy Region, however, and not the Municipality – “La Stampa”, 20th February) and “the urban sores of the Ligresti estate”, highlighted by “Il Sole24Ore” (7th February): these suburban buildings which have been abandoned and now stand empty, the result of one of the most rapacious building speculations of the Eighties. There are a few plans for regeneration, thanks to initiatives from UnipolSai. But many other areas do not attract capital. “We need to have the courage to go for demolition and to incentivise what is sustainable”, claims Stefano Boeri, the internationally famous architect (the multiple award-winning “Bosco Verticale” (Vertical Woodland) in Porta Nuova was his) and recently-appointed Chair of the Triennale exhibition.

Milan is a construction site which draws your attention to the fascination of cranes, scaffolding and international property investments. The new skyline represents an outlay of 15 billion euros, calculates the Property Observatory of Mario Breglia (“Affari&Finanza” – Business and Finance section – in “la Repubblica”, 26th February): 4.3 invested in 2017, at least as much again expected in 2018, plus the funds invested between 2013 and 2016, representing a cumulative impact on Milan’s GDP of around 50 billion. And there are about 600,000 sq.m. of land plots to be regenerated, spread across the seven major railway sidings, Human Technopole and other areas: an extraordinary opportunity to redesignate forts and functions of a metropolitan Milan smart city hich consolidates and re-launches its functions at the crossroads between a civil and circular economy (the quality of life) and a hi tech economy: a complex challenge, but a stimulating one.

Milan is a ruling class capable of common transversal commitments across political divides and representing a long-term view about the city’s future. We have seen this in the battles for the Expo, the EMA, the investments in the Human Technopole, as an international cornerstone for investments and the establishment of international head offices for research, innovation and at the forefront of life sciences . In this process, there is a highly Milanese characteristic: an economy, spread across industry, services and finance, which in order to grow does not depend on politics and public spending, but on market competition. This makes everyone more dynamic and more free: the entrepreneurs freed from the bondage of clientele and favours, the politicians freed from the need to subsidise the economy, extending the crisis, with all the distortions which derive from it (as occurs in the major part of Italian cities of the South and Centre). Growth, a long-term perspective. The autonomy between politics and the economy is a sound process, but one which is fragile and extremely delicate, however. And an interesting paradigm for the rest of the country.

Focus is placed on the situation and the possible evolutions of the links between training, the labour market and businesses

It has already been said several times: one can be born an entrepreneur, but one can also become one. Just like one can become a good worker. It is a question of growth and training, as well as passion. But this is not always easy to achieve in the majority of cases. Training, the labour market and businesses are always parts of a trio which often struggles to take a harmonious shape.

“Lo sviluppo di employability in alta formazione. (The development of employability in higher education) Il ruolo dei career service” (The role of career services), recently published and written by Vanna Boffo together with Carlo Terzaroli, helps us better to understand the relationships in force, or to be implemented, precisely in the context of the link between training (university), work and business. In particular the survey shows the state of progress of an exploratory research project whose aim is to investigate the experiences of connection between the university and the labour market. The two authors explain: “Through the study of good practices of Career Services, it will be possible to identify the connection between teaching, research and third mission in order to understand the trends of the higher education in the future”.

The work begins by thinking theoretically about the concept of employability (in fact a term that is almost untranslatable into Italian and which has therefore been left in English), the history of which is briefly skimmed over, and the most important aspects of which are addressed for this research. Boffo and Terzaroli then go on to indicate the most popular world-wide models of employability  and then look more closely at the connection pattern between university education and the labour market, first in general terms and then in Italy specifically. To help clarify this crucial part of the article, a table is provided, which compares the different methods used by the main Italian universities and polytechnic universities.

“Supporting the growth of young adults, as men and as citizens and as future employees, is the primary task of teaching – the two authors explain -. Today more than ever, in the face of the criticality of unemployment and the worrying impact on the construction of careers, the need to take care of individuals from this perspective too has emerged. Recruitment and permanent employment constitute, in this framework, tools which are indispensable for training a person and for their social inclusion”.

But what counts the most, according to Boffo and Terzaroli, is that the latest developments in the methods of employability achieve the the result of projecting ” Job Placement into the future” through “a focus on strategies for the construction of entrepreneurship and enterprise through extra-curricular teaching innovation for the construction of a personal and social corporate culture”.

One of the final passages of the article is crystal clear: “Today, work can not only be found, but it can increasingly be built and created, thanks to the innovative application of knowledge and skills. This means not only an attention to the brand new construction of businesses, spin–offs or start–ups, but the ability to identify, even within structured working environments, new niches and development opportunities”.

“Lo sviluppo di employability in alta formazione. (The development of employability in higher education) Il ruolo dei career service (The role of career services)

Vanna Boffo, Carlo Terzaroli

MeTis.  Mondi educativi. (Educational worlds) Temi, indagini, suggestioni, (essays, inquiries, suggestions) 7(2) 2017, pp. 437-467

A book gathers the Italian experiences of corporate welfare in the post-war period

Attention to those who work in a company. At the end of the day, this is what the concept of corporate welfare is. Styled in various ways, expressed with methods that depend on the historical era and on the actual company, welfare in production workplaces is built with inventiveness and with attention to previous experience.

For this reason, reading “Il welfare aziendale in Italia nel secondo dopoguerra. Riflessioni e testimonianze” (Corporate welfare in Italy in the post-war period. Reflections and testimonies) edited by Augusto Ciuffetti , Valerio Varini and Fabrizio Trisoglio -, and published a few weeks ago, can be useful better to understand what has already been done and how important it is for the present of public and private enterprises.

The volume contains, in an extended and in-depth form, the minutes to the conference of studies on “Corporate welfare in Italy after World War II. Public experiences compared”, promoted by the AEM Foundation-A2A Group and Asm Foundation-A2A Group, which was held in Milan in 2016.

The aim of the book is to resume examination of a subject, such as corporate company welfare, referred to certain important experiences by public enterprises, which in recent years has found a new focus, both in the political and in the historiographical debate.

The book is divided into four parts. The first is dedicated to a series of reflections and testimonies on corporate welfare in Italy after World War II, through an interdisciplinary approach that spans between history, economics, politics, sociology and history of architecture. The second part of the book, which is iconographic character, is interesting, as it is a collection of pictures taken from the ENI archives and the Azienda Elettrica Municipale di Milano (Municipal Electricity Company of Milan) and which are to be regarded as an integral part of the narrative plot of the volume. The third part, on the other hand, recounts three significant cases of public enterprises in Italy: the Municipal Electricity Company of Milan (AEM), the Azienda Servizi Municipalizzati di Brescia (Company Municipal Services of Brescia), (ASM), and the Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi (National Hydrocarbons Body), (ENI). Lastly, in the fourth part, beside some of the measures proposed during the conference at the conclusive round table, the book provides practical reflections on corporate welfare today and its future prospects.

What is most important, however, is the overall story that emerges from the pages of analysis written by several hands conducted on the history of corporate company in Italy over past decades. A story that certainly brings to the light production organisations which should now be revised, as well as intents linked to productivity, but which is an indicator of a high-level corporate culture that still has a lot to teach today.

Il welfare aziendale in Italia nel secondo dopoguerra. Riflessioni e testimonianze (Corporate welfare in Italy in the post-war period. Reflections and testimonies)

Augusto Ciuffetti, Valerio Varini, Fabrizio Trisoglio

EGEA, 2018

A piece of research published in Quaderni IRCrES compares different operating approaches to foster the growth of companies and their innovation

Business ideas and their implementation may arise better in specific territorial and social conditions. It is not a trivial observation, but a commitment. Indeed, it is also from the work accomplished throughout the territory that business culture can develop better and bear more fruit.

Understanding the real conditions of innovation and business in the two territories – which differ in many ways -, was the objective of the research by Angelo Bonomi (Senior Research Associate at CNR-IRCRES, CNR Research Institute on Sustainable Economic Growth), published a few weeks ago in Quaderni IRCrES.

The sense of “Sistemi Innovativi Technologici Territoriali.   Due casi: il Verbano-Cusio-Ossola e il Canton Ticino” (Innovative Territorial Technological Systems. Two case studies: the Verbano-Cusio-Ossola and the Canton of Ticino) is explained by the author himself, who writes: “The innovative system of a territory can be the subject of an extensive scope of study which concerns its economic and industrial structure and its socio-economic situation”. In the study, however, the author limits his analysis to the “promotion of innovation and entrepreneurship”, i.e. to the “structures and organisations that carry out innovation and promotion activities vis-à-vis the entire territory”. These then need to be supplemented with details of the industrial system and therefore what various companies actually do, as well as their R&D department and the ensuing innovative strategies.

Bonomi’s interest, in other words, focuses on what the territorial systems put into play to help businesses grow and develop. And this is what is referred to as the “innovative territorial technological system”.In brief, the context.

After an overview of the theory of innovative territorial systems, the author investigates the situation in two territories: the Verbano-Cusio-Ossola and the Canton of Ticino. The same investigation pattern is followed for both: a snapshot is taken of the system of training, research and innovation; the structures for training and promoting entrepreneurship are identified; the focus is placed on the facilities for the promotion of innovation linked to entrepreneurship. Both territories are then compared with the experience of the US Silicon Valley. The investigation ends with a comparison between the three systems of intervention.”As a general rule – is one of Bonomi’s conclusions -, the study indicates that the Swiss system, with its bottom-up approach for the promotion of innovation and entrepreneurship, free from regulations and pre-established programmes, is more similar to the one in Silicon Valley, compared to the prevalence of the top-down approach used in Italy and across the EU, based on strict regulations through pre-established interventions and research programmes”.

Sistemi Innovativi Tecnologici Territoriali.  Due casi: il Verbano-Cusio-Ossola e il Canton Ticino (Innovative Territorial Technological Systems. Two case studies: the Verbano-Cusio-Ossola and the Canton of Ticino) 

Angelo Bonomi

Quaderni IRCrES, 1/2018

Italian companies have faith in Europe, and insist on a common way forward which contemporaneously strengthens both competitiveness and social inclusion (the factory, that paradigm of work, is indeed an extraordinary place which, from the second half of the 20th Century, specifically in Italy, has brought together rights and duties, citizenship and a sense of responsibility). But they also say a very clear “no” to social dumping and seek “the promotion of common standards for the protection of work within the member states, including an increased harmonisation of the existing minimum salary systems”: there should not be competition by reducing salaries and constructing tax advantages within individual countries using EU contributions. The common market, in fact, is an open and well-regulated space, guided by competitive principles, but certainly not a space for cunning tricks and short cuts.

The appeal to the EU is contained in a document signed by ABI (the banks), ANIA (the insurance companies), ASSONIME (the companies quoted on the Stock Exchange), the Confindustria industrial association and FEBAF (the federation of the associations representing financial companies) which was issued in the past few days (Il Sole24Ore, 22nd February). And it has a strong topical flavour, precisely in these last few days of an election campaign swelled by negative feelings against Europe, by social grievances and gloomy attempts in the direction of nationalism and economic protectionism (with a dash of bizarre rediscovery of import duties, accompanied by declarations of an unlikely protection for companies). Europe, say the company associations, is not up for discussion. If anything, European integration needs to be strengthened and improved, including more robust commitments from the principal countries involved: a strong and more dynamic nucleus, to which it is essential that, alongside Germany and France (a now solid axis) Italy should also belong, given that it is the third biggest European economy, a founding member, and a convinced supporter, ever since the times of De Gasperi during the Fifties, for the idea that it should be Europe itself which acts not only as the positive bond for member states but also as the stimulus for better economic growth.

The topicality of the document from Confindustria and the other organisations is also that it represents the adoption of an interesting position which starts from current affairs (the case of Embraco-Whirlpool, the closure of the industrial plant at Chieri, in Piedmont, in order to start producing batteries in Slovakia) to go on to develop broader reflections about investment, the competitiveness of different regions, and competition.

Embraco (the Brazilian company owned by the US multinational Whirlpool, the world leader in the “white goods” industry: washing machines, dishwashers, refrigerators, etc.) has just announced the closure of its Piedmont factory (500 employees) in order to relocate to Spisska Nova Ves, in the East of Slovakia: worker salaries halved (900 euros compared with 1,700 in Italy), weaker trade union, tax advantages (which further reduce the cost of labour). The company did not wish to listen to reason about mediation, temporary solutions to be explored, or state support for workers, but insisted upon redundancies, triggering the anger of the Minister for Economic Development, Carlo Calenda (“I have never experienced a company telling me that it has to make immediate redundancies because otherwise it will have problems with the Stock Exchange, thus showing a total disregard for its employees and its social responsibility”).

This is the problem of social dumping: the Head of the Cabinet, Paolo Gentiloni, has spoken about it and Minister Calenda is writing to Brussels, to the Commissioner for Competition, Margrethe Vestager, to ask for clarifications about the regime for tax advantages applied by Slovakia for foreign companies. There is a degree of fiscal dumping which jeopardises competition rules within the EU and which supports social dumping, the unjust competition relating to remuneration and working conditions. And Europe, if it wants to continue to be the common framework and reference point for values and rules, needs transparency and fair play.

This brings us, then, to the ideas set out in the document from Confindustria, ABI, ANIA, ASSONIME and FEBAF. Italy is a dynamic country, with a strong and deeply-rooted tendency towards exports. In order to grow, it needs to attract international investments and encourage its own companies to invest abroad, and to be well-placed in the trends of the global markets. And for these reasons too a fair relationship with Europe is essential.

In the document, under 11 headings, Europe is described as an “economic and social model”, holding together the competitiveness of its companies and solidarity between its citizens (an idea which is dear particularly to the Assolombarda industrial association, which in Milan has for many years driven forward policies which bring together economic growth and social inclusion, in line with the historical lesson of the Ambrosian welcome) and carrying out the “oversight of the interests” of the European member states within a framework of a “globalised world”, without resorting to unproductive and prehistorical enclaves of “nationalism”. We need to walk along the “pathway towards integration”, with a “nucleus of States organised around a common currency” and to construct “credible policies for debt, productivity and sustainability”: not the rigid austerity and the purely formal equilibrium of accounting, but the destruction of debts and deficits thanks to investment and growth”: an indication which highlights the role and responsibility of Italy.

Another chapter relates to the initiatives required to re-launch the domestic market, by placing the emphasis on the new technologies on a European scale in order “to mobilise substantial private investment geared to employment and the economy”. It goes on to say: “to increase investment designed to strengthen company competitiveness”, to define “a mix of rigour and growth”, to decide how “to re-absorb the pockets of unemployment” and to launch “policies to fight against social dumping” (we already mentioned this earlier). The final headings relate to “the common policy for managing our borders”, by spreading the costs of immigration and hospitality choices “among all the countries of the EU”; and “the major responsibilities for security policies”, by defining a “common military operational capability”. More Europe, then. And a better Europe.

Research on organisational changes makes it easier to understand human relationships inside and outside a person

Businesses made up of men and women. Entrepreneurs but also workers, managers  but also employees. The assumption is already known, but it is always useful to recall its focus: no self-respecting production organisation works without shared intent. In this context, it is also important to understand what happens in the face of change.

It is to try to provide an answer to this issue that Giovanni Di Stefano, Francesca Manerchia, Alessia Pantaleo, Alessia Liga (all of whom are researchers at the University of Palermo) conducted an investigation into what happens when something within an organisation assumes a different role from before.

More precisely, as the authors explain, the research “investigates how organisational change produces consequences in terms of the worker’s professional and personal identity, as well as on the quality of their identification with the organisation”.The case study in question is very specific: 12 employees of a small hospital, affected by a resizing process due to the reorganisation of personnel and beds. They were presented a narrative interview with the objective of investigating “the impact of the organisational change under way on personal and professional identities”. This was a specific and particular case, therefore, which nevertheless applies to other similar situations. Events whereby, due to the effect of decisions perhaps due to external factors, the team changes, the organisation evolves, new “bosses” arrive, others leave, new organisational paradigms replace previous ones, offices and factories are even moved.

The basic question to answer is: how does the identity and life of these people change?

The authors explain again: “The interviews, explored by means of statistical content analysis processes, brought to the light how workers who tend to identify themselves more closely with their professional role suffer negative repercussions on the representation of themselves, with a lack of identification with the company, perceived as unstable and are not capable of offering any security. The precariousness perceived in this transition phase puts in crisis the professional identity and the processes of metabolising change, affecting the personal choices and the daily life of the subjects involved”.

In short, when the company changes, so does the world, inside and out, of those who work there.

The investigation by Di Stefano, Manerchia, Pantaleo and Liga is not always easy to read, but it accompanies the reader along a journey that is initially theoretical and then on the field, which opens up important views to complete th more general view of how production and work are experienced for real. At one point, the authors write: “The organisations in which we operate represent (…) the shared institutional base where the foundations of our identity lie”.

Transitional identity. The personal and professional sense of self in relation to organisational change

Giovanni Di Stefano, Francesca Manerchia, Alessia Pantaleo, Alessia Liga

Narrare i gruppi .Etnografia dell’interazione quotidiana. (Narrating groups. Ethnography of daily interaction)  Prospettive cliniche e sociali, vol. (Clinical and social perspectives, vol.) 12, no. 2, December 2017