Se pubblicassi il saggio in inglese, proporrei all'editore questo titolo. Del perché, ho già detto qui.
The
ongoing protests of Occupy Movement against social and economic
inequality indicate the problem, but do not provide a way out. In the
meantime Business Schools continue to churn out managers unable to
face the challenges of the present time.
Managers
who lead today's corporations and large organizations, Francesco
Varanini writes in this essay, too often are not up to the task.
The
book tells the story of how, around the beginning of the Thirties of
Last Century, in response to the financial crisis, the manager
appears on the scene, new social figure called to lead large
organizations, private or public. Its authority is based on the
ability to find a balance between the different interests involved:
investors, employees, customers, suppliers, local communities.
Not
by
chance,
management
-understood
as
an
academic
discipline-
reaches
maturity
in
the
Sixties
with
the
Stakeholder
Theory.
Stakeholders:
"Those
groups
without
whose
support
the
organization
would
cease
to
exist",
it
is
said
in
an
internal
memo
written
in
1963
by
researchers
of
the
Stanford
Research
Institute.
But
in
1965
Igor
Ansoff,
in
Corporate
Strategy,
marks
a
turning
point:
the
stakeholders
are
not
all
equal.
The
shareholder
count
more
than
others.
This
opens
the
road
to
the
unbearable
situation
of
our
days.
Too
many
managers
today,
writes
Varanini,
instead
of
being
at
the
service
of
value
creation,
are
at
the
service
of
value
extraction.
They
act
in
the
interests
of
the
financial
community,
rather
than
the
interests
of
the
company
for
which
they
work.
Described
this scenario in the first part, the book presents in the second part
a description of a possible manager adapted to the times, again
mindful of the interests of all stakeholders.
To
lead
complex
organizations
today,
writes
Varanini,
we
need
more
wisdom
than
reason.
In
describing
the
new
management
-respectful
of
sustainability,
equity-oriented
and
with
a
long-term
vison-
the
author
puts
aside
the
management
literature.
Rather
than
in
it,
he
finds
inspiration
in
the
Old
Testament
and
in
the
Buddhist
culture,
and
cites
authors
unexpected
in
this
context:
Italo
Svevo,
Philip
Dick.
A
metaphor
summarizes
the
book’s
meaning.
The
manager
is
now
forced
to
swim
in
a
sea
infested
with
jellyfishes.
It
's
pointless
to
protect
themselves
from
risk,
control
procedures
are
are
almost
always
ineffective.
What
we
need
is
to
be
ourselves,
keeping
up
with
the
pace,
light
slipping
through
the
difficulties.
