The most recent Annal of the Feltrinelli Foundation describes an approach to the global market missing in Italy and attempts to explain the reasons for it

Understanding context is everything. It may have been said many times before, but it always bears repeating. It is essential for any entrepreneurs and managers conscious of their roles.

The latest annal from the Giangiacomo Feltrinelli Foundation serves this purpose well.  Edited by Franco Amatori (Professor of Economic History at the Bocconi University in Milan), “L’approdo mancato” (The missed landing point), is an important collection of essays and research, with the sub-heading explaining its content: “Economia, politica e società in Italia dopo il miracolo economico” (Economics, politics and society in Italy after the economic miracle).­Everything starts with the title though. The “missed landing point” is a concept which was first put forward by Mario Pirani in 1991 in a piece published in the magazine “Il Mulino”. Pirani invited us to reflect on three missed opportunities – electronics, nuclear and oil distribution – arguing that if we had taken these opportunities we would have ended up taking off in the same way as the Japanese.

Amatori takes up this idea and uses the phrase to intend the landing point at the frontiers of the global economy. The editor’s thesis is essentially very simple. Amatori takes it for granted that Italy, which at the end of the 20th century was in fifth place in the world in terms of gross domestic product, would come back down to Earth, as it was also inevitable that it would suffer from the hardships which began in the United States in September of 2008. In other words, the advent of globalisation and the rise of the BRICS, particularly China, meant that it was always impossible for Italy to maintain its position. And it was also inevitable that the enormous mass of toxic bonds would have an effect on an economy already burdened with one of the highest public debts in the world. Nevertheless, these genuine storms could have been dealt with in a very different way if the economic apparatus, and especially Italian industry, had been made of sterner stuff; if the country had been able to take advantage of a large chemical, electronic or auto industry; if it had had much more widespread new IT and communication technologies; if it had been more autonomous in terms of energy.

To demonstrate this, Amatori has collected a series of discussion which, amongst other things, cover topics such as the historical and political evolution of the Italy of the economic ‘miracle’ and onwards, the failure of frontier technology projects, the evolution of the so-called ‘entrepreneurial state’, acts of nationalisation, the struggles of manual workers in the 1970s, changes in the consumption patterns of Italians, the road to ‘decline’, the emergence of resilience and the transformation of industrial zones, the situation in the 1970s and 1980s, the lack of regulation and the introduction of the Euro. The collection concludes with three more essays (“opinion pieces”) on the Italian case.

Though diverse, each of the discussions attempts to respond to one question only: what would have happened if at the crossroads of the post-miracle period (end of the 1960s, start of the 1970s), the outcome had been different?The essays edited by Amatori are all worth reading and can be used as a kind of guide to the present, even if they discuss the past. Particularly striking is the final idea given to the readers by the editor: “What can we learn from the past in relation to the future? Considering the history of Italy, I would say a great deal of caution.(…) The human story is the combination of many different variables which combine to make it completely unpredictable.”

L’approdo mancato. Economia, politica e società in Italia dopo il miracolo economico (The missed landing point. Economics, politics and society in Italy after the economic miracle

Franco Amatori

(edited by)

Italy is a ‘dual’ country, with divisions between North and South, between areas strong in terms of the economy and business and weak areas with inefficient public spending. But also, in contrast to conventional geography, with a division between ‘smart’, cultured, efficient and fashionable urban centres and abandoned and neglected suburbs (Milan offers perfects examples of both: the splendour of the high tech skyscrapers of Porta Nuova and CityLife and the tough violence of the Adriano Quarter and Aler social housing. It is a country out of sync, if we look at these times of a politics which decides little and often badly, and the times of efficiency and internationalism in finance, in cutting edge services (Milan is experimenting, the first in Europe, with new 5G telecommunication networks) and the 4.0 digital industry. Italy, and the two Italys. This is something which has been noted by a great historian, Andrea Giardina, in the pages of a captivating book, “Storia mondiale dell’Italia” (The Global History of Italy), recently published by Laterza: “Today, it is inevitable that the North of Italy, where you find the most developed areas of the country, interacts with the world in a different way to the South, which is home to the largest poverty zone in the European Union.” An Italy which should be interpreted better, therefore, as we have been saying for some time. And be kept united, less uneven and better “synchronised”, in terms of both Europe and the Mediterranean.

GDP data shows a rise of 1.5% in 2017 (and which, once the accounts have been completed at the end of the year, may even rise by a few more decimal points), with a similar rise expected for 2018. The GDP has seen 12 consecutive quarters of growth, though it is only now that the numbers in question start higher than ‘zero point…’. And in any case, this growth, though well earned and in no way irrelevant, is lower than other European partners: we are still yet to recover to the levels of 2008, the start of the Great Economic Crisis, as Germany and France have done. We’re doing okay, without being excessively optimistic.But why is it, in spite of everything, many Italians are feeling increasingly fragile and poorer as time goes on?

The problem is that not all of the country is aware of and feels the effect of this positive economic trend. Here too, certain data must be taken into account. For example, the data taken from the Gini Index (which measures income distribution on a scale from zero to one: absolute balance or total imbalance): in 2015 the figure rose from 0.324 to 0.331, a sign of a growing inequality to the advantage of the richest people.An imbalance in both social terms and in terms of expectations, feeding unrest and distress (one of the reasons for the emergence of the Italy “of resentment” documented by the Censis Report which we discussed last week).

One confirmation of the current situation comes from Eurostat (the Statistics Office of the EU), which in a recent piece of research noted that Italy has the highest total number of people in poverty out of all the countries in the European Union: 10.5 million people living in conditions of “material and social deprivation”, with difficulties paying the rent on time, dealing with unexpected costs and having proper heating, with the biggest concentration of poverty found among young people and in Southern areas. This is 17.2% of the population, higher than the EU average and much worse than that of the most industrialised and developed nations (out of the “big countries”, only Spain is worse than us in percentage terms at 17.4%).”The beautiful country which excludes the weak” was the disgruntled comment of one perceptive economist, Mario Deaglio (“La Stampa”, 13 December).

Eurostat also calculates the differences in salaries between regions and provinces (an average of the annual gross salaries of directors, white collar workers and manual workers; reported in “La Stampa”, 18 December): it ranges from EUR 31,711 in Lombardy, to EUR 30,286 in Emilia and EUR 29,686 in Lazio, before falling to EUR 25,506 in Sicily and EUR 24,537 in Calabria, in last place. The discrepancy between individual provinces is even larger, ranging from EUR 34,330 in Milan to EUR 23,729 in Messina: a difference of more than EUR 11,000. Even with purchasing power taken into account, this is a large gap. A North of high incomes, entrepreneurial, dynamic, European, and a South of public employment, unstable jobs and low salaries. Heightened disparities.

If we move from the GDP (wealth) to the BES (the index of Equitable and Sustainable Wellbeing, calculated by Istat), the overall picture is worrying: “Getting richer, getting poorer”, writes “Avvenire”, the Catholic newspaper (16 December), explaining that “We may have moved out of the crisis but there is inequailty and a mistrust of politics.” The Italians “are less satisfied in terms of social relationships” and “there is also a fall in community spirit”, even if they also identify “comforting signs of a recovery in levels of volunteering”. The average family income has increased by 1.6% compared to 2015 and is equivalent to EUR 18,191 per capita, but this improved statistic should be read together with another piece of data: the 20% richest people in the population have increased their income by more than the average and by as much as 6.3 times that of the poorest 20% (in 2015 this figure stood at 5.8%).

Imbalanced wellbeing, then. And a two-speed Italy.

In order to be sustainable (socially, and in the long term), development needs equality. And to be founded on the strengthening of dynamic businesses which produce not only wealth and innovation but also improved social cohesion (corporate welfare, spread around the area where the companies are based, in the North, makes a big improvement to quality of life). And on a strategic stimulus in public spending in terms of investment in infrastructure, both tangible and intangible. But the current picture is far from comforting.

Companies which invest, carry out research, export and compete on international markets, meaning companies which are the engine of growth, are doing their job well (thanks also to the measures of the government to provide fiscal stimulation for innovation and the digital transformation of high quality industry). Public spending in the South is used up in widespread but low level salaries and in the wastage of corruption and personal relations, as well as a growing “rejection of modernity” which puts a brake on the best but fragile entrepreneurial spirits of the South. With growing social distress the result. The wellbeing everybody desires makes way for a general malaise. With negative effects for the country as a whole.

Changing this picture and launching “virtuous growth”, founded on “equality and sustainability” (Aldo Bonomi, “IlSole24Ore”), is an economic and civil challenge of huge significance. A political approach is indispensible, and one which is clear to the same feelings of the best companies which, from Milan and the South, hold the European future of Italy close to their heart. Which policy will manage to help them take off?

A doctoral thesis describes the theory, practice and role of corporate social responsibility as a factor in competitiveness.

The attention companies pay to the outside world, in social as well as economic and terms, has become a consolidated asset for businesses which are supported by a robust culture of production. However, this does not mean “institutionalised goodwill” from business people and managers. In reality, building and managing corporate social responsiblity is a complicated undertaking, closely linked to the management of production.

This is Giovanni Simonelli’s assertion in his doctoral research thesis of Marketing and Business Management, presented at the University of Milano-Bicocca. It is a useful text if you want to understand the basic principles of intelligent and informed social responsibility.

Though the specific objective of Simonelli’s work is to “Analyse the importance of ideas of social responsibility and sustainability in the modern business economy and to verify the role it plays in creating the conditions needed for long-term success.”

Simonelli himself explains the structure of his work. “After an initial technical section on the role and importance of corporate social responsibility,” he writes, “The study takes an in depth look at the risks and costs associated with the use of strategies which have no connection with objectives of sustainability.” After the theory, the research then embarks on a path leading to a view of social responsiblility as an aspect of value creation for the company, based on three lines of action: social equity, environmental quality and widespread economic prosperity. Next, Simonelli describes the tools companies can use to give an account of their activities from a social perspective (social balance sheet and environmental balance sheet), and how these can be integrated into the economic balance sheet. The thesis then moves to an analysis of the management tools of corporate sustainability, from ethical principles to cost-benefit analysis.

His work concludes with an analysis of the dieselgate case involving Volkswagen.

Simonelli explains at the end of his research efforts: “For a long time, many companies have considered the resources spent on showing that they are sustainable not as a practical investment in order to maintain a competitive advantage (as it has actually been proven to be), but rather as a cost to be put up with because it functions as a way of implementing certain marketing strategies directed at creating specific competitive advantages in the short term.”He continues: “Corporate social responsibility is not a curse, but instead an opportunity to relaunch an innovative, modernised industrial system with greater prospectives for survival and growth.

Responsabilità sociale e costi della non sostenibilità nelle imprese globali (Social responsibility and costs of non-sustainability in global companies)

Giovanni Simonelli

Department of Economics, Quantitive Methods and Business Strategy, PhD in Marketing and Business Management, University of Milano-Bicocca, 2017

The most recent book from S. D. King can help make the culture of production more complete

To be conscious of what you are, what you are doing and the end goal of your mission. These are probably the most important qualities of any astute entrepreneur or manager. It is a question of your knowledge of the world, and therefore of the environment in which you operate. It also an important question of having an accomplished corporate culture. This is what the most recent book from Stephen D.King – economist and consultant for HSBC, is perfect for.

“Grave New World. The End of Globalisation, the Return of History” is one of those books you have to read if you want to know more about the context of the world you are living in. The book – not particularly brief but extremely readable – begins with the consideration that the strategy built on the principles of free trade and – from the 1980s onwards – free capital markets, is beginning to show signs of cracking. In the Western world, economic growth remains unsatisfactory, with many countries no longer willing to sacrifice national interests in the interests of global growth. Nor do their leaders seem capable of or willing to convince their citizens to work for an agenda which favours global wellbeing. National politics are re-emerging built on “us” and “them”, aiding an unwelcome return to isolationism and protectionism.Combining historical analysis with observations on the present, up to and including Brexit and the victory of Donald Trump in the 2016 American presidential elections, King is led to conclude that rejection of globalisation and the return of “autarchy” increases the risk of future economic and political conflict, while he also uses the lessons of history to understand how we can avoid the most unpleasant outcomes.

The author demonstrates these basic assumptions by taking the reader by the hand and leading them through the history of the last hundred or so years. He does so with precision but also enthusiasm and above all with a disillusioned, at times provocative, approach.

Other than the general charcteristics of globalisation, King also takes into consideration globalisation’s relationship with individual communities, nation states and the various “visions” derived from stories taken from every part of the world (Western, Chinese, Ottoman, Russia, Persian, African). The book then considers potential developments in the 21st century, with a particular focus on technology, currencies and markets.

The last section, titled “Globalisation in crisis”, takes an in depth look at the aspects which have in some way defined recent years, and especially at the aspects of isolationist and globalist forces which promise to dominate the future.

King writes towards the end of the book: “If the world gives in to the polemic between ‘us’ and ‘them’, it is but a short step from initial distrust to open conflict – economic, financial and even military. And the challenges to the globalisation process will only become more difficult in the years to come.” Comparing globalisation and isolationism, King explains that “Successful globalisation cannot be a process driven solely by the markets. It also has to include international support for those ideas and institutions which help us to mutually respect our duties and responsibilities,” while looking at the push for isolationism he adds: “And for those who want isolationism and protectionism, at the end of the day they have to ask themselves how they can possibly think that history is on their side. If their vision should prevail, it really would be the end of the new world.”

King’s book should be read free from distractions, though it’s also the kind of book you might well want to read all in one sitting.

Grave New World. The End of Globalisation, the Return of History

Stephen D. King

Franco Angeli, 2017

There are people suffering from growing discomfort, building up increasingly strong levels of resentment, as the most recent report from Censis reveals. And there are others who don’t give up: they take action, they invest, they innovate and they search to find ways to strengthen even the most fragile communities. This portrait of modern Italy is always contrasting and contradictory. It is possible to appreciate its most essential characteristics in order to achieve greater understanding. Something that should be done by, above all, people involved in politics. What a shame that they are too often busy with other things. And that many of them irresponsibly feed bitterness, rage and yes, resentment, in order to gain more votes, unscrupulous “entrepreneurs of fear”.

In this concise “trip” through the changing moods of different people (rejecting the term “the people”, which gives an air of populism and unsavoury subcultures), we begin with a cartoon and an advertisement. The cartoon is from Altan in the most recent edition of “L’Espresso”. Two men in tracksuits, running. “But where are we going?” asks the first. “How would I know? I’m just one of your followers,” answers the other. Solitude, submissiveness and desperation in the era of the pretend communities of social media.

The advertisement in question opens up different horizons: “No man is an island. And neither is any supermarket.” A strong title on a two-page spread in all the main newpapers. The text continues: “The man who Aristotle defines ‘zoon politikon’, by his very nature tends to unite himself with similar beings in order to create communities. Society, the exchange of ideas, the choices which establish and reinforce common identities, represent the calling of the individual to gravitate towards social life. Or in other words, towards the other”. It continues, concluding that “For those of us who are not an island, understanding comes before selling.” Selling? The company that produced the advert, completely “political” and in no way over the top, is Conad, the supermarket chain, or rather the group of cooperative supermarkets, which has made an asset of its identity through the ideas of sharing, social responsibility, community and “civil economy“, the substance of which is its presence in different regions, in big cities and small towns. In Italy, a country torn, even a supermarket, quoting both Aristotle and a line from the 16th century English poet John Donne (“No man is an island, entire of itself…”), can attempt to heal economic and social fractures. An example of responsible economics to reflect on.

The Italian economy is in recovery, with the 2017 GDP growing beyond the forecasts of the government and international institutions and likely to pass 1.7% (Prime Minister Gentiloni, who has several positive traits relating to balance and intelligent management, is now speaking of growth “close to 2%”), positively influencing 2018. Leading to an increase in investments, exports and jobs. And consumption, of course. And savings as well, to some extent. Yet there are some, like Censis, who for years have been studying to understand the deepests feelings of the Italians, uncovering dissatisfaction, fear and, of course, resentment (the word featured in this year’s report, presented at the start of December).

So what’s going on? Is there an Italy on the move, documented with the expected GDP statistics from ISTAT, or is there the Italy of “perception” in the shadows described by Censis? Is one of these two incorrect?

The answer is simple: Italy has two faces. And despite the money filling certain wallets (mainly in the economically dynamic areas – in Milan, Bologna and the North East, less evident in a Rome ridden with crisis caused by public administration disasters and in the cities and towns of the South), some deep social wounds remain open which naturally the economic recovery cannot quickly fix: the rift of the generational pact (our children will have a worse life than us and the knowledge of this is causing distress in tens of thousands of families), the crisis of traditional jobs under the pressure of the digital economy, the blockage in social mobility (a huge percentage of young people are afraid of not being able to improve their status and income, not even through education) and the feeling of general insecurity made worse by an ageing population (elderly people who are alone, bewildered and insecure, in cities perceived as hostile, in neighbourhoods increasingly inhabited by social and cultural groups from radically different worlds).

In a changing Italy, insecurity prevails over hope. Good politics would help, to reconstruct a virtuous circle of positive expectations and give renewed space to trust. We can but hope that the moment of virtuous politicians instead of populist windbags has arrived. And that the good currency of trust is able to checkmate the perverse currency of fear.

Other social players are flourishing. Family businesses, for example. Open to innovation and “managerial” change: in the generational transition from founder to children, there are more and more examples of the property and strategies remaining within the family while capable executives are trusted with day-to-day management. Thus ensuring development, solidity and a future for the business. This was confirmed in a recent piece of research from the Catholic University of Milan (“Il Sole 24 Ore. 3 December”), which produced evidence of the initiatives of AIDAF, the Italian Association of Family Business directed by Elena Zambon, head of Zambon, a group of pharmeceutical companies with solid Italian roots and an international vision. These business are the engine of balanced economic growth, with a robust sense of both innovation and welfare, a relationship with the local regions and the responsiblity of growth. A positive business culture. With no regrets or resentment. No business is an island…

Goldman Sachs bankers are coming to Milan too: 150 people, in the space of a couple of years, who will be trying to take every opportunity arising in a metropolis which is undergoing an extraordinary expansion, as an entrepreneurial and financial centre at a European level. They will be working in a large office building in Via Santa Margherita, a few paces away from the Vittorio Emanuele shopping Arcade and the La Scala opera house. And their choice confirms the assessment of the “Financial Times”, the authoritative British daily financial newspaper, on the very occasion of the major celebration of the Arcade’s 150-year anniversary, in mid-September: Milan is re-born as the financial capital of Italy. A pronouncement in line with the opinion of the “New York Times” during the celebrations of the Expo 2015: “Milan, the place to be”.

Milan did not win the head office of the EMA, the European Medicines Agency, beaten in the final lottery draw by Amsterdam, in a derisory roll of the dice (but in Amsterdam the building which is due to house the offices and laboratories is still under construction and will be ready only at the end of 2019, whereas in Milan the “Pirellone” building could have been used straight away). Nevertheless, the attraction of the metropolis remains strong. And there are so many people, among the local directors, the entrepreneurs and the personalities within a vibrant and entrepreneurial civil society, who are pressing ahead so that Milan can re-launch its role and the opportunity to create a hub for industrial, financial, cultural and research and development activities.

It is a city which is ever more welcoming, in fact.And with a long list of newly-arriving companies. Goldman, that prestigious banking name, is one of many. And the others? Bayer, Novartis, Sanofi, Glaxo, Celgeni, in the chemical and pharmaceutical sector, attracted by the strength of a city which ranks highly throughout the world of “life sciences”.  And perhaps also the Americans of the Medical Center of Pittsburgh University, together with the investment fund Neuberger Berman, who are looking into the possibilities of a move by the IEO and the Monzino (the centres of excellence for oncology and cardiology, whose shareholders, led by Mediobanca, are nevertheless disinclined to intervene in cases which may modify their “no profit” nature).

In the hi-tech world, we find Amazon in Viale Monte Grappa, in the area of Porta Nuova, leading-edge skyscrapers (starting with the Unicredit head office designed by Cesar Pelli and the “Vertical Wood” by Stefano Boeri), near the head offices of other major names in the information technology sector, such as Samsung, Google and the Microsoft House in the new building from the Feltrinelli Foundation designed by Herzog & De Meuron, as a centre for culture and innovation. Not to mention Apple, with its megastore signed off by the star architect Norman Foster.

Even Starbucks is coming, right on Piazza Cordusio square, long a crossroads for banks and insurance companies, in one of its largest European investments. And then there is also Luiss, which is trying to find a Milanese site for its qualifying training services for major universities, such as the Bocconi, the Politecnico, the Cattolica, the Statale and the Bicocca. And there is a long queue of research centres and companies which confirms the importance of Milan as the preferred city of multinationals: there are already 3,600 foreign-owned active companies, representing a turnover of 168 Bn euros, a third of the entire turnover of international companies in Italy, and a figure which is destined to grow further.

Chinese investors too are checking out Milan with a particularly attentive eye, viewing the metropolis as the base for an ambitious “Belt and Road Initiative”, the “new Silk Road” between the East and the West (nearly five hundred people, last week, were gathered in the Assolombarda premises, to listen to the ideas and plans of Chen Siquing, chairman of the Bank of China and chairman, alongside Marco Tronchetti Provera, of the Italy-China Business Forum).

“Milan is becoming more interesting than London”, is the verdict of Daniel Libeskind, the great architect, and creator of one of the “three towers” which are a key feature of the CityLife area, “The Curved One” (the others are “The Straight One” by Arata Isozaki and “The Twisted One” by Zaha Hadid, who has also signed off several of the luxury residences in the neighbourhood).  “Milan is the gateway to Europe”, insists Libeskind.

Milan the building site, then. Among the most dynamic not only in Italy but also across the landscape of the major European cities. The time of the Ligresti-style real estate speculations is over – what was construction madness driven by “building speculators” even if it was closely linked to the centres of financial power of Lombardy. Instead we are at the heart of an extraordinary prospect for the redesign of the metropolis, at the crossroads between the “economy of knowledge” – science, research, high-tech manufacturing, services – between the “smart city” and a social economy of inclusion and quality of life.

The transformation of Milan has as its guiding light the Human Technopole, the new “City of Science”, on the old Expo sites, whose management has just been awarded, following an international competition, to the Australians of LendLease and whose “masterplan” is being worked upon by Carlo Ratti, manager of the SENSEable City Lab at the MIT (the Massachussetts Institute of Technology) in Boston, who is planning new technologies, socialisation and sustainable mobility for “ the largest scientific and technology park in Italy”: university campuses, laboratories, companies, a leading-edge hospital (the Galeazzi) but also social housing, cultural centres and plenty of greenery.  Everything will be very “smart”, naturally.

Other areas are essential for the redesign and re-launch of Milan: the “Health City” at Sesto San Giovani, the area of the Ortomercato fruit and vegetable market and above all the vast expanses of the seven railway sidings. What can be done with them? The debate is open. There is a need to exploit, over the course of the next ten years, the possibilities linked to an amazing town planning opportunity, but also to developments in the “digital” economy and to innovations provided by “Industry4.0”, using the crossovers between manufacturing, services, logistics, the “Internet of Things”, training, and unprecedented opportunities for relationships and socialisation. These are complex processes, naturally. Full of conflicts and contradictions. And not without risks (Milan is attractive not only for investment and intellectual capital, but also for Mafia interests, as is demonstrated by the long and greedy arms of the ‘ndrangheta and Cosa Nostra criminal organisations). But they are also processes of great interest and with stimulating prospects. Of how to govern well, in the tradition (by the way, very Milanese) of collaboration between the public and private sectors, institutions and companies.

Milan as a metamorphosis, in an efficient synthesis. In the heart of Europe, along the axes between East and West and North and the Mediterranean.

An article published on Quaderni di sociologia (Sociology Journals) describes and comprehensively analyses the phenomenon of startup companies

A young company has a its own particular view of the world and of production organisation. A view that is different from that of “experienced” companies, the companies which today go by the name of startup companies have their own culture and way of being, a particular approach that distinguishes them from the remainder of the production system in a given territory. This is the future – if it is able to be -, but also the expression of a changing production heritage. One that manages to create something new. One that deserves to be read with caution.

That is what Alfredo Ferrara, from the Department of Political Science – University of Bari “A. Moro” has done in his article entitled “L’ideologia startup tra rigenerazione capitalistica e processi di rimozione” (The startup ideology between capitalist regeneration and removal processes) which was published a few weeks ago on Quaderni di sociologia (Sociology Journals).

The study provides an up-to-date and exhaustive snapshot of the concept of startup companies, tracking their boundaries and applications.After a presentation of the objectives and of the method used to delineate the topic, Ferrara proceeds with clarity by listing and examining what he defines as the “thematic points” that characterise the lines of corporate culture of startup companies. These are glimpses of a history shared by many companies and that, clearly, outline the same ideal figure of the entrepreneur and his approach to life as well as to work. The “thematic points” identified by Ferrara are therefore: Independence, risk and ambition; “Zero ego”; passion and full involvement; Remaining people and telling one’s experience; Cosmopolitanism; Making history with innovation: rhythm and speed of execution; Priority to ideas; Information technologies; Cooperation between co-founders; Competition; A capital that believes in dreams.An investigation is dedicated to each topic, then the author outlines the overall figure of   startupper entrepreneurs and their creatures. “Startuppers – Ferrara goes on to write, are not cold calculators who govern the production processes from a distance but first generation entrepreneurs who impose their own personality onto a company they set up themselves and do not inherit, they govern according to their own style and personally assume risks without relying on professionals from management and on the routine of middle managers; in it, startuppers decline their own vision and their own skills, not confining the innovation processes to the research and development departments”. Ferrara therefore outlines a well-rounded figure of an entrepreneur, who manages to combine old and new, tradition and innovation, giving rise to something different and yet deeply rooted in the best history of business possible. Ferrara continues: “The startup ideology therefore celebrates a dual entrepreneurship of the beginning: in the diachronic sense, of the beginning of the history of capitalism, in other words not yet burdened by processes of depersonalisation and automation; in a synchronic sense, i.e. the founding phase of a company, yet still shielded from the corporate routine, from the need to preserve the market shares, etc.”.

The article by Alfredo Ferrara is certainly a good guide to start to organise and arrange the information which gravitate around the culture of startup companies.

L’ideologia startup tra rigenerazione capitalistica e processi di rimozione (The startup ideology between capitalist regeneration and removal processes)

Alfredo Ferrara

Quaderni di sociologia (Sociology Journals), 73 | 2017, 49-66.

http://qds.revues.org/1658

The 51st Censis Report that outlines the framework of company activities has been published

Understanding the context in which one performs activities is important; for companies, it becomes essential. A crucial component of a judicious production culture, the awareness of the social sphere (in addition to the financial one), in which it acts, is good for the balance sheets and strategies, but also for the climate of the company and the human production organisation. Reading the annual Censis Report on the social situation of the Country is therefore something useful for entrepreneurs and keen  managers. Especially this year.

Censis outlines a situation characterised by the restarting of industry but from what it looks like the loss of positive instances of society.Welfare is back on the rise, but it seems that there is a loss of drive towards cohesion and towards the ideals of a good social set-up. Worrying signs also for businesses and especially for the formation and fuelling of a production culture that is correct, universal and sustainable.

Censis is merciless and mentions the fact that “Italians are experiencing a quiet recovery after the hard years of the ‘cut back and survive'”.And not just that. The Report explains how the same improved economic and production climate conceals important dangers. “During the recovery – it writes -, there persist some grinding inertia to be handled with care. The social dividend of economic recovery has not been distributed and the social mobility block creates resentment”. Censis then continues, making an important comparison: “In the Italy of the economic miracle the expansive cycle was accompanied by positive myths that acted as the engine for economic and identity growth of the nation. But now the collective imagination has lost propulsive force”.

Certainly, there is no shortage of positive elements, but it is above all with the fragile and delicate situations that the activities of production organisations have to deal, as well as with the idea itself of a business that they can create. Factories, offices and production contexts therefore have to deal with a framework that appears to no longer have any dreams to come true. Censis itself explains in a note to the Report: “The future is glued to the present. But it is precisely the space that separates the present from the future that is the place of growth. The price we have paid for this decade of subtrack progress is precisely the consumption, without replacement, of that passion for the future that urges, pushes, spurs us on to hurry, without looking back. Now our future is being prepared according to the technology-territory duo: preparation for technology with solid training systems and the valuing of the territory with appropriate political and economic representation”.

The Censis Report is as usual well worth reading and re-reading attentively as it clearly indicates the general framework and details of a country that continues to have its own great resources but equally great deficiencies. And in which companies and their best production culture need to find new areas of action.

51st Report on the social situation of the country/2017

Censis

Franco Angeli, 2017

A book in two parts recounts the history of the Rinascente department store company, setting out its culture, layout, development and strategies

The culture of a company is built up over time, based on management highs and lows, by means of mistakes and successes, through the men and women of the business. And it is always important to hear about the histories of the factories which have developed their sense of manufacturing along with their communities. This is also true for the companies which focus on retailing and which, in respect of certain aspects, can sometimes have more direct links with the marketplace of the end-consumer.  This is the case for the Rinascente. A department store par excellence, this company has clocked up a hundred years of history by living through differing economic cycles and always succeeding in finding renewed resources with which to stay in contact with its market. And not just that. The Rinascente has been and remains one of those companies which has stamped its mark on the Italian market, on its habits and styles of consumption, and on the growth of the country in the post-War period onwards. This is a history which is useful to know. And it is therefore important to read what has been written and copy-edited by Franco Amatori in the two volumes dedicated to this company’s birthday celebration: “100 anni della Rinascente” (100 years of the Rinascente).

Amatori (who teaches economic history at the Bocconi University), has composed a history across several aspects and written by several authors, succeeding in setting out the evolution of one of the key companies in the Italian economy and custom and without hiding its periods of difficulty.

The book is composed of two very distinct parts. The first volume tells the story of the Rinascente from 1917 (the year of its foundation) up to 1969. This involves a narrative which places great importance upon the origins and on the company model (based on the name whose conception was attributed to Gabriele d’Annunzio), but also upon the context in which the Rinascente sees the light of day and evolves. Everything up to the crisis of the relationships at the top of the company. The second volume starts from 1969 and continues up to the present day. In this part the writing is composed by several authors and again extends its scope to the economic and social environment in which the Rinascente is active – the development of different commercial avenues, the situation in Europe -, as well as to several particular aspects of the company organisation such as the attention paid to its image and to its internal and external communication. This section highlights the traits of an “unconventional” company which has stamped its mark on crucial aspects of the consumer economy in Italy. In this part there is no attempt to neglect the vicissitudes of the layout of ownership, the relationships with the trades unions, or the difficulties of a significant and complex restructuring.

This is a collective literary effort, and the book copy-edited by Amatori is one of those which can be read almost as a company novel from different perspectives or instead as an accurate analysis of economic history. “100 anni della Rinascente” (100 years of the Rinascente) should nevertheless be read by anyone who wishes to understand an important part of Italian company history.

100 anni della Rinascente (100 years of the Rinascente)

Franco Amatori (copy-edited by)

Egea, 2017