Archive

2025-07-02 E&M Plus

Doing business in a changing world: how Italian managers can lead the future of export

Director Battocchi, the global landscape is entering a new cycle of tensions and instability. Amid regional conflicts, trade restrictions, and the renewed focus on economic security, how are Italian companies coping with these shifts in their international operations? The Italian economy is highly diversified across sectors. We rank among the world’s top three exporters in roughly 1,000 out of 5,000 product categories. Italian companies have also diversified geographically: about half of our exports go outside the European Union. These factors provide Italy with a solid degree of flexibility ...

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2025-06-30 Gianmarco Ottaviano

The shortcut of protectionism: external solutions for internal problems?

“Amor, ch'a nullo amato amar perdona.” Throughout the Inferno, many sinners offer justifications or shift the blame onto others, trying to elicit pity from Dante the pilgrim or to rationalize their eternal torment. This tendency highlights Dante’s view that sin is a deliberate act of will, and that trying to escape responsibility is itself part of damnation. Of course, protectionism is not a Dantean sin that leads to eternal damnation, but blaming others in order to avoid correcting one’s own shortcomings remains a source of trouble. Exporting firms are special firms. Analysis of big data ...

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2025-06-24 Andrea Dossi

Beyond Practice Updates. Values and Principles Redefining Controlling

The Planning and Control (P&C) system is undergoing a moment of profound transformation. Throughout all of business history, in the face of external changes, the control function evolves when it becomes clear that existing practices are losing relevance. In other words, they can no longer direct managerial action – the perennial litmus test of the usefulness of the P&C system. To regain this relevance, companies are driven to develop new operational practices. These need to efficiently and effectively convey the perspectives inside the organization that inform business decisions in such a way ...

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2025-06-18

Apple at a Critical Crossroads: Dependence on China and the Tariff War

"Designed by Apple in California. Assembled in China." The presentation of the first iPhone by Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, in San Francisco, California, went down in history not only for its theatricality but, above all, for its vision. The live demonstration of an entirely new product, which introduced so many innovations, literally marked the beginning of a new era – both in technology and in communication. Apple’s co-founder, however, failed to mention something crucial that iPhone buyers could have noticed if they looked closely at the new device and its box: “Designed by Apple in ...

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2025-06-16 Stefano Caselli

Rethinking enterprise, reviving Europe

What choices are businesses facing today? How can we, as a School of Management, help businesses, entrepreneurs, and managers, during this unprecedented time? Five years after the pandemic and three years after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, companies are now contending with a storm of tariffs. These tariffs not only jeopardize revenues, but also the very way companies operate in the marketplace. While the Covid pandemic exposed the interdependence of production chains, leading to logistical gridlock, the tariff virus makes this reality even more evident. Illustrating this point, The Wall Street ...

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2025-06-10 Davide Reina

A disassembly line for the dustainable transition

Everyone knows that a circular economy is essential for reducing CO2 emissions. According to calculations by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, about 30 percent of all the decarbonization needed by 2050 to meet globally agreed targets depends on the circular economy. Few people, however, realize that the circular economy is also indispensable if we want to avoid running out of raw materials. The reason is simple: demographics. The world population has grown from 2.5 to 8 billion people in less than eighty years—an exponential and unprecedented increase in history. In the span of what is roughly ...

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2025-06-05 Alessandro Sura, Emanuele Di Ventura

Corporate profits: factors of inequality among Italian firms

Introduction In recent years, growing focus on economic inequality has given rise to the need for in-depth analysis of the internal dynamics in firms, particularly as regards the distribution of profits. In Italy, corporate profits are not only an indicator of the financial health of a business, but also a valuable yardstick for assessing economic inequality, both among firms and in firms. Tools such as the Lorenz curve and the Gini index make it possible to measure the degree of profit concentration and compare it with a perfectly equal distribution (Cowell, 2011). This is relevant to the topic ...

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2025-05-29 Donato Masciandaro

Public debt and interest rates: the compass dilemma

Let’s start with the facts. The incoming German government coalition has reached an agreement to increase public spending by 500 billion euros, easing both formal and cultural constraints on spending, deficits, and debt – particularly with regard to defense. Following the announcement, German bond yields rose. But does this market reaction reflect optimism or concern? An empirical analysis applied the following method to this specific event: when there is an unexpected economic policy announcement, the market’s verdict can be inferred by observing a set of indicators. The study compares ...

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2025-05-23 Leonardo Caporarello

How to negotiate (successfully) in the phygital world

Phygital negotiation refers to a blend of traditional face-to-face and digital-enabled interactions. In fact, digital tools can enhance the negotiation process in both in-person interactions (with data mining, for instance) and virtual ones (online meetings). In essence, phygital negotiations encompass a wide variety of combinations of direct, personal contacts and technology-driven elements such as online collaboration platforms, data collection and analysis tools, and document sharing systems. Advantages and challenges of phygital negotiation Phygital negotiation provides great flexibility in ...

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2025-05-15 Francesco Perrini

The sustainability pendulum: stakeholders set the course

Sustainability took several hits in 2025, though none delivered a knockout blow. Regulatory progress slowed in both the U.S. and Europe, and mounting political pressure might suggest a retreat. Yet the underlying trend remains intact. Stakeholder demand continues to exert powerful influence beyond regulation. Clients, employees, local communities, and the media still expect measurable, verifiable commitments on climate action, human rights, and responsible governance. Institutional investors, particularly outside the U.S., are maintaining ESG criteria in fiduciary mandates. This has led to a disconnect: ...

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