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

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