Business leaders and their management today need to keep a keen eye on the environment and how it impacts on the organisation of the business and, at the end of the day, on achieving their objectives, as well as on the ongoing interaction between enterprise and society, between the organisation and its members and the rest of the world—interaction with can, in many cases, actually be positive. It is a matter of business development and the evolution of society, but also of greater awareness of the role that enterprise plays in the structure of modern society. In short, it’s the culture of enterprise becoming broader and more complete. 

It is within this context that we see the rise of corporate social responsibility (CSR), i.e. an enterprise’s constant focus on the outside world, and how this ties into the concept of social innovation (SI). Pondering the complex, constantly changing interplay between CSR and SI can, if done properly, be of great utility to any business leader hoping stand out from the pack, which makes “Modelli ed esperienze di innovazione sociale in Italia. Secondo rapporto sull’innovazione sociale” (Models and experiences in social innovation in Italy. Second report on social innovation), edited by Matteo G. Caroli (director of the Centre for International Research on Social Innovation, or CERIIS, at LUISS Guido Carli University) and with the contribution of multiple authors who have written about social innovation and its great many interactions with business and enterprise.

After providing an overview of the related theory, the book takes a close look at the relationship between CSR and SI. On particular passage states that “economic value is achieved by defining a business model that is able to channel the economic, environmental and social sustainability of innovative practices”. Beyond the theory, the book also includes interviews with 26 enterprises to come up with important tips on how to achieve social innovation in enterprise.

It is also explained that “an enterprise is positioned at a stage of the value chain in which it is able to build economic and social value in its product or service”. The other parties involved are either on the demand side, as customers and consumers, or on the supply side, as “producers, business owners, or employees of the hybrid organisation”. But what is the enterprise’s relationship with SI? Is it all only about profits? The authors featured in this work would say no. Any enterprise can be a doer, a promoter, or even a beneficiary, depending on the social issue at hand and the role that is actually required. The benefit that the enterprise derives from any action of social innovation is collective, and the benefits must also go to the enterprise itself.

This work by CERIIS is not always easy to read, but it is a thorough exploration of a vast territory that brings together both business and society.

Modelli ed esperienze di innovazione sociale in Italia. Secondo rapporto sull’innovazione sociale

Matteo G. Caroli (editor)

Franco Angeli, 2016

Doing business in this era of globalisation requires that enterprises be aware of the influences involved and the focus required when operating in a “world without borders”. And it’s not only about being able to keep track of many more business and financial variables. A global enterprise must also take account of aspects of a much more “human” nature, such as the creation of a multi-cultural workplace.

This was the focus of a paper by Jessie Kooyers at Grand Valley State University (Michigan, USA) entitled “The United States and Spain: A Comparison of Cultural Values and Behaviors and Their Implications for the Multi-Cultural Workplace”. The author compares American and Spanish culture, particularly as it applies to the workplace, to the system of relationships that arise there, and what happens when individuals from these two nations have to interact for work.

Kooyers begins with the observation that globalisation is becoming increasingly relevant and is giving rise to settings that are more culturally diverse than they once were. One of the effects of this is that “[e]thnic diversity in the workplace provides many opportunities for enrichment”. The study then focuses on the fact that “many managers and employees remain ill-equipped for the task of evaluating, understanding, and maximizing the power of a multi-cultural workforce”. Kooyers’ objective is to close this knowledge gap and make it possible to appreciate the positives that can come out of a multi-cultural workplace.

After exploring the cultural differences between the US and Spain (looking at aspects such as competitiveness, the types of social hierarchy and how they are created, models of education, the degree of individualism within their societies, and short-term versus long-term orientation), Kooyers turns her attention to aspects more closely related to work, analysing greeting habits, punctuality, preparation for and behaviour during meetings, number of hours worked, and interpersonal communication.

Kooyers’ paper both serves as a useful guide to better understanding how one should act in intercultural settings and is a good example of how to present study and analysis in a clear and simple manner.

The United States and Spain: A Comparison of Cultural Values and Behaviors and Their Implications for the Multi-Cultural Workplace

Jessie Kooyers (Grand Valley State University), 2015

On one point in particular, Italy and Germany share a strong position, that of the importance of the development of manufacturing as being of strategic value to all of Europe. Along with their shared commitment to “save Schengen” and to decisively combat the current rise of “populism”, and along side Germany’s appreciation of Italian reforms (and their continuing perplexity at the weight of Italy’s public debt) and Italy’s insistence as to the need to make Europe a driver of development, not rigour, at the summit meeting in Berlin on 29 January between Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italy’s Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi, there was no need for debate on one other point: their leadership in manufacturing.

Germany and Italy are one and two in manufacturing throughout Europe. Together with China, Japan and Korea, they are among the five nations in the world to have a manufacturing surplus of greater than USD 100 billion (with Italy at 154 billion), and the two European nations are moving in a harmony of sorts towards that innovative, digital form of manufacturing known as “Industry 4.0”. In 2014, the industrial federations of the two countries agreed on the need to work together to help drive all of Europe forward towards the goal of bringing manufacturing up to 20% of GDP by 2020 (up from the current 16% in the EU), and last week in Berlin, Merkel and Renzi decided to focus on innovation, on quality manufacturing, on digital processes, and on research and high-tech infrastructures. On Industry 4.0 (with Italy requiring massive investment in broadband, as we lag somewhat behind Germany).

It’s a new convergence, an important step forward towards an EU marked by innovation, cutting-edge competitiveness, skilled labour, and growth. In Germany, manufacturing is already at 22% of GDP. In Italy, we’re at just under 17%, but if we break it down geographically, we see that northern Italy (from Emilia northward) is already above 20%. Breaking it down even further, to the area around Milan, that driver of the Italian economy, we reach as high as 29%, a European record. This is, in part, because that manufacturing drives a highly sophisticated world of services along the road to innovation and competitiveness and anchors a supply chain (of innovative, high-tech industry) that is learning to compete in the fiercely competitive international marketplace.

These are important economic and social values (with modern factories proving to be formidable forces of social inclusion and mobility, while stimulating and freeing up new creative energies in somewhat the same way—although, of course, under different circumstances—as it happened during the economic boom of the 50s and 60s) and key issues that are increasingly the subject of public debate. They were the topic of discussion at the recent Aspen Institute Italia, first in Milan and then in Rome, with regard to a book, edited by Giorgio Giovannetti, about the “manufacturing renaissance”, as well as in Bologna during an event organised by Unicredit and Nomisma to present a book by Franco Mosconi, The New European Industrial Policy (Routledge, Oxford), rich with data, studies and analysis that confirm the importance of a Euro-manufacturing and of industrial policy that stimulates innovation, investment, research and quality, while establishing the conditions needed for growth in investment.

Confindustria is working along these same lines to boost investment and give stable support to those who modernise production systems, to promote innovation and facilitate digitalisation. Indeed, a great many Italian enterprises are lagging in capital expenditure, have old machinery, and risk seeing their competitive margins continue to fade away (as seen in a report presented to the Chamber of Deputies on 27 January by the UCIMU, the organisation of manufacturers of machine tools, robotics and automation). There are gaps to be closed, including through fiscal support to those who replace old equipment and focus on process innovation and on digital manufacturing and with a helping hand to finance innovative start-ups (in the new dimension connecting products with services). We need industrial policy to avoid losing our leadership in manufacturing and weakening our competitiveness.

In short, we must focus on robotics to improve industry and on the path of the Italy-Germany industrial accord with which we opened. It’s a good way to give Europe a boost, too.

Growth. Change. Intelligence. These are the operative words for the future of enterprise (in Italy and beyond). The ability to take the right path to growth and to know how to change intelligently, perhaps making less use of traditional capital and labour. This is the new way of doing business, the new way of building an enterprise. 

This is the basis for a new book by Sandro Trento (professor of Economics and Management at the University of Trento, where he also directs the Contamination Lab, or “CLab”) and Flavia Faggioni (trained at the University of Trento, Technische Universität in Dresden, and the University of Bologna and now involved in business, social and healthcare economics) entitled “Imprenditori cercasi”.

The intention of the two authors was not to write yet another book on the best way of organising production in order to hop on the train of development. The core of their reasoning is actually the role of new business leader that is needed, the essence of this leader, how the role has changed, and how it differs from other types of manager. As they underscore right at the start of the book, “This is not just another book on Italy’s decline.” 

In fact, it is a book that debunks a whole series of myths about Italy, such as the fact that Italy is a nation of entrepreneurial excellence. As Trento and Faggioni explain, “Italy is certainly a nation rich with ‘entrepreneurial people’, given the great number of small and very small businesses. However, a high number of businesses doesn’t necessarily mean that there is an ‘entrepreneurial culture’. In Italy, entrepreneurship should generate and make more use of innovation, research and change, and this cannot happen without adequate growth in enterprise. On the whole in Italy, there is great potential for growth in enterprise, in enterprise that is ‘more innovative’, more competitive, and better projected towards global—not just national—competition, but structural, political and ‘systemic’ hurdles are a massive obstacle to this process.”

The authors then go on to present a series of important concepts and ideas that serve to describe “the new entrepreneur”.

The first chapter (of this 170-page work) compares managerial capitalism with the entrepreneurial variety, outlining the history and characteristics of these two ways of looking at business. The second, then, provides a snapshot of the entrepreneur as defined by economists and by tradition as compared to how it should be defined today. This is followed by a closer look at Italy—the “nation of small business and the self-employed”—and an answer to the question “Are Italians entrepreneurs?” In Italy, the authors claim, there is no lack of inspiration to be an entrepreneur; however, “there are a series of factors that contribute to a tendency to copy, rather than to create or innovate”. The closing chapter is then dedicated to how to create the “entrepreneurial economy”, including various approaches to making use of current technology, raising funding, the organisation of labour, planning and production, while also pointing out that we also need an ecosystem that promotes enterprise and that centres around education and training, the facilitation of investment, and the application of rules. 

This work by Trento and Faggioni features analysis and interpretations that not every reader will agree with, but that is exactly what any good instrument of knowledge must do: stimulate debate in order to add something new to our understanding of a given concept. 

Imprenditori cercasi. Innovare per riprendere a crescere

Sandro Trento, Flavia Faggioni

Il Mulino, 2016 

Businesses grow in part through the beauty in all that they do. When you think about it, the evolution of entire economic systems is driven by this “quest for beauty”. This may all sound a bit absurd, but, in actual fact, the foundations of seeing work and the culture of enterprise through the lens of beauty are sound when we consider that beauty is tied to creativity and, consequently, to innovation, which is one of the most important factors in business and economic development.

Rodolfo Baggio (from the “Carlo F. Dondena” Centre for Research on Social Dynamics and Public Policy at Bocconi University) and Vincenzo Moretti (from the Giuseppe Di Vittorio Foundation in Rome) recently explored this approach to interpreting reality, which resulted in a unique journey through the concept of beauty as it applies to business and enterprise.

The authors begin with a serious examination of the idea of beauty itself, making use of classifications and tools borrowed from disciplines ranging from cosmology and the sciences (citing Albert Einstein and Nicolaus Copernicus, for example) to, of course, the worlds of art and biology. Beauty is then described in terms of symmetry, simplicity and consistency, as well as of individual, subjective experience as compared to social, shared experience.

Baggio and Moretti connect the concept of beauty, creativity and innovation with that of serendipity (i.e. the ability to observe something unexpected in a manner that provides the opportunity to develop a new theory or expand upon an existing one)—both scientific genius and genius in business, that creative inspiration that leads to new products. As the authors explain, “At the root of innovation there are certain fundamental aspects that are difficult to assess in any specific detail, aspects such as aesthetics, serendipity and imagination, as well as, of course, creativity.”

The ultimately arrive to the idea of “a job well done”, which is at the heart of any success in enterprise and which unites entrepreneurial sense with manufacturing sense and more. It encompasses the era of the Internet and the Web and extends to Italy today, as the authors touch upon certain aspects such as the role of the community, of education, and of the culture of enterprise as it concerns our youth.

Two passages in this analysis by Baggio and Moretti are of particular interest. In the first, the authors recall what Nuto said to Eel in Cesare Pavese’s The Moon and the Bonfires when he said “you couldn’t possibly tell an ignoramus from the work he did, but from how he did it”. In the second, they note that “for Italy, beauty may be an opportunity […] to extend the shadow of the future on the present, to take advantage of opportunities and multiply them”.

This work by Baggio and Moretti is a paper worth much more than the time it takes to read it.

La bellezza come fattore di sviluppo economico e sociale

(Beauty as a factor in economic and social development)

Rodolfo Baggio, Vincenzo Moretti

Working paper, 2015.

“[A] designer does not need a signature style to be immediately recognisable for his intelligence”, said Deyan Sudjic, director of London’s Design Museum, speaking in memory of Richard Sapper, the great German (and very Italian) designer who died on 31 December 2015 at the age of 83 (as also reported by Stefano Bucci in an article in Corriere della Sera on 5 January). It is also useful to recall the lessons of the grand masters of design such as Sapper, including Castiglioni, Magistretti, Mari, Albini, Aulenti, Zanuso, Sottsass, Branzi, Munari, Noorda, Mendini (the latter three having collaborated frequently with Pirelli on some of the most innovative ad campaigns of the 60s and 70s), and many more, all of whom played a crucial role in making design a key component of Italy’s industrial competitiveness—the cornerstone on which to create objects that are as beautiful as they are functional—a value that remains an important part of Italy’s culture and economy.

Born in Germany, Sapper came to Italy in 1958 after early work experience with Mercedes Benz in the company’s styling department. Once in Italy, he quickly settled in with the architect Gio Ponti before moving to the Rinascente design office, enjoying the economic boom of the post-war era in Italy, a nation open to exports and with an economy backed by the successes of a great many products, from cars and household appliances to Pirelli tyres and the Moplen plastics of Montecatini, as well as machine tools and interior design. As the great economic historian Carlo Maria Cipolla once said, “Italians have, since medieval times, had a habit of producing, in the shadow of bell towers, beautiful things that the world loves.”

Yes, Sapper was German by birth, but Italian by choice throughout his career, right to the end. He was the creator of objects that came to symbolise style and good taste for entire generations of consumers, both in Italy and abroad, works such as his ingenious, minimalist “Tizio” lamp for Artemide, or the 9090 coffee maker and 9091 kettle for Alessi, as well as his “Sapper Chair Collection” for Knoll, the “Dalle nove alle cinque” (From 9 to 5) office systems for Castelli, the “Grillo” telephones for Siemens, and, of course, the ThinkPad 700C for IBM. And let us not forget those that came out of the his extensive collaborations with Gae Aulenti and, above all, Marco Zanuso, such as the “Cubo” radio or the TVs for Brionvega, which lend beauty to high tech.

This all culminated with a Compasso d’oro career award in 2014, and the eleventh Compasso d’oro awarded to him, in recognition of his ability to unite German rigour with ingenuity in designing a great many extraordinary, highly successful products across such a wide range of fields over the course of such a long career on a constant quest for innovation. “Time is one of the few things that may ultimately establish the true quality of an object”, he would often say—a view shared by another great Italian designer, Dino Gavina, who said, “Modern is that which is worthy of becoming antique. Modern is the spirit of the times, but its true form cannot but be classical”.

Past and future. Identity and research. Strong values of which there is ample evidence in this blog on the best in Italy’s culture of enterprise and on which a large part of the competitiveness of the nation’s industry is still based. As Marco Belpoliti notes in La Stampa, Sapper was keen to create beautiful objects that solved problems, to give meaning to form—beauty as the result of utility.

Change, rules, integration, finance, economics, government action. These are a few of the issues that businesses face essentially every day, on top of organising their business and production processes. Change, though, is what guides it all, and it is with an analysis of change that Ignazio Visco, economist and governor of the Bank of Italy, begins in order to connect a series of analyses of what has been happening since the second half of the last decade and of what needs to be done for Italian enterprise and for the nation as a whole to return to growth.  

The book, published some weeks ago, is a collection of writings by the governor of Italy’s central bank. It is entitled Perché i tempi stanno cambiando (Why times are changing), which is not worded as a question given that the goal is not to ask whether change is truly happening or to speculate as to its causes. Visco assumes that the world is changing all around us and explains the reasons for it, while taking a closer look at certain aspects that are crucial to Italy’s future.

Beginning with the rapid, tumultuous changes brought about by the evolution of technology in a globalised world, as described at the 30th edition of Lettura del Mulino in 2014 (and presented again in revised form in the first chapter of his book), Visco moves on to discuss three issue of particular importance: banking and financial-market regulation reform; the sovereign-debt crisis and its implications for European integration in light of recent events in Greece; and the economy and the role of government action in Italy. 

It is perhaps the final point that is of greatest interest to the world of enterprise, but the entire work is of great utility to all business leaders looking to understand their place in the world. Between economic and historical analysis and recurring references to present day and the latest figures, Visco warns that this “great transformation” calls for structural action in both politics and in economic policy specifically, both within Italy and internationally. 

In just over 130 pages, Visco manages to provide a clear explanation of the change that is currently underway, while maintaining a balance between theoretical analysis, the reporting of current events, and common sense. At a certain point, he notes that, while we may be unable to predict the future, we must still be able to face the future and live as best we can. In short, Perché i tempi stanno cambiando is a work of forward-thinking culture of enterprise.

Perché i tempi stanno cambiando

Ignazio Visco

Il Mulino, 2015 

Not all enterprises are oriented towards growth. At the same time, not all cultures of enterprise are equipped to guide both business leaders and their employees towards growth. This is a fact that can be better understood when flipped on its head, i.e. looking to enterprise to see what factors, if present, can trigger growth.

This is what Bruce Dwyer (expert in management, Australia) and Bernice Kotey (UNE Business School, University of New England, Australia) have done in an article published in the December issue of the Journal of Management & Organization (Cambridge University Press), “Identifying high growth firms: Where are we?”. In their article, they review the literature to determine the conditions needed in the culture of enterprise in order for that culture to be a driver of growth in enterprise. Dwyer and Kotey then search for the key markers to be identified within each enterprise.

The model that results is that of an enterprise with a culture that emphasises training and experience in entrepreneurship and management as well as the presence of strategies that focus on innovation, marketing, and employee and organisational learning. By uniting academic analysis with experience in the field, the two authors identify the enterprises that are able to “take steps to access management skills that complement theirs through employment of a management team” in order to promote growth. Also needed, however, are good reward structures, which may include ownership interests. Dwyer and Kotey even look at the financing and human capital needed for growth, but underscore that “abundant resources could compromise efficiency”.

Of course, all of the concepts presented in the article need to be adapted to the actual needs of more practical business analysis. Nonetheless, it does act as a helpful guide towards a growth-oriented culture of enterprise.

Identifying high growth firms: Where are we?

Bruce Dwyer, Bernice Kotey

Journal of Management & Organization, Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management, 9 December 2015

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Starting on 15 February 2016, the Pirelli Foundation will host a series of meetings on the history of factories and work in the twentieth century, for teachers of lower and upper secondary schools of Lombardy Region.

The course, now in its fourth edition, is promoted by Fondazione ISEC in collaboration with the Pirelli Foundation and the Fondazione Cineteca Italiana. It will adopt a multidisciplinary approach to examine the issue of work, which is highly relevant today and of great social and cultural importance. After an introductory lecture that will provide a historical overview of the rise of industrial society in the twentieth century, two subsequent meetings will look at the factory and work, through the unique vision of the arts: literature, cinema, and photography.

The lessons will be followed by two workshops in the archive, during which the teachers will come into direct contact with documents and archive sources. The course for teachers will then continue with a guided tour of the Pirelli Industrial Centre in Settimo Torinese, one of the most advanced tyre manufacturing plants in the world, to which the architect Renzo Piano contributed by designing the Spina, the central “backbone” of the factory. The course also includes three film screenings introduced by film history scholars. The film screenings will be held in the morning and will be open not only to teachers but also to student classes who may be interested.

Teachers need to enrol on the course (including the lessons, the workshops in the archive, and a visit to the Industrial Centre in Settimo Torinese) by writing to didattica@fondazioneisec.it by Friday 30 January 2016.

Registered teachers will be provided with teaching materials related to the course.

Cinema screenings for classes must be booked. Please call +39 02 6442 3971 or write to schools@fondazionepirelli.org

A certificate of attendance will be available for teachers, upon request.

Download the programme