A number of research studies published only a few weeks ago reviews a borderline theme concerning the relations between technological innovation, education and employment

First automation, then digitalisation, and now robots and cobots – these are only a few amongst the major steps forward taken in the employment and corporate spheres in recent times, and though already accomplished, they nonetheless need to be fully understood. Evolutions that were not easy to achieve, and also not as apocalyptic as some people feared. In any case, and whether in agreement or not, the use of robots and cobots (that is, robots that collaborate with humans to carry out specific operations) is, together with Artificial Intelligence, the latest frontier in industrial production (and not only). Understanding what is happening is essential for everyone, and above all for those who, entrepreneurs or executives, currently have a role in the management of productive processes involving AI and other new approaches.

This is why reading Robot e cobot nell’impresa e nella scuola. Processi formativi e trasformativi nella workplace innovation (Robots and cobots at work and in schools. Formative and transformational processes in workplace innovation) is really useful – a collection of 16 research studies revolving around the notion of the presence and use of robots in today’s production systems, as well as in education and training paths in the widest sense.

The curator, Daniela Robasto, points out in the introduction that, “The book’s stance is far from preconceived techno-enthusiastic or techno-critical approaches and wants to suggest distance from a ‘win-win attitude at all costs’, which does not properly consider some crucial topics in support of innovative processes, such as training for employees (…), the legal perspectives connected to the introduction of technologies (…).” Thus, the aim of this collection is to describe and analyse – starting from the activities undertaken as part of the Italian research project TRADARS – the potential and the operational aspects of robots and cobots that “assist people in accomplishing more or less complex tasks, learning included.”

The studies, then, range from a general framing of the topic to a series of in-depth explorations on the inclusion and use of these machine both in the production and in the educational spheres. Hence, they include thoughts on the digital transition, technological innovation and trust in the workplace, human-machine collaboration, the educational power of robotics, big data and robots, and much more.

The overall final message arising from this work is loud and clear: the attention paid by the educational world to these tools, as well as the bond between them, must grow stronger.

The introduction ends with a beautiful thought: “This books wants to be, above all, an opportunity for dialogue.” An aim that all research studies and books should share, even those dedicated to robots and cobots.

Robot e cobot nell’impresa e nella scuola. Processi formativi e trasformativi nella workplace innovation (Robots and cobots at work and in schools. Formative and transformational processes in workplace innovation)

Daniela Robasto (curated by)

Franco Angeli Open Access, 2022

A good news agenda or, an “anti-catastrophist” agenda, to borrow the brilliantly critical label adopted by newspaper Il Foglio, which has grown a little tired of the Italian tendency to complain at the drop of a hat. Here’s the first piece of good news: the Master in Business Administration offered by the SDA Bocconi of Milan is one amongst six in the world, according to the ranking of The Financial Times, surpassing big names such as Yale, the Boston MIT and Berkeley, as well as the London Business School and the HEC in Paris. And here’s the second piece of good news: four large Italian companies – Brembo, Intesa Sanpaolo, Italgas and Pirelli – have been included in the global ranking produced by non-profit organisation CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project), a ranking that counts 294 companies that have been awarded an ‘A rating’ for their efforts against climate change: evidence that turning environmental and social sustainability into a drive for development has proven to be a wise strategy (as also shown by the top positions reached in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and in S&P Global’s 2023 Sustainability Yearbook).

And finally the third piece of good news: according to the EU Commission, in 2023 Italy’s growth will be of 0.8%, more than that of France and Germany, and in any case better than the 0.6% recently forecasted by the International Monetary Fund.

Hence, the dreaded recession is no longer a threat, as also confirmed by the assessments undertaken by the Bank of Italy and territorial entrepreneurial association Confindustria. After a record growth of 11% in the 2021-2022 period – the two years following the pandemic – the Italian economy continues to advance, driven forward by its enterprises. By manufacturing enterprises in particular, which during those tough times made investments, withstood the challenges of global markets and the rearrangement of value chains, innovated their products and processes by implementing Artificial Intelligence systems and applying data-driven management criteria, took great advantage of fiscal policy levers aimed at stimulating the Industry 4.0, and created employment and value (profits for shareholders, stock exchange performance for investors) – all this owing to a wise strategy focused on social values and, indeed, sustainability (as Symbola’s reports on the green economy testify).

To recap these good news – Italy can boast of, and rely on, an excellent education system (even if it still shows limitations, with a poorly qualified workforce and only 20% of Italian graduates aged between 25 and 64 years, as compared to the EU average of 32.8%), outstanding companies have skilfully mastered the environmental and digital twin transition thus reinforcing their competitive assets, and, in spite of everything, industrial vigour continues to boost development.

Let’s have a better look at the actual economy, then, taking another representative figure about growth: in 2022, according to the Prometeia-Intesa San Paolo report, the manufacturing industry achieved revenues totalling €1,200 billion, with an increase of €164 billion as compared to last year, also thanks to exports counting for over €600 billion (IlSole24Ore, 10 February), followed by the electronic, fashion and pharmaceutical industries. Tool machinery and robotics are also pulling their weight, as noted by Marco Taisch, professor at the Milan Polytechnic and an authority on Industry 4.0: the industrial automation sector, according to data gathered by trade association UCIMU, saw production increasing to over €7.2 billion at the end of 2022, with a rise of 14.6% as compared to 2021, and 2023 is already looking good, with a rather fine performance on the internal market (+27% – meaning that innovation processes continue to flourish within the Italian industry sector) as well as on the international one.

Here’s more data to consider: in 2022, despite the energy scare, manufacturing increased by 0.8% (after a peak of 12.8% in 2021), while Germany and France suffered much more, with production levels that at the end of 2022 were lower than before Covid. “The most robust Italian trend is confirmed by data relating to the export of goods, a growth larger than in the other two economies as well as global demand“, notes economist Sergio De Nardis in periodical InPiù (13 February).

The boom in energy prices, exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, has been tempered by the sector’s ability to adapt, with a reduction in energy consumption: “Structural rearrangements (a reduction of energy-intensive sectors), austerity measures and, presumably, a higher flexibility in replacing energy sources than what was previously thought, have all allowed for adaptation”, explains De Nardis.

There’s more: a growth in quality and productive efficiency. “Between 2007 and 2020,” continues De Nardis, “our manufacturing sector lost about 112,000 enterprises, almost a quarter of its initial bulk. A continuous and painful erosion process of Italy’s production baseline, which did not happen within other economies.” But there was also “a change for the better”: the decreased number of manufacturers “was accompanied by an increase in the sector’s productivity as resources from the weakest units shifted to the most efficient ones.” Where’s the proof? In the higher number of export companies – featuring increased productivity – out of the total number of manufacturing companies. A figure that in Italy has gone from 20% to 23% in a decade, while remaining stable in France and shrinking in Germany.

As De Nardis reiterates, “As such, in Italy, manufacturing resilience takes on a specific shape. It’s the result of a long-term structural adjustment that is still ongoing. This is why claiming that these good results are due to the usual small group of “super” enterprises, with the majority lagging behind, is incorrect – this never was an apt image, even less so now: the whole sector is on the move.”

An analysis of current data related to industry more in general, to some specific sectors (robotics and tool machinery) and to sustainable choices considered as productive and competitive assets reveals another constant trend: a widespread notion of innovation not merely perceived as high-tech automation, but rather as a concept that enhances products and production processes, materials, services, languages, governance criteria and industrial relationships – a concept that finds expression in the “polytechnic culture” featured by Italian enterprises, as well as their natural inclination towards “industrial humanism”.

In such a difficult period full of crises and opportunities, and without wishing to be overly optimistic, Italian industry is nonetheless showing excellent prospects in terms of development. And the responsibility of not wasting this opportunity by implementing a forward-looking economic and industrial policy inspired by European values – which would benefit the competitiveness of the whole country – lies in the hands of political powers and social actors.

What we glimpse on the horizon is an active, productive country able to look to the future – a country to be nurtured.

(photo Getty Images)

Applying philosophical tools for the analysis of reality to the operations of production organisations

Applying philosophy to company management might sound strange, but it is a notion that entails concrete foundations. Actually, considering the complexities that entrepreneurs and managers must tackle every day, the toolbox that philosophy can provide to understand what is going on could be really valuable and could lead to a new and intriguing concept of production culture.

It is around these themes that Daniele Mattia’s Executive philosophy. Un’evoluzione per manager, organizzazioni e filosofia (Executive philosophy. An evolution for managers, organisations and philosophy) revolves, a recently published book inspired by a number of questions.

The author, for instance, wonders why philosophy should have a place in management and how the evolution of managers and organisations might relate to philosophical concepts. These lead to more general questions: would borrowing concept and picking up notions be enough to develop a new managerial outlook, support organisations, or have a real impact on current issues?
Mattia’s work, however, is much more radical than the mere juxtaposition of corporate management and philosophy, as it provides an in-depth review of advanced thinking and places it at the heart of organisations and of contemporary society as a whole, an effort that leads to the conception and application of a new discipline built on vision, method and rather original means. Indeed, the book introduces us to the notion of ‘executive philosophy’ as well as to a new professional figure, the ‘executive philosopher’. Mattia’s aim is not merely to achieve change, development or innovation, but to attain evolution.

This is not an easy book to read, but it does guide readers along a path that starts by considering the reality experienced by entrepreneurs and managers in their companies and then looks at various knowledge and analytical tools that are a bit more unusual, as well as a management method based on a different vision of corporate reality.

A rather complex work, for sure, but a very important one, especially as it ends by appealing to a sense of responsibility that everyone should share. As Daniele Mattia writes in the last pages: “Responsibility entails a commitment to symmetry, to reciprocation: if we are able to reap the benefits of positive consequences, results or events, we must also be able to share, symmetrically, their negative damage and impact, paying the price if things did not go the way we wanted or if, indeed, harm was done’.

Executive philosophy. Un’evoluzione per manager, organizzazioni e filosofia (Executive philosophy. An evolution for managers, organisations and philosophy)

Daniele Mattia

Guerini Next, 2023

A recently debated thesis discusses major contemporary topics related to production organisations

Running a company well, with increased attention to how its activities affect environmental and social sustainability this entails multiple courses of action, which could blend into a single goal able to, amongst other things, change production culture itself.

This is what asserts Manuel Perrenchio in “Imprenditoria, occupazione e sostenibilità: la nuova frontiera del business sociale” (“Entrepreneurship, employment and sustainability: the new frontier of social business”), a thesis debated at the University of Valle d’Aosta, Department of Human and Social Sciences, which provides an interesting snapshot of a complex and constantly evolving topic.

As Perrenchio himself explains: “This study is based on the analysis of characteristics, potential and margins for growth of social business’ new entrepreneurial model within the contemporary social and economic framework”. Indeed, the main goal of the study is to “pay attention to the phenomenon’s social dimension and to the particular relationship existing between the latter and its surrounding environment”. The investigation blends different themes and contexts: environmental and economic sustainability, employment, technology and the development of entrepreneurship. Another aim is to illustrate how compatible a company’s social ends and its own good management are. Thus, Perrenchio goes through three stages: first of all, he aptly frames the meaning of social business; then he explores its potential, linking it to technology, employment and environmental sustainability; and finally he ends with a real corporate case study that provides the chance for a first practical testing of the theoretical concepts put forward.

In his conclusions, Perrenchio writes: “The new model of social business entails a type of enterprise with great operational and functional potential, especially when looking to the future, when finding prompt and tangible solutions to the threats involved in human evolution will be of imperative significance. In particular, the model shows incredible technical efficiency in dealing with and resolving social issues, more than any other non-profit organisation, which by its nature requires to be greatly adaptable to social needs. The dynamism of a social business, situated in a transversal position that allows it to assimilate the more functional characteristics of other types of enterprises, becomes a very appealing operational tool within an economic eco-system in constant evolution and entails a number of profitable and innovative features”.

Manuel Perrenchio’s research study does not include much that is new about this topic, but has the great merit of providing a useful framework to better understand it.

Imprenditoria, occupazione e sostenibilità: la nuova frontiera del business sociale (“Entrepreneurship, employment and sustainability: the new frontier of social business”)

Manuel Perrenchio

Thesis, University of Valle d’Aosta. Department of Human and Social Sciences. Three-year programme in Languages and Communication for business and tourism, 2022

At the beginning of 2023, almost 6 million Italian people were living abroad, and of these 1.8 million are under 30 years old. Looking at it differently, we could say that 10.7% of Italian young people permanently resides in another country and more than half chose to live in a European city. In other words, Italy – already in the midst of a demographic crisis – continues to lose young people, who leave looking for better work and life conditions. In this respect, cities in the South of Italy have sadly set some negative records: Enna (477.5 per thousand inhabitants – five times the national average), Agrigento, Isernia, Potenza and then, after Belluno in the Veneto region, Caltanissetta, Vibo Valentia, Campobasso, Cosenza, Avellino… Pensioners are also fleeing from South-Italian cities: Enna, Vibo, Isernia, Campobasso, Agrigento, Avellino, Potenza…

Mantova, Rovigo and Lodi are also being deserted – Northern regions with a slower economic development. as well as Prato (where, however, Italian residents of Chinese origins are returning to their families in China).

The data provided by AIRE (l’Anagrafe degli italiani residenti all’estero, the Registry office for Italian citizens residing abroad), was analysed by the Italian Ministry of the Interior and disclosed by Il Sole24Ore (6 February), and reveals a rising trend: in 2006, AIRE counted 3.106 million people registered, now increased to 5.933 million – almost double – with 122,000 new registrations in 2022 (an increase of 2.2% as compared to 2021).

Further demographic movements are deserving of attention: for example, those showing that, in the past 10 years, the South of Italy lost over 500,000 residents in total, of which a large part included young people aged 25 to 34 years. This was reported by daily newspaper Domani (5 February), with the headline: “The true emergency in Italy is young people fleeing the South”.

We’re all aware of these figures, of course, evidence of a trend that has been going on for a long time. a severe social wound that hasn’t been adequately addressed by politicians. It’s worth keeping this wound in mind, as we discuss reforming differentiated autonomy as well as a better and greater integration with Europe, which demands we do all that is possible to close the gap between North and South, a gap that has dramaticallly widened over time (as SVIMEZ continues to report), and that a sensible use of PNRR (the Italian recovery and resilience plan) funds could help address.

Let’s look at some more data, to further understand the situation: in 1951, the per-capita GDP in the South amounted to 70% of that of the North; in the early 1990s, it fell to 60%; in 2020, to 55%: down to a half. And, focusing on the younger generations, while it’s true that 62% of the Italian people aged 25 to 34 years is employed, when shifting from national to regional average it becomes clear that 74% is employed in the North-West of Italy, 76% in the North-East and only 45.7% in the South. Basically, the national average – still lower than the European one – conceals deep regional disparities, a dramatic illustration of why the new generations of the South are fleeing to the North, as well as to other European countries.

An inequitable South is not at all conducive to Italy’s development and the integration with Europe; it’s useless, it doesn’t bring any benefits to the North, also because it hinders and warps the productivity and competitiveness of the whole country; it exacerbates inequalities and social hardship; it’s a huge obstacle to choices related to sustainable, environmental and social development territorial entrepreneurial association Confindustria is well aware of all this, and has in fact included it as a crucial item in its policies and corporate strategies.

Hence, we need key political choices that will support the growth of the South with tangible and intangible infrastructure, productive investments, ambitious training plans to tackle the challenges brought on by the digital and environmental twin transition and new opportunities for the widespread use of Artificial Intelligence. Indeed, the South’s historical know-how and geographical location at the heart of the Mediterranean region – which is acquiring increasing geopolitical relevance – are features that must be highlighted in a European strategy aimed at boosting the Italian recovery.

How beneficial such a strategy – and differentiated regional autonomy – could be, it’s too early to say, but policies concerning industry, taxes, research, training and infrastructure must certainly become part of a unified plan that, endorsed by the EU, looks to the world.

Indeed, what the South needs, in order to attract investments and enhance its potential (human capital included, whose mass migration – or “brain drain” – should not just be seen as inevitable), is “good governance”.instead of complaints, resentment, Neo-Bourbon nostalgia and cronyism.

The political history of the South could help us better understand the situation, and, in this regard, it’s worth rereading, for example, the speeches and government programmes of one of the best politicians the South ever had: Piersanti Mattarella, President of the Sicilian region at the end of the 1970s. A man whose decisions – including reforms, justice and proper administration – centred on Sicily, who aimed to situate it within a dialogue involving the best Italian economic and social powers, to turn it into a region rife with innovative industrial settlements, skilled labour and cutting-edge culture. His words were silenced by mafia violence, but continue to be deeply relevant.

(Photo Getty Images) 

A study undertaken by the University of Macerata contributes to the understanding of a complex and ongoing theme

New technologies to be attained and applied, so as not to lag behind – something that concerns all companies, including small and medium ones, though the end goal will vary for each one, as it all depends on dimensions and skills, a genuine production culture, and financial means. Still, we need to understand the many evolutions that shape the relationship between innovation and businesses and this is indeed what Rebecca Colanero and Dominique Lepore (from the University of Macerata, Department of Jurisprudence) have achieved with “Economia circolare e Industria 4.0: il futuro del Made in Italy” (“The circular economy and Industry 4.0: the future of ‘Made in Italy’”), a recently published research study.

The aim of the study is to analyse the opportunities and the issues experienced by Italian micro and small enterprises (MSE) when adopting management models oriented towards the circular economy, also considering the strategic role of technologies related to the Industry 4.0. Attaining these two objectives presents an inviting, though certainly hard, challenge – and, to some extent, this is a challenge that really must be tackled.

Combining primary and secondary sources, the research paper examines one micro and two small enterprises from the Marche region (“Feleppa SV” from the clothing industry, “TM Italia” from the wood furnishing industry, and “A Mare” from the footwear industry), which have invested in “circular” processes and products exploiting Industry 4.0 technologies.

After two initial sections that contextualise the topic, the two researchers analyse the experiences of the three companies, and in fact succeed in identifying the very same financial, legal and cultural obstacles – obstacles that slowed down their transformation process – across the board. The authors then employ this evidence to discuss a number of enabling factors that can support enterprises during the transition process, such as the availability of financial resources, the ability to build adequate relationship networks with other enterprises and with the world of research – and, in some cases, the need for legislative clarity and the presence of adequate infrastructure.

Colanero and Lepore’s paper has the great merit of being clear (with very useful summary and comparison tables illustrating the different case studies) and concise in addressing what we need to understand such a complex and ongoing phenomenon.

Economia circolare e Industria 4.0: il futuro del Made in Italy (“The circular economy and Industry 4.0: the future of ‘Made in Italy’”)

Rebecca Colanero, Dominique Lepore

ECONOMIA MARCHE Journal of Applied Economics, Vol. XLI, No. 2, December 2022

A collection of corporate stories that tell us all about Italian production culture

The home of craftsmanship, excellence, magnificent production; the home of beautiful, well-made products. This is how Italy is often described, as the quintessential “Bel Paese”. But why?

This is the question that Severino Salvemini addresses in his Il quid imprenditoriale. Oltre la retorica del Made in Italy (That entrepreneurial something. Beyond ‘Made in Italy’ rhetorics), a book collecting a number of corporate stories previously published on the L’Economia supplement of Corriere della Sera.

Each chapter is a story and the book was inspired by an observation: if we do not look beyond the ‘Made in Italy’ slogan, which simply describes Italy as the realm of beauty, we will not be able to notice the distinctive features of what actually is a complex phenomenon that led Italian companies to blend technological globalisation with a new humanism inspired by taste and creativity, and to replace Anglo-Saxon economic theories with an all-Italian management style.

Thus, Salvemini refers to an “elusive chemistry” that needs to be studied with great care, something that the author tries to achieve through the narration of 53 exemplary stories about companies who made of excellence their distinguishing feature. As such, readers will learn about the vicissitudes – often unknown to most – of companies that have made, and continue to make, history within their own segment. Stories that, as well as unquestionable production skills, boast other features, too, which Salvemini masterfully summarises as, “Within the delicate filigree of these narrations, one can (…) glimpse how Italian people place themselves at the service of others, their innate inquisitiveness and ability to refine established processes through innovation, their urge to research, question, doubt, reflect – all traits discernible within Italy’s vast cultural heritage.”

Salvemini’s book succeeds in a difficult task, that of describing the best of Italian enterprise, without recurring to rhetorics – a must-read for sure.

Il quid imprenditoriale. Oltre la retorica del Made in Italy (That entrepreneurial something. Beyond ‘Made in Italy’ rhetorics)

Severino Salvemini

Egea, 2023

More Europe or no more future, as Gianni Agnelli – historical industrial leader with deep Italian roots, a confident European attitude and strong American ties – was fond to say. And today, 20 years after his death, just as we find ourselves right in the middle of a period marked by dramatic political and social transformation, as well as extraordinary economic challenges, his words are worth remembering, as they corroborate the need to focus on Europe, in spite of it all, and therefore look towards a future defined by greater and improved European integration, towards a sustainable development that will benefit the next EU generation, in the full awareness that economic growth, social cohesion and the safeguarding of that great European heritage – liberal democracy – need to be closely interconnected, to form a tight system shaped by values and bold political choices.

“More state aid support means less Europe. More shared industrial policies mean, on the other hand, greater and better development”, unanimously maintain Italian companies belonging to territorial entrepreneurial association Confindustria. Companies that, some time ago, launched an initiative aimed at counteracting the impact of those protectionist winds that are blowing on a global scale (as discussed in our blog from two weeks ago) and threaten to weaken international trade and thus general growth. Indeed, the initiative seeks the collaboration of French and German entrepreneurial associations, too, in order to exert shared pressure on the EU Commission in Brussels for the attainment of wider and better competitive conditions for all businesses across Europe.

In fact, considering that even now Germany and France account for over 77% of state aid provisions, increasing them would merely end up exacerbating the inequalities between countries and national business frameworks. Basically, the risk is that the EU internal market could fragment and be hit by a crisis, and that only countries whose economy has sufficient room for an enlarged public debt would benefit from it.

Better, rather, to focus on the idea favoured by EU Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager – a “sovereign fund” aimed at supporting strategic sectors at a European level, confining state aid provisions to “targeted measures”, as safeguarding the common market is “a red line” not to be crossed.

An “EU sovereign fund”, then – a tool to be integrated as part of the decisions concerning industrial policies currently being discussed in Brussels with key contributions by the Commission’s vice-president Valdis Dombrovskis and Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni. A green industrial policy, as Ursula von der Leyen has been maintaining for a long time, choosing environmental and social sustainability as a pivotal policy to boost competitiveness within the entire European economic system – issues that will be discussed more in depth at the EU summits scheduled for the beginning of February.

Indeed, Europe currently finds itself at the heart of a crucial shift in the global economy: a “globalisation to be reframed”, as long preached by The Economist. What needs to be addressed are China’s closed economy policies that favour its internal market, as well as the insidious strategies implemented by the Trump government, which, through the IRA (Inflation Reduction Act), the CHIPS and the Science Act have triggered public investments worth hundreds of billion dollars in support of American enterprises and any international businesses willing to move to the United States. And to avoid a trading war between Europe and USA (also considering the political impact this would entail in the current geopolitical framework, already strained by severe tensions and alarming rifts), we need to protect the European industry from the threats of crisis and decline, in the awareness that market, free enterprise, social responsibility, people’s well-being and thus employment, welfare and democracy, must remain closely tied together.

From this angle, the significance of EU industrial policies appears much more far-reaching and as such needs to be conceived within a wider context that includes a review of the Stability and Growth Pact and the notion of a more incisive European role in the Mediterranean region and in relation to Africa.

Confindustria believes that the MES could also be oriented in this direction (president Carlo Bonomi recently mentioned this at a meeting in Venice; Il Sole24Ore, 28 January), and according to reliable sources, Palazzo Chigi is also – finally – discussing the “go-ahead” for the ratification of the MES as part of a more efficient use of all available European tools and structures, including the EIB, the European Investment Bank (La Stampa, 28 January).

Development remains key to all of this, and all available resources – those that the EU can reap on the financial markets and those that can be collaboratively raised by the various states – should be allocated to ensure its growth, as part of a common response whose attitude is anything but protectionist, as a neo-Keynesian decision concerning the quality of public investment.

Its mainstay could be an agreement between Berlin, Paris and Rome (as asserted by Giulio Tremonti as president of the Italian Senate’s Committee on Foreign Affairs; Corriere della Sera, 26 January), an agreement that could drive new European industrial policies but also focused on promoting European competitiveness, technological innovation, research, training, the relaunch of the European industry and all its connected services. And after the Recovery Plan, an EU fund dedicated to energy, strategic raw material – starting from rare earth materials and basic industrial components such as microchips – could really become an essential tool to bind together safety, autonomy and development.

(Picture: Getty Images)

An Italian group has taken part in setting up an Argentine company in the past few days, as you may already have seen in the announcement…

These are the opening words of a letter sent by Alberto Pirelli to an engineer, Mauro Herlitzka, at 188 Calle Esmeralda in Buenos Aires. A copy of the letter, which was sent to Argentina on the Lloyd Italiano steamer Indiana, is now kept in the Archives of the Pirelli Foundation. It says a lot about the attention that Pirelli was already paying to Argentina over a hundred years ago. It was 9 November 1911 and Alberto Pirelli was keeping his trusted agent up to date on the work being carried out by the company for the production and distribution of “Italo-Argentine” electricity. The event well illustrates the company’s interest in expanding overseas on a number of fronts. Starting with Argentina, but also going further afield.

Primarily with rubber, in all its various forms. Tyres but also, before them, telegraph and electric cables. It all started with the connections that were made between the Italian islands in the 1880s, and continued with the cables that were laid on the floor of the Red Sea and then across the Atlantic, and the lines that were made to South America.

Pirelli arrived in Argentina with a sales agent in 1898. The next step came in 1910, when the company took part in the Exposición Internacional in Buenos Aires, which paved the way for the opening of a commercial branch with offices in the capital at Calle Esmeralda 940. As we can see from the letter that Alberto Pirelli wrote to Mauro Herlitzka a year later, the company’s interests had already moved well beyond rubber.

In 1917 came another step forward, when the parent company set up Pirelli S.A. Platense, which produced electric cables and started a whole series of expansions in Argentina. A new factory was built on the outskirts of the capital in 1919, and in 1921 a factory that was already in operation in Calle Costa Rica was taken over, making it possible to expand and diversify the range of Pirelli’s rubber products. These were manufactured from 1930 at the La Rosa factory in the porteño district of Mataderos. In 1948, after brief lull in expansion lasting just over a decade, Pirelli created Industrias Pirelli SAIC, which had the task of manufacturing cables, rubber items and tyres. But the company did not stop growing, for in 1950 tyre production moved to the Merlo plant. This was the outcome of an agreement on an equal footing with the US Rubber Company for the incorporation of the Compañia Platense de Neumaticos (COPLAN), which was taken over in its entirety by Pirelli a few years later, and which is still operating today.

The constant attention to quality has never waned, also as regards corporate communication and company welfare. This can be seen in the Paginas Pirelli, the monthly magazine that, from 1955 to 1975, helped make known the corporate culture of the parent company, together with news on what was going on in the factories and about the employees themselves. In addition to information about production, the Paginas also included news, for example, about the sporting activities of the Centro social y deportivo, as well as information concerning the family life of employees. The magazine periodically held photography contests for the employees and the winning pictures were given prominence in the magazine or on the cover. Cultural articles were published along with other ones about the company and, as the years went by, the format and the paper changed, and the names of the editorial board also appeared.

Argentina and Pirelli: a story spanning a century and more, and a story that still continues today. In 2021 Pirelli celebrated its first 111 years in the country with considerable new investments and the opening of a new motorcycle tyre production department. A significant step that, in just one year, increased the number of employees by 300, putting the number now at around 1,400. How right Alberto Pirelli was when he wrote, way back in 1911: “we trust that we have done the right thing”!

The fundamental importance of oral history in understanding industrial evolution

Watching and listening, observing and understanding: different ways, in addition to reading, that nonetheless, and often more effectively, lead to a deeper understanding of human affairs, including those related to factories and offices, and those pertaining to one’s working life. This is the great contribution that all oral sources bring to history, though they need to be well comprehended and put to good use. Reading “Il lavoro tra fonti orali, sonore e musicali: lo stato dell’arte in Italia” (“Work and oral, acoustic and musical sources: the current state of play in Italy”), a research paper by Elisa Salvalaggio, can provide some guidance on the path undertaken by those who wish to gain a better grasp of industrial history.

The study is based on an assumption: oral history, i.e. people’s stories, allows to explore historical phenomena through the eyes of those who lived through them, with a focus on the protagonists’ subjective viewpoints – it means listening to the voice of experience. This leads to uncover different perspectives on events and places, different impressions that, taken all together, build a picture that more faithfully represents what really happened (or is happening). Here, sounds are understood as words that can provide the missing pieces to even the most comprehensive account of what went on. True oral culture, conveyed through narratives that, though not committed to paper, is nonetheless significant and leaves its mark. Stories that, in relation to workplaces, capture an important production and corporate culture that might otherwise get lost.

Elisa Salvalaggio writes that the value of this research method in terms of corporate history – which is indeed what her paper is about – allows to shed some light on less known areas and better understand the internal dynamics of work and production sites: the relationship between working and getting organised, professionalism and its connection with knowledge and understanding, culture, identity, social and familiar dimensions, different generational and gender viewpoints.

An innovative, though not new, way to build historical narratives that, in terms of production culture, may hold great significance – especially in our era of social networks and new technical and cultural knowledge tools.

Il lavoro tra fonti orali, sonore e musicali: lo stato dell’arte in Italia (“Work and oral, acoustic and musical sources: the current state of play in Italy”)

Salvalaggio Elisa, in LabOral: storia orale, lavoro e public history, 2022 – editpress