A recently published book summarises a different approach to the reality we are all facing

Resilience and complexity, but also care for others, without losing sight of goals and targets (corporate ones included) to be met. This is the essence of the difficult balance required to sustain production organisations, social systems, families and also individual life. The kind of balance that Valeria Cantoni Mamiani discusses in her latest book, Leadership di cura. Dal controllo alle relazioni (Caring leadership. From control to relationships), recently published with a great foreword by Pierluigi Celli who, while earnestly stating not to always be in agreement with the author, finds this work “one of the most well-reasoned and inwardly engaging attempts to untangle, going beyond current trends, the jumble of perceptions and, often, stereotypes that characterises management literature and practice.”

The book begins with a statement: as well as marking an era of resilience, 2020 has also seen the rise of a new awareness, that of vulnerability considered as a universal condition, a standpoint from which we can restart and reconceive society, organisations, employment, power and its hierarchies. The author calls for a particular requirement: those in power must create a new range of values that will make organisations sustainable for everyone.
The book then demonstrates why and how nowadays we could practise a new kind of caring leadership, mindful, present, engaging and able to listen. A key feature is the ability to care for people while giving them sufficient space to be autonomous: the new leadership favours collaboration rather than competition and focuses on the interpretation of real needs, in such a way that their definition will include the recipients of the organisation’s beneficial aims.
Hence, according to Valeria Cantoni Mamiani, it will be possible to move beyond concepts that juxtapose authoritative paternalism and nurturing maternalism in order to give space to an attitude characterised by the ability to listen, thus shifting from a control culture to one where relationships flourish.
Thus, readers are offered a framing of the “context in which we live”, followed by an analysis of needs and feelings that delineates the guidelines of a culture focused on “care practices” and thus to the definition of a “new kind of authoritativeness”.

Celli is right: we are certainly not obliged to agree with everything that the book asserts, but we should definitively read it, to realise what a precious guide it is for reconceiving consolidated organisational behaviours and models that, due to the their vainglorious fatuity, have now become obsolete.

Leadership di cura. Dal controllo alle relazioni (Caring leadership. From control to relationships)

Valeria Cantoni Mamiani

Vita e Pensiero, 2021

A recently published research study connects the many dots of a significant area in contemporary economics

Social enterprises, lying between the public sector and profit-oriented companies, are hybrid entities that need to be understood rather than simply be considered benevolent businesses. Social enterprises make for a complex topic that needs to be approached with great care – also considering the headway these entities are gaining – in terms of the potential that such organisations offer and the particular production culture they embody.

Thus, “L’impresa sociale: dai concetti teorici all’applicazione a livello di policy” (“Social enterprises: from theoretical concepts to policy applications”) by Giulia Galera and Stefania Chiomento, published at the beginning of 2022, makes for very useful reading. It is a contribution that well summarises the current state of play of studies and practices undertaken in this area of economics.

“Over the past 20 years,“ write the two researchers in the first pages of this paper, “we have witnessed an extraordinary increase in interest concerning this diverse cluster of entities situated between the public sector and profit-oriented companies. Not only several economists, management scholars and sociologists, but also political scientists, historians, anthropologists and psychologists have devoted themselves to this phenomenon, or some of its aspects, contributing to explain their drivers, potentials, limits and evolving dynamics from different academic perspectives.”

This study is very helpful because, above all, its aim is plain: to compare the various concepts employed to frame the different aspects of said phenomenon. Indeed, the concept of a social enterprise is often juxtaposed, superimposed, confused with notions pertaining to social and/or fair economy and the third sector. Thus, some clarity is required, and it is precisely what Galera and Chiomento attempt to achieve. Besides all this, then, the article ponders on the meaning of social innovation, yet another big concept that often crops up when discussing this theme.

The contribution by these two EURICSE researchers appropriately begins by analysing the theoretical concept of a social enterprise, then continues to examine the main research studies related to it, as well as its applications. After a section focused on the legal aspects, which in Italy, in recent years, have had an impact on these enterprises’ sphere of action, the paper moves on to discuss social economy, fair economy, and the combination of the two, before exploring in depth policies related to the so-called third sector and, finally, social innovation. Galera and Chiomento, however, do not stop here and try to apply theory to concrete real-life situations (including an interesting and useful comparison table).

Giulia Galera and Stefania Chiomento’s contribution attempts to define and organise concepts and practices that revolve around social enterprises – a very good read for the better understanding of what is happening within a significant area of contemporary economics.

L’impresa sociale: dai concetti teorici all’applicazione a livello di policy (“Social enterprises: from theoretical concepts to policy applications”)

Giulia Galera, Stefania Chiomento

Impresa Sociale, no. 1/2022

Recent crises, from the COVID-19 pandemic to the war in Ukraine, from environmental disasters to the issues affecting global economies – recession, the rise in energy and raw material prices, the shortage of intermediate goods (microchips) and delays in maritime transport – have highlighted the significance and import of nation-states. In fact, national interests are back in the spotlight and seem to be overshadowing the globalist economy, i.e. the ideology of market supremacy. Values and interests that resounded over centuries of nationalism are now echoing back to us, magnified by the screeching tones of sovereignism – and the whole world starts panicking, hit by a shock wave generated by the inequalities ingrained in a multipolar society. New geopolitical tensions are deepening ancient conflicts, while ambitious grandstanding is putting considerable strain on the economic, financial and social relationships that have been shaping international affairs for the past 30 years. Essentially, we’re finding ourselves in the midst of a significant “age of uncertainty” and no clear, reassuring answers are in sight.

Here arises, in a different form, another substantial issue that has been dominating contemporary political debate: the issue concerning the relationships between state and market, emerging from the critical reassessment that’s being explored in political and economic literature of western democracies in particular.

In a nutshell, current debate is prompting us to consider the need to have “more state” and “more market” at the same time. In other words, a better, fairer and more efficient state that manages public spending more effectively, along with a fiscal regime working as both incentive and equaliser, accompanied by a well-regulated open market able to nurture entrepreneurship, competitiveness, meritocracy and employing resources as a support to industrial growth and economic development, as well as – back to “more state” – leading to more widespread well-being in society.

To gain a better and deeper understanding of Italy’s current situation, we can rely upon the wise words contained in “Bentornato Stato, ma…” (“Welcome back state, though…”), a book by Giuliano Amato, published by Il Mulino, describing a state “free from its old habits and distant, no matter what, from the hubris of authoritarian centralisation.” Amato is indeed a man of learning who knows about governance, with considerable experience as a key political player, the competence of a civil servant (as former president of the Italian antitrust authority) and the sound knowledge of a distinguished jurist (he’s just been elected president of the Constitutional Court of Italy). He explains that a return to state intervention, precisely in times of great and dramatic crises such as the ones we’re experiencing and that we mentioned above, must be able to withstand the pressure generated by political patronage, corporations and powerful lobby groups (high-tech multinationals included) and to make strategic decisions so that available resources are dedicated to general interest and common good objectives.

We’re not talking about Italy becoming a “charitable state” trapped by the pressure to perpetuate public spending driven by political patronage (thus exacerbating the increase of public debt, which snowballed in the 1980s and was kept in check by the constraints involved in joining the euro, only to flare up again after the recent introduction of ineffective measures such as the “citizenship income” – a welfare allowance dependant on income and citizenship – and the very costly “quota 100” pension scheme, aimed at encouraging hundreds of thousands of people to go into retirement), nor are we talking about a state taking on the direct management of financial enterprises (except under temporary emergency conditions). We’re talking about a state able to “juggle” temporary pressures and to prioritise political decisions, both during this short-term crisis and over the much longer period that recovery strategies require.

Amato’s book clearly identifies a risk: that of capitalising on the chance provided by the considerable resources made available by the PNRR (the Italian recovery and resilience plan), as per the indications of the EU’s Next Generation Recovery Plan, to reshape public spending in a way that will suit some twisted agenda aimed at reviving and strengthening support for unscrupulous, welfarist political forces. Moreover, knowing EU culture and its thinking patterns very well, Amato reminds us how the current marginalisation of ordoliberalism and of the obsessive ideology that all EU countries’ budgets should be equal does not mean we should just go on a public spending binge – on the contrary, what we need is a spending culture based on productive investments, rather than shaped by political favours (namely, corporations and politically affiliated businesses). Just as Mario Draghi, as former president of the ECB, insightfully observed when commenting on the difference between “good debt” and “bad debt” – a sensible and extraordinarily valuable tactical remark, especially in these times of crisis and war.

The EU recovery, including its vital need for autonomy and strategic safety, currently under threat by authoritarian governments, is founded on principles of foreign policy and joint defence, energy and scientific and technological research, and as such requires outstanding investment policies coordinated by the states and structured along supranational lines – the essence of the EU – in order to contribute to a “new global order”. It’s a “public” responsibility that ties liberal democracy to market economy.

Ultimately, Amato’s excellent book clearly illustrates the importance of “political far-sightedness” and “governing democracies”, and outlines a positive future for the reassertion of democracy and its values, authoritarian governments notwithstanding, as well as for practices allowing social powers and their representatives – the “intermediate bodies” on which liberal democracy is based – to play a broader and more significant role.

“The 2022 Numismatic Collection is innovative in terms of its subjects and production techniques, as well as in the methods of its communication and marketing. It is a prime example of how public companies can introduce great innovation, while pursuing objectives of public interest. Many subjects of the 2022 collection recall and celebrate major players and important projects for Italy and Europe.” This was the comment from Alessandro Rivera, the Director General of the Treasury, concerning the 2022 Numismatic Collection, which was unveiled today by the Ministry of Economy and Finance and by the Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato (State Printing Office and Mint) at the Museo della Zecca in Rome. In the catalogue, the “Eccellenze Italiane” series includes a trio of commemorative coins in gold and silver, dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the founding of Pirelli. The subjects reproduced on the three coins, using both manual and digital techniques and with colour inserts, highlight the innovations of the company’s products and its visual communication over the years: a tyre racing across a stylised car, the iconic advertising campaigns of the early twentieth century and 1960s, a picture of the first factory, set up in 1872 by Giovanni Battista Pirelli in Via Ponte Seveso, in Milan. A postage stamp dedicated to the company will also be issued on Friday, 28 January, as part of a series celebrating centres of excellence in the production and economic system. Creativity, brilliant minds and industry are thus celebrated in collectible items that express the historical, artistic, cultural and intangible identity of the Pirelli Group.

Now in its tenth edition, Cinema & History, the free online training and refresher course for secondary school teachers is about to start up again. Promoted by Fondazione ISEC and the Pirelli Foundation, it is being put on in collaboration with the Cinema Beltrade in Milan.

The course, entitled L’Italia tra declini e rinascite. Una storia economica (“Italy and its booms and busts – an economic history”) provides the tools needed to paint the full economic picture in educational courses. In a diachronic progression, from the Unification of Italy to the present day, the crucial turning points and themes in the Italian economy will be examined in connection with the way they have been shown in cinema.

Again this year, the five historical lessons will be accompanied by a number of films selected by Cinema Beltrade and, to help teachers use films for educational purposes, there will be a Cinema in the classroom workshop.

The meetings will all be held on Mondays, from 4 to 6 p.m., from 7 March to 11 April 2022.

Registration for the course is free but required. Please write to didattica@fondazioneisec.it by Monday, 28 February 2022. The meetings will be held live on the Microsoft Teams platform. For further information, please write to scuole@fondazionepirelli.org.

Places on the course are limited and registrations will be accepted on a first-come first-served basis.

For the general programme of the course, click here.

The Premio Campiello Junior keeps pressing ahead, towards the moment when the winner of the first edition will be announced on Friday, 6 May 2022.

For the young people on the Readers’ Jury, the time has come to read and choose their favourite book. On Wednesday, 9 March 2022, over a hundred very young jurors, from schools across all Italy as well as from abroad, came together for a meeting put on for them by the Pirelli Foundation and the Fondazione Il Campiello.

The young people had a chance to talk about their passion for reading and their first impressions of the three finalist books in a conversation with the team of Pirelli Foundation Educational, together with Chiara Lagani and Michela Possamai, two members of the Selection Jury that in December chose the three finalist titles from the many candidates.

The young readers of the Jury clearly showed their deep love for books and a great desire to make their opinions known. The choice they make over the coming weeks will help decide which book wins the prestigious award.

The next event, which will be for all those who love reading, will be live-streamed on Tuesday, 5 April 2022 with the participation of the finalists: Chiara Carminati, Guido Quarzo and Anna Vivarelli, and Antonella Sbuelz, who will tell the audience about what inspired the stories and characters that they brought to life in their books.

For further information on the Premio Campiello Junior events, please go to www.fondazionepirelli.org and www.premiocampiello.org

A meeting will be held on Tuesday, 5 April 2022 at 5.30 p.m. to inform all passionate young readers about the three books selected for the finals of the first edition of the Premio Campiello Junior:

Chiara Carminati, Un pinguino a Trieste, Bompiani

Guido Quarzo – Anna Vivarelli, La scatola dei sogni, Editoriale Scienza

Antonella Sbuelz, Questa notte non torno, Feltrinelli

During the live-streamed event, which is organised by the Pirelli Foundation and the Fondazione Il Campiello, the authors will talk with the jury members Chiara Lagani, Martino Negri and David Tolin about what inspired the stories and characters that they brought to life in their books. The event will be introduced by Roberto Piumini, President of the jury.

Over the next few weeks, the young people on the Readers’ Jury will be asked to express their preference, choosing the book that will win the coveted award. The winner will be announced on Friday, 6 May 2022.

To follow the live stream, click here.

For further information on the Premio Campiello Junior events, please go to www.fondazionepirelli.org and www.premiocampiello.org.

One of the latest contributions by the Governor of the Bank of Italy provides useful elements to better understand our current situation

Uncertainty, a need for development and obstacles to be overcome, the issue of raw materials and energy, the necessity to not forget the interplay between economy and society. The times we are, unfortunately, experiencing are rife with what pundits call “challenges”, which everyone – according to their role and function – must in some way first understand and then successfully tackle. This is why reading “Transizione energetica, finanza e clima: sfide e opportunità” (“Energy transition, finance and climate: challenges and opportunities”) proves beneficial – this is the talk that Ignazio Visco, Governor of the Bank of Italy, has delivered on 14 March 2022, at the 13^th Bank of Italy – Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI) Conference, also attended by Financial Delegates and Attachés working abroad.

The essence of Visco’s words is clear from the very beginning of his contribution: “Today’s meeting falls on a tragic date: the serious events of these past weeks have cast a shadow of deep uncertainty on a world’s economy that already, in this past 15 years, has been disrupted first by the global financial crisis and then by the pandemic. The context that arose at the end of the cold war now seems to be called into question. The international economic and financial integration framework and the complex multilateral arrangement that, despite the many difficulties, had succeeded in keeping dialogue and cooperation alive, have now become uncertain. Fissures had already started appearing in recent years; today, the peace of our continent is at risk, a crucial element in the balance established in last century’s second post-war period. It is a deep and serious breach that will lead to a different balance, though one that remains difficult to identify as yet.” A crucial period that the Governor outlines by addressing some key issues. First of all, the necessity to tackle the transition by identifying more efficient energy sources, and then the duty – directly linked to the energy transition – to establish some clear measures regarding climate change. But there’s more. Visco, indeed, further touches on the meaning and the role of a united Europe, not only in geopolitical terms but also – and above all, in some respects – in regard to energy and climate change policies.  Subsequently, the Governor of the Bank of Italy also discusses the financial aspects that all this, inevitably, will determine.

Cohesion and cooperation seem to be, in Ignazio Visco’s reasoning, the true “code words” required to face – not only with full cognisance but also with effectiveness and rationality – a difficult, complex and risky juncture. Reading the contribution by the Governor of the Bank of Italy truly provides readers with knowledge that is crucial in order to take a step in the right direction.

Transizione energetica, finanza e clima: sfide e opportunità (“Energy transition, finance and climate: challenges and opportunities”)

Ignazio Visco

XIII Conferenza MAECI – Banca d’Italia con i Delegati e gli Addetti finanziari accreditati all’estero (13^th Bank of Italy – Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI) Conference, also attended by Financial Delegates and Attachés working abroad), Bank of Italy, Salone dei Partecipanti hall, 14 March 2022

A book summarises theory and practice of digitalisation as applied to heritage

The future revisits the past, making it more accessible and comprehensible – not in the form of fanciful words and images, but as part of a tangible operation aimed at making new sources of knowledge available to all. Along those lines, one of the most important and intriguing examples is the confluence of digital techniques, archiving and cultural and corporate heritage.

Margherita Tufarelli (University of Florence) scrutinises this process, offering a broad perspective on cultural archiving in her recently published Design, Heritage e cultura digitale. Scenari per il progetto nell’archivio diffuso (Design, heritage and digital culture. Scenarios for extensive archiving projects).

Tufarelli tries to bring together, in a single line of thought, the opportunities offered by the most innovative, cutting-edge digitalisation techniques, the many cultural archives existing in Italy and all that the concept of heritage encompasses. With a solid and long-standing experience in researching and working in these areas, the author of this work, published by the Firenze University Press, tackles such a complex theme by subdividing it into four sections – “from inheritance to heritage, from objects to processes”, “design for/of cultural heritage”, “digital memory”, “from place of conservation to project tool” – characterised throughout by an effort to blend theory and her considerable experience in both design and cultural archiving.

Tufarelli writes: “The impact of digital technologies seems to have created a metaverse in which real and digital combine into a kind of new materiality with unique physical characteristics, all to be explored, which bring life to new testing grounds distinguished by availability, pervasiveness and accessibility. The new material that progressively takes shape appears as the product of continuous interactions between new media and new tools, which engender complex, underlying cultural operations, affecting the production dynamics of cultural content, as well as its transmission.”

Thus, the book provides a kind of overview of the opportunities arising from the careful blending of digital techniques and cultural archiving – a model that could also effectively be applied to corporate archives and museums.

Design, Heritage e cultura digitale. Scenari per il progetto nell’archivio diffuso (Design, heritage and digital culture. Scenarios for extensive archiving projects)

Margherita Tufarelli

Firenze University Press, 2022

Where does the future lie for young Italian people? Abroad, answer three young people out of ten, determined to leave Italy in order to find better work and life conditions. And what motivates them is the search for a fulfilling career, real financial independence and, in the case of young women, a real chance to overcome the gender gap, which in Italy still has a great impact on income and career opportunities.

This is data included in the 2021 Report by the Visentini Foundation/LUISS, presented a few days ago in Rome (IlSole24Ore, 10 March), proof that the “brain drain” migration is increasing year after year. According to data from the Migrantes Foundation’s Italians in the world Report, in 2019, just before the pandemic, over 50,000 young people (aged 15-34 years) left the country, while the total for the 2009-2018 period amounted to 250,000, as stated by the 2019 Annual Report on the economy of immigration by the Leone Moressa Foundation; and to 300,000, indicates the Italian association Unione europea delle cooperative (using 2019 ISTAT data that includes students, as well as workers, located abroad) with a 33% rise over the past five years. An astonishing loss of human and social capital, if we consider that, in general, the individuals who leave are also the most entrepreneurial, ambitious and determined ones, driven by a strong attitude for innovation and a taste for discovery.

The cost of this loss? It’s rather plain to see – for instance, figures by the Altagamma Foundation reveal that “the Made in Italy industry is head-hunting 346,000 talents” (IlSole24Ore, 9 March). Indeed, the manufacturing industry related to the high-quality fashion, design, furnishing, shipyard, automotive and food sectors is struggling to find the adequately skilled and technically trained staff it requires (with vacant roles amounting to 40% and 50% respectively). And, in broader terms, 40% of available positions in the industry and services sectors continue to remain vacant (Unioncamere-ANPAL Excelsior Survey, IlSole24Ore, 22 February, as previously mentioned in our blog post from 8 March). Hence, considering the above-mentioned growing “brain drain” migration, the future can only get worse.

Nevertheless, let’s have a better look at the data provided by the Visentini Foundation, in order to try and understand the underlying causes for this migratory trend. This survey was carried out in spring 2021 and included over 3,000 high school girls and boys from all over Italy, with the aim of identifying their aspirations and concerns. In first place, we find “a satisfying career”, followed by “financial independence”, “family well-being”, “difficulties in climbing the ladder”, “environmental decline”, and “physical and mental health”. To fulfil their goals, 29% of these young people are willing to go abroad and 80% feel “hopeful” about the future, though much less so if their future means remaining in Italy – a considerable prod to those in power to invest more in education – and not just in formal education but in lifelong learning opportunities, too, which are key to personal development, professional success and well-being.

Following the EU Next Generation Recovery Plan’s indications, the PNRR (Italian recovery and resilience plan), aims to precisely address these needs, though the whole issue remains an open challenge and, for the younger generation, an insubstantial list of good intentions. Over the past two years, the pandemic has slowed down life and economy and now, in the middle of the recovery, the damage caused by the Russian invasion and the war in Ukraine are exacerbating the overall difficulties experienced by young people, undermining confidence and trust.

Yet, what does the data say, more in general, about the Italian migration to other European and international countries? The last edition of the 2021 Migrantes Report can help us better understand this phenomenon, as, to begin with, it shows how “over the past year, the AIRE (Italians resident abroad) population has increased by 3% – a figure that becomes 6.9% in 2019, 13.6% over the past five years, and 82% since 2006, the first year the Italians in the World Report was published. The gender difference has now almost disappeared, with women making up 48.1% of the Italian population abroad – “This is a phenomenon,” says the Migrantes Report, “that includes an increasing number of women, but also of families. In fact, nowadays, many women leave to pursue personal and professional fulfilment, and the same happens with a lot of households – married and unmarried – with children. According to data by the Ministry of the Interior’s Central Office of Statistics, updated at the beginning of 2020, out of almost 5.5 million of Italian people residing abroad, 3,223,486 are families.”

To better understand what’s happening in terms of Italian mobility, the Migrantes Report mentions a series of figures: +76.8% minors; about +179% Italian citizens aged 19 to 40 years registered with AIRE; +158.1% children born abroad from AIRE citizens; +128.6% foreign citizenships acquired; and +42.7% expatriations officially registered: “This is a population that, overall, is getting younger as it grows; yet, while in the US population is increasing through people acquiring American citizenship, especially in the south, Europe is actually experiencing a new migratory season characterised by the recent surge in the number of expatriations and children born from citizens residing abroad.”

As of 1 January 2021, the AIRE community comprises 5,652,080 units, amounting to 9.5% of the over 59.2 million Italian citizens residing in Italy. Out of these, 45.5% are aged 18 to 49 years (over 2.5 million), 15% are minors (about 848,000, of which 6.8% are younger than 10 years old) and 20.3% are over 65 years old (over 1.1 million, of which 10.7% – about 600,000 – are over 75 years old); 53.0% have been residing abroad for less than 15 years and 47.0% for more than 15 years.

Sicily is the region with the largest community of residents abroad (over 798,000), followed by Lombardy (561,000), Campania (almost 531,000), Lazio (almost 489,000), Veneto (479,000) and Calabria (430,000). The largest AIRE communities can be found in Argentina (884,187 – 15.6% of the total), Germany and Switzerland, followed by Brazil, France, the UK and the US.

The Migrantes Report states: “For a little over ten years, Italy has been experiencing a new migratory season, but the consequences of this trend have fully become obvious only in the past five years, with Italy going down a dangerous, slippery, one-way path characterised by a decrease in population, where the number of people returning to Italy does not match the number of those leaving the country. Moreover, the latter comprising mostly young people in the prime of their life and professional creativity, we need to focus our attention and activities on this portion of the population.”

And thus, we circle back to good politics – employment, training and education, income, life quality are all goals to be achieved, so as not to obliterate future opportunities and lose an entire generation.

(photo Getty Images)