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

“Industry, the driving force of Italy, propels the European recovery” asserted the Centro Studi Confindustria research centre in its recent report on industrial scenarios (Il Sole24Ore, 21 November). In fact, our manufacturing industry has returned to pre-pandemic activity levels (its added value in current dollars has gone back to 2.2% of the world’s total) and it’s improving in Germany (with production figures 10% lower than what they were before COVID) and France (down by 5%).

Basically, the Italian industry is consolidating its export capacity, breaking new ground in the internal market (also thanks to the Draghi government’s subsidies for the building and consumption sectors), investing in digital innovation and in environmental and social sustainability (with cohesive businesses that are mindful of community, inclusion and solidarity values, and that are more competitive, as the latest Symbola studies on the Green Italy show). And if it were not affected by a major, widespread lack of specialised workforce and the dizzy increase in the price of energy and components – starting with microchips – it could grow even further.

There is no doubt, continues the Centro Studi Confindustria, that the growth of the Italian GDP – a growth of over 6% in 2021 – is largely due to the production efforts undertaken by the Italian manufacturing industry. And while another increase of 4.4% is expected in 2022, much of the data confirms that this financial recovery is not just a rebound following the 2020 crash, as it displays strong indications of structured growth in many sectors (mechanical engineering, electrical equipment, electronics, rubber, plastics, lumber, etc.).

A positive period, then. Not to be wasted, but to be exploited in order to rebuild wealth and a stable job market. But also a period in which to pile up resources that will allow us to pay off the interests on the public debt, incurred to tackle the pandemic crisis and the recession and to allow for continued investments. A proficuous use of the EU funds, following the indications of the PNRR, the Italian recovery and resilience plan (focused on the digital and environmental transition, research and education, reforms in public administration and laws, large strategic infrastructures) is essential in order to strengthen this path of growth – it’s a significant political and economic challenge that involves institutions, political and social forces, enterprises.

The Centro Studi Confindustria also maintains that the number of companies that have radically altered their value production chains, supply chains, supply networks, is increasing. Our manufacturing industry is coming home: a clear change in direction when we think of choices that were popular only a few years ago (when production was relocated to countries that offered lower costs and better conditions, from the Far East to certain areas of Eastern Europe).

Hence, backshoring – or reshoring, if preferred – continues; factories are no longer located abroad and supply chains are getting shorter, replacing those long, protracted ones demanded by international strategies when globalisation was booming, when China and India were the “factories of the world”. Indeed, local social and economic factors are fracturing them – suspensions from a lack of raw materials, jams in the transport system, strains due to tensions of any kind, interruptions caused by cybercrime. Better, then, to try and produce in a safe environment, and therefore bring production and supply chains back home, to more auspicious places where they can be adequately managed and kept in check.

Backshoring tactics that, of course, should not be adopted by each single European country separately, but aimed at turning the whole of Europe into a domestic market, a common production hub to be developed, to become more competitive at an international level.

Sure, global trends won’t disappear, and we’ll keep some manufacturing in the Far East – but in general we’ll increasingly adopt a local-for-local approach, a production system suited to internal markets, and abandon old-fashioned strategies relying on large import and export volumes. This is not at all meant to sound protectionist – it’s merely a shift in competitive attitude, to give companies the chance to strengthen their production skills and their quality in the world’s markets, and in more autonomous and safe conditions.

Maurizio Marchesini, vice president of the Confindustria section dedicated to supply chains and SMEs, believes that “We find ourselves in a very complex transition stage. Digitalisation, sustainability, new assets in the global value chains, are posing significant challenges that not only affect the production systems, but society in general.” And also that “institutions and industry must collaborate, in order to define a road map” for the transition.

This paradigm shift, this deep renewal of corporate culture, are significant. A return of manufacturing in Europe and in its more industrial countries (Germany and Italy, but also France and Spain) needs to be stimulated and consolidated by an appropriate, fully fledged European industrial policy (thankfully, we can glimpse some traces of it in parts of the Next Generation EU Recovery Plan). And those quality and sustainability traits that more strongly define European industry – as opposed to American, Chinese and Indian industries – need to be enhanced and turned into key competitive assets. The automotive industry, for instance, which is undergoing a difficult and socially expensive transition towards electric cars, should in fact be one of the main sectors on which both the European Commission and the best automotive nations (such as Germany, Italy and France) should really focus investments and innovation.

A newly published staff management “guide”

A theory inspired by our reality, and, as such, not rigid but, just like reality, comprising multiple aspects, all interconnected with each other – a complex theory for a complex reality. It cannot be otherwise when dealing with the theme of human resources in business and the best way to approach it. This is the concept underlying the book curated by Ernesto D’Amato (a manager with extensive corporate experience) and that includes a number of contributions written collaboratively, all sharing the same feature: all the authors are managers. More like corporate routine practice, then, than academic theory.

This approach explains the book’s title and subtitle: Il manuale delle risorse umane. Scritto da manager per futuri manager (A human resource manual. Written by managers for future managers). Indeed, this work really reads like a “manual” – it is not about abstract concepts, but rather embodies a concrete working tool presenting readers with a wide range of corporate cases and good HR practices. Its aim is to instigate a profitable learning process whereby, as said above, concrete examples give rise to theories, and not vice versa.

The book is structured into four sections, each corresponding to a major theme: corporate organisation in general terms, practices in human resource management, welfare, work discipline and trade union relations. It includes about 30 accounts by managers from major companies – from Sanofi to Trenord, from Generali to Ikea, from Bosch to Manpower, and many others. A little over 300 pages, this book collects real practical experiences, recollected and narrated by people who are really involved in the management of human resources, and also includes new solutions and strategies implemented by those who deal with genuine organisational issues every day. Moreover, together with some more traditional advice, this guide includes insights in topics such as research, talent enhancement, smart working, work safety, gender equality, and individual and work ethics, which nowadays are key to any business.

This is an excellent book curated by D’Amato, a great collection of guidelines that managers of today and tomorrow will find extremely useful when in need of some direction. To be read and reread.

Il manuale delle risorse umane. Scritto da manager per futuri manager (A human resources manual. Written by managers for future managers)

Ernesto D’Amato (curated by)

Guerini Next, 2021

Research undertaken on the relationships existing between Italian design and Italian industries investigates the complex connections that give form and substance to good Italian corporate culture

Good manufacturing culture, encapsulating technical skills, taste and human values. And the best place for it is Italy. These are the themes discussed by Maria Antonietta Sbordone (from the University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Department of Architecture and Industrial Design) and Davide Turrini (University of Ferrara, Department of Architecture), in their recently published contribution on MD Journal.

“Designed & Made in Italy. Invarianti, transizioni, nuove mappe valoriali” (“Designed & Made in Italy. Invariants, transitions, new value maps”) is an attempt to capture the series of connections linking design and Made in Italy, identifying some constant points among many variables affected by time and a changing economic and social context.

In their introduction, Sbordone and Turrini write, “In Italy, which in general has shown a lack of substantial and continued investments by large industrial companies and of consistent, large homogeneous orders, the relationship between design and manufacture has historically included the factor of “taste” – a complex, heterogeneous cultural phenomenon that incorporates unique and recognisable semantic and formal values, as well as traits related to quality manufacturing and commerce. Nowadays, this phenomenon displays further degrees of complexity and variance: in increasingly fluid national and global contexts, delocalisation processes are rampant; the social fabric of the middle class, historical protagonist in turning consumption into a concept of the imagination in management and manufacturing, is unravelling; buyers’ awareness of what the real value of goods should be is weakening, while the perception of quality is being affected by increasingly random variables.”

These are the reflections that inform this research work, whose structure is quite straightforward: the authors first investigate the different connections observed within what, for convenience’s sake, is termed Made in Italy; then they explore the “Convergence points between creativity and manufacture”; and finally they assess the impact of change, with an analysis of the “design variations in the new value chain.”

This essay by Maria Antonietta Sbordone and Davide Turrini is not always easy to read, but it does help to better understand the really complex system of relationships that underlie great part of the best Italian industrial manufacture.

Designed & Made in Italy. Invarianti, transizioni, nuove mappe valoriali (“Designed & Made in Italy. Invariants, transitions, new value maps”)

Maria Antonietta Sbordone, Davide Turrini

MD Journal, 9, 2020