New technologies addressed in a clear, simple way, to understand what they are and how they are used

Talking about digitisation clearly, also with the aid of elementary drawings (they could almost be for children), simplicity to address complexity – these are the goals that Federica Spampinato has set herself and achieved in her latest book: “Atlante della tecnologia invisibile. Un approccio unico e stimolante per orientarsi nel mondo interconnesso” (Atlas of Invisible Technology: a unique, stimulating approach to navigating the interconnected world).

Invisible though these technologies may be, they are absolutely present in our world and require a clear understanding if we are not to be overwhelmed. Spampinato’s book is a valuable aid for this purpose, also because it represents much more than simply a guide to digital literacy: it is a tool for knowledge that offers a new illustrated code for dealing with the apparently “invisible” universe created by our daily personal and professional use of digital technologies.

The book is organised as a path taking in text and 40 illustrated maps that function as a conceptual map to navigate the virtual world beyond, the author explains, “one’s own beliefs”.

There are 5 + 1 chapters on the path to understanding digital technologies. The books starts with a general overview of the topic and then moves on to the “first rules” to be learnt, then delves into the topic of data and so the ecosystem of digital environments, the relationships between the various components of digital organisation, ending by addressing the vast subject of artificial intelligence. “Escape” is the title of the last chapter, which contains a message: “Escape (…) is an invitation to remain anchored to the natural environment and decide to what extent, how and why we inhabit the simulated reality of the virtual environment.”

Federica Spampinato’s book acts as a bridge between generations, providing tools that can increase knowledge and stimulate critical thinking and autonomous decision-making in virtual existence. It is also a valuable digital handbook for those in business who are faced with change that often moves too quickly.

Atlante della tecnologia invisibile. Un approccio unico e stimolante per orientarsi nel mondo interconnesso

Federica Spampinato

Guerini e Associati, 2024

The outgoing EU Commission presided over a dramatic season of crisis, from the Covid-19 pandemic to Russian aggression in Ukraine, the war in the Middle East and the energy crisis. A new season now begins for the new Commission, hopefully one of new beginnings, recovery and investment. One clear element of continuity remains, the leadership of President Ursula von der Leyen. But the outlook is radically altered, a crossroads between revival and decline. Either Europe will be able to grow as a political and industrial player and so define far-sighted and ambitious sustainable development choices, to meet the challenges from the two main players on the geopolitical scene, the US and China, and the manoeuvres of other major international players, India and Russia, the Arab countries and all the other parties in a restless Global South, or it will have to reckon with unsettling deterioration in its role, weight and, ultimately, well-being. It would basically become an elegant, cultured, sophisticated but irrelevant Grand Hotel where the world’s rich and powerful go to take their holiday (a warning that arrived in recent weeks from the Financial Times).

“Europe is losing competitiveness and only Italy is holding its own against the United States and China,” according to Marco Fortis in IlSole24Ore (27 June), analysing export trends between 2016 and 2023.

In the immediate aftermath of the elections for the new EU Parliament and voting for the new Commission (supported by People’s Party, Socialists, Liberals and Greens), there was much discussion around alliances, political agreements, consensus and dissent (Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s vote, as leader of Brothers of Italy, against von der Leyen caused quite a stir). But it may well now be necessary that, political forces aside, the Commission, Parliament and Council of Europe rapidly indicate the choices to be made concerning the crucial issues in the new season and find the financial resources to deploy.

The themes of the commitments to be made are clear: a common security policy, accounting for the EU position on defence (within NATO, but with a more robust role for Brussels and the EU countries, to offset a potential lowering of US commitment), on energy autonomy, and on cybersecurity-related technologies; an industrial policy that closes the growing gap in competitiveness with respect to the US and China, with a European strategy for Artificial Intelligence and with a new Green Deal that doesn’t disadvantage companies in European countries and contains measures to mitigate the cost impact; fiscal and social policies that avoid distortions to competition by dumping between individuals or EU countries and reform welfare; and a financial policy that makes Europe a single, efficient, open and competitive banking market, capable of attracting international investment and providing opportunities for allocating the savings of European households and companies.

These choices are challenging, but vital. They demand huge resources, both for security and to finance the twin transition, environmental and digital: at least one trillion a year for the next decade. They must be found by increasing the EU budget, expanding to 2% of GDP, also to create “European public goods”. They should also be requested from the international markets, following the excellent decision already made for the Next Generation EU Recovery Plan, raising market funds, as common EU debt, or to cope with the consequences of the pandemic.

In other words, the time has finally come for a strategy already devised by one of Europe’s sharpest and most statesmanlike minds, Jacques Delors: Eurobonds.

But there is also an essential governance reform to be carried out rapidly, while being clearly aware of the difficulties to be overcome: to move beyond the unanimity requirement for decision-making (putting an end to the power of individual countries to veto agreements of which all other countries approve) and therefore proceed with qualified majorities or agreements, on various topics, between countries ready to move forward. Defining the institutional rules is complex, maintaining the values of governability together with those of equally weighted representation. But these are certainly issues that have to move into the pipeline, soon and effectively.

Essential indications in this area are contained in the report prepared by the working group on the single market led by Enrico Letta (“Europe is much more than a market”, maintains the president of the Delors Institute) and in the one on competition led by Mario Draghi, expected in the autumn. No protectionism, which is especially harmful for an economic area with strong callings to exports, like Europe. A strong decision instead needs to be taken on open markets, competitiveness, innovation and quality of development.

An ‘Open Letter to the European Institutions’ sent in mid-July contains interesting considerations on precisely these issues, sent to Ursula von der Leyen, Roberta Metsola and Charles Michel by six authoritative Study Centres, the Centre for European Reform (London-Brussels-Berlin), Fondazione Astrid (Rome), Fondazione Res Publica (Milan), Fundaciòn Alternativas (Madrid), Les Gracques and Terra Nova (both Paris).

It starts by reflecting on the “structural vulnerability” of the EU and its countries, owing to the dependence of the economy on the markets of other countries, imports (energy and strategic raw materials) and exports, and therefore the decisive influence of geopolitical crises. So too does it consider moving away from the “technological frontiers” of the US and China but, looking closely at the evolution of the various “knowledge economies”, also of India. It also reflects on an “adverse long-term demographic trend”, “disappointing productivity dynamics” and a “high and widespread public debt that reduces the space for expansionary fiscal policies in many countries”.

These are strong constraints, which the US and China do not suffer from, and overcoming them requires political choices like the ones discussed.

There is a challenging political transition: “The EU and its member states should take a clear stance to make it clear that they do not intend to endorse climate denial, defensive mercantilism, demographic autarky or withdrawal from international value chains, which – for Europe – would be a self-defeating decision.” These are all short-lived strategies that “would condemn the EU to turn in on itself and condemn it to further fragmentation and irrelevance.”

The conclusion of the document from the six Study Centres is very clear: “A new world order is emerging. If it remains half-built, the EU will have no role in shaping it. The US and China are economic and political areas; the EU has not yet become one. A third major global player would make the international system more stable.”

The EU should therefore strive to “revive multilateralism, avoiding the pure logic of power in international relations that is bound to worsen the situation for all involved” and the European Council and Parliament must “recognise this crucial point and act accordingly. They have the opportunity to give a clear signal in this area and act accordingly.” Strengthening Europe, despite everything, and playing a leading role in the new world balance.

(photo Getty Images)

The development of photographic genres and techniques has profoundly transformed our view of the world, revealing close interactions between art and society. Photography has a very special relationship with time, for it has the ability to shape our collective memory, providing insights into the present, and provoking thoughts and ideas about the directions the future might take.
The Pirelli Historical Archive not only bears witness to the life and history of the company, which dates back over 150 years, for it also allows us to trace its corporate values as well as broader shifts in tastes and customs, both in Italy and across the world.

The lifestyle of Italian families radically changed after the Second World War. With increased economic prosperity, the population gained access to new consumer goods and new forms of leisure and entertainment, leading to significant cultural changes. The modern concept of leisure began to emerge, and it was captured by Federico Patellani in a 1949 photoshoot featuring Pirelli tubulars: in his shots, we see young people on cycling trips out in the country, resting by a body of water after a long ride, but there are also parents with their children shown on dusty country roads or relaxing in the fields. There are scenes of social and everyday life, such as the Lambretta Wedding taken by Fedele Toscani’s Rotofoto agency: a young couple are seen leaving the church of San Martino in Villapizzone, with friends and relatives awaiting them on one of the Italians’ most popular means of transport in the 1950s. The Lambrettas are, of course, fitted with Pirelli tyres, all carefully checked by company personnel. Products bearing the Long P logo featured prominently in the era of mass motorisation and during the boom in motorway construction. Advertising hoardings lined the winding Autostrada del Sole, which opened in 1964, where motorists could stop off for a tyre change at Pirelli garages in the rest areas. The new middle class travelled the length and breadth of the peninsula in ever-greater numbers of cars, such as the Autobianchi A122, which appeared in a 1969 photoshoot amid Sunday picnics and city tours.

Pirelli products also featured widely during the summer holidays. Rodolfo Facchini photographed the Nautilus, a rubber dinghy made by the sister company Azienda Seregno, as it zipped through the waves with cheerful, carefree young people on board, and Aldo Ballo created still lifes out of inflatable mattresses, wetsuits and diving masks. Pirelli also became a big name in the world of fashion: photo shoots made by Azienda Impermeabili showcased the evolution of shapes, materials, and patterns – from classic loose-fitting raglan models to tight double-breasted tartan coats with lapel collars. These pictures have much to say not only about contemporary trends but also about the changing roles of women. As do those of Pirelli Revere’s lastex articles – corsets, girdles, and swimsuits – which not only shaped the models’ silhouettes but also came to symbolise the age of women’s liberation.
Scenes of everyday life appear in the photos that illustrate corporate welfare in the 1950s and 1960s: after-school activities for the children of “Pirelliani”, family scenes in the Pirelli Village in Cinisello Balsamo, and summer stays at holiday camps. This focus on the wellbeing of workers and their families is still today a cornerstone of the Group’s corporate culture.

Also Pirelli magazine, the pages of which hosted some of the most advanced cultural debates in Italy for more than two decades, is still an inexhaustible source of reflections on the transformation of society. Photo shoots by some of the greatest photographers provided visual analyses that were essential for many investigations into the most pressing issues of the time. These included “Televisione e cultura”, which explored the educational and cultural potential of the new medium. Ugo Mulas, a visual poet of everyday life and storyteller of the world, captured the impact of television on Milan’s skyline, which was now transformed by a proliferation of antennas. Mulas also explored the theme of work, illustrating two covers of the magazine: in 1961 he showed the heroic figure of a worker during construction of the Mont Blanc tunnel. This was part of a photoshoot devoted to the massive enterprise – pictures in which the deep black of the tunnels takes centre stage, perfectly rendering the “three years of night” that the miners had to endure. In the May 1964 issue, on the other hand, he showed skilled workers on the arms of the radio telescope of Medicina (Bologna), one of the largest in Europe. A kaleidoscope of geometric shapes, with paraboloids, pylons and electrical cables, naturally made by Pirelli. A “Schools in Italy and Europe” investigation explored various problems and possible solutions in the world of education. One of the many artists who explored the topic was Giuseppe Pino, who took photos of creative educational activities, such as mosaic work, painting and carpentry, which were designed to meet the educational needs of children with cognitive disabilities. Another was Mulas, who studied the relationship between school and industry by photographing the Istituto Professionale Piero Pirelli, which trained the children of employees who had just joined the company. He shows them doing practical exercises in the factory and bent over their books in the classroom during theory lessons. The magazine also offered plenty of critical analyses of tourism in Italy, with reports by Fulvio Roiter, Pepi Merisio, and Enzo Sellerio, and insights into Italy’s growing population figures. Saul Bass, an illustrator and graphic designer who worked in advertising and cinema, created the famous posters for Otto Preminger’s “Anatomy of a Murder” and many of Hitchcock’s masterpieces, including “Vertigo”. In 1965 he took a photograph of his daughter in her mother’s arms, which made it onto the cover of Pirelli magazine that year, and onto that of the Christmas issue in 1966.

Today, Pirelli continues to engage with society and its evolutions through ongoing interactions with the most influential international artists. This commitment is plain to see in the Pirelli Calendar and in Pirelli HangarBicocca exhibitions, as well as in the activities and publications of the Pirelli Foundation, in the Group’s Annual Reports, and in World, the company’s in-house magazine which has taken up the legacy of Pirelli magazine since 1994.

A study just published reasons from a pedagogical point of view on the need to change models and styles of organization and command

Change of priority. Change of reference paradigms. And new prospects for life and work. The vast and varied change that society and the economy have been going through for some time also passes through these circumstances. Which also reflect on the ways of working and on the choices of those who work. The same changes that, on closer inspection, are also reflected in command and organization models. It is this tangle of problems that form the focus of Caterina Braga’s reasoning (Catholic University of the Sacred Heart) in her recently published study “Leadership empatiche e comunità di pratica per un lavoro dignitoso e di qualità” (Empathic leadership and communities of practice for decent and quality work).

The analysis set out in the article is inspired by the ongoing series of political/social upheavals and the recently overcome pandemic: events that, according to Braga, have changed the way in which people live and work, accelerating the trends that were already emerging in the workplace.
To lose by Caterina Braga, what many call ‘the great resignation’, can instead be defined as ‘the great reflection’. A great reflection on the basis of which workers have reevaluated their priorities, deciding, in a significant number of cases, to leave their employment to find a “healthier” and more satisfying job. All this for Braga also represents a challenge for pedagogy called to rethink and redesign organisational models aimed at achieving total human fulfilment and the integral development of the person. A goal that can also be achieved in the world of work and in the organisation of production. The research conducted by Braga, therefore, puts forward the theory that a new style of “supportive” leadership is necessary. A style that knows how to embrace empathy and compassion, combining them with action and that allows communities of practice to develop organisational solidarity, sharing goals, practical knowledge, meanings and languages. An all-round model also of the company and its organisation that is part of the change of a culture of production that is more complete but certainly more complex, which sees the achievement of profit not as an exclusive goal but as part of a set of goals to be conquered together.

Leadership empatiche e comunità di pratica per un lavoro dignitoso e di qualità

Caterina Braga (Catholic University of the Sacred Heart)

MeTis. Mondi educativi. Temi, indagini, suggestioni 14(1) 2024, 123-139

A historical and social fresco has been published on two concepts and ways of life that man has always retained

Working and not idling. Engaging in production first of all to achieve material well-being, but even before that, only to survive and then to live with dignity. Idleness as an activity for a select few and then for ‘busy ones’. Almost always, work and leisure have represented the two extremes of a mental attitude even before a practical one. And it is around work and idleness that the long series of investigations and interventions in the book “Idee di lavoro e di ozio per la nostra civiltà” (Ideas of work and idleness for our civilization) unfolds, published recently by Giovanni Mari, Francesco Ammannati, Stefano Brogi, Tiziana Faitini, Arianna Fermani, Francesco Seghezzi and Annalisa Tonarelli.

The book is a collection of ideas and analysis that ends up turning into a long journey into the past and present of the concepts of work and leisure: a sort of multi-coloured fresco that represents, in fact, an important portion of human life in every time and place.

The volume starts with a general synthesis of the topic that seeks to bring together the concepts of work (individual and social) with the very meaning of working, thus giving a sense to the whole work. In a first volume, a journey through history begins: first the servile work and intellectual idleness of the ancient age, then work and idleness in the Bible, then work at the time of the mechanical arts up to the 18th century of the Encyclopedia, then work in the industrial age and the emergence – only then – of the concept and practice of leisure. In a second volume, the investigation continues with a focus on “Fordist work” and the consequences of digitalization with the return, as in the ancient age, of idleness and its pursuit. The ‘journey’ between these two concepts then continues with an in-depth study dedicated to Italy.

The book edited by Giovanni Mari and his collaborators is not only an important collection of research essays, but a real journey to be made several times between two different ways and approaches of understanding life and production.

Idee di lavoro e di ozio per la nostra civiltà

Giovanni Mari, Francesco Ammannati, Stefano Brogi, Tiziana Faitini, Arianna Fermani, Francesco Seghezzi, Annalisa Tonarelli (edited by)

Firenze University Press, 2024

“Women are finally staying in their place”, proclaims the slogan of a flashy advertising page, which appeared last week in some widely-circulated newspapers. An asterisk refers the reader to the explanation of the place we are talking about: “In boardrooms”.

The page, curated by ValoreD (an association that has long promoted the waging of a challenging cultural and economic battle against gender gaps), adds that in the ‘In The Boardroom of ValoreD’ network alone there are more than 500 talented female managers and professionals who can sit in the place they deserve. Today we have chosen to promote equity and gender equality, accelerating sustainable economic development and a culture of valorisation of diversity”.

The ValoreD initiative has been going on for several years. It came back into the spotlight again recently, when the top management renewal procedures of one of the largest public companies, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, were blocked because in government circles, it was impossible to reach an agreement that took proper account of the names of women to be elected to the board of directors (after moments of tension, an agreement was finally reached). But, contemporary news aside, the commitment continues because “progress has been made on gender equality but the road ahead is still long” and “in Piazza Affari (in companies listed on the stock exchange, that is) only one manager in 5 is a woman “, also because “the rebalancing of the genders must be accompanied by a generational turnover, which especially in European companies is much slower than in the USA and Asia” (la Repubblica – Affari&Finanza, 22 July).

Italy, it is true, for the number of women on company boards, is “among the most virtuous countries in Europe” (IlSole24Ore, 21 July), thanks also to the Gulf-Moscow law of 2011 which obliges two fifths of the boards of directors of listed companies to be composed of “the less represented gender”, namely women: today they stand at 43.1%.

But even more needs to be done for the top operational positions: only 4% of the CEOs of companies listed on Piazza Affari are women (Deloitte data for the “Women in boardroom 2024” research). Too few.

A further drive to overcome the gender gap can come from universities. Thanks also to the growing number of women at the helm of Italian universities. Now, female rectors are 19% of the total. And the president of the Crui (the Conference of Rectors) is a woman: Giovanna Iannantuoni, economist, rector of the Bicocca University of Milan since 2019.

This is a very important point: the solicitation that comes from Milan and a few other Lombard universities. A solicitation that is growing, and has done over the last two years. In addition to Iannantuoni, other women in top positions include the rector of the Polytechnic of Milan, Donatella Sciuto, electronic engineer, Marina Brambilla the rector of the Università Statale, full professor of German language and linguistics, the rector of the Catholic University Elena Beccalli, full professor of Economics of financial intermediaries and, freshly appointed rector, Maria Pierro, jurist, at the University of Insubria (Varese and Como) and Anna Gervasoni, economist, director of Aifi (the national association of financial intermediaries) at Liuc, the “Cattaneo” Free University of Castellanza (founded in 1991 on the initiative of the Varese Industrial Union).

History tells of a very close connection between the industrial and, more generally, manufacturing vocations of the Lombardy territories, starting from Milan, the resourcefulness of the world of services, starting with the banking and financial spheres linked to the “real economy ” and the cultural processes connected to a growing diffusion of the so-called “knowledge economy”. Productive cities. And cultured cities. High-income cities. And attractive cities, for talents coming from other Italian geographical areas and, over time, also international ones. Cities with an extraordinary ability to “do, and do well”. And therefore urban structures capable of holding together all the components of a true “polytechnic culture” which is expressed in the original syntheses between scientific/technological knowledge and humanistic knowledge, between the drive for innovation and awareness of the values ​​of “beauty” (the diffusion of design is one example of this).

Milan, metropolis, is a paradigm of all this. Strengthened as it is by a transformative culture that has long been defined as “industrial humanism” which becomes “digital humanism” and in the attempts to recompose the twentieth-century antinomies between Kultur and Zivilization , “high culture” on the one hand and technologies and daily living skills on the other. It is a strong connotation, which acts as a lever for a real competitive advantage on global markets, which are increasingly demanding and selective and therefore particularly attentive to distinctive identities. And it is a characteristic that can accompany our companies in the difficult path of the so-called twin transition, both environmental and digital, with all the connections necessary to make the paths of environmental and social sustainability acceptable, socially and politically.

Universities have, precisely in this dimension, a fundamental role. And leadership in female hands adds an extra characteristic, in knowing how to combine different dimensions of intelligence and passion, in the interpretation and management of conflicts between different knowledge and attitudes, in valuing diversities as competitive advantages and positive social drivers. In short, in building a new and better dimension of “social capital” that is more sensitive not only to the production of economic value, but above all to the respect and revival of human values. In the transition, in other words, from the primacy of the GDP (the gross domestic product, the construction of wealth) to that of the BES (equitable and sustainable well-being), the index developed by Istat according to the values ​​linked to well-being (health, education, quality of life, development, positive social dynamics) according to the UN, but still hardly considered in the measurement of economic phenomena and therefore in the construction of dominant social paradigms.

Complex challenges, indeed. Which require a particular intelligence of the heart to be addressed, as well as high-level technical skills and open, dynamic, inclusive knowledge. As Anna Gervasoni, the most recently appointed rector, remembers well when she indicates the three major issues that the university will have to face: the birth rate decline, the spread of artificial intelligence and the brain drain (IlSole24Ore, 17 July). Issues that have a profound impact on the social and civil structure, on production and consumption processes, on labour markets and on the dynamics of training. On the dynamics of power. And those of knowledge. There is still a lot to be learned. Understood. And done.

(photo Getty Images)

The role and importance of technical education – even in the digital age

Business and manufacturing. In other words, technique and manual skills. Genuine hands-on know-how. This is an important topic, even in the age of digitisation. Or rather, especially in the digital age. And especially in Italy, which remains Europe’s second largest manufacturer after Germany. In Italy, however, the kind of technical professions needed by industrial companies if they are to continue to grow and guarantee our well-being are in short supply. This has been the case for some time and has become increasingly serious. And it is the theme of a book entitled Ricostruire l’istruzione tecnica (Rebuilding Technical Education) by Valerio Ricciardelli (an expert in electronics and a graduate in electronical engineering whose long business experience has earned him the Maestro del Lavoro title).

Ricciardelli’s message to his readers is simple: new high-quality technical education is urgently needed. This, in turn, can be a strategic lever for sustainable economic growth and stable employment, as well as a tool for balancing and making use of economic emigration. The author addresses the topic by taking the reader through the interconnected path of the “three E’s”: Economy, to understand the impacts on the economy; Employability, to reflect on the employability of technical trades; and Education, meaning the technical education that is needed. The stages on this path are a focus on the topic of technical education itself, an analysis of the situation in Italy, an identification of the starting points for “reviewing technical education” based on what others do, on what is needed in terms of teachers and programmes and on relations with companies.

In his conclusions, Ricciardelli lists some key words that encapsulate what is needed – words that, to a greater degree, also summarise the goal for technical education: passion and vocation, knowledge and experience, vision and an ability to deliver; they are joined by interconnection, the ability to make use of a surplus, sharing and reconfiguration. There is also a useful glossary at the end of the book.

Ricostruire l’istruzione tecnica. Ultima chiamata per rimanere la seconda manifattura in Europa, salvare la nostra economia e preservare il nostro welfare (Rebuilding Technical Education. Italy’s Last Chance to Remain as the Second Manufacturing Power in Europe, save its Economy and Preserve Welfare).

Valerio Ricciardelli

Guerini Next, 2024

A set of research analyses the changes that new ways of working have brought about in companies and institutions

Changing how we work to work better or, in certain conditions, simply to continue working. This imperative – dictated by the Covid-19 pandemic – continues to be topical, albeit in a range of forms and interpretations. In any case, we are seeing a paradigm shift in how work and businesses are organised. It is a change, in some ways, also in the very culture of production. This tangle of issues is at the heart of Ri-Organizzare il lavoro. Hybrid work, confini organizzativi e valore (Reorganising Work. Hybrid Work, Organisational Boundaries and Value), a collection of research with hybrid work as its main subject.

In the introduction to the collected surveys, there is an explanation: “The ‘real’ transition to hybrid work was triggered, in large part, by the pandemic. Indeed, this event catapulted organisations into a new era, in which a flexible approach to working locations has become the norm and hybrid work, in this post-pandemic adjustment phase, is establishing itself as a catalyst for radical transformations in organisational practices.”

Changing the way we work has led to “a profound transformation in the culture not only of workers (…) but of organisations, through a rethinking of the fundamentals that underpin how work is organised and, more generally, a review of organisational processes – all aspects with a strong impact on the management of people as well as on spaces and boundaries.”

The collected research then seeks to investigate the series of “changes” that hybrid work entails: in spatial and temporal terms, in the organisation and in its recognition.  If, it is explained, work is gradually losing the spatial connotation of “place” (we have moved from teleworking to remote work to hybrid work, which is now accepted as the new label for what is happening) and is also starting to gradually reshape the established connotation of “time” (several experiments are already underway at a national and international level to redefine the number and distribution of weekly hours worked), then the advent of new ways of working is calling into question the very boundary of organisations.

Ri-Organizzare il lavoro. Hybrid work, confini organizzativi e valore (Reorganising Work. Hybrid Work, Organisational Boundaries and Value)

VARIOUS AUTHORS.

ProspettiveInOrganizzazione – Number 24 – 2024

Journal of the Italian Association of Business Organisation Studies

Young Italians cherish collective values and interests, especially those concerning the environment. And they express a clear desire for engagement. Unfortunately, however, they have little confidence in politics, partly because politics (and public institutions) have scant regard for them and their future. And also because, for the most part, they leave a schooling system that (in the case of one out of every two young people on the threshold of maturity) fails to equip them with the tools to understand a text in Italian and solve a basic problem in mathematics (they lack the skills, therefore, to understand reality and face its various facets). And if the basis of liberal democracy lies in conscious citizenship, capable of participating in a well-informed “public discourse” (according to the clear-sighted teachings of Jurgen Habermas) and of critical judgement – with considered voting at its heart – then disappointment, disaffection and ignorance are profound obstacles to keeping our political system (a democracy based on freedoms, the market economy and welfare) in good health.

These are the considerations that emerge from two recent surveys, the first conducted by the Istituto Toniolo’s Osservatorio Giovani, in collaboration with Ipsos and the Statistics Laboratory at Milan’s Università Cattolica, and the second consisting of the 2024 Invalsi Report on the cognitive skills of Italian school students.

Let’s look first at the research by the Istituto Toniolo and Ipsos, conducted by Alessandro Rosina and based on 6,000 interviews with young people in five European countries (Germany, France, Spain, Poland and Italy), with a special focus on Italy (Corriere della Sera, 9 July). Italian Generation Z and Millennials believe first and foremost in scientific research (74%), then in volunteering (66%), followed, in descending order, by hospitals, schools and small and medium-sized enterprises. The institution most worthy of their trust is the President of the Republic (55.2%), followed by the European Union, the police, large industry and the local authorities with which young people have a closer relationship (the municipalities and regions where they live). Somewhere in the middle come the tools that voice public opinion, social networks and newspapers (with 43.9% and 42.5%), and, in ever lower numbers, trade unions, banks, the national government (35.3%), Parliament and the Catholic Church (32.6%), with political parties bringing up the rear (31.6%). The figure related to parties is very low, although it is growing: in 2016, it was just 13.8%, rising to 29.1% in 2020.

The research dwells a great deal on parties and politics, seeking to better understand what lies in that public space inhabited by young people where there is great trust in voluntary work (that is, community-based values: commitment, altruism, civic and charitable awareness, the ability to take on the problems of others and care for the environment, social hardship and the needs of the weakest people) but also a distrust of politics in practice and parties.

Indeed, three out of four of the young people interviewed say that “you can get involved personally to improve the country” but then, in relation to politics, only 5.2% say that “politics offers opportunities for younger generations to engage and take action”, compared to 20.4% who think the exact opposite, believing that there are no opportunities whatsoever. 41.9% say “there are very limited opportunities” and 32.5% say there are opportunities, but only “in some parties and movements”. It’s a challenging situation, but it can be improved.

There is an underlying awareness: 61% believe that “real democracy depends on parties” and 67.4% state that “it is wrong to say that parties are all the same”. In any case, for 73.9 per cent, “it remains possible to get personally involved to make things work”.

Millennials and the so-called Generation Z, while highly critical, are leaving the door open to active political leaders, making a gesture of trust and declaring themselves available – all of which they hope will be taken up. And meanwhile they are getting down to work, with widespread volunteering providing ample confirmation of their engagement.

Enrico Giovannini, Scientific Director for Asvis, the Alliance for Sustainable Development, comments: “It is a stereotype that young people are not interested in politics. They are not interested in this kind of politics, because they are dissatisfied with their representation among political parties and how such parties act, with the ‘politicking’ you see on talk shows. Instead, they are socially engaged”, they believe in the values of merit and work done well and are passionate about environmental and social sustainability issues. In short, it is up to the parties and institutions to engage with how young people display attention and interest and try to come up with satisfactory answers.

Nevertheless, there remains an underlying problem with education and providing the tools required to understand a rapidly changing reality. Tests carried out by INVALSI, Italy’s educational assessment institute (covered by Chiara Saraceno in La Stampa on 12 July), document a slow improvement in the acquisition of cognitive skills by the country’s students in primary school through to upper secondary school, although the numbers of young people not achieving minimum proficiency levels despite finishing their schooling remains a serious problem: 44% for Italian, 48% for mathematics and, respectively, 40% and 55% for understanding a written or spoken text in English (with the phenomenon particularly acute in southern regions).

Chiara Saraceno comments: “There is concern, and rightly so, about the low logical and mathematical skills of a significant proportion of youngsters and a pronounced gender gap to the detriment of girls, which already seems to be well established in primary school (a phenomenon not found, at least not to the same degree, in other countries). But equally worrying should be the poor grasp of the use of the Italian language and text comprehension skills, which affects half of school-leavers, and males to a greater extent than females”.

In short, “we should not underestimate the risk of these children being led towards functional illiteracy, reducing their ability to understand the information they receive, to express and process their own and others’ emotions, to enjoy culture in all its forms, and to assert their rights in democratic debate”. In other words, to consciously engage in politics. To fully engage as citizens. And that harms freedom, participation and the future.

(photo Getty Images)

A different perspective outlined by a series of investigations and research

Cooperate to do business better – and more efficiently and fairly. And while thinking of others and the local area. Cooperative and social entrepreneurship has much to contribute to the economy and business culture. However, we also need to have an objective understanding of its particularities, be clearly aware of its characteristics and have a precise grasp of its possibilities. Enter Radici nel futuro. Economia sociale e cooperazione (Roots in the Future. Social Economy and Cooperation), a collection of research on the topic coordinated by Eleonora Vanni and Maria Felicia Gemelli.

The various investigations take as their starting point an observation of the features of the current economic and social period. The introduction states: “We are living through a time of profound change marked by elements representing a decisive break with the past: social and economic ruptures that have widened, a digital transformation that has grown faster (partly a result of the pandemic period), transformations in work, both in an organisational form – especially in relation to remote working – and in terms of an approach to work that seems to be evolving beyond mere salary-related considerations.” This leads to the acknowledgement of the need for “a new and different model of development geared towards sustainability across the economic, social and environmental spheres, raised again in a very significant way by the debate on the role that the Social Economy plays as a driver for development”.

The body of research first outlines the processes of change and then takes a closer look at the tools available for the development of social entrepreneurship. Subsequently, other investigations focus on the relationships that can exist to create and give form to different kinds of participation. A series of case studies breathes life into the collection, which ultimate concludes that the social cooperative model is a tool that can provide a starting point for embarking on a different path of development. This is a model – as flagged at the beginning of the collection – “that overcomes the state-market dichotomy and provides greater economic democracy and market participation for a wider range of individuals with diversified aims, all within an entrepreneurial setting. These are aims that the social economy, in the European vision, prioritises in the pursuit of a better balance in the distribution of produced value between people (members) and territories (communities), in the context of a lower impact of production on the environment and democratic and participatory governance.”

The book contains a number of investigations that will certainly not unite everyone in agreement at their conclusions; nevertheless it represents a valuable toolbox for learning more about a reality that cannot be overlooked.

Radici nel futuro. Economia sociale e cooperazione (Roots in the Future. Social Economy and Cooperation)

Eleonora Vanni, Maria Felicia Gemelli (eds.)

Trasformazioni, Barberini Foundation. Memoria e immaginazione, 2023