An extensive research work, sponsored by the Fondazione Cariplo, collects various case studies useful to understand the interplay between science and technological devices

Technoscience – or, in other words, “the close interplay between scientific expertise and technological devices”. Technoscience pervades modern industrial and social systems, and often without them fully being aware of this. It would be good, then, to ensure that it is well understood, not only in order to manage it properly but also to simply learn how to best live with it, which is something that concerns every sphere, and especially corporate ones. And also something that can be better understood by reading Co-Creazione e responsabilità nell’innovazione tecnoscientifica dal basso (Co-creation and responsibility in technoscientific innovation from the bottom up), a collection of case studies collaboratively written by Simone Arnaldi, Maura Benegiamo, Stefano Crabu, Paolo Magaudda, Sergio Minniti and Lorenzo Urbano, as part of a 2021 research project financed by Fondazione Cariplo and coordinated by the Polytechnic University of Milan together with the University of Padua and the University of Trieste.

The authors explain that this “anthology” includes “a series of co-creation initiatives concerning the areas of health and care, digital technology and communication, and territory and environmental sustainability.” Different spheres that, nonetheless, share the same feature: co-creation projects that intersect and concretise “the theme of responsibility as a specific approach to the practices and governance of technoscientific innovation.” But there’s more – the authors also stress how the topic of pervasive technology could generate some new “issues related to ethical implications, sustainability or social value in technoscientific innovation.” Issues that need to be tackled with great care and that, in many cases, become integrated into that good production culture that should underlie every good corporate organisation.

This series of studies and investigations concerning the role of technoscience in corporate organisations – and also in social and environmental organisations – supported by the Fondazione Cariplo represents a good guide to better understand how the relationships between research, science and technology are changing. A valuable read for everyone.

Co-Creazione e responsabilità nell’innovazione tecnoscientifica dal basso (Co-creation and responsibility in technoscientific innovation from the bottom up)

Simone Arnaldi, Maura Benegiamo, Stefano Crabu, Paolo Magaudda, Sergio Minniti, Lorenzo Urbano

Fondazione Cariplo, 2021

Let’s reiterate, once again, how enjoyable and important reading is, by recalling a famous quote by Umberto Eco: “At the age of 70, those who don’t read will have led only one life – their own! Those who read will have lived five thousand years: they were there when Cain killed Abel, when Renzo married Lucia, when Leopardi admired the infinite… because literature is backwards immortality.” And literature also challenges the future, at least in terms of the finiteness of human life, because reading and writing allows a story to continue living even beyond the lifespans of narrators and characters – because reading and writing create memories, broaden the mind, weave tales.

Basically, reading is just like playing a fabulous game.

This is why implementing and supporting initiatives that make books come to life in the hands of children is important: it gets them into the habit of reading from an early age, combining the pleasure of literature with the various digital activities that captivate the younger generations.

This is also why the Campiello Foundation and the Pirelli libraries are launching the Campiello Junior Prize, a literary award dedicated to books written for children aged 10 to 14 years. The three finalists were selected on 10 December in Milan, out of about 90 nominated books, of which about 40 were submitted to the jury chaired by author Roberto Piumini and including Chiara Lagani, Martino Negri, Michela Possamai and David Tolin. The three contenders are Un pinguino a Trieste (A penguin in Trieste) by Chiara Carminati (Bompiani), La scatola dei sogni (The dream box) by Guido Quarzo and Anna Vivarelli (Editoriale Scienza) and Questa notte non torno (I won’t come back tonight) by Antonella Sbuelz (Feltrinelli). The winner will be chosen by a popular jury (as per the historical rules of the Campiello Prize) including 160 elementary and secondary school children from all over Italy.

Enrico Carraro, president of the Campiello Prize and of Confindustria Veneto, asserts that, “Together with the Pirelli Foundation, we have established this prize to promote, once more, literary talent, and to propagate reading among children. This is a new project that reaffirms the commitment of Veneto entrepreneurs towards cultural activities and, as such, the development of the country.” And, adds the Pirelli Foundation, “we support the Campiello Junior Prize in order to stimulate the writing of children’s books, which are tools to enhance the pleasures of discovery, knowledge, quality of life. And it’s one more initiative, among the many we launched throughout our history, aimed at enhancing company libraries, the dissemination of culture, the nurturing of a ‘book culture’ as a crucial part of responsible citizenship from an early age.”

This, then, confirms the notion – developed over time and gaining new strength today, and concerning the north-east of Italy and Milan – that doing business means to focus on knowledge, and thus on the quality of what we read and write. And the new generations should be involved in this process, which blends the pleasure of reading with a growth of cultural awareness – which turns reading into a literary adventure game through which the many dimensions of fiction and history, poetry and science, can be explored.

Indeed, doing business – especially in Italy – means taking into consideration the dimensions of memory and innovation, of a “politechnic culture” that combines humanities with sciences, philosophy with technological evolution, invention with actual discovery, creativity with an attitude bent on developing a new economic and social balance, to build a new, better narrative for Italy that relies on the country’s aptitude for “creating beautiful things that the whole world enjoys” (which is what characterises the so-called Made in Italy).

In fact, narratives make us learn, grow, have fun. Through narratives we can lay a stronger foundation to attain a solid, deep-seated civic culture, a proper community – this is what “industrial humanism” is, and good books are an essential part of it.

Roberto Piumini, prolific writer of children’s books and chair of the Campiello Junior Prize jury, adds some further significant thoughts: “Those who write for children, who publish children’s books, who promote or reward children’s literature, achieve something that’s much more complex, praiseworthy and even riskier than in other kinds of writing, publishing and promotion, because they’re not attempting to convey existential, cultural or emotional concepts that readers will remember and that will become part of their literary taste; rather, they’re teaching children to express themselves, to learn a cognitive and emotional language: their own language, in the most substantial yet delicate anthropological sense. Writing, publishing, promoting children’s fiction means to supply ways to learn, feel, establish one’s identity, develop imagination and purpose. This is not achieved, as in past literary works, through illustrative examples and role models, or through wise yet threatening admonitions, but through a rich, playful language that, with creativity and dynamism, invites children to enjoy variety and all that the world has to offer.”

Piumini also hints at the kind of direction that the Campiello Junior Prize might take in the future: “This notion of providing a kind of language that is not exclusive to an individual literary experience but also pertains to how we communicate socially, lead us to believe that a prize such as this should extend to other forms of fiction, such as narrative poetry and playwriting. Although not very widespread on the publishing scene as yet, considering the audience they appeal to and their verbal and social nature, they would be the perfect counterparts to written fiction.”

An intriguing idea that corroborates Eco’s words and could lead to children “living other lives, other worlds” through novels, poetry and theatre, as early as possible.

A series of interviews with entrepreneurs and managers outlines a different (and positive) kind of production

Is it possible that, from today’s great challenges, something positive and new could arise? Many believe this is feasible, while many others are persuaded it is inevitable. Whatever the case, this is nonetheless a perspective worth pursuing, in relation to the corporate system and, more in general, to the economy. A notion which justifies the effort it would take to achieve it.

These are the premises around which the argument by Maurizio Decastri, Emanuela Ferro and Massimo Quizielvu revolves, and that is collected in Verso un nuovo rinascimento. L’impresa di valore (Towards a new renaissance. Valuable enterprises), an anthology that includes conversations with entrepreneurs and managers, bound together by research and practical investigation concerning the new prospects that their business activities could generate.

This is what is happening today and, as said above, this is the premise on which this work develops. The current situation is looked at in a favourable light: the acceleration caused by the pandemic crisis at the beginning of 2020 – we learn – has seeped into businesses and has led to a rare opportunity, that of being able to redefine, without grinding to a halt, new managerial, cultural and organisation models that we can well believe will last over time.

A positive (and tangible) vision that outlines what the title refers to – a new Renaissance – and that also acts as a kind of dictionary teaching us about the new aspects of production. In this dictionary, as the authors explain, we find some terms that are unusual in the corporate vocabulary, but whose etymology leads us to rediscover their original meaning, which adds value to organisations willing to embrace them and incorporate them into their cultural and organisational pillars. Hence, the book talks about sustainability and technology, but also about emotions, time regained, trust, harmonious balance, as well as – of course – the more general relationship between enterprise and society. And all this is informed by the logic that underlies the concept of “value” in society and in the corporate system, value that is not reduced to the mere material expression of an item but of something that is much more important.

Among this work’s pages we find, therefore, the thoughts of entrepreneurs and managers working in companies of different kinds, encompassing various fields, such as logistics, high tech, energy and much more. They all express, in their own particular way, what the curators very clearly explain in one of the sections: “The uncertain, tense period we are experiencing hints that we should build valuable enterprises, that is, companies based on restraint, self-control and harmony.”

Verso un nuovo rinascimento. L’impresa di valore is a must-read. And, perhaps, to be reread after a little while, just to see whether the horizons it paints are actually coming into view.

Verso un nuovo rinascimento. L’impresa di valore (Towards a new renaissance. Valuable enterprises)

Maurizio Decastri, Emanuela Ferro and Massimo Quizielvu (curated by)

Guerini Next, 2021

A contribution published in the periodical Dizionario di dottrina sociale della Chiesa (The Church dictionary of social doctrine) provides a clear analysis of an alternative interpretation of production organisation

Creativity, and thus entrepreneurship. A willingness to do and make, and thus entrepreneurship. Ingenuity, and thus entrepreneurship. We could go on like this for a long time, finding parallels all based on one common element: the entrepreneur, the key figure in the foundation and development of a production organisation. Discussions revolving around “good businesses” require constant update and development, and need not touch on sanctimonious companies (the nemeses of good companies centred on production, yet not purely focused on making a profit). This is what Giovanni Marseguerra (from the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore of Milan) achieved with his contribution entitled “Intraprendere: una questione di relazioni” (“Entrepreneurship: a question of relationships”), published in the second 2021 issue of the periodical Dizionario di dottrina sociale della Chiesa.

“Behind all entrepreneurial activities is a person with the desire to achieve something big and important”, writes the author right at the beginning of his contribution, and continues to say, “This desire acts as a steering impetus and allows to concretise any business ideas, which does not always mean success yet always drives the spirit of entrepreneurs. The fate of such an initiative will then substantially depend on the commitment and the skills of its promoter and, partly, also on circumstances, which can be favourable or unfavourable.” This is the proposition from which Marseguerra’s argument develops  and that aims to identify the basic principles and values that underlie the foundation and development of entrepreneurial activities. More in detail, the article wants to show how every genuine and concrete entrepreneurship always arises from personal initiative, from free and responsible human vision and how, over time, it defines a kind of human and social capital that ends up looking like social good. Therefore, a “community of people” grows around an idea or a project, constitutes and embodies the enterprise, which will also thrive on relationships based on collaborations and cooperation, both internal and external.”

To elaborate his argument, Giovanni Marseguerra also takes into consideration neoclassic economic theory at first, and subsequently “a theory based on the individual”, before reaching a final interpretation founded on the social doctrine held by the Catholic Church. Marseguerra, then, attempts to examine more closely certain aspects deriving from these presuppositions, including the responsibility an entrepreneur holds, family-based companies, freedom, care for “real and tangible people”, the role of businesses in “building a more human economy.”

As it always happen with clear, straightforward arguments, not all readers will agree with Giovanni Marseguerra, though no one, in all honesty, could deny its significance and intelligibility.

Intraprendere: una questione di relazioni (“Entrepreneurship: a question of relationships”)

Giovanni Marseguerra

Dizionario di dottrina sociale della Chiesa, Issue 2021, 2 – April-June 2021

“The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of.” Rereading Blaise Pascal’s Pensées (Thoughts) is always beneficial – it especially helps when contemplating the deeper meaning arising from the ideas held by our “irrational society”, a snapshot of which has recently been captured by the Italian socio-economic research centre CENSIS in its 55^th Report on the social condition of Italy. In fact, ignoring the specific context of Pascal’s thought – the relationship of humankind with Truth and thus with God – his words actually encourage us to go past the tendency to condemn so-called “magical thinking” and, rather, question the reasons that gave rise to such widespread irrationality.
Indeed, we need to find some answers and try to bring back to the side of rational thinking, scientific knowledge and understanding of “true facts” and data – and thus also to the side of a public dialogue based on critical thinking and notions of liberal democracy – as much public opinion as possible, retrieve as many people as we can from the clutches of bizarre beliefs that the earth is flat, a “Great Reset” of our minds is coming, powerful conspiracies, “enemy” deceptions.
And we need to look beyond the antagonism of those who shield themselves behind No Vax ideas, of extremists and agitators, of unscrupulous exhibitionists looking for easy fame. We need to actually tackle these currents of opinion, even when they don’t affect too many people, and get to work in order to restore a feeling of “trust” based on positive, rational critical thinking. And “trust” being a feeling, it indeed encompasses expectations and emotions, passions and appraisals, interests and values – it comprises those “reasons of the heart” that occur within a different sphere than that of rational progress, efficiency and decisions based on technological and scientific reasons – a different sphere than that of rational thinking.

“Reasons of the heart”, like poetry and literature, can express the deeper feelings that envelop human unrest. But they become political when they end up keeping a community, a polis, together and become a volatile mix of lofty feelings, idealistic choices, emotional pulses and self-interested calculations, yet also “sympathy” (from the Greek, sun and pathos, to share strains and sorrows) and community values.
This is why, now that data concerning an “irrational society” has been appropriately illustrated by CENSIS’s excellent research methods and social commentary (5.9% of Italian people don’t believe that Covid really exists, 10.9% thinks that vaccines are useless, 12.7% affirms that science causes more harm than good, 19.9% finds that 5G technology is a “sophisticated tool to control people”, 5.8% states that “the earth is flat”), we need our social and political stakeholders – as well as anyone with an academic job – to learn how the root cause of unease and social rifts causing marginalisation can be tackled. And also to show how improved work and life conditions can actually be possible,
as it’s precisely amongst marginalisation and cultural degradation that “magical thinking” more easily thrives, where sovereignism and populism spread, with a rebellious spirit at times. And that’s where unscrupulous individuals sow fake news, through which international political groups attempt to rip the fabric of public opinion in European and Western countries.

Of course, in Italy, widespread decline and unease have ancient roots. According to the 2013 CENSIS Report, that year Italian people felt “dull and unhappy” – though some more “colourful” emotions were also recorded. Then, in 2017, Italian society was “resentful”, while 2018 featured “malice”, with phenomena of “mental sovereignism” that betrayed feelings of isolation, as well as a loss of trust and sense of civic belonging. In 2020, the initial reaction to the pandemic centred on “fervour”, which has now become an “irrational society”. It’s true that the Italian identity is a very complex one, bristling with multiple, conflicting tensions – and the traces left behind by previous crises, feelings of disorientation, painful uncertainties, are still palpable. Moreover, in the long term, as ideas (or illusions?) of continuous progress and growing general wealth wanes, a significant part of the population has given in to pessimism, to that “magical thinking” that only sees conspiracies, enemies, persecution, rather than face the ups and downs of a difficult season with pragmatism. And this frame of mind is exploited by unscrupulous and irresponsible political and social groups with a strong presence on social media, through messages laden with hostility.

How, then, should we respond? To keep on denouncing “magical thinking” and “irrationality” is, of course, necessary. Just as it is important to remember that, when providing information, “you can’t compare a scientist with the first shaman you come across” and thus “we need to rely on competence again” because “not all opinions have equal weight”, rightly states Monica Maggioni, director of the Italian news programme TG1 (la Repubblica, 5 December).
But it’s not enough. True, the vast majority of Italian adults (85%) has been vaccinated, showing an admirable sense of responsibility and a smart understanding of ethical and civic duties towards themselves and society. It’s also true that companies and workers, excepting a few, have handled the pandemic and the recession crises very well, through innovation, work and production, thus generating a remarkable economic recovery (6.3%). Finally, it’s true, too, that we are seeing extraordinary evidence that strong civic spirit and solid positive social capital really exist (starting with volunteer activities).
Yet, all this doesn’t exempt us from taking responsibility for the sense of unease that’s been going on for quite some time now. Unease generated by the gap between growing expectations of wealth and a low rate of economic development, especially in Western societies; by breakdowns in social mobility, which have seriously overshadowed the hopes of the younger generations; by the new technological, cultural and geographical disparities that are worsening the life conditions of the middle class.

The pandemic, and the ensuing recession, have exacerbated all this, and thus unease has festered. Here are some figures we might all find interesting: the number of families in abject poverty has doubled in one year, almost reaching 2 million. Employment opportunities remain scarce, especially for young people and women. The employment market shows a glaring contradiction: companies would be glad to hire 400,000 new employees, but they’re failing to find them, while hundreds of thousands of people say they’d be happy to have a job, if only they could get it. Both parties have a point, that’s why we need to implement serious employment policies related to training programmes, as well as better ways to more efficiently match job offers and requests.
What it all boils down to is that we need an employment policy that has been long overdue, a fact that especially affects local authorities and Southern Italy; we need to “mend” our social fabric; we need to rebuilt trust as part of a shared effort.
Since last February, Italy has enjoyed good governance, with prime minister Mario Draghi, an influential and renowned figure at international levels, at the lead. And thanks to the current government (and after the severe shortcomings of the previous ones) and to the reliability and credibility shown by the Quirinale and by president Mattarella, Italy has ultimately succeeded in handling the pandemic rather well, identifying how to best use the Recovery Plan’s European funds and restarting the economy by encouraging companies to invest and develop.
But we need to keep on moving forward, with clarity and a forward-looking sense of responsibility, and, sadly, the latest intrigues and skirmishes concerning Italian financial laws and what might happen at the Quirinale after the elections are not exactly encouraging.

Yet, regaining and strengthening trust remains the main goal, in order to revive Italy and consolidate its recovery, and we can start by healing the social wounds that cultural deterioration, disillusion, resentment have inflicted –
in essence, we need to reconcile feelings and rational thinking and, going back to Pascal, find compromise and understanding between the reasons of the heart and those of the mind. In life, one of the most important thing we can do is plan for the future and build bridges, through ideas and words, through real – not “magical” – thinking.

A scientific study has shown that an appealing environment accompanied by a pleasant experience makes learning easier.

Beauty helps to learn more and better. It may sound trite but it is true, and that’s not all – beauty is not only conducive to better learning, it also helps to work better and to absorb knowledge in a more thorough and effective manner. Good corporate culture has known this for a while, yet most people still have not. Yet, the relevance of an appealing teaching environment and enticing methods has always been apparent in everyday practices, and it is now supported by a study that demonstrates the deep connection between aesthetic appreciation and learning mechanisms. The research paper, published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General by the American Psychological Association.

and entitled “Nice and easy: mismatch negativity responses reveal a significant correlation between aesthetic appreciation and perceptual learning”, is the result of serious research undertaken by the BraIn Plasticity and behavior changes Research Group (BIP), part of the Department of Psychology of the University of Turin, in collaboration with Harvard University’s Department of Economics. Through a non-invasive brain imaging technique – electroencephalography – researchers have demonstrated that our nervous system is better at processing things that we subjectively find more beautiful. Indeed, beauty can be considered a “conscious symptom” of automatic processes when drawing information from the environment that surrounds us, and the more effective these processes are, the greater aesthetic appreciation we derive.  Pietro Sarasso, Marco Neppi Modona, Nicola Rosaia, Pasqualina Perna, Paolo Barbieri, Elena Del Fante, Raffaella Ricci, Katiuscia Sacco, Irene Ronga – the study’s authors – even talk about “aesthetic feelings”: not as idle, abstract feelings, but possibly as the reward we get from our nervous system when it acquires knowledge through an agreeable interaction.

In other words, the authors believe that the positive sensation we feel when we are exposed to something we like could be a signal response from our brain when it acquires new information from the sensory environment that surrounds us – in other words, experiencing beauty could be the reward for having learned something new.

Obviously, this piece of research that the two universities have undertaken in collaboration will have a significant and far-reaching impact – not only on education and work in general (in terms of approaches to learning pathways, and especially rehabilitation ones, for instance), but also by providing some tangible evidence to what, until now, was only speculation, and that will further enhance the development of good corporate culture.

Nice and easy: mismatch negativity responses reveal a significant correlation between aesthetic appreciation and perceptual learning (“Nice and easy: mismatch negativity responses reveal a significant correlation between aesthetic appreciation and perceptual learning”)

Sarasso, P., Neppi-Modona, M., Rosaia, N., Perna, P., Barbieri, P., Del Fante, E., Ricci, R., Sacco, K., & Ronga, I.

Journal of Experimental Psychology: General (2021).

A recently published book tackles the theme of online and digital teamwork

Working together. Easy to say, something that is almost self-evident, and yet incredibly difficult to achieve, nearly impossible at times. And when it involves new online methods and digital processes, it gets even more complicated. Indeed, these are topics that have been steadily becoming more pressing and important for some time now. What happened following the COVID-19 pandemic has shown how we need to learn to work more and better, but also to be part of a “digital group”, and be better at that, too – topics around which revolves Virtual team. Nuove sfide manageriali fra libertà e regole (Virtual teams. New management challenges among freedom and rules), written by Andrea Martone and Massimo Ramponi.

The book immediately sets out an important condition as its premise: if it is true that, from March 2020 up to now, our habits have been changing at a speed that only such a vast emergency could engender, and that these habits mainly concern the use of technologies related to remote activities – smart working, first and foremost – it is also true that virtual teams, especially from an international viewpoint, are not an outcome of the pandemic. Nonetheless, the issue of learning how work in virtual teams remains a significant and urgent one.

“Without the adoption of adequate measures, relationships between team members can very easily become detached, purely bureaucratic, and even confrontational (…)”, write the authors, adding that, “These difficulties can be managed through strong leadership, helping the development of cohesive virtual teams and trustful relationships (…). Virtual management, and as such leadership, must be able to simultaneously keep an eye on two seemingly conflicting aspects: emotions and rigour”.

According to Martone and Ramponi, then, we need to really put concepts such as “trust”, “accountability”, “shared goals”, “learning”, into practice. But there’s more. Those who manage the work of virtual teams also need to possess great emotional intelligence, as well as good technical abilities, strong communication skills, self-awareness, restraint, motivation, empathy.

The two authors accompany the reader along a path that is not always smooth, and that starts by defining the exact nature of a virtual team, then analyses all aspects related to the topic, and finally sets the rules for building a good virtual team.

This book by Andrea Martone and Massimo Ramponi really provides the excellent guidance needed to keep up with the ways in which work is evolving in companies. To be read and implemented.

Virtual team. Nuove sfide manageriali fra libertà e regole (Virtual teams. New management challenges among freedom and rules)

Andrea Martone, Massimo Ramponi.

Franco Angeli, 2021

Transitions: we live in controversial times, marked by deep, radical transitions. The environmental transition, rife with the opportunities arising from the green economy and yet also burdened by the turmoil generated by economic and social costs. The digital transition, with its extraordinary possibilities and yet also fraught with concerns about artificial intelligence becoming too pervasive. A hobbling generational transition where the elderly are frail and yet the silver economy is powerful, and younger people are generally at a loss, in an Italy that’s becoming old and depopulated, as the worrying decline in its demographic growth shows (“In 50 years we’ll have 12 million less people” according to ISTAT – Il Sole24Ore, 27 November).

Transitions are never easy. It’s like fording a river, and when you’re half-way the current could easily sweep you away – it’s like finding yourself in-between worlds, torn by the strains of an old world that’s not yet waned and of a new one that is rising.

As Antonio Gramsci taught us, “in this dusk, monsters are born”. This dark warning about “monsters” should not be underestimated, even if taken in its historical context (Europe in the 1920s, when the Belle Époque was crumbling, revolutionary movements were emerging, and the alarming shadows of fascism were deepening).

The fragility of our era has become apparent to all. The COVID-19 pandemic and all its worrying variants – such as the latest and very contagious Omicron strain – has struck with an overwhelming power that transcends boundaries and that affects a fundamental human condition, our state of health (“There will be further mutations and this one may not be the worst”, declared the authoritative virologist Ilaria Capua – La Stampa, 28 November). And thus the pandemic also becomes a metaphor for a “sick world”, unbalanced and dysfunctional, and our state of health is likened to that of the environment and social conditions.

Moreover, we are experiencing further anxiety caused not only by cybercrime targeting institutions and companies, but also by the poison spread by fake news aiming to disrupt and fracture public opinion in Europe and other democratic countries – phenomena that expose the vulnerable state of markets, politics and social organisations.

Furthermore, the gaps and contradictions typical of globalisation are undermining the environment, international commerce, welfare. And the political conflicts arising from a multilateral attitude lacking effective governance and fraught with clashing interests and values are putting efforts towards harmony and a new and improved economic and social balance under intense strain.

In such prevailing uncertain circumstances “monsters” thrive, while opportunities for a recovery, a fresh start and – to use a current buzzword – “regeneration” lie in the common will to start again or, even better, in the common will for a “new beginning”, as advised by Pope Francis.

It’s certainly worthwhile, then, referring back to a pivotal book of the 20^th century – La peste (The plague) by Albert Camus, in order to find some comfort for the future: “On this earth there are pestilences and there are victims and it’s up to us, so far as possible, not to join forces with the pestilences.” Not to find some optimism, but to become critically aware of our fragility and, at the same time, to highlight a choice we could make towards a less uncertain future.

Indeed, all great European literary works include bright examples of such choices, like this quote attributed to Sir Thomas More, a statesman who always remained deeply faithful to his moral principles: “Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to distinguish the difference.”

In our current historical and spiritual era, so dark yet also illuminated by flashes of light, clarity of distinction is a virtue we should rely on, recalling some of the words that were written, and that we have read, which might be of some help.

Words such as these, just to mention another fine work: “Yet it is not that the world is becoming entirely technical which is really uncanny. Far more uncanny is our being unprepared for this transformation, our inability to confront meditatively what is really dawning in this age.” These are words by Martin Heidegger, one of the most controversial philosophers of the 20^th century, recollected by Umberto Galimberti in a book he’s written with Paolo Iacci, Dialogo sul lavoro e la felicità (A dialogue on work and happiness), published by Egea. Words that reiterate the need for strong critical thinking when facing scientific innovation and technological consequences, such as the danger that the world might be “becoming entirely technical”. Words that highlight the possibilities, sadly untapped as yet, for understanding and therefore for steering all these contemporary, complex phenomena we’re experiencing. Words that are especially suited to the challenges posed by artificial intelligence and to theories on autonomous machine learning and the development of autonomous algorithms. And words that, all things considered, tell us that even Heidegger believed there was hope.

In short, the digital, environmental and social transitions demand greater efforts in researching, studying and understanding them, which can be achieved also thanks to a consolidation of a “polytechnic culture” able to combine knowledge encompassing both humanities and science, and as such stimulate the critical thinking of “engineers-cum-philosophers”, while science demands that we become fully aware of the basic criteria involved in trial and error approaches, as per the teachings of Karl Popper. We need to be able to master the power these approaches could release. We need to build positive social capital (the role of companies placed between competitiveness and social inclusion is key here, and requires of them to act responsibly). And we need to draw new, updated maps in order to navigate this current transition and build a new economy on a human-scale, an economy in which human, social and civil values determine financial value.

Essentially, we need to “confront meditatively what is really dawning in this age”, as Heidegger said, and rekindle some basic confidence in science, as Karl Popper said – future is “a lure and a temptation”, and it inspires us to live. In spite of everything.

The latest Bank of Italy report on the state of the industry is a tool for cultural and corporate growth

Good businesses pay attention to what happens outside their factories’ walls. It’s a question of culture, but it’s also a matter of realising that what takes place on the outside can (and, more often than not, will) also affect production results on the inside. This is why true entrepreneurs and good managers read newspapers the whole way through, rather than stopping at the headlines. And also why they should include in their readings the Bank of Italy’s periodical reports on the state of the Italian economy and industry – it makes for valuable information that should enrich the wealth of knowledge (and the culture) of all production organisations.

This is the case of the “Sondaggio congiunturale sulle imprese industriali e dei servizi“ (“Overview survey on industries and services”), recently released by the Bank of Italy and that provides an accurate snapshot of the conditions and expectations of Italian industrial production – it’s a report that well defines the context in which each individual company operates.

It’s also a report from which we can learn about the real state of health of Italian corporate culture. Indeed, the Bank of Italy points out that “reviews of strictly industrial companies and services with at least 20 staff show a marked increase in sales in the first nine months of the year, both in the internal and the international markets. About 70% of industrial companies and 60% of industrial services are expected to recover or exceed pre-pandemic levels by the end of the year.” Resilience and resistance, then. Qualities that are not only useful to elude the medium-term impact of a pandemic, but also the transitory effects resulting from it, such as the current cost of raw materials. Yet, even so, “about half of the companies can expect an increase in sales within the next six months”, while “the investment plans drafted at the end of last year, pointing at a moderate growth, have been fulfilled by two third of the companies; the remaining third has largely experienced a level of spending higher than that initially forecast, mainly due to a positive demand trend.”

An economy that’s reviving, supported by a manufacturing culture. Work resumes and wealth is on the rise again, albeit slowly. Of course, one report is not enough to dispel all issues, just like a couple of days are not sufficient to create true corporate awareness. Nonetheless, what we said above holds true: we need knowledge to grow and develop, and businesses do, too. This is why reading the Bank of Italy’s report is beneficial to everyone.

Sondaggio congiunturale sulle imprese industriali e dei servizi (“Overview survey on industries and services”)

Various authors.

Bank of Italy, Statistics, 8 November 2021

The history of INAZ, as narrated by Vera Zamagni, outlines a model but also new prospects of good corporate culture

Resilience, rather than mere resistance. But also the ability to evolve, without, however, forgetting one’s origins altogether; to employ new technologies, but without overlooking the importance of people. Holding on to familiar roots that, nonetheless, stretch into the knowledge that modernity demands openings, not closures. All this can be found in the history of INAZ, a company founded in 1948 with the aim of offering businesses a new way to manage payroll offices, written by Vera Zamagni (economic historian and discerning expert in Italian enterprises). INAZ. Innovazione aziendale Un’azienda di persone per le persone (INAZ. Corporate innovation. A company of people for people) is a book that begs to be read from cover to cover; it is the story of a company whose vicissitudes can teach a lot to other companies.

Valerio Gilli – a pioneer in the scientific organisation of payroll offices – came up with the business concept, also developed thanks to the fundamental contribution of his wife Clara Calissano, and succeeded in establishing the company just at the right time, thus benefitting from the full social and economic boom period that was sweeping over Italy. Then, in the 1980s, the company went through both a generational and a technological shift, as Gilli’s daughter Linda started taking over its management and electronic tools were adopted. At the turn of the 21^st century, Linda Gilli was fully in charge and the company expanded to include what was at first referred to as management of human resources – to become management of human capital – as well as classic “payroll offices”. Today, as we learn from the book, the company is undergoing another generational and technological transformation, as Linda’s children are taking over and the company’s software is being transferred to the cloud.

Over the course of more than 70 years, explains Zamagni, INAZ has become a medium-sized company of “fourth capitalism” – that is, that evolutionary stage of economy and production that arose from previous transformations (corporations, state-owned enterprises and classic, traditional SMEs) and that involves a concept of entrepreneurship and production where profit is not the sole objective. This is in fact what happened to INAZ, which, with a turnover of more than €50 million and over 500 staff, embodies the virtuous example of a family company able to pursue its own idealistic values while effectively upholding corporate civic responsibility. INAZ becomes an emblem, then, that inspires not only Vera Zamagni’s outline of a “corporate model”, but also her analysis of the shift that took place in corporate culture – a shift that is ongoing and whose potential is becoming increasingly obvious.

“An entrepreneur,” says Linda Gilli in the book, “I believe, has the moral duty to create the best conditions in which collaborators can work and also grow as people. Entrepreneurs need to help their employees fulfil their own potential, and promote a sense of sharing, of togetherness; they have to give room to collaborators, listen to them, offer and ask for their cooperation, accept others’ ideas, and always create harmony, in order to foster creativity and innovation. Entrepreneurs need to respect people, develop and make them responsible, train and help them grow – this is the role an entrepreneur must play in a company, with consistency and commitment.” Without, of course, neglecting to make ends meet.

INAZ. Innovazione aziendale Un’azienda di persone per le persone (INAZ. Corporate innovation. A company of people for people)

Vera Zamagni

Il Mulino, 2021