Extraordinary mechanical tailors. These are the best Italian companies. Along with mechatronics, chemical and pharmaceutical, rubber and plastic, as well as, naturally, agri-food, furnishings and clothing companies. Bespoke tailors. Unrivalled the world over. In producing a “hex socket head bolt”, a special screw for ultra-sophisticated applications in the automotive or aeronautical industries. A mechanical joint made of innovative materials. A high-tech lathe. A robot. But also an avant-garde drug. Or a high-tech tyre. And a packaging plant which is evolving in keeping with the evolution of “digital” technologies that connect manufacturing machines and “big data“. This is where the international competitive force of our industry lies. Well beyond the obvious and well-known “Made in Italy” excellence of beauty, of fashion, of jewellery and of luxury.

A stimulating portrait of this was given to Italian diplomats throughout the world, who gathered in Milan at Assolombarda in the morning and at Pirelli HangarBicocca in the afternoon of Thursday 27th July to conclude the 12th Conference of Ambassadors: diplomacy as the cornerstone of economic policy, the close relationship between Farnesina and companies as leverage for better competitiveness and the development of the country. #Vivereallitaliana was the successful hashtag of the conference. Documented by Nando Pagnoncelli’s Ipsos with research on how much the world appreciates “the Italian lifestyle”.

In the afternoon of this particular Thursday, when the press agencies heralded the news that French President Macron “was nationalising” the Stx shipyards to block their acquisition by the Italian Fincantieri (a short-sighted nationalism destined for a host of difficulties), a certain dose of economic patriotism was natural, between politics and companies, which resounded in the debate in Milan. Provided, however, they go beyond mere emotions and controversy and always keep in mind three things.

The first is that the “Italianness” of companies goes beyond the simple census of ownership of the majority shareholdings. The second is that Italian companies need to be more far-sighted in making international acquisitions (going beyond the industries in which we are already very dynamic, such as that of food and drink) also clashing with rooted nationalism (and here the role of Farnesina and more in general of the government is fundamental). And the third, which is essential, is that the best substance of the “Italian lifestyle” lies not in the albeit excellent lasagne, in wine or in fancy amazing clothing by the most creative designers (praiseworthy, however, are Dolce & Gabbana who at the beginning of July gathered a small crowd of international VIPs in Palermo, creating a fantastic show of luxury and beauty). But it lies above all in the mechanical heart. In the “Industry 4.0” that the Renzi government before and the Gentiloni government now (with the decisive role of Minister for Development Calenda) have rightly decided to stimulate, with fiscal aid for those who invest and innovate.

Hence the value of mechanical tailors, mechatronics, pharmaceuticals, chemicals,… which we mentioned earlier and with which Prime Minister Gentiloni has had direct experience taking half a day’s tour of the factories in Brianza, on 24 July, amid entrepreneurs, engineers, specialised workers and seeing up close what is meant by innovation and “digital manufacturing” in companies in the mechanical and furnishing industries.

“The craftsman’s touch of hi tech Italy”, writes Stefano Micelli (“IlSole24Ore”, 27 July), noting how “the tailor-made manufacturing model is the distinguishing feature of those medium-sized enterprises that represent, even according to recent data from the ICE, the most dynamic component of our exports”. Micelli mentions the considerations made during the Symbola summer seminar by Alessandro Profumo, Chairmain of Leonardo Finmeccanica (one of the largest Italian companies) on the ability to “customise” the offer of planes and helicopters after carefully listening to the customers’ needs (an aptitude that neither the Americans nor the Germans nor the French are able to express). Similar considerations are made by Sonia Bonfiglioli, head of one of the most dynamic medium-sized metal mechanics companies, rooted in Emilia and with activities all over the world: she also speaks of “tailor-made manufacturing” and responding to international customers with “cutting-edge technological solutions”.

Of course, the best Italian companies invest. And they drive the recovery. This is documented, again in an original way, by Marco Fortis (“Il Foglio”, 26 and 29 July), writing “against the Vulgate of Italy that invests little or nothing” and noting that “in the 2014-2016 three-year period, Italian businesses have increased their investments in machinery, means of transport and patents by 10.8%. In comparison, Germany has gone up by 9.7%. The acceleration of Italy was more notable especially in the last two years: 8.3% more against 4.6% more in Germany”.

The economic recovery that is clearly discernible (1.3% rise in GDP in 2017, according to the government, FMI and Confindustria) is strongly determined by innovative industry: machines and mechanical appliances, metallurgy, chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Fortis insists: “In the three months from March to May 2017, the turnover of the Italian manufacturing industry increased by 6.4% compared to last year. Germany, which is also experiencing a phase of significant expansion, went up by 5%”. Industry, precisely. Or rather, “Industry 4.0”, the Italian way. Innovative, “digital”. Tailor-made. The strength of medium-sized enterprises, of “pocket multinationals”. “The Italian lifestyle”, as Farnesina likes to say, is precisely this dimension. To be valued, to understand, to illustrate well, and to support abroad.

One of the fundamental books about management world-wide has just been reprinted

Every company operates on the basis of principles of organisation and management that must be well known. It is a question of method, but also of awareness of rules and mechanisms that are necessary to get to the bottom of the production process, to generate profit and especially prosperity. Corporate culture all-round. Certain guides which, more than others, manage to provide a sense of motion and the essence of good management are very important. This is the case of “Le sfide di management del XXI secolo” (The challenges of management in the 21st Century) written quite a few years ago by Peter F. Drucker which has just been reprinted.

Defined a classic, the book genuinely is a classic. Drucker starts with the observation of the phase of profound change which the Western economy and society system is experiencing. It is a transformation that did not start today and that will definitely not be completed any time soon. It concerns, in industrialised countries, the challenges induced by demographic ageing or by the problems (and the opportunities) created by the growth of education and the desire for self-fulfilment ofknowledge workers .The intent, specified by the author himself, however, is not to describe future contingent scenarios, but to provide instructions on management. This goal is achieved through straightforward and understandable writing, packed with examples, anecdotes and practical instructions to address and put into practice the change (and to change management).

It is therefore a classic to be read, also taking into account that it slightly condenses all of Drucker’s experience as a pioneer and as the greatest expert in management. The author, in fact, after working as an economist in banks and insurance companies and as a consultant for major companies and government bodies, taught philosophy and politics at Bennington College and then management at thebusiness schoolof New York University (from 1950 onwards).

The book first takes into consideration the “new paradigms of management” and then analyses the strategies required to face a reality that has changed considerably compared to previously. The author then addresses the change and what is referred to as the “information challenge”. Lastly, he investigates the role of knowledge workers and therefore the need for managers  to grow their self-management ability to improve consequently the management of organisations and companies.

The literary work by Drucker is an example of those books that should be read, then set aside and then read again.

Le sfide di management del XXI secolo (The challenges of management in the 21st Century)

Peter F. Drucker

Franco Angeli, 2017

Research by ENEA investigates and finds out more about the phenomenon of coworking  in Italy

Working is sharing. And, looking more closely, also and especially, doing business means sharing. Sharing intentions and objectives, willpower and even a little bit of dreams. Understood in this way, all self-respecting companies have grown and applied what today goes under the name of coworking. Even though, as it is widely known, this term means a very specific way of organising work. But in any case we are still faced with a corporate culture that changes, evolves, improves, differs with respect to the past. A clear sign of the vitality of manufacturing.

Reading “Coworking….. che? I nuovi volti dell’organizzazione del lavoro: un’indagine sul coworking in Italia” (Coworking…. what? The new faces of work organisation: a survey on coworking in Italy) – research published by ENEA written by multiple authors from a group of researchers headed by the ENA Studies and Strategies Unit, at Sapienza University and LUISS in Rome -, is a good thing to understand a form of work-sharing and of doing new business on the one hand but already considerably experimented within companies themselves.

The following is explained in the introduction: “The work presents the results of research on coworking carried out as part of project Smart Working X Smart Cities (SWxSC) and some observations on the subject of the sharing community. Project SWxSC studies the mechanisms and conditions through which culture and organisational innovation at work can be used as leverage for sustainability and urban regeneration”.Company and city, therefore, at the heart of a cultural movement that changes – more or less quickly – the very methods of organising production but also the presence of production activities in the territory. Through sharing – precisely – as the main cultural feature. “In our exploratory path – explain the authors of the investigation – we initiated a reflection on work methods and on the workplace as tools to facilitate sharing, growth, cultural exchange and the development of new skills. The coworking centres reflect those transformation processes, which are occurring in our society, geared towards the sharing of resources and abilities”.

The research then unfolds starting with a definition of coworking , moving on next to the description of its evolution, followed by the examination of certain concrete cases. And that’s not all. Providing a perspective of evolution, the authors write: “It is not a question of contributions, but of nurturing relations and growing them, benefiting from the services and experiences that are accrued through coworking in a relationship of mutual exchange, connecting them with Universities and Research Centres and fostering relations with the world of industry associations”.

Coworking….. che? I nuovi volti dell’organizzazione del lavoro: un’indagine sul coworking in Italia (Coworking…. what? The new faces of work organisation: a survey on coworking in Italy)

Bruna Felici (ENEA, Studies and Strategies Unit), Giorgia Martucci (Master in Public Economy from the Faculty of Economics at the Sapienza University in Roma), Maria Grazia Oteri (ENEA, Studies and Strategies Unit), Marina Penna (ENEA, Studies and Strategies Unit), Elisabetta Tatì (Master in Parliament and Public Policies, from LUISS Guido Carli University)

ENEA, 2017

A book tells the story of an icon of the Bel Paese and the post WWII period – the Autogrill chain of motorway cafés – making it an example of fine entrepreneurial idea that became a reality

The idea at the basis of everything. And then the courage and the ability to make it a business. If you look closely this is the real essence of being an entrepreneur but also an all-round manager. And this is the content of many business stories. Like the one of motorway café number 1 in Novara on the Turin-Milan motorway, which Mario Pavesi built just a few years after the end of the Second World War and which became an icon of economic recovery in addition to a new way of thinking about travelling, how to approach customers, the method itself of selling a generous product range. It has all been told now in “Novara: la prima area di ristoro autostradale” (Novara, the first motorway café), written by Giuseppe Romano (journalist and an attentive observer of the new communication tools) that has just been published.

There is of course a simple idea at the heart of this business story: it was important to provide a service not only to the car, but first and foremost to the motorist, on a motorway. Indeed, it is from here that in 1947 Mario Pavesi (the father of “Pavesini” biscuits) planned to build a place for refreshments on the edge of the Turin-Milan motorway. The first example of what was already a widespread facility overseas. These motorway cafés quickly became an important part not only of the scenery, but especially of the Italian national culture: together with TV and supermarkets, travelling and and pit stops have contributed significantly towards educating the taste and habits of Italians.
The book narrates the business journey undertaken between 1947 and the present day. Above all, however, it tells of the quality and deep production culture that have characterised this journey. Indeed, it has involved big names from the world of post WWII architecture in addition to attention to detail, image, and product presentation. Such as the architect Angelo Bianchetti, who designed and subsequently expanded the facility in Novara. A facility which today has changed hands and ended up with the Cremonini Group but especially that has accompanied Italian growth, changing gradually in keeping with its changing users.

So attention to products, but also to the market and its consumers, attention to detail, fineness of image. Everything is explained in Romano’s book, which at one point describes the entrepreneur (Pavesi in this case) as one “who reads tomorrow’s newspaper today”.  An image that applies to many others who have enriched the Italian national industrial history.

Novara: la prima area di ristoro autostradale (Novara, the first motorway café)

Giuseppe Romano

Franco Angeli, 2017

The situation of European companies with respect to new technologies, the role of the institutions, the importance of people

In times of innovation we must keep up with innovation. Wisely, certainly. And prudently. The entrepreneur must remain an entrepreneur, and therefore know how to evaluate, discern between what really is new and what instead is only a revisiting of things already known. But it is a fact: businesses must continually change in their organisation, in the way they approach the market, in the very image they manage to build up.

“The Opportunities and challenges of entrepreneurship in the European Digital Economy” written by Marina Coban and Aurelia Tomsa and recently presented as part of the Fostering knowledge triangle in Moldova conference proceedings, is a good photograph of the ability of European companies to face the opportunities provided by the digitalisation of the economy.

The article presents a comparative analysis of EU companies that use the opportunities offered by the digital economy in their activities (corporate resource planning software, electronic invoices, use of the web, etc.). So companies from almost all the countries of the Old Continent are placed in a row through a series of graphic representations which provide their location according to major topics along a scale of percentage use.

But this is not only an analysis of the use of new technologies. Coban and Tomsa in fact also address some of the difficulties that companies have to overcome in order to achieve an improved use of digital tools, problems that depending on the countries involve taxes, but also customs and transport. The work also addresses the differences between the countries in terms of the legal framework and the fragmentation of the industrial sector.

What emerges is a complex and varied situation, with some surprises and where Italy fails to take any significant positions. Above all, however, it outlines a framework which overwhelmingly confirms the key role of the basic political choices for expanding the use of digital tools, but also the importance of the ability of people to grasp the most effective solutions from the technological perspective and thus truly put new technologies at the service of development. A new corporate culture is taking shape.

The Opportunities and Challenges of Entrepreneurship in European Digital Economy

Marina Coban, Aurelia Tomsa (ASEM)

Fostering knowledge triangle in Moldova conference proceedings, 2017

260 camera-ready artworks for advertisements dating from 1968 to 1981, owned by the Pirelli Historical Archive, were restored in 2016-17. The 260 items involved in the recent operation used materials and techniques typical of the period and of the sector in which they were designed and made.

In the late 1960s, the pictorial and caricatural/cartoon-style rendering of previous artists and draughtsmen began to disappear, and there was a shift to more graphic images with ample space given to text. Direct manual intervention was considerably reduced, and few artworks were made using tempera or India ink, while photographs and printed characters were used in a majority of cases. The restoration thus made it possible to go back in time through graphic studies to examine the work methods adopted before the advent of computers.

Most of the artworks in this group consist of a number of superimposed layers, with the main part of the image made on Shoeller card, which was the support most commonly used in graphic art studios, as well as in the world of contemporary art at the time. This card is about 1.5 mm thick, with an inner core consisting of several layers in wood paste, lined on the front with a very smooth, relatively non-porous, ivory-coloured coated paper and on the back with green-blue paper. In many cases, also the factory trademark, made with an embossing stamp, can be seen. Together with considerable deposits of dust (removed by surface cleaning using a Wishab sponge), the main form of damage found on the cards, caused by improper handling and conservation methods, was the presence of indentations on the edges and corners, and flaking of the constituent layers of the card. This required re-adhesion of the layers and consolidation of the edges, using Japanese starch paste between the layers of card, and mixed glue consisting of methylcellulose and an acrylic emulsion to reinforce, protect and impermeabilise the edges.

The smooth, non-absorbent coated side of the card was the one used to compose the image for the artwork: as we have seen, there were a few works in tempera and a certain number in India ink, but in most cases the images were obtained by assembling papers of various types, photographic or otherwise, with photographic or typographical prints, cut out in various shapes and glued to the card. The most evident influence of art schools can be seen in the type of adhesive used. It was not difficult to discover that most of the gluing had been done with the famous (as it certainly was back then) Cow Gum glue. This took its name not from actual cows, but from its inventor, Mr Cow. This glue had the consistency of honey and a strong smell of solvent, and it was sold in a red and white tin with the word “Cow” written conspicuously across it. It was spread with a white plastic spatula, one of which I still have today. Reading various graphics websites and talking with architects and designers, I have found that, before computers were used, all firms and studios – and not just art students – made ample use of it. The texts, images and various elements of the composition were cut out (often using the card itself as a support, and indeed many superficial cuts can be seen on the Pirelli artworks) and then glued onto the card. The advantage of Cow Gum over water-based glues was that it did not wrinkle the paper, and it also gave a certain amount of time for repositioning the various elements if one wanted to modify the composition. At the time of use, Cow Gum was transparent, but of course no one knew back then what changes it would undergo over the years. As it oxidises over time, it undergoes a change in colour, which also affects the paper it is applied to, creating brown traces where the glue was spread (particularly on the backs). It also loses its adhesive power, leading to the partial or complete detachment of the various elements stuck to the card.

This was the situation that most of the artwork involved in the restoration was in: in the past, some of the small, detached pieces were lost, but the restoration work fortunately meant it was possible to intervene in time to check the degree of adhesion and to fasten all the remaining pieces. Even just slight pressure with the tip of a scalpel was enough to detach the parts where the adhesive had become completely oxidised. This meant it was possible to recover and consolidate all the applied elements, using Japanese starch paste after mechanically eliminating the remains of the old Cow Gum that had oxidised and turned to dust. The re-adhesions were carried out completely or partially (depending on the areas where the loss of adhesion had occurred), or at least on the corners and edges, in order to avoid further loss in the future. It was not, however, possible to remove the brown stains caused by oxidation, which had become irreversible. As mentioned, many of the cut-outs glued to the cards were photographs of various types, both glossy and semi-matt, which were used both for printing images and for many of the printed texts. Limited use was made of silver-salt prints, which are recognisable for the typical “silver mirror” effect caused by oxidation, but there was frequent use of printed images on glossy paper taken from magazines and, in some cases, of texts printed on acetate. In many cases, the loss of adhesion of the Cow Gum made it possible to examine the backs and to see the initials on photographic papers, or the versions underneath the final artwork, before reapplying them with Japanese starch paste or with an adhesive based on cellulose ether in alcohol.

Another type of material with which I am very familiar, and which I found in many items, is that of texture screens. These are self-adhesive films, coloured or with little repeated patterns, used to fill in background areas. They were used at school in geometrical drawings to form the shadows of objects, and it was very interesting to see the superimposition of different colours in transparency. In the treated art works, adhesion had remained very good, except for minimal detachment in the corners and small areas, which was rectified with acrylic adhesive. The colours of the texture screens were not altered, thus pointing to a good degree of adhesion and to the fact that the original glue of the films is very stable and has not oxidised. One very important aspect of a fair number of cards is that of the registration marks for printing the image, which were mainly applied with little pieces of adhesive tape. As with Cow Gum, here to the glue on the tape had oxidised, darkened and lost adhesion, causing the registration marks to become detached. Fortunately, the marks left by the glue on the card made it possible to identify the original positions, so they could be repositioned correctly. Another type of element found on the various cards in a state of conservation similar to that of the registration marks is that of the colour bar, in the form of cut-outs of coloured paper used as references for printing. These were also stuck on with adhesive tape, but were no longer well attached. The same system had been used for some texts placed over previous versions. In the cases just described, it was decided, together with the head of the Historical Archive, to keep the plastic films of the adhesive tapes after removing the glue (which was the damaging part) with ether or acetone as solvents, depending on the degree of oxidation of the adhesive. The tapes were then replaced in the original positions, using an acrylic adhesive, and thus managing to maintain the visual appearance of the artwork as it was when first made. Tracing paper played an important visual and technical role, with one or more sheets (in some cases, even three) being fastened with adhesive tape on the cards. As well as being used to protect the artwork, tracing paper was also used for writing notes for the printers, as well as any variations and additions to the original artwork. The sheets of tracing paper thus bear text in pencil, in ballpoint pen (black, blue or red), and in black or red ink drawn with a Rapidograph, with felt-tip pens, Tratto pens, or coloured crayons, but there are also some of the same materials used on the cards. These include pieces of paper cut out with printed inscriptions and glued using Cow Gum, registration marks and colour samples fastened with adhesive tape or glued, and coloured transparent texture screens. The tracing paper had conservation issues that affected both the support and the materials applied onto it. The following were mainly found in the case of the supports: folds, tears, missing parts due to handling, detachment from the cardboard due to the loss of adhesion in the adhesive tapes, and also stains and residue of adhesive tape. The main problems affecting the materials applied were those already described for the papers fastened to the cards: marks caused by the Cow Gum and partial or total detachment.

The restoration of the sheets of tracing paper first required surface cleaning, for since they are the most exposed part of the artwork, they were to a greater or lesser extent covered in dust. The remains of the adhesive tape, used to fasten the tracing paper to the card or to repair tears, were removed and cleaned with solvent. Folds and wrinkles were reduced by applying a minimum amount of humidity to the precise area, using fine retouching brushes, and the tears were mended with thin strips of very light Japanese paper on the back. Here an alcohol-based adhesive was used so as to avoid the formation of ripples, since tracing paper is very sensitive to humidity and tends to buckle permanently. Missing parts were filled in with old sheets of tracing paper that were similar in colour, attaching them with the same thin strips and adhesive as was used on the tears. Then the various papers with texts and images were fastened, either completely or partially, using the same alcohol-based glue. At the end of these operations, the sheets of tracing paper were replaced on the cards, using conservation tape. Beneath the protective paper, there were often photographic prints (corresponding to, or variants of, the photo on the artwork) or colour transparencies showing the artwork – unfortunately no longer extant – in the stages leading up to the camera-ready version, some of them made by hand using traditional techniques. The image taken from the colour transparencies was the one printed and applied to the card. The transparencies were always inserted in plastic envelopes that were not suitable for conservation, which in some cases had become stuck to the transparency itself. Sometimes the film was damaged or risked becoming so due to the presence of adhesive tapes of various kinds, which in some cases had partially unravelled and expanded over the surface leaving areas of whitish discolouring. After careful cleaning with solvent to eliminate the residue left by the old adhesive tapes on the transparencies, new conservation tapes specially designed for photographic materials and film were applied. Both the transparencies and the photographic prints were protected in conservation envelopes made of transparent polypropylene.

The criterion adopted for the operation was to consider these artworks not as end products but rather as practical instruments, for indeed they were preparatory tools for printing posters, leaflets and advertisements for magazines and publications. For the purposes of restoration, it was therefore considered essential to preserve all the traces and elements that had been added for the creation of the final print. These included notes written directly on the card or tracing paper, or on separate sheets, comments and suggested changes, and written information on the backs and fronts, as well as documentation and information about the creative work process.

Lucia Tarantola (restorer)

A book tells the tale of how a carpenter’s shop can become a Benefit Corporation, create prosperity and be an example to follow

Every company is an organisation that differs from all others. Every business is something unique, inimitable yet to discover. Learning about the story of each company is therefore always something to do, something good to grow one’s knowledge of the manufacturing system within which all companies operate to various degrees of success. Reading “La giusta dimensione” (The right dimension) by Andrea Bettini which has just been published is therefore useful for those who want to find out more about what a company means all around.

The book is not a story of how to manage a successful company. It is not a story written according to the traditional canons of business historiography. “La giusta dimensione” is the tale of an entrepreneurial experience set up in a cellar, which has progressed successfully until the present day. Bettini – who is one of the most important exponents of what is referred to as corporate storytelling  -, has told the tale of Zordan in Valdagno, starting from the beginning as the carpenter’s shop of Attilio Zordan for Marzotto, covering its subsequent growth and crisis in 2008 and right up to the current day with his three children at the helm of a now evolved, international and adult company. Behind practically each milestone, the reader catches a glimpse of the corporate spirit, its culture, as a fertile substrate for everything the company has managed to achieve. A culture consisting of abnegation for work as well as family ties, focus on people and on the future, solid principles and the ability to react (that particular resilience which is highly fashionable today), almost inherent to the genetics of the parent and that of his offspring.

The book is easy and quick to read. After an initial historical part, Bettini writes the second part which tells of the crisis period and, lastly, the third part which sets out the operating principles which have enabled Zordan to become what it is today. With two targets reached in addition to those of the balance sheet and employment. Indeed, today Zordan is a B Corp certified company (that certifies compliance with the strictest standards in terms of social and environmental performance as well as transparency), but it is also a Benefit Corporation that incorporates into its own purpose not only profit-targets but also aims to have a positive impact on society and on the biosphere.

The book (which is just a little over 100 pages long) is enriched by multimedia content which can be downloaded by framing certain pages of the book and, most of all, the fact that proceeds from its sale (by express wish of Zordan and of the author) will go to art4sport, an Onlus non profit-making Association that believes in sports as therapy for the physical and mental recovery of children and youths with artificial limbs. A company that is not only busy making a profit, Zordan, following the strong tradition of Benefit Corporations.

La giusta dimensione. (The right dimension – The story of a company that was able to evolve without losing sight of values and people)

Andrea Bettini

Franco Angeli, 2017

An article published a few days ago investigates the links between Industry 4.0, scientific investigation and the need to develop the manufacturing system

A company grows when it implements new technologies prudently. It is not a question of blindly acquiring everything that is new, but of choosing wisely. And of (re)searching to do so. It is the knot of corporate research that must be tied with Academia, without being hindered by it. Everything then speeds up the moment the paradigm of Industry 4.0 enters factories and offices.  Production organisation and Academia need to take into account new needs and new ways to accommodate them.

Michele Tiraboschi (Professor of Employment Law at Modena University as well as Scientific Coordinator of the ADAPT scheme), in his “Research Work in the Industry 4.0 Era: The Italian Case” which was just recently published, tackles this exact situation that is created when Industry 4.0 entails the development of research in companies. This change in corporate culture needs to be comprehended fully, also in terms of its legal and contractual fallout and the organisation of production and work.

Tiraboschi, after outlining the general topic, puts the spotlight on the research jobs within companies (in terms of contractual positioning, career opportunities, remuneration and acknowledgements) and then reports what happens in companies with the legislative machine found in Italy (and hence with the financial incentives available to companies to conduct research). The underlying idea is that research in Italy is still closely associated with Academia and this could hinder the creation of researchers based on private companies and cooperation between the public and the private sectors.

So, there is not only a shortage of financial tools and major laws to set off corporate research properly, but perhaps first and foremost there is still a lack of a widespread corporate culture that manages to make that quality leap that has not yet been taken in the national manufacturing system. Tiraboschi efficiently sums up everything that needs to be read carefully.

Research Work in the Industry 4.0 Era: The Italian Case

Michele Tiraboschi

E-Journal of International and Comparative Labour Studies, Volume 6, No. 2, May-June 2017

“Creativity is more important than “STEM” materials, and than engineering”. These are the words of Stephen Wozniak, an engineer. Actually, one of the most successful engineers in the world: on 1st April, 1976, alongside Steve Jobs, he had founded Apple and created the first of their computers. And even today, as a major shareholder, he still influences the strategies of the multinational from Cupertino. Technological innovation has been his world for half a century. But he can recognise its limits and future potential. That is why, during a convention in Milan, he declared: “The most important thing for start-ups and technological companies is inspiration. Being able to imagine the future and what people will want. Inspiration is more important than knowledge. You have to have an idea in your head…. To create something which does not exist. And the “STEM” materials are not creative” (Corriere della Sera newspaper, 4th July).

“STEM” is an acronym, using the initials of science, technology, engineering and mathematics: this is the formula for innovation and for American growth, dear to the era of President Obama and to the high-tech cultures of Silicon Valley. In a world which is rapidly changing, Wozniak suggests a further movement: attention to creativity, the strength of design, planning, and writing. And once again he reveals his complete harmony with the friend and work colleague of a lifetime, Jobs and his suggestion of the need for a “renaissance-minded engineer” (we discussed this in our blog a fortnight ago, on 27th June). Humanism and science.

Not just “STEM” but “STEAM”, was what the Assolombarda trade association had proposed three years ago, when it was chaired by Gianfelice Rocca. Still an acronym, with the addition of a letter and a couple of modifications. The extra letter is the “A” for “arts”, knowledge of the humanities, creative abilities, which need to be linked in an original way to scientific knowledge. The modifications are as follows: the “E” stands for environment and energies of the “green economy” where in fact Italy can boast some excellent companies; and the “M” stands for manufacturing, the attitude of “making beautiful things which people like” (the basic definition by Carlo M.  Cipolla of the historic and present-day strength of Italian industry). “STEAM” is not a game of semantics. But a strategic choice (adopted once again in the Assolombarda’s new running style, under the chair of Carlo Bonomi) for Italian growth in a European context. A political choice (and one of industrial policy: state support for innovation). And a cultural one: sustainability. Both environmental and social.

We are living through difficult times. Times of radical transformations. Of metamorphoses. Not always positive ones.

Philosophers point to the critical situation of the sustainability of the paradigm of “progress” which has been a feature, as its driving force, of the entire thinking of modernism, starting with the economy and its paradigms of “growth”: “What we are witnessing here is a move into a new era, in Europe and the Western world, and not simply a cyclical crisis”, warns Massimo Cacciari (in “L’Espresso” magazine, on 9th July). And there are those who, like Emanuele Severino, mistrust “technocracy”: “I have been pointing out for some time the inevitability of the process which leads to the domination by technology of the forces which are still hoping to make use of it. Techno-scientific growth will lead to the replacement of people who try to prevent such growth and will promote those people who support it”.

Severino’s vision is a gloomy one. Others, who are less pessimistic, speak of an open challenge. And it is nevertheless worth re-reading the words of Tim Cook, Apple’s guiding light, in his address to the graduates of the MIT, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, that key centre of research and innovation: “I am not afraid that artificial intelligence might give computers the ability to think like human beings. I am more worried about people who might think like computers, without values or compassion, without any concern for the consequences” (already quoted in our blog of 27th June). Values, indeed.

The economic motor needs to be completely re-engineered. So that it stands up. And then it needs to be re-launched. We need to reconsider critically the creation of value and methods to achieve this (Pope Francis is pushing strongly in this direction, in the company, incidentally, of authoritative exponents of the best economic literature). And to re-write the methodology for measuring it (GDP, gross domestic product, needs to be viewed alongside, or perhaps even replaced by the ESW, the index for Equitable and Sustainable Well-being: the ISTAT has been working on this for several years in Italy and it is a sound paradigm, which has merit on an international level). We need to develop, in fact – and it is worthwhile repeating this – a culture of sustainability. A quality of life and improved social balances, which increase over time (a useful and, we hope, effective antidote to the various unacceptable forms of populism).

And what about Italy? It is growing little and badly, as we know (with major differences between the North and the South and distortions between the most dynamic, innovative and international private companies and the dead weights of the “public sector”). It has nevertheless started to see growth once again. Better than nothing, naturally. But it needs to do very much better.

The country has one really strong lever, its cultural industry: in 2016 this generated 90Bn euros of added value (250Bn, taking into account the knock-on effects). This was up by 1.8% (more than GDP, therefore). It provides work for 1.5 million people, 6% of all those in employment in Italy. The latest Symbola Report, presented on 28th June, documents this by bringing together data from five macro-sectors: the creative industries (architecture, design and communication), the cultural industries defined as such (cinema, publishing, music, press, software and video games), the historical-artistic inheritance (museums, libraries, archives, monuments and archaeological sites), the performing arts and visual arts, and the “creative driven” enterprises, which utilise the creative professions in a structural manner (custom-made manufacturing, creative craftsmanship). A world which is moving, which is changing. “Culture is a growth asset upon which we should focus”, comments Ivan Lo Bello, chairman of UnionCamere. And Ermete Realacci, chairman of Symbola, adds: “If Italy can produce value and employment by concentrating on industry and beauty, it will help its future”. This is the point: connecting industrial capacity with creativity, manufacturing with culture. And using the strength of creative intelligence to create mechanisms for growth which can become the bases for the evolution of the needs, of the values and of the times which are changing. Mediterranean and European Italy has a good hand of cards to play. “Culture is transversal, and is fundamental for the economy. A point from which a new Renaissance can be launched”, summarises Vincenzo Boccia, chairman of Confindustria (Il Sole24Ore, 29th June).

We need renaissance-minded engineers, exactly. We must look to Jobs, to the “multi-technical culture” and to the philosophical management of technology.