Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Managerial Revolution in Italy. The Managers of IRI (1945–1970)

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Book cover Reassessing the Role of Management in the Golden Age

Part of the book series: Central Issues in Contemporary Economic Theory and Policy ((CICETP))

  • 339 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter aims to analyze the managers of Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale (IRI)—the major State-owned industrial holding and the most prominent example of managerial capitalism in the history of Italian economy—in the significant period of the so-called Golden Age.

The analysis is founded on a data-set concerning top and middle managers (education, military service, political and religious affiliations, recruitment and career), built intertwining a multiplicity of original sources. Based on empirical evidence, the chapter aims to get a deeper understanding of some of the crucial issues in the identity and action of State-owned enterprises’ (SOEs’) managers, mainly the complex relationships with the government and the political milieu.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Among others: Vernon R. and Aharoni (1981); World Bank (1996); Toninelli (2000); Milward (2013); Musacchio A.and Lazzarini (2012).

  2. 2.

    De Cecco ( 2004).

  3. 3.

    Among others: Lewis (1980); Hannah (1982); Vernon (1984); Dornstein (1988); Asworth (1991).

  4. 4.

    Bertrand and Schoar (2003); Musacchio et al. (2012).

  5. 5.

    Amatori (2013a, b).

  6. 6.

    Toniolo (1978).

  7. 7.

    Castronovo (2012).

  8. 8.

    In the early 1920s, there was the creation of Crediop (Consorzio di credito per le opere pubbliche; Consortium of credit for public works) and Icipu (Istituto di credito per le opere di pubblica utilità; Institute of credit for projects of public utility), see Asso.and De Cecco (1994). In the original project, IRI should not only cope with the effects of the crisis, but it also had the broader goal of giving stability to the financing of the Italian productive system, main problem in the history of industrial capitalism; Cassese (1985, pp. 105–110); D’Antone (2012).

  9. 9.

    Franzinelli and Magnani (2009, pp. 187–238).

  10. 10.

    Menichella (1997, p. 850).

  11. 11.

    Felisini (2013). On the recruitment of Saraceno, the original documents are in IRI Historical Archives, Copialettere. Direttore Generale, Corrispondenza dott. Menichella riservata e personale maggio-dicembre 1933, ACS-DG/001.

  12. 12.

    Petri (1996).

  13. 13.

    Beneduce speech at “Corso di preparazione alle carriere industriali per giovani laureati” 1938, IRI Historical Archives, ID/1,1 ex 2.

  14. 14.

    Torstein Veblen and his institutional economics movement played an important role in the development of the concept of technocracy, Veblen (1921); Smyth (1920).

  15. 15.

    Rathenau (1976), introduction by Villari L., p. xviii.

  16. 16.

    Meynaud (1964); Kuisel (1967).

  17. 17.

    Aikin (1977); Burris (1993).

  18. 18.

    Berle and Means (1932); Chandler (1977); Noble(1977).

  19. 19.

    Managerialism was based on the principle that in all enterprises and services, whether private or public, expertise in management must be taught by training and incentives to excel, Enteman (1993).

  20. 20.

    Cassese (1974); Salsano (2003).

  21. 21.

    Melis (2010).

  22. 22.

    Salsano (1987).

  23. 23.

    See the case of Brazil, Martins (1974).

  24. 24.

    Vernon (1984, p. 52).

  25. 25.

    The memorandum written by Menichella and submitted to Cap. A.M. Kamarck, Officer of the Allied Control Commission, is in IRI Historical Archives, AU, STO/522. The memoir of Kamark is collected in Menichella (1986).

  26. 26.

    Felisini (2011).

  27. 27.

    Bigazzi (1988); Felisini (2012).

  28. 28.

    Gourvish and Tiratsoo (1998); Kipping and Bjarnar (1998).

  29. 29.

    Pastorelli (2006); La Vista and Ricciardi (2013). On the role of managers in the adoption of innovation choices see Acemoglu et al. (2006).

  30. 30.

    The importance of sharing the organization’s objectives and the identification with them was highlighted by H.A. Simon, who set such element as empirical postulates to reopen the debate on the efficiency of State-owned enterprises, see Simon (1991).

  31. 31.

    Anastassopoulos (1977).

  32. 32.

    Cox and O’Sullivan (1988).

Bibliography

  • Acemoglu D. – Aghion P. – Zilibotti F. (2006), «Distance to Frontier, Selection, and Economic Growth», Journal of the European Economic Association, 4(1), pp. 37–74, March.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aharoni Y. (1986), The Evolution and Management of State Owned Enterprises, Cambridge, Ballinger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aikin W.E. (1977), Technocracy and American Dream. The Technocratic Movement, 1900–1941, Berkeley, University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Amatori F. (2013a), L’IRI dagli anni Trenta agli anni Settanta, Enciclopedia Treccani, Il Contributo italiano alla storia del Pensiero – Tecnica, http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/l-iri-dagli-anni-trenta-agli-anni-settanta_(Il_Contributo_italiano_alla_ storia_del_Pensiero:_Tecnica)/

  • Amatori F. (ed.) (2013b), Storia dell’IRI: il “miracolo” economico e il ruolo dell’IRI, Bari-Rome, Laterza.

    Google Scholar 

  • Amatori F. – Milward R. – Toninelli P. (eds) (2011) Reappraising State-owned Enterprise: A Comparison of UK and Italy, Abingdon, Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anastossopoulos J.-P. (1977), The Strategic Autonomy of Government-Controlled Enterprises in a Competitive Economy, Ann Arbor, MI, University Microfilms.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ashworth W.A. (1991), The State in Business 1945 to the Mid-1980s, Basingstoke, Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Asso P.F. – De Cecco M. (1994), Storia del Crediop: tra credito speciale e finanza pubblica, 1920–1960, Rome-Bari, Laterza.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berle A. – Means C. (1932), The Modern Corporation and Private Property, New York, Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bertrand M. – Schoar S.(2003), «Managing with Style: The Effect of Managers on Firm Policies», Quarterly Journal of Economics, 118(4), pp. 1169–1208.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bigazzi D. (1988), «L’ora dei tecnici: aspirazioni e progetti tra guerra e ricostruzione», Storia in Lombardia, n. 2–3.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burris B. H. (1993), Technocracy at Work, Albany, State University of New York Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cassese S. (1974), Problemi della storia delle partecipazioni statali, in Id., La formazione dello Stato amministrativo, Milano, Giuffré.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cassese S. (1985), Gli aspetti unitari degli statuti degli enti di Beneduce, in Id., Alberto Beneduce e i problemi dell’economia italiana del suo tempo, Rome, Edindustria.

    Google Scholar 

  • Castronovo V. (ed.) (2012), Storia dell’IRI, vol. I, 1933–1948. dalle origini al dopoguerra, Rome-Bari, Laterza.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chandler A.D. Jr. (1977), The Visible Hand: The Managerial Revolution in American Business, Cambridge, MA, London, Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cox A. – O’Sullivan N. (eds) (1988), The Corporate State. Corporatism and the State Tradition in Western Europe, Aldershot, Edward Elgar.

    Google Scholar 

  • D’Antone L. (2012), «Da ente transitorio a ente permanente», in Castronovo V. (ed.), Storia dell’IRI, vol. I, 1933–1948. Dalle origini al dopoguerra, Roma-Bari, Laterza.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Cecco M. (2004), «Il declino della grande impresa», in Toniolo G. – Visco V. (eds), Il declino economico dell’Italia. Cause e rimedi, Milano, Bruno Mondadori.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dornstein M. (1988), Boards of Directors under Public Ownership: A Comparative Perspective, Berlin-New York, De Gruyter.

    Google Scholar 

  • Enteman W.F. (1993), Managerialism: The Emergence of a New Ideology, Madison, WI, University of Wisconsin Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Felisini D. (2011), «La continuità nelle banche pubbliche italiane nel secondo dopoguerra: nuove evidenze dalle carte dell’epurazione», in Cova A. – Fumi G. (eds), L’intervento dello Stato nell’economia italiana: continuità e cambiamenti (1922–1956), Milano, Franco Angeli.

    Google Scholar 

  • Felisini D. (2012), «Les entrepreneurs publics italiens et la construction du consensus vers l’intégration économique européenne», in Preda D. – Pasquinucci D. (eds), The Evolution of the Consensus to European Integration 1950–2005, Brussels, P.I.E. Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Felisini D. (2013), «L’uomo dei bilanci: Pasquale Saraceno dall’Iri degli smobilizzi al concetto degli oneri impropri», in Giovagnoli A. – Persico A. (eds), Pasquale Saraceno e l’unità economica italiana, Soveria Mannelli, CZ, Rubbettino.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferri G. – Trento S. (2010), «La dirigenza delle grandi banche e delle grandi imprese: ricambio e legami», in Barca F. (ed.), Storia del capitalismo italiano, Rome, Donzelli.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fischer F. (1990), Technocracy and the Politics of Expertise, London, Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Franzinelli M. – Magnani M. (2009), Beneduce. Il finanziere di Mussolini, Milano, Mondadori.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gourvish T. – Tiratsoo N. (eds.) (1998), Missionaries and Manager: American Influences on European Management Education, 1945–60, Manchester University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hannah L. (1982), Engineers, Managers and Politicians, Basingstoke, Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Kipping M. – Bjarnar O. (eds) (1998), The Americanisation of European business: The Marshall Plan and the transfer of US management models, London, Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuisel R. F. (1967), Ernest Mercier French Technocrat, Berkeley, University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • La Vista F. – Ricciardi F. (2013), «Le nuove funzioni d’impresa: formazione, comunicazione, ricerca e sviluppo», in Amatori F. (ed.), Storia dell’IRI: il “miracolo” economico e il ruolo dell’IRI, Bari-Rome, Laterza.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis E. (1980), Public Entrepreneurship. Toward a Theory of Bureaucratic Political Power, Bloomington, Indiana University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marsan V.A. (1982), L’Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale – I.R.I. – Elementi per la sua storia dalle origini al 1982, mimeo, IRI Historical Archives.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martinelli A. (1988), «L’imprenditore pubblico», in De Masi D. – Bonzanini A. (eds), Trattato di sociologia del lavoro e dell’organizzazione, vol. II, L’industria, Milano, Franco Angeli.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martins C.E. (1974), Tecnocracia e capitalismo: a política dos técnicos no Brasil, São Paulo, Brasiliense.

    Google Scholar 

  • Melis G. (2010), «Amministrazione e dirigismo economico: una storia lunga», in Felisini D. (ed.), Inseparabili: lo Stato, il mercato e l’ombra di Colbert, Soveria Mannelli, CZ, Rubbettino.

    Google Scholar 

  • Menichella D. (1986), Testimonianze e studi raccolti dalla Banca d’Italia, Rome-Bari, Laterza.

    Google Scholar 

  • Menichella D. (1997), Stabilità e sviluppo dell’economia italiana 1946–1960, vol. 1, Documenti e discorsi, Rome-Bari, Laterza.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meynaud J. (1964), La Technocratie, mythe ou réalité, Paris, Payot.

    Google Scholar 

  • Milward R. (2013), The State and Business in Major Powers, Abingdon, Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Musacchio A. – Lazzarini S.G. (2012), «Leviathan in Business: Varieties of State Capitalism and their Implications for Economic Performance», Harvard Business School, Working Paper, no. 12–108.

    Google Scholar 

  • Musacchio A. – Lazzarini S.G. – Bruschi C. (2012), «Do CEOs of State-Owned Enterprises Matter? Evidence from Brazil, 1973–1993», available at SSRN, http://ssrn.com/abstract=2096210 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2096210

  • Noble D.F. (1977), America by Design: Science, Technology, and the Rise of Corporate Capitalism, New York, Knopf.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pastorelli S. (2006), «Lo Stato imprenditore e la qualificazione tecnologica dello sviluppo economico italiano: l’esperienza dell’IRI nei primi decenni del secondo dopoguerra», Quaderno dell’Ufficio Ricerche della Banca d’Italia, no. 12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Petri R. (1996), «I ceti economici dirigenti tra consenso e crisi di regime», in Ventura A. (ed.), La società italiana dal “consenso” alla Resistenza, Istituto veneto per la storia della Resistenza, Venezia, Marsilio.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rathenau W. (1976), L’economia nuova, introduction by Villari L., Torino, Einaudi.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salsano A. (2003), L’altro corporativismo. Tecnocrazia e managerialismo tra le due guerre, Il Segnalibro.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salsano A. (1987), Ingegneri e politici. Dalla razionalizzazione alla “rivoluzione manageriale”, Torino, Einaudi.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saraceno P. (1956), L’Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale, vol. III, Origini, ordinamenti e attività svolta, Torino, Utet.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simon H.A. (1991), «Organizations and Markets», The Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 5, n. 2, spring.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smyth W.H. (1920), Technocracy, University of California.

    Google Scholar 

  • Toninelli P.A. (ed.) (2000), The Rise and Fall of State-Owned Enterprise in the Western World, Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Toniolo G. (ed.) (1978), Industria e banca nella grande crisi, Milano, Etas Libri.

    Google Scholar 

  • Veblen T. (1921), The Engineers and the Price System, New York, Huebsch.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vernon R. (1984), «Linking Managers with Ministers: Dilemmas of the State-Owned Enterprise», Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, vol. 4, n. 1, Autumn.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vernon R. – Aharoni Y. (1981), State-Owned Enterprise in the Western Economies, London, Croom Helm.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Bank (1996), Bureaucrats in Business: The Economics and Politics of Government Ownership, Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of History, Humanities and Society, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, Rome, Italy

    Daniela Felisini

Authors
  1. Daniela Felisini
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of History, Humanities and Society, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, Rome, Italy

    Daniela Felisini

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Felisini, D. (2017). The Managerial Revolution in Italy. The Managers of IRI (1945–1970). In: Felisini, D. (eds) Reassessing the Role of Management in the Golden Age. Central Issues in Contemporary Economic Theory and Policy. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48722-9_4

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48722-9_4

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-48721-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-48722-9

  • eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceEconomics and Finance (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation