“Our industry is by its very nature progressive”. It was in 1880 that Giovanni Battista Pirelli said this about his recently founded company. In just in a few simple words, the sentence captures the meaning and the essence of the project that he had brought into being. “Progressive” in the sense of being committed to detecting and bringing about progress and giving it new impetus. Progress in industry, technology and production, but also in the economic and social spheres.

Also in Italy, the last thirty years of the nineteenth century were tinged with optimism. There was a sense of confidence. “Magnificent and progressive destinies” could be imagined, banishing the critical pessimism of Giacomo Leopardi’s La ginestra and turning it into something positive.

The century that was drawing to a close seemed to be anything but “superb and foolish”. The clouds of conflict were drifting away after the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1. Italy, with the breach of Porta Pia in September 1870, finally had Rome as its capital. Industry was advancing impetuously across Europe, and across Italy too, especially in Lombardy, Piedmont and Liguria, but also in Palermo under the Florio dynasty, making up for lost time. Money circulated and banks were being opened. There was great excitement about the colonial adventures in Africa. Factories began operations, and railways were built and newspapers founded, with the Corriere della Sera in Milan in 1876, La Stampa in Turin in 1867 (initially as the Gazzetta Piemontese), and Il Messaggero in Rome in 1878. Making – and making known. A company. And its story.

The modern age had burst upon the country. New approaches were tried out in literature and painting, in music and science, in fashion and lifestyles, all of which became more cheerful, casual, and free. These economic and social transformations were assisted by the audacious wishes of a bourgeoisie that was demanding change. The frenzy of the Belle Époque had come and the dawn of the twentieth century was on its way. “Progressive”, the adjective used by the young industrialist Pirelli, well reflected the zeitgeist.

And it immediately defined a trend that was to accompany the long life of the company that bears his name: in harmony with the contemporary world, with an aptitude for innovation.

A long life: 150 years, and counting. A life to be celebrated – with a series of events that begin on Friday 28th, the date when the deed of foundation of Pirelli was signed. The first event, at the Piccolo Teatro in Milan, will bring together historical reconstructions, current events and ideas for the future (with Ferruccio de Bortoli, Stefano Domenicali, Giampiero Massolo, Paolo Mieli, Renzo Piano, Alberto Pirelli, Ferruccio Resta, Anna Maria Testa and Marco Tronchetti Provera on stage and with live streams, presented by Ilaria D’Amico). This will be followed by a whole range of institutional, cultural and economic initiatives, also in countries around the world where Pirelli has a strong industrial and commercial presence (two of the initiatives, promoted by the Italian Mint and the State Printing Office respectively, will be the issue of three commemorative coins and a special postage stamp, in the series dedicated to areas of “excellence in the economic system”).

The fundamental aim of these events is to show how a unique story has been written, linking industry, technology, culture, communication and sport. And how, in the name of innovation, there is still a long way to go.

It all began, as we have seen, on 28 January 1872, in the office of the notary public Stefano Allocchio, in Milan. The limited partnership of GB Pirelli & C. came into being. The entrepreneur, Giovanni Battista Pirelli, has recently graduated from the Politecnico University of Milan and was just back from a long educational tour of what were then the most industrialised countries in Europe, where he examined a process that still did not exist in Italy: that of rubber production.

And that was it: the seed that would become an enterprise: an innovative idea that would turn into belts, valves, pipes, coated and then waterproofed cables, bathing caps, toys… And, from the beginning of the twentieth century, tyres. All made of rubber. It started with a small factory in Via Ponte Seveso, with just a few workers and state-of-the-art machines. And then it grew. In Italy and, very soon, around the world.

Innovation came on two different levels: in the products and in the decision to go for the most selective and demanding international markets: cables to carry energy and communication signals, tyres for the most challenging sports competitions (starting with the victory in the Peking-Paris race in 1907) and for the most sophisticated daily uses.

These guidelines held sway throughout the twentieth century, together with a great emphasis on the quality and efficiency of the production plants scattered across the world, from Italy to Germany, to Great Britain and Romania, to Brazil and Argentina, United States and Mexico, Russia and China, Turkey and Indonesia (to mention only those countries where Pirelli still has industrial operations today).

The present situation is one of innovative digital factories and a great focus on environmental and social sustainability, renewable energy, and safety. As well as on an underlying idea, which is that of the “beautiful factory” – a factory that is well designed, bright, transparent, and safe, where the quality of the workplaces and the quality of the products go hand in hand. One good example of this is the Settimo Torinese plant, with the “Spina” designed by Renzo Piano to connect the two production facilities, containing offices, services and research laboratories, set a sort of park with four hundred cherry trees. This model has also been adopted for other factories around the world. The quality of its industrial architecture is another hallmark of Pirelli’s long experience, as can be seen in the Pirelli Tower designed by Gio Ponti, a symbol of the economic boom of the 1960s, and in the redevelopment of the Bicocca district to a design by Vittorio Gregotti, with the Pirelli Headquarters built around the cooling tower of the old factory. These designs and constructions have become major landmarks in today’s metropolitan areas.

It is indeed true that a company “thrives, over time, if it has values that inspire the people who lead it and that involve all those who work in it. Pride in a job well done, for example. A great thirst for innovation. The awareness that one is a key player not just in terms of economic growth, but more generally in social, civil and cultural development. These are powerful values, elements of an identity that is constantly evolving, and yet that maintains deep roots in its past. Always with an eye open to change and to the challenges of the contemporary world,” says Marco Tronchetti Provera, CEO of Pirelli.

The intensity of these challenges is clear to see in the company’s historical and current ties with the world of racing. From rallying to Formula 1, racing always offers extraordinary opportunities for testing and developing products. Race tracks and test tracks constitute a unique open-air laboratory, a test bench for products under the most extreme conditions. And the results can be seen in the products made for the market. The circle of interactions and feedback between track and road make Pirelli increasingly competitive and also help chart out its direction for the future.

In other words, innovation has always been a comprehensive policy, and it still is, now that we are delving deep into new dimensions of manufacturing and living. Electric cars and smart-city mobility. Digital factories. Robots in data-driven factories. High-tech simulators. Nanotechnologies. Cybertyres. And Artificial Intelligence applied to research, production, and consumption. These are all chapters in a story that is being lived and written right now. A story that needs economic culture and business culture to make a firm commitment to analyse and make proposals for new economic and social balances.

The markets, welfare, and democracy itself are all under pressure. Science and knowledge need to take on an unprecedented level of responsibility.

There is a slogan that epitomises Pirelli communication: “Power is nothing without control”. It was used in a 1994 advertising campaign with Carl Lewis, the extraordinary world sprinting champion, photographed in a pair of red stiletto heels by Annie Leibovitz. Innovation and wit. Over the years, the slogan has gone far beyond that brilliant advertising concept. It has broadened its meaning and now speaks of the connection between power and control and thus also of balance, and of responsibility. A corporate culture policy. But also an indication of culture and of a general sense of civic duty. In other words, a true classic. Filled with a powerful sense of contemporary values.

Narrating Milan through images, avant-garde literature, celebrations, museums.

Narrating it, for instance, through a special volume consisting in a long strip of paper that, when unfolded, comprises two metres of drawings representing its skyline, made of historical buildings and modern skyscrapers: Ecco Milano. Ritratto di una città che cambia (Here is Milan. Portrait of a city in evolution) by architect Matteo Pericoli, a Rizzoli edition that follows similar publishing initiatives for London and New York, expressing the conviction that “the new skyscrapers have narrative potential”.

Narrating it through a TV series, too – Monterossi, on Amazon Prime Video (from Monday), brings to the screen fictional character Carlo Monterossi, the protagonist of Alessandro Robecchi‘s brilliant detective stories, published by Sellerio. The character is successfully played by Fabrizio Bentivoglio, who feels perfectly at ease in the shoes of the creator of a trashy TV series called Crazy Love, ashamed of his work yet enjoying its lucrative rewards, with a passion for investigation and gloom, who obsessively listens to Bob Dylan songs and is “an accidental winner who loves losers” (as maintained by his creator Robecchi). Milan itself stars, too – black and ironic, the complete opposite of a city lit up by the “thousand lights” of finance, fashion and communication, so much so that Robecchi, who can’t stand stereotypes, asserts, “Over the past 30 years, in Milan we’re all fashion models and designers. I want to say that it’s not so, there are normal people, too. Milanese people are thought of as rich jackasses, and being from Milan myself, I want to protest this image” (la Repubblica, 15 January).

This, only in reference to design clichés as, forgetting about appearances, Milan is home to the true art of design, which characterises with quality and beauty the best industrial culture and the image of our country, and of which Milan offers extraordinary examples at the ADI Design Museum on Piazza Compasso d’Oro and in some of the main corporate museums part of Museimpresa (the association founded 20 years ago by territorial entrepreneurial institutions Assolombarda and Confindustria). There, at the ADI Museum, we find the expression of “the identity of Milan through items that have become symbolic, the material culture of our dwellings” – as wittily pointed out by Aldo Bonomi, a sociologist extremely aware of cultural and social metamorphoses – and proof of a growth that has acquired international success and gives rise to excellent export rates, a kind of “regional capitalism” that appeals to global consumers and that every year is captured by the Salone del Mobile, the local and national prestigious furniture fair boasting international allure, the focal point where industry, culture and, indeed, design intersect (Il Sole24Ore, 11 January).

Narrating Milan through its cultural celebrations, too. Like the 100^th anniversary of Giorgio Strehler‘s birth, featuring a schedule packed with initiatives held at the Piccolo Teatro and talks with other culturally prominent figures, skilfully curated by Claudio Longhi, the Piccolo’s director, fascinated by the still reverberating echoes of Lombard enlightenment and by a city “that preserves a rather unique relationship between theatre and community” (la Repubblica, 23 December 2021).

Without forgetting the 50th anniversary of the Teatro Franco Parenti, inaugurated on 16 January 1973 with the staging of “Ambleto”, by Giovanni Testori, whose commemoration by Gioele Dix and Andrée Ruth Shammah, the indomitable creative soul of the theatre, was eagerly announced to take place on 16 January.

Or, furthermore, the 20^th anniversary of the Teatro degli Arcimboldi, designed by Vittorio Gregotti in the Bicocca neighbourhood, historical site of the Pirelli plants. A theatre that, today, is a “hub of culture and sociability, a space where everyone – audience and artists – can have a good time”, as its manager Gianmario Longoni believes (la Repubblica, 11 January). All around it, the neighbourhood is growing, with a large university (with over 30,000 students), housing, service businesses, company headquarters (including Pirelli’s).

Then again, in Milan, anniversaries are never just about remembrance but rather opportunities to take stock and announce new projects, to weave memories and future together.

In essence, it’s customary to narrate a city by representing its life on the move, and here we can only presume that, among commitments, investments and ambitious projects, being on the move means intense activity, a vainglorious frenzy, even. Yet, things really do happen, suffice to look at the quality of life chart drawn up, like every year, by newspaper Il Sole24Ore, showing Milan in second place in 2021, just after Trieste, almost reaching the lead it boasted in 2019.

Milan as a hard-working, vain city, whose many social and cultural (and as such economic) sides are troubled by the persistence of the COVID-19 pandemic, so much so that it’s considering to postpone its Salone del Mobile, usually held in April, to the summer. Nonetheless, a city that never stands still: recalling just a few recent headlines, works in MilanoSesto, on the 250,000 square metres where the Falck Steelworks used to be, are beginning (one of the most significant urban regeneration project in Europe); the new campus of the Brera Academy is being built on the site of the former Farini railway station; new investments have been injected into MIND (Milano Innovation District, where seven years ago the Expo 2015 was held, marking the metropolis’ impetuous recovery).

No one, in the social and cultural spheres, in the corporate world and in public administration denies the burdens of this crisis. No one underestimates its personal and social costs. Yet, everyone is aware of the underlying nature of a metropolis that draws together, absorbs, integrates and knows how to harmonise productivity and social inclusion, competitiveness and solidarity: a culture based on projects, work, enterprise, know-how – all new beginnings, in fact, and narration is part of all this.

(Photo by Emanuele Cremaschi/Getty Images)

The story of a baker’s personal and business experience turns into the perfect management manual for production organisations

Enterprise above all, even (or perhaps, especially) when bread is concerned – enterprise nonetheless, as it entails the undertaking something new, accomplished according to how we feel it should really be done, planned, built, pieced together day after day with determination, ingenuity, innovation and imagination. This is how enterprising stories always go – they are always the same and yet always different from each other, and always have “practice” teaching us something that “theory” cannot provide. This is why we learn something new every time we read the experiences of entrepreneurs that have “made their own business”.

Just as it happens with Volevo solo fare il panettiere (I only wanted to be a baker), written by Luigi Luini – a real baker, i.e. a real entrepreneur, who, reached a certain point in his long life, decided to write a book about his experience, a unique story that is also a perfect corporate management manual. So much so, that the foreword has been written by Sandro Castaldo, full professor of economy and corporate management at the Bocconi University of Milan, who has no qualms about paying tribute to this baker born in Apulia and living in Milan and who, in flawless academic language, confirms how the “Luini Milano forno dal 1888” bakery is the perfect example of an enterprise that is both innovative yet steeped in tradition, able to evolve by integrating the most modern marketing tools while retaining product continuity and its place on the market.

Luini begins his narration with a statement: “I don’t see any fundamental difference between a bakery product and a handshake. Panzerotti (savoury turnovers), taralli (hefty crackers), friselle (savoury biscuits) and rosette bread rolls are all made by hand, by an individual who, in that hand, holds his or her whole ingenuity and self.” Handiwork, or manufacture: the making of something whose origins may be remote, something that reinvents itself while staying the same. Luini retraces 90 years of corporate history that, accompanied by many images, brings back childhood memories and family events, quirky details, anecdotes and the choices that determined an entrepreneurial success built on tradition and bold innovation. The Luini bakery’s story also intertwines with that of Italy, travelling across the country on the trail of a moustachioed maternal grandfather who leaves Bisceglie (Apulia) with only his good shirt and the secrets of Apulian cuisine, whose baked goods will win over a city (Milan), becoming part of the local gastronomy, to then end up on the other side of the world via global word of mouth. Nowadays, we would say that ‘it is all thanks to constant care for product quality and innovation’ or, more succinctly, we would call it ‘corporate wisdom’, which Luini narrates with passion, baring it all, and thus captivating the reader.

Introducing Luini’s literary efforts, the Bocconi academic acknowledges what the author, just like all real entrepreneurs, already knows: “His words are confirmation that, in the end, the key resources of a company are the women and men who bring it to life, their feelings and their ideas.” Luigi Luini’s book is definitely a must read.

Volevo solo fare il panettiere (I only wanted to be a baker)

Luigi Luini

EGEA, 2021

A newly published research explores a tangle of themes that include digitalisation, corporate organisation and human challenges

Is digitalisation to be fought by all? Or is digitalisation to be embraced by all? Crucial questions that pertain, above all, companies and product organisations. It is a complex and varied topic that cannot be exhausted in just a few lines. It takes a lot of studying to understand it. This is why Internet of Things and Big Data Analytics, recently published by Sultan Nezihe Turhan (from Galatasaray University, Faculty of Engineering and Technology) as part of the Industry 4.0 and Global Businesses collection, makes for useful reading.

Turhan’s reasoning stems from an observation: the Internet of things (IoT) and Big Data are the forerunners of Industry 4.0 technologies and have acquired significant importance in the past years. Companies – though not all – are trying to become “4.0” by embarking on the digital transformation path and adapt those two major pieces of technology to their own corporate processes. There are no doubt advantages – continues Turhan – in terms of management, organisation and marketing, yet also disadvantages, concerning difficulties and complexity related to the privacy of data gathering and the systems used, as well as their daily management.

Nonetheless, in her work Turhan explains that IoT and Big Data Analytics perform a key role as “restructuring factors for products, services, and especially business processes.”

What needs unravelling, now, no longer concerns technology, but culture, and this is what Turhan attempts to do, discussing IoT and Big Data Analytics from the perspective of corporate culture, marketing and management. In other words, the author clarifies, IoT and Big Data Analytics must also be examined according to the attitudes and challenges of the organisations that, wishing to adopt them, are, or are not, willing to take on. Not only techniques and technology then, but also human behaviour. Something that, this work also reminds us, has acquired greater significance than it used to have after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has forced people to an increased and much more widespread use of IoT and Big Data Analytics.

Internet of Things and Big Data Analytics

Sultan Nezihe Turhan

Industry 4.0 and Global Businesses

21 January 2022

Digital content creators under scrutiny by labour legislation

The evolution of production leads to the creation of new kinds of entrepreneurs and workers, and it’s the constant renewal of production culture, that – though perhaps ignored by most – endures at the heart of companies. New jobs, then, but also new – or renewed – rights. Rights that need to be carefully identified and, if need be, protected. The contribution by Anna Rota (PhD in Labour Law at the University of Bologna), entitled “I creatori di contenuti digitali sono lavoratori?” (“Are digital content creators workers?”), recently published in the journal Labour & Law Issues, revolves around these intricate issues.

Rota begins her investigation by examining what happened last April, when the Italian Chamber of Deputies’ XI Commissione Lavoro Pubblico e Privato (11^th Commission for public and private labour) launched an inquiry into the growing numbers of digital content creators. The goal of the initiative was to acquire useful information for the introduction of legislative action in keeping with the characteristics of this type of workers. Positioned between employed and independent workers, with substantial technological training, in a professional relationship negotiated among themselves and employers, lost into a segment that is in constant (and fast) evolution, these workers belong to a category that, perhaps more than others, represent a most significant concrete model that could help us understand how employment and production systems are changing.

Thus, Anna Rota first analyses the typical features of this new kind of work, as well as other jobs carried out on online platforms, then goes on to explore more in depth the nature of the professional agreements for the production of digital content, and finally identifies the concrete terms of the relationship between employer and workers, to determine which main characteristics might inform a new contractual set of regulations.

Anna Rota’s investigation is not an easy read and, indeed, some sections have been written for experts rather than the common reader, yet it is an important work, because it attempts to bring some order to a complex, varied and changeable topic. Once more, what transpires is the need to continuously update and replace the rules in line with the evolution of actual situations and production culture.

I creatori di contenuti digitali sono lavoratori? (“Are digital content creators workers?”),

Anna Rota

Labour & Law Issues, 7, no. 2/2021

An operational manual for the management of corporate change provides useful interpretations and tools for entrepreneurs and managers

When facing change, one needs new tools and updated analytical methods. In other words, it is important to always reassess the contents of the toolbox used by entrepreneurs and their managers. This is why reading the revised and updated edition of Culture d’impresa. Come affrontare con successo le transizioni e i cambiamenti organizzativi (The corporate culture survival guide: culture, change, leadership), a manual written collaboratively by Edgar and Peter Schein, is very useful.

The book includes stories and practical corporate management tools, which have the goal of helping those individuals who deal with managing change, especially during the stage that involves the evaluation of existing corporate cultures. With new case studies and a greater focus on key management skills, this manual offers readers a wealth of knowledge, useful when critically thinking about renewing production culture.

The book starts by describing the main features characterising those who have to govern change, as well as the real meaning of concepts related to change, leadership and culture. Once these basic notions have been clarified and established, the two authors attempt to explain the structure of modern corporate culture itself and, after a further section, they finally succeed in outlining how production methods and their related cultural paradigms are shifting, providing – at this juncture – new intervention tools. Particular attention is paid to the social relationships existing within a company, as well as to technical aspects, so that what emerges from this book is an awareness of how important it is to care for people.

Thus, the authors succeed in perfectly explaining how change happens in practice, identifying what needs to be altered within a fully or partially disfunctional organisation culture.

Edgar and Peter Schein’s work is a good guide to refer to in order to move past that complex, and often tortuous, interval of time that will nonetheless lead a company to change, both internally and externally.

Culture d’impresa. Come affrontare con successo le transizioni e i cambiamenti organizzativi (The corporate culture survival guide: culture, change, leadership)

Edgar H. Schein, Peter A. Schein

Raffaello Cortina Editore, 2021

The new year has begun in the shadow of concern for the immediate future of the economy. Companies and consumers are feeling anxious about the steep rise in energy prices, which have an impact on the growth rate of inflation. People are disquieted by the new wave of the COVID-19 pandemic and the very high rate of infection of the Omicron variant: we thought it was finally over with restrictions affecting economic activities and personal relationships, yet here we are again, sensing danger and experiencing limitations on travel, gatherings, cultural and sports initiatives, business. The Italian government, which should be concentrating all its energy on investments funded by the EU’s Recovery Plan (much has been done and planned already, thanks goodness), is instead forced to deal, once more, with the unflagging burden of the health crisis, while among the political majority tensions, divergences and political conflicts grow.

And within a confused, quarrelsome political context, marked by wishful thinking and by personal and remarkable vanity, the upcoming presidential election is only making the situation worse. The spread of Italian and German bonds that’s been increasing in the past few weeks it’s an alarming gauge of the international financial markets’ worry about Italy’s potential political instability.

Yet, in spite of everything, and even in the full awareness of our political, economic and social fragility, it’s nonetheless worth paying great attention to other basic signs concerning the state of health of the Italian economy, take notice of the results achieved over a season marked by innovation and investments in enterprises, and emphasise the data that can be used as leverage to strengthen the current growth (that 6.3 rise in GDP observed in 2021 was largely due to the rebound following the 2020 crash but also boasted some structural integrity).

The first series of data to be considered concerns the increase in the number of patents, a sign of investment in innovation and forward-looking enterprise; the second pertains to start-ups; and the third relates to the excellent performance of the sectors most involved with export on the global markets.

Let’s start with the patents. The number of Italian patent applications received by the EPO (European Patent Office, 2020 data) amounted to 4,465, showing an increase of 5.3% as compared to the previous year. Basically, even in the thick of the pandemic, companies, research centres and individuals continued to work, create, innovate.

A better scrutiny of the data, as per the in-depth analysis carried out by the consortium for technological innovation Unioncamere-Dintec, one patent out of five relates to the six Key Enabling Technologies promoted by the EU as cutting-edge industries and general development drivers: biotechnology, photonics, advanced materials, micro/nanoelectronics, nanotechnology and advanced manufacturing, i.e. robotics and industrial automation. In the latter sector, the patents amounted to 670, 53 more than the previous year, an increase of about 9%, much higher than the 5.3% overall average mentioned above: a clear sign of the innovative strength of our mechatronics industry.

Some more data for us to ponder: the top region in terms of innovative abilities is Lombardy (1,506 patents), followed by Emilia Romagna (703), Veneto (596) and Piedmont (480). These are the areas with greater industrial presence, which have consolidated their national leadership and confirmed their strong manufacturing power at European level, but then again, this has been a long-term trend: looking at the data from 2008 to now, 80% of patents was from the northern regions, which abound in businesses, research centres, efficient public and private universities.

And here’s another factor to consider: last year, 4,200 start-ups were established in Italy, an increase of 25% as compared to 2020 (with a particularly significant presence of engineering and blockchain activities), and Milan is the most innovative city, with 818 new high tech companies (Il Sole24Ore, 7 January).

Italy’s industrial driving engine is still going, then, though it’s also becoming increasingly obvious that the rest of the country needs to develop in terms of innovation, corporate and market cultures, productivity and competitiveness.

The third series of data provides some reassurance about the future of the Italian economy, and relates to the strength of our export performance. Analysed by the Edison Foundation and illustrated by its director Marco Fortis on Il Sole24Ore (6 January), those figures show how our export levels are higher than before the pandemic, with a growth of 5.8% over January – September 2021, as compared to the same period in 2019. The drivers are the seven industries that, as per international rankings, we can term “3F” and “4M”: Food and wine, Fashion, Furniture and building materials, and then Metal products, Machinery, Motor yachts and other transport equipment, Medicaments and personal care products. The trade surplus of those “magnificent seven” products exported abroad reaches 138.4 billion dollars.

These series of data we’re talking about – patents, start-ups and export – are the result of basic choices made by the better side of Italy’s production system and research and technology transfer structures, which date back to the aftermath of the 2008 great financial crisis, and have been supported by a smart tax legislation implemented by governments ready to strengthen quality manufacture and to stimulate digital innovation through the Industry 4.0 process. Choices, that is, that have entailed a commitment towards the recovery of the real economy, investing in quality and – for a long time now – in the sustainability of products and production systems, in building links between industry and services, and in the gradual expansion of high-added-value niches on the global markets.

These are strengths engendered by a robust industrial economy with a European feel. An economy in which we must keep on investing, so that it can be used as leverage to support the whole country during periods of economic downturns, whenever they might occur.

Little Italy. Pizza, mafia and mandolin. Spaghetti-eaters. Chatterboxes. The sick nation of Europe. For the time being, we can bin all stereotypes, as Italy has been named “country of the year” by The Economist, the weekly magazine that has never been sparing in its blistering criticism and cutting irony – especially last year, in 2020, when it termed Italy “a country in decline, useless on the international scene, with a stagnant economy and a ruling class that simply squanders ideas and resources.” A critical tradition perpetuated, in previous years, through scathing covers: such as the one featuring Berlusconi, labelling him “Unfit to lead Italy”; the one with Berlusconi and Beppe Grillo, proclaiming “Send in the clowns”; and the one capturing the overall precariousness of Italy – a bus with the tricolour flag perched on the verge of a cliff, entitled “The Italia job”, the source of “Europe’s next crisis”.

But now the tune has changed and Italy is distinguished with “Triumphal honours”, hailed as the “most-improved country of 2021”. All thanks to Mario Draghi who, appointed Prime Minister by the Italian Parliament, has “changed the country”. Indeed, with Draghi, Italy “acquired a competent, internationally respected prime minister” and this political turnaround, sought for and backed by President Sergio Mattarella, meant that “a large majority of Italian politicians buried differences to support a programme of profound reforms aimed at obtaining the funds to which Italy is entitled according to the European Recovery plan.”

Here’s the deal: according to The Economist, which by and large reflects the most authoritative and widespread opinions of the international business community – not just in English-speaking but, more generally, in western countries – Italy is the nation that this year, pandemic and recession notwithstanding, has changed the most and for the better.

The favourable views expressed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel in her last days in office spring to mind, too: in the fight against COVID-19 and its variants, do like Italy – and follow its example, too, to relaunch the economy (looking at its GDP data, Italy is “bouncing back” much better than Germany and France).

A nice Christmas present by The Economist, then. In Italian political and entrepreneurial quarters, the feeling of pride is unmistakable. Credit where credit’s due, indeed. So, let’s put aside that particular tendency, which sadly affects large parts of the public opinion, to speak ill of our own country, to be hypercritical, to heighten the darker sides of politics and society (though real enough). And let’s try, instead, to build a more reputable image, based on the many things that are going well (innovative companies; social solidarity; generous initiatives by the “third sector”; banking foundations – like the Fondazione Cariplo and the Compagnia di San Paolo – that, in the words of ACRI president Francesco Profumo, “create alliances to benefit the collective interest”; quality cultural initiatives; the widespread reports about a robust “positive social capital”).

Italy – as many scholars and observers of economy and society have been saying for a long time – deserves a better narrative. Recognition by The Economist certainly helps, just as global sports victories do, or the Nobel Prize for Physics to Giorgio Parisi, or, further, the acknowledgement of Luciano Floridi, Oxford professor, as “the most influential philosopher in the world”.

It’s all very rewarding. These are successes on which we can build to keep on improving, being careful, however, not to allow self-satisfaction to make us too complacent.

In fact, The Economist also reminds us that Italy’s stability is a precarious one, that “week governance” is a threat that may come back our way, and that Draghi leaving Palazzo Chigi for the Quirinale could weaken the ongoing recovery

Moreover, even so, Italy still retains many of its historical features steeped into political, economic and social fragility. And Sabino Cassese is right when, on the Corriere della Sera (18 December), he talks about “Recovery”, but “with no illusions” concerning the “many weak points” affecting the quality of Italian politics, the limitations of public administration, the burden of public debt, the production crises – especially in the public sectors and those segments not influenced by market trends –; the shortcomings in education (exacerbated by poor teaching, due to recruitment processes that disregard merits and skills); the issues concerning environment and territory. And so on, without forgetting the long catalogue of reforms and innovations that have been lacking over the years, the monumental burden of corporations and patronage, and widespread criminality (from massive tax evasion to the pervasiveness of organised crime).

Though, to be fair, some reforms are ongoing. And the Next Generation Recovery Plan, as well as allocating huge financial resources, has also forced the Italian Government and Parliament to acknowledge the needs and the urgency of introducing further reforms, necessary to ensure that those sums are well spent. The arrival of Draghi at Palazzo Chigi has, thankfully, accelerated a process that may have otherwise ground to a halt.

Yet, there’s still a lot to accomplish. And, knowing this, as well as being a source of pride, reading The Economist could perhaps inspire us to keep on moving forward – it could be an incentive for politicians and social stakeholders to take charge and responsibility for building a better country, in all earnest.

A thesis discussed at the Politecnico di Torino substantiates the usefulness of smart working in small enterprises

A radical change in the way we work, which has recently affected many companies – in Italy, too. A consequence of the COVID-19 effect, of course, yet one that has nonetheless found fertile ground in which to grow and that has led to the discovery of new working modes that had previously been ignored, just like smart working. Now that we are past the initial shock, however, we need to question not only the right ways to deal with this mode, but also its genuine impact on individual enterprises and in general. This is what Claudio Camillo tried to achieve with his thesis entitled Analisi degli effetti dello Smart Working sulla produttività delle PMI Italiane (Analysis of the effects of smart working on the productivity of Italian SMEs), discussed at the Politecnico di Torino, as part of the Master’s degree in Management Engineering.

Camillo immediately states the two-fold aim of his investigation: “To shed light on the phenomenon of smart working and to assess the impact of smart working on the productivity levels of Italian SMEs in 2020.”

He then goes on to describe the phenomenon of smart working, analysing its main peculiarities, its similarities and differences with other modes of flexible work, and its propagation during the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods. The analysis then focuses on the related existing literature, paying particular attention to the perspective of companies and employees, and to the psychological factors that may affect the latter. Subsequently, Camillo attempts to pinpoint the positive and negative aspects of smart working in the vast body of writing that has been produced. Finally, the third section of this study centres on practical examples, illustrating the results obtained by a research group comprising students from the Politecnico di Torino and the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore of Milan.

The main conclusion arising from this analysis is that smart working has a positive effect on business productivity. Of course, to better understand and, above all, to better compare working practices, one should really “go and check out” each single company. Nonetheless, Camillo’s work shows how a path can be carved – albeit with care – and how it could lead us to a more evolved production culture (where feasible) able to conciliate the needs of businesses with those of their employees.

Analisi degli effetti dello Smart Working sulla produttività delle PMI Italiane (Analysis of the effects of smart working on the productivity of Italian SMEs)

Claudio Camillo

Thesis, Politecnico di Torino, Master’s Degree in Management Engineering, 2021

A conversation between a human resources expert and a philosopher encapsulates, in just a few pages, the true meaning of work

To work, and therefore be happy? Or, to work, and therefore feel perpetually wretched? These are not theoretical matters, but rather practical, everyday concerns, which also pertain to the very nature of enterprise, that is, a space – material and immaterial – where most circumstances call for work to be done; just like our current times, and the digitalised world in which companies and employment operate.

This discussion involving Paolo Iacci – human resources expert – and Umberto Galimberti – philosopher, academic and psychoanalyst – revolves around these themes, taking the shape of a printed two-way dialogue in the recently published Dialogo sul lavoro e la felicità con Umberto Galimberti (A dialogue on work and happiness with Umberto Galimberti).  To be more precise, the two authors ponder on which answer best addresses this specific question: is working the path to happiness or an inevitable curse?

The book unravels from the possible ways in which one could solve this conundrum – in just a little over 100 pages, it collects all philosophical and empirical knowledge concerning concepts and practices related to working, and the two antithetical scenarios discussed by Iacci and Galimberti are evidence enough of the appealing and useful nature of this work. To the ancient Greeks, the first step towards happiness was to know one’s own nature, in order to fulfil it. The current world of work – regulated by markets and rationales purely based on notions of efficient production – prevents humanity from embracing the whole production process of which it is part and thus to understand its ethical significance. Under these conditions, work cannot be the means to realise one’s own potential and attain happiness.

Balance and participation, involvement and fairness, self-fulfilment and enforced restraints, and much more – these are all elements that are part of the conversation and that are inspired by numerous literary and philosophical references. The reader – we should mention it now – will not find easy and pre-packaged solutions in this book, but, rather, much doubt and more questions: food for thought on what is happening today, tools for a better understanding. The kind of work that makes you happy – this is the conclusion by Iacci and Galimberti – exists, but only when those restraints and obstacles that make it unattainable are removed. How to do that is something that still needs to be ascertained.  This is a difficult, complex path to be undertaken, then – one that, even today, we cannot always follow to the end.

This book, purposefully left in dialogue form, makes for a fascinating read and from its first pages conveys the full complexity of the theme through two quotes – one from La chiave a stella (The wrench) by Primo Levi and another from the Book of Genesis, about Adam and Eve banished from Paradise – but also through some good words by Galimberti himself: “To me, working has always been a way to remain anchored to life and its real problems.”

Dialogo sul lavoro e la felicità con Umberto Galimberti (A dialogue on work and happiness with Umberto Galimberti)

Paolo Iacci

Egea, 2021